VINTAGE POSTMARK GIVEAWAY

Vintage Postmark Besotted I

Vintage Postmark II

When I was a publicist, (so very, very long ago), I used to tell my clients not to get too excited about a magazine photographing their design. There was always that off chance that the design could end up not working at the 11th hour and it would be removed from the publication. It was always disheartening for both myself and my client, maybe more so for me as I do like to believe I have some modicum of control and when things are not in my sphere of control I get very agitated, which is the same reaction I have to over-the-counter cough medicine (which I am allergic to).  This scenario actually happened to me in February.  I thought I was going to be in a magazine and  then I flipped through the mag and I wasn’t.  Of course I was sad, but it’s always onward and upward for me so I moved on. I received the same magazine for March, I was thrilled that it had arrived, simply because it’s an inspiring magazine.  I actually had it for three days reading it in order like it was a book (I wanted to savor each page) and on the fourth day I came upon a six page spread in which Besotted Brand was featured on five of the pages!  To have such a sweet + unexpected surprise like this made me feel as if I had won the lottery. The spread was styled & shot by the talented Amy Lockheart, I made her some stamps based on her re-design and also used our vintage postmark design. Her whole branding package is quite exquisite–clean, nature-inspired but also modern in its simplicity.  I hadn’t seen the big reveal of the branding so it was even more of a delight when I saw how she incorporated the stamps into her packaging.  I have always said I felt like our hand stamps are like miniature printing presses and I love how Amy was able to add some D.I.Y. to her brand without compromising the high-end, boutique feel or taking away from any of the other press printed elements.  This is how I use the stamps and how I envisioned my clients using them as well, creating high-quality materials for their brands, weddings, special events and even their personal stationery wardrobes (thank you notes are always in style). The magazine is called Click ‘for the modern photograp(her).  If you are a photography enthusiasts there is plenty of inspiration, how-to and visual story-telling going on. The pages are printed on a beautiful stock and I wouldn’t dare flip through it like a regular magazine as I don’t want to miss a thing.  I don’t usually get paper magazines because I am afraid my Postman will wrinkle them, thus rendering them tainted in my obsessive compulsive eyes, but he’s been very careful with this publication (and he also knows that I am a bit batty).

For today’s Bestowal I want to give away one of the custom vintage inspired postmark stamps, it’s a good one to have indeed.  To enter to win, please answer the following question in the comments below by Monday, March 10, 2013.  Good luck!

If you could move anywhere on earth for a year, where would you move and why?

74 thoughts on “VINTAGE POSTMARK GIVEAWAY

  1. I would move to Switzerland. Such a beautiful place, I get the chills just thinking about being there. I’ve never been in a place more inspiring

  2. I would move to the English countryside and spend my days rising horses, tending to my vegetable garden, and walking my dogs in muddy boots.

  3. I would move to New Zealand. I was able to visit for a couple of weeks in 2010 and have felt the pull to return ever since. The beauty and grandeur gets in your bones there and I can still feel the wind and see those mountains and the vivid, brilliant green of the hills.
    While there, I’d want to travel, maybe through the wwoof program, and work at farms or hostels throughout the country. I’d spend my days surfing and working and my evenings knitting up all of the gorgeous New Zealand wool I could find.

  4. I would move to Lausanne which is in Switzerland because I was born there and I have only been back a couple of times since we came to the UK (when I was five years old). I want to reconnect and get a truer sense of the place. I think I would need a year to explore its diversity: French culture, German precision and alpine chic; I’m getting goosebumps thinking about the potential for blog posts.

  5. If I would live anywhere else, it definitely would be San Francisco. That city sweeps you in, just in a very non-fairytale way. Or New York. Big cities always called my name.

  6. that is a tough one! probably somewhere in italy or ireland because i’ve never been out of the united states. but i love our country dearly, and all it has to offer. xoxo

  7. I’ve already been bestowed such beautiful Besotted gifts so I am not here to enter…just to say congratulations! Looks like a gorgeous publication.

  8. I would love, love, love to live in Germany for a year. My grandmother is German and I spent many summers there as a child, but I would love to experience life there for a year. Ideally for a longer time, but a year would be great. Or Paris…I went to Paris on my honeymoon, and how can you not LOVE the place?

  9. Only one place? So hard to choose. Right now I’m all about Paris, I would love to live there, but I think that my love of Japan is pulling stronger on this one. I would love to live in Japan, the culture mix is so fascinating, between the old and new. Besides the fact that I have an intense love of the art, music and culture. It would be so inspiring to live and learn the language. I get giddy just thinking about it! Besides, they have all the cutest trinkets and stationary!!! What’s not to love?

