Why would you, or why should you care about personalized stamps/ personalised stamps/ customized postage/ P-stamps, in general, and zazzle stamps, in particular? What's in it for you? To me, the answer is self-evident, self-explanatory, but hey!...here are some ideas for you to think about. Prerequisite: open mind. Got one? :)

I just noticed that Zazzle has quietly removed blank stamp designs, with or without border, from the Public Gallery.  I'll find out why exactly. Hmmm!...

I could write a whole illustrated book about this subject. Someday, maybe I will. :)

Look at the above borderless stamp design: it's based on the initial image of a blank stamp from zazzle.com, from which I have removed the black border, for extra space and designing effects, such as irregular contours.

The point for that is to show you that YOU can further customize a blank design, with or without border, with image(s) and custom text of your choice, pending final approval from Zazzle.

Designing is FREE!!!

Then you can put the approved design in your Private Gallery, or in the Public Gallery (where people can buy it and you receive royalty from Zazzle).

In the above design, besides the mandatory info about zazzle.com, do you see any advertisement?

Say No, "coz it ain't".

It doesn't have to be, if you so choose.

Like this:

I often hear comments like: "I don't like personalized stamps; I prefer the regular stamps!".

Dear Sirs and Madams [although Madam may mean various things]: that is a FALSE DICHOTOMY.

It's not EITHER personalized, OR regular stamps.

They are not mutually exclusive.

Do you see ONLY personalized stamps in my blog, for example?

No.

I like many regular stamps, and I like many personalized ones.

I like them because I like THEM, not automatically because they fall into either one of those two categories.

After a while, I decided to "sign" my stamp designs:

Later on, I decided that since nobody seems to even see my stamp creations, let alone buy, I should advertise my zazzle little shop, by including the info: Design by zazzle.com/dorinco*.

 The asterisc after dorinco is VERY important because Zazzle tracks referrals by that, with a number code in the address.

Like this:

In the above picture, top row, the second tiger from the left is a customized version of somebody else's tiger stamp at Zazzle.

So, I could customize, create and buy THAT, but I could not put THAT new design in MY Public Gallery -  I was not the original author; just a customizer, a subsequent author.

See how I chose to remove the border for that, just for Schitzengiggels?

The above stamp, about euphemism - do I really believe that ANYBODY would like to buy it?

Translation: are you crazy???

:)

That euphemism thingie was just "for entertainment purposes only".

Why did I do it?

I'll answer like Bill Clinton:

The obvious advantage, for me [how come YOU don't see it?] is that personalized stamps can fill a hole, a gap in your stamp collection.

Is there a subject...

 ...that never appeared on ANY stamp, ANYWHERE in the world?

Then YOU do it, for [your] sake!!!

When it comes to buying, there are tips and tricks about not paying full retail.

[A VOICE FROM THE PUBLIC]: Like what? Like what?

[DORIN]: Like creating a design for the Public Gallery, then customizing all your future designs based on that initial design, even if you remove completely its initial image and text, and replace them.

Like using the 10% discount that Zazzle gives you for a future order over $45 or so.

Like various Holidays discounts.

Like $5 off if you post on zazzle's blog a photo of you with a zazzle product that you designed and purchased.

Like special promotions, such as in the past July 2010, when you could have purchased zazzle stamps AT FACE VALUE!!!

Get it? :)

Now I'll do something for which Google, in their wisdom, might penalize me with "artificial demoting in search ranking", coz they'll think I'm spamming you by simply exposing you to stuff that, yes, can be purchased.

As if you are an addict that HAS to buy everything that comes in sight!

:)

Links for more info about this subject:

http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll201/dorincard/Stamps/?start=all

http://www.zazzle.com/dorinco*/

More links, to personalized stamps from USA and about 25 more countries:

My friend, Peter C. Elias, has a lot of information and examples of interesting personalized stamps

http://www.freewebs.com/photostamps/

Dentelli Stravaganti [Unusual stamps] - images of personalized stamps from around the world!

http://www.eryx.it/dentelli/personal.htm
http://www.eryx.it/dentelli/personal2.htm
http://www.eryx.it/dentelli/indexeng.htm 

The personalized stamps (from many countries) section of "A World-Wide List of Turtles and Tortoises on Stamps" by Donald N. Riemer

http://www.personal.psu.edu/crr2/turtstmp/current/personal.html

============

I just got off the phone with Zazzle (1-888-8ZAZZLE).