  10. Thank you Susan!

    And everyone else I usually don’t chime in on the Bestowal answers but so far I have a heavy does of wanderlust! I love daydreaming with you all!!!

  11. It’s rather difficult to pick just one place to move, but if it was just for a year I would love to move to either Australia or New Zealand, and then back to Europe again. The diversity there is fascinating, and for a food lover it a whole new world!

  12. After growing up in Florida, I got a pretty heavy dose of paradise. Moving to Michigan made me appreciate it even more and I yearned for it for many years throughout the heavy winters–until, I had my first daughter. Now, I would say that for a year, for eternity, I want to be where my children are. To me, it is where I feel that I most belong and gives me the unconditional happiness that I have been looking for my whole life.

  13. I would move to Australia….or Rome…so hard to choose! I LOVED Australia when I studied abroad there in college and would love to go back for a year….but Rome also tugs at my heartstrings….oh, having such a choice would be a great problem to have! ;)

  14. Costa Rica- though it may be hard to come back after a year! I love the diversity (from beaches to rain forests to cities), the weather, the people…

  15. My husband and I have dreams of living in Europe while he telecommutes for work. We would make a home base in Glasgow, Scotland, and take weekend trips to the rest of the countries in Europe!

  16. I would actually love to move to Cambodia for a year. Sounds a bit crazy, but my husband and I dream of helping victims of human trafficking there, and if we had the chance, we’d be there in a second! LOVE your beautiful blog!

  17. thailand. for the weather (i have the dryest skin) and the food alone. oh alright, and to just experience a culture so different from our own. thanks!

  18. Nevada County, California is a place you can still swim naked in the river, grow your own food, and be an artist. In fact there are more artists here per capita than any other county in California. Once a year, Tibetan Buddhist monks from Gaden Shartse Monastery visit. They say this place is a “triple karmic vortex,” that you clear your karma here three times faster than a regular place. Who wants to live in a regular place?
    Congratulations on your beautiful photo spread. Thanks for the tip about Click.

  19. to my 8×14 one room cabin I built in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. I go there often, usually once a week, its a one hour drive back down the hill to my home, job and all the obligations that keep me away from where I really want to be.

  20. congrats on the spread …. her website is chock full of great info. We would love to return to Churchill…. yep, land of the Polar Bear and great photos indeed! Tail wags…. ~moose

  21. I’d move just about anywhere for a year, but today the first place that came to mind was Alaska. It would be so nice to get away from the crazy crowded city and the natural beauty up there would be so breathtaking. Plus, the Northern Lights!

  22. I would move to antarctica, it just seems so outer-worldy, and who knows how long we will have it for, with climate change. I think it would be worth braving sub-0 temperatures to see the rawness of the landscape and the animals which have adapted to living there.

  23. Oh, what a fun giveaway! I love the part of the world in which I live, so I love thinking about where I would live if I could pick up and move for just a year. The Amalfi Coast, Italy. Hands down. The seaside towns are so gorgeous, and there is so much history there. It is so enchanting, the people are so warm, and the culture is tough to top. And the food, my goodness, the food! Of course, Rome, and Florence, and Venice (and the rest of Europe) are just a train ride (or boat ride) away…would make for some wonderful long weekend trips!

  24. I would move to Honolulu. I took my 15 month old daughter (at the time) for our first family vacation and the pure joy she got out of being at the beach, playing with the sand and in the water was so wonderful to watch. I could totally picture her as a laid back surfer girl. I think Honolulu is a beautiful place, with sincere and kind people. P.S. Love your work!

  25. Gosh! So hard to choose! My first thought was to go back to Switzerland, but the thought of living in Hawaii sounds quite nice right about now! Love, love, love Click by the way!!! As a designer and photographer, it’s pure inspiration for me! Congrats on the feature!

  26. Tough decision…I think I would want to live in Ireland. I loved it there when I visited. It seems like the perfect balance of welcoming communities and lush green space. And it would be close for visiting the rest of Europe throughout the year.

  27. I would love to live in Paris for a year. People are so nice there and even though i didn’t speak french finding my way around wasn’t too hard. And it would be close to the rest of europe to visit.

  28. This is very hard because I have been nowhere. Maybe I should say “out of a suitcase.” How about on the Mediterranean on a yacht built for my family of 9? No, make that 12: room for a captain, chef and butler, too! Grin.
    Congratulations on your publication! Your talent is inspiring!