Here's the trick:


[for the record, I leave as "text with strikethrough line" the previous statements, and conflicting statements from Zazzle phone reps]

To design US zazzle stamps, you can do it ONLY thru zazzle.com.

NOT thru any of these sites: http://www.zazzle.com/international.
UPDATE: contrary to what I thought (and to what was confirmed on the phone by zazzle rep), the subsequent email from her shows that YOU CAN DESIGN Zazzle US postage from (at least) the following 4 local sites:

**In the case of orders placed through Zazzle's International web portals, the local tax and customs fees are covered by Zazzle. Separate customs charges will not apply unless the order is shipped outside of the region covered by the portal's distinct agreement with the local customs office. For more information, on what to expect when ordering through one of the Zazzle international portals, please select your local Zazzle site:

• Zazzle.ca (Canada)
• Zazzle.com.au (Australia)
• Zazzle.co.uk (UK)
• Zazzle.co.nz (New Zealand)

To buy zazzle stamps from outside US, you can do it ONLY thru an international zazzle site (local site): http://www.zazzle.com/international.

NOT thru zazzle.com.

To have that postage shipped, your country HAS TO BE on the approved list.

If not, you arrange with somebody from such a country.

OK? :)

That was the info that I got on the phone from a customer service representative.
Then I received this email from her - I still want to verify if these links are compatible, or not, with what she said:
Hello Dorin,

Thanks for contacting the support team at Zazzle.com.

I have inserted a few links below for your review.

International Shipping Destinations
http://zazzle.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/453

Overseas shipping options and rates
http://zazzle.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/149

Zazzle Manufacturing & Turnaround Times
http://zazzle.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/145

Ordering Zazzle Stamps outside of the USA
http://zazzle.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/641


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any more questions, we're always glad to address your concerns.
For more immediate answers, don't forget to check our help section here:https://www.Zazzle.com/help?CMPN=cs

"Currently we do offer Stamps for sale internationally.

It is important to note the following regarding international orders for Zazzle stamps:

1. International orders for Zazzle Stamps are only available through our international websites (not through www.Zazzle.com). Attempting to ship stamps outside of the U.S. through the www.zazzle.com portal will result in an error during the checkout process. 

2. All Zazzle stamps are sold in US denominations pre-determined by the US Postal Sevice. A full list of those available denominations follow:

* $0.28: postcards
* $0.44: First-class, 1 oz
* $0.64: 1 oz mailings, unusual shapes
* $0.61: 2 oz mailings
* $0.78: 3 oz mailings
* $0.95: 3.5 oz mailings
* $1.39: 4 oz mailings
* $4.90: Priority Mail (up to 16 oz)

3. You can get started with your International Zazzle Stamp order here:

UK: Zazzle.co.uk
Stamp info page: http://www.zazzle.co.uk/custom/stamps?CMPN=cs
Stamp Design tool: http://www.zazzle.co.uk/cr/design/pt-stamp?CMPN=cs
Public Stamp Designs: http://www.zazzle.co.uk/stamps?CMPN=cs

Canada: Zazzle.ca
Stamp info page: http://www.zazzle.ca/custom/stamps?CMPN=cs
Stamp Design tool: http://www.zazzle.ca/cr/design/pt-stamp?CMPN=cs
Public Stamp Designs: http://www.zazzle.ca/stamps?CMPN=cs

Australia: Zazzle.com.au
Stamp info page: http://www.zazzle.com.au/custom/stamps?CMPN=cs
Stamp Design tool: http://www.zazzle.com.au/cr/design/pt-stamp?CMPN=cs 
Public Stamp Designs: http://www.zazzle.com.au/stamps?CMPN=cs

New Zealand: Zazzle.co.nz
Stamp info page: http://www.zazzle.co.nz/custom/stamps?CMPN=cs
Stamp Design tool: http://www.zazzle.co.nz/cr/design/pt-stamp?CMPN=cs 
Public Stamp Designs: http://www.zazzle.co.nz/stamps?CMPN=cs "

http://zazzle.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/641

UPDATE 02 March 2011:

 Because yesterday I had another Zazzle rep tell me on the phone that "you can only design and buy zazzle stamps thru zazzle.com" regardless of where you are in the world, I have emailed Zazzle about all this.