  29. anywhere for a year… BUENOS AIRES. the Paris of Latin America, full of culture, so we would drink in works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, learn Spanish on the fly, force ourselves to dine on offal (and take lots of pictures to gross out our friends back home), drink our coffee with medialunas (croissants), wander through some of the most aesthetically pleasing gardens I’ve ever seen, and learn to tango!
    Congrats on CLICK – I have it in my reading pile. Beautiful!

  30. You are STAR and should be publish anywhere possible – I would read,read, read and admire :)
    I would like you to move away with me for a year (so we could talk and exchange expieriance) and it would be great to move to Maledives and live on one of those water bungalows with the glass floor to see fishes. GREAT. would you join me ?? hahaha

  31. I’m torn slightly. I would probably move to Ireland because it’s so far away, green and has a beautiful accent. Also I’m ridiculously fair what with my Irish heritage and want to see if I would get burnt there too. But I also want to see England and other parts of Europe (it’s so strange thinking that countries are only like a few hours away from each other – I live in the Largest Island of Australia and often drove over 12 hours just to visit the next state … :) Either way, it’s definitely on the bucket list!

  32. I would go to Venice. It’s such a beautiful place, and it’s so easy to just take a train to any part of Europe. I would love to explore. The pace of life in Italy is so relaxed and, coming from a fast-paced environment it would be a welcome change indeed.

  33. How totally fun to find that wonderful surprise Tristan! So happy for you! Love all your stamps and I promise one of these days I will buy some – just putting all my cash into building my biz at the moment and buying fabric for projects! And the difficult decision of deciding which stamps I want the most!

  34. Apalachicola, Florida! It is such a quaint, sleepy little town with a wonderful group of residents. Fresh seafood and great scenery. Would love to spend a year there.

  35. Congratulations on your feature! Click really is an inspiring magazine and your beautiful branding is a perfect fit.

    If I could move anywhere it would be Oregon, somewhere between Portland and the coast. I’ve been to the northwest several times and I love the people and the lifestyle. There is amazing art, just about any natural habitat you could hope for. I have 2 kids and, for me, Oregon opens up my creativity and exploring spirit which also fits my kids’ personalities. What a great opportunity to help them flourish and discover the world. Oregon has so much more to offer than the midwest.

  36. If I could move anywhere for a year it would be Italy. I’m 64 and I just started studying Italian on a lark in the hopes that someday I could get there when I retire. Traveling around the country to see all the architecture and art would be such an amazing way to turn 65!

  37. Austraila…we are heading to Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania for a month in August, but after reading all about Australia I wish it was for a year! There is just too much to experience!

  38. I would move to one of the islands in Palawan, Philippines for a year to have a creative retreat. I’ll bring books and a lot of craft supplies. On sunny days, I’d go to the beach and look for shells, sea glass, and other interesting bits. I’d draw on the sand and go snorkeling after. In the morning, I’ll have my quiet time while watching the waves and write on my journal. Every afternoon, I’ll take a nap on a hammock. I’ll ride a paddle board to the sea to watch the sunset. At night, I’ll lie down on the sand and stargaze. Oh, and I’ll drink coconut juice everyday!

  39. With great joy, I would return to Edinburgh, Scotland. I studied there in the spring of 1971 and this was a life changing time for me. Among other lessons, I learned – quality over quantity and embrace each day with an open heart. I returned in 2005 for a two day affirming visit.

  40. After I graduated college, I moved to Italy for 2 years. I’ve been back to visit since then but a quick visit just isn’t enough after that first big adventure. I wish I was able to drop everything and move back there, I was much more productive with my art and much happier and freer then! I miss that feeling terribly.

  41. Hmmm, another wonderful thought-provoking question. I think I would live in the English countryside. I am a big gardener and life in much of England is so garden-centric that it would be a dream come true to be surrounded by like-minded gardeners with a passion for all things green. I love to talk about plants, but many of my friends eyes glaze over when I go on and on about a special plant. To be surrounded by people who share my enthusiasm would be magical for me. Ah, just writing those words was freeing…..thank you for that…..

  42. Congratulations on your magazine spread, Tristan. The stamps and images are lovely.
    Hmmm, another wonderful thought-provoking question. I think I would live in the English countryside. I am a big gardener and life in much of England is so garden-centric that it would be a dream come true to be surrounded by like-minded gardeners with a passion for all things green. I love to talk about plants, but many of my friends eyes glaze over when I go on and on about a special plant. To be surrounded by people who share my enthusiasm would be magical for me. Ah, just writing those words was freeing…..thank you for that…..