Here's the answer:

"Response Via Email (Hollie)

03/02/2011 11:50 AM

Hello Dorin, Thanks for contacting our support team. Currently we do offer Zazzle Custom Stamps for sale internationally. It is important to note the following regarding international orders for Zazzle Custom Stamps. 1. International orders for Zazzle Custom Stamps are only available through the international Zazzle portals** (not through www.zazzle.com). Attempting to ship stamps outside of the U.S. through the www.zazzle.com portal will result in an error during the checkout process. 2. All Zazzle Custom Stamps are sold in US denominations pre-determined by the US Postal Service. A full list of those available denominations follow: * $0.28: Postcards * $0.44: First-class, 1 oz. * $0.64: 1 oz. mailings, unusual shapes * $0.61: 2 oz. mailings * $0.78: 3 oz. mailings * $0.95: 3.5 oz. mailings * $1.39: 4 oz. mailings * $4.95: Priority Mail (up to 16 oz.) 3. **Stamps are available internationally through the following portals: United Kingdom (www.zazzle.co.uk) Zazzle Custom Stamp info page: http://www.zazzle.co.uk/custom/stamps?CMPN=cs Zazzle Custom Stamp design tool: http://www.zazzle.co.uk/cr/design/pt-stamp?CMPN=cs Zazzle Custom Stamp public designs: http://www.zazzle.co.uk/stamps?CMPN=cs Australia (www.zazzle.com.au) Zazzle Custom Stamp info page: http://www.zazzle.com.au/custom/stamps?CMPN=cs Zazzle Custom Stamp design tool: http://www.zazzle.com.au/cr/design/pt-stamp?CMPN=cs Zazzle Custom Stamp public designs: http://www.zazzle.com.au/stamps?CMPN=cs Canada (www.zazzle.ca) Zazzle Custom Stamp info page: http://www.zazzle.ca/custom/stamps?CMPN=cs Zazzle Custom Stamp design tool: http://www.zazzle.ca/cr/design/pt-stamp?CMPN=cs Zazzle Custom Stamp public designs: http://www.zazzle.ca/stamps?CMPN=cs New Zealand (www.zazzle.co.nz) Zazzle Custom Stamp info page: http://www.zazzle.co.nz/custom/stamps?CMPN=cs Zazzle Custom Stamp design tool: http://www.zazzle.co.nz/cr/design/pt-stamp?CMPN=cs Zazzle Custom Stamp public designs: http://www.zazzle.co.nz/stamps?CMPN=cs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have any more questions, we're always glad to address your concerns. For more immediate answers, don't forget to check our help section here: https://www.Zazzle.com/help?CMPN=cs Best Regards, Hollie Customer Support Team Zazzle Inc."

UPDATE 16 MARCH 2011

I spoke on the phone 1-888-8ZAZZLE (1-888-892-9953)with Jillina @zazzle, and she checked with her supervisor.

Zazzle stamps can ONLY be shipped to an US address!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best procedure is this:

1) you can design zazzle personalized stamps by registering at zazzle.com (the main US website of Zazzle), regardless of where in the world you reside.

Put them in the Public Gallery so you can receive royalty payments (thru PayPal or check) from Zazzle, should your products find buyers!

2) you can order zazzle stamps ONLY from zazzle.com (not the regional zazzle portals!), regardless of where in the world is your billing address associated with your credit card.

3) you can ONLY receive those stamps at an address in USA! So you better get a partner/friend in USA! :)

======================================================

Happy Sunday Stamps!

Please visit and join http://viridianpostcard.blogspot.com/

President Abraham Lincoln - I created a set of dorincards with the 4 stamps from the 2009 series 'Lincoln 200th Anniversary of birth'. As postcard support for that, I used a multiview real postcard, two educational cards with explanatory text on the back, and a circulated ad(vertising) postcard 'commercially available' only for Sprint to send as junk mail to ITS [not IT'S] customers. Happy Postcard Friday meme!