  43. Hi,
    I would love to live in Florida – somewhere along the west coast in a little beach house where I would have amazing light everyday :)
    I have just recently found this blog and I’m loving it – thank you!

  44. I would move to London, no question. My husband used to live there and has a handful of great friends that he rarely sees. It would be such a great experience for us and we already speak the language!

  45. I would move to a small cottage in Sweden (I’m from Denmark, so not that far) with just the bare necessities to write my first novel. I already have the theme and story by large, but it is very personal about a tough time in my life, so i would require the peace and quiet of the Swedish woods to get through it. Perhaps even for a month of that time I would visit the refugium at Vadstena monestary (also in Sweden) to get in the solitary and writing mood.

  46. I would move to Bainbridge Island, Washington. Rustic charm, lots of creative folks, and close to Seattle.

  47. I would definitely move to Paris and live in the Marais. After my graduation I worked for the Disneyland Paris for 3 months and I remember so many wonderful and totally magic moments from that time….it would be so great to have the experience a second time….

  48. You won’t believe it but I just would stay here, here in The Netherlands in my own home where I live the last 18 years. We have a lovely home and a great garden. The view form our home is also amazing, we look at a dolmen (I don’t if you know what this is?) which is over 5000 years old. And I just love it…… I’m very happy where I am now…..

  49. It’s too hard to choose just one ;) But, I would love to live in New Zealand, Costa Rica or near the breathtaking beaches of Thailand!

  50. first, congrats on the feature! It’s so fun that you completely let go…and then there it was just waiting for you, all five pages. :)

    On to the question on hand! That’s easy, I’d move to Croatia for a year. If you haven’t been, you must. It’s absolutely beautiful. All coast, full of history, beautiful clear water, so many islands, incredible food (especially the mussels, any fresh fish, and the truffle pasta). Most of all, I’d live there because my son’s grandparent’s are there and half of his cousins. (through my husband’s side). We miss them all so much.

  51. Congrats, congrats, Tristan!
    I would love to live on a boat for a year. I’ve travelled a lot, but I’ve never spent a significant amount of time on the sea. I think it would be an utterly romantic way to spend a year.

  52. My first thought is Paris of course— all the beauty, art and wonderful food would be amazing. Although, I have to say I love the aesthetics of Sweden. I just don’t know if I could really handle that kind of cold. I guess anything is possible for a year. What a great thought to ponder!

  53. Hello from France =D
    Congratulations for being in a magasine!!!
    The photos and the stamps are beautiful.
    If I could move anywhere on earth for a year, I would move in the Countryside of Ireland and Scotland because I love their celtic stories. I believe in Leprechaun and I dream of catching one of them at the foot of a rainbow or of seeing the Loch Ness Monster in the Highlands.
    There are so much legends and I want to discover them and to live with peope, who have their roots in them.
    Merci beaucoup ;-)

  54. well, its hard to pick one place. but for me i am having quite the romantic notion of living in new york city. because if i can make it there, supposedly i can make it anywhere (wink wink). congrats on your magazine feature! so very exciting.

  55. My first thought says southern France. My husband and I have the fortunate experience of traveling there, and we so loved the area….but on second thought, I have to say, I would choose to live just where I am. I live in a small southern town where the people are lovely and kind, and especially all of my family are here, so I could never leave them for an entire year….unless my wish would be granted that I could take them ALL with me to southern France.

  56. Can I tell you that I am indeed “besotted” with this new to me blog? Love your work and your voice is so nice to read. Congratulations for sure.

    If you can promise I would be safe I would move to Israel for sure. That country has a mesmerizing hold on me, its people are in turmoil and it’s borders are in dispute – but the land oh the land is so peaceful. I remember looking out my hotel window in Tel Aviv and feeling the peaceful pull of the currents from the sea. Such history, such food, such culture and spirit!

  57. Oh My…where oh where would I go?? I’ve been so lucky…I spent the first years of my life in New Zealand, and then Brunei (in Borneo) from there we moved back to Australia’s Gold Coast with school holidays spent in the Solomon Islands where my father was based for work. My maternal grandmother was French but lived so much of her life in Kenya…both places I’ve visited and adore. I can only imagine a year in the Irish countryside…the sweetest little cottage and the greenest of rolling hill and countryside…how fabulous that would be!

    Such a treat to visit this relatively-new-to-me space…such loveliness to escape to!

    Ingrid x

  58. As silly as it seems, I read this post and then had to walk a way for a few days to come up with an answer. If I could live ANYWHERE? And still I’m ambivalent! How funny is that? The Lake District of England? Provence in France? New Zealand? The Serengetti? Nepal — somewhere with indoor plumbing and a view of Everest? Oh
    , I just don’t know! And then I remember childhood dreams… How about the mythical Land of Oz — not the Oz of movies, but the Oz of the storybooks (all 13of them) by L.Frank Baum. Now there are just too many choices! I’ll have to take them all… 1 year each, please and thank you.

  59. Not unique in this but…France. I am actually going for the first time on Saturday. I am chaperoning high school students but at least I get to go. Just something so seductive about France but I will really know the answer when I get back. Do I really LOVE France..?..we will see. I am also going to London and Milan so maybe I will have a new favorite. I love your blog. And you are moving from the South??? Blessings!

  60. I would move to Bozeman, Montana and finally finish the book I’ve been writing for the past three years. The way the moon looks against the mountains is breathtaking, and though I only had two days in Bozeman I fell in love with the tenuous, inimitable balance between quaint little streets and stark natural beauty.

  61. I would move to Newfoundland and experience a year of weather extremes – icebergs floating by in June, sun-filled summer days in August, a wicked blizzard in January. I would photograph the colourful houses in St. Johns and the quaint fishing towns along the coast and visit L’Anse Aux Meadows (where the Vikings once lived).
    I’ve never been there but it seems like an extreme place.

  62. I would move to Switzerland, so I could see amazing sights, including castles and ancient ruins, and so I could eat lots of delicious food, and so I could improve my German language skills.

  63. I would go back to Paris; rent an apartment in the 11th overlooking a park. I would visit the fromagerie across the street so often that the owner would know just what to give me. In spring, I’d walk every day along the Boulevard Richard-Lenoir–unless I was making the trek across town to the Luxembourg Gardens to see what new flowers had sprung up overnight. In summer, I’d hang out by the Canal Saint-Martin, people-watch as the sun set. Fall, of course, would be the season of museums. In the winter, I’d try not to get addicted to le chocolates chaude at the cafes and fail miserably, because the French sure do it right. A year in Paris, my dream.

  64. I would go to Paris. I’ve always dreamed of living in Europe and Paris seems so exciting. Of course, I’d actually jump at any chance to live anywhere in France or England. But Paris would be my top choice!

  65. Ahh! Congratulations, Tristan! How very exciting that must be.

    It’s funny, because my parents emigrated from Paris to the US before I was born. Recently I asked my father, who was raised in France and speaks wistfully of it to this day, why they even left–why they didn’t just stay in Paris. He seemed surprised by the question. “Why…because there are so many more opportunities in America,” he said, almost like I should have known that. But I, born and raised in California, always saw my French cousins and my father’s accent as reminders of a more thrilling life. It hadn’t occurred to me that they did what they did out of hope for the future. So I’m grateful to my parents for settling us in California, but that doesn’t mean I yearn to go back with my father–go back because it seems like I was always there, in his stories of living in the 15th with the free thinkers along the west bank, of crackling fresh bread every day, of two-hour meals as standard procedure. I would love to go back to Paris for a year, and maybe even stay.

  66. I just discovered your blog, I am absolutely in love with it!!! So amazing. I just got back from a study abroad in Jerusalem, my heart yearns to go back so either there or Rome! I’m obsessed with gelato and art history- the perfect combination, no?

  67. Hard choice but as the winter has been pretty cold in France this year, i would probably pick up some warm place with blue ocean but it will have to be a peacefull country, surrounded by peacefull countries (and it’s getting harder and harder to find such places). In fact, i think that as long as i’ll have my daughters, husband and pets with me +enough money to live + time to work on my paper sculptures, i’ll be fine anywhere.

  68. I just happened to stumble upon your blog this afternoon through my internet perusal. I’m in love with your layout, your designs, your words and your tips and ideas.
    I’ve lived all over the US in my lifetime, but have never made it off of this continent. I’ve always wanted to live/experience Nepal. I have my teaching credential along with a passion for teaching and learning and I can’t help but crave to learn from the children in orphanages there. Even if the only thing I did was teach them how to brush their teeth, I just know I would learn so much about the universe just by simply being in the presence of these orphan children. My love and I have often talked of adopting and, if/when we do, we’d like to have lived in the country our baby is from for a significant period of time. Nepal.

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