"We interrupt this broadcast" to specify that I dedicate this blogpost, during the Presidents Day week-long unofficial celebration, to Beth Niquette, blogger extraordinnaire and all-around good person [unless she lives a double life...OMG!] , who commits a lot of resources (time, intellectual effort, etc.) for us to enjoy several blogs, including

http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

where every Friday anybody can participate in the Happy Postcard Friday meme!

She discovered, thru genealogic research and evidence, that she is a descendant of Abraham Lincoln!!!

I took this series of 4 stamps about Lincoln:

and I decided to create non-traditional maximum cards, since I didn't have "real, commercial postcards" to create traditional maximum cards.

See other stamps with US presidents here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Presidents_on_US_postage_stamps

Read about Lincoln:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln

==================

Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ (wait until Beth posts the today's Linky tool for the meme, then make your entry, if you want to join).

You may play Macao-the-card-game, but don't play with Macao-the-parrot! It may remove your eye (then you'll need an...iPatch) or it may give you the finger (after it cuts it from you). The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) - a beautiful, engraved stamp on a 2004 maximum card/ maxicard/ dorincard written and sent to me in 2011 as a simple postcard from the Czech Republic, by my Czech-German friend Wenzel.

Can you see the hearts here?

What we can't see anymore is the miniature sheet that was affixed on the left half of the postcard.

LESSON LEARNED: never overestimate your BODILY EFFLUVIA, such as saliva. Or a weak glue. Instead, affix with enough glue to make it stick.

Make it hard for the postal thieves or the impersonal, brutal Automated Postal Systems to tear off the stamps from your mail piece.

Many years ago, I casually played Macao, a version of the French card game "21".

That's not the point here.

However: here's how to play Crazy Eights / Macau / Macaua:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau_(card_game)

"Macau (traditional Chinese: 澳門), also spelled Macao ( /məˈkaʊ/), is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China. 

It lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta, bordering Guangdong provinceto the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south.^[6]

The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism but also includes manufacturing.

Macau was a Portuguese colony and both the first and last European colony in China.^[7][8] Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century and subsequently administered the region until the handover on 20 December 1999. 

The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operates with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer.^[9]  [DORIN'S NOTE: then what???]

Under the policy of "one country, two systems", the PRC's Central People's Governmentis responsible for the territory's defense and foreign affairs, while Macau maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, and immigration policy. 

Macau participates in many international organizations and events that do not require members to possess national sovereignty.^[9][10] 

According to the CIA factbook, Macau has the highest life expectancy in the world.^[11]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau}

But that's not the point here, either.

The point is Macao The Parrot: The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao).

"The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a large, colorful macaw. It is native to humid evergreen forests in the American tropics. Range extends from extreme south-eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia and Brazil in lowlands up to 500 m (1,640 ft) (at least formerly) up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft). It has suffered from local extinction through habitat destruction and capture for the parrot trade, but locally it remains fairly common. Formerly it ranged north to southern Tamaulipas. It can still be found on the island of Coiba. It is the national bird of Honduras."

"As Pets

Scarlet Macaws are quite demanding of time and resources, and in general, make for a rude, noisy, messy, and destructive house guest. 

One should spend a lot of time reading about these birds before inviting them into your home. 

Any large macaw can easily remove a finger, or remove

 your eye while perched on your shoulder. 

Not always aggressive, they are always somewhat unpredictable, even around experienced handlers."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_macaw

Scarlet Macaw, less dangerous than Scarface [gangster Al Capone - he gave a new meaning to Be my Valentine: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre eliminated some of Capone's enemies, but outraged the general public].

Scarlet Macaw, more brightly-colored than ScarJo [actress Scarlett Johansson].

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scarlett_Johansson_with_soldiers_3.jpg

===========

Please visit and join The Guest Heart Thursday meme!

http://clytie-randomhearts.blogspot.com/

Welcome to Guest Heart Thursday -
A place to share YOUR hearts!