2024 December stamps with a cheerful, upbeat look!

Apart from the statically positioned girl on the third stamp, two personified animals—the shaggy-haired dachshund Frits and the tiny robin—lively perform human activities. Illustrator Marieke Ruts (also known as Mrs. Emmer [M&R equals V&D and C&A???]) not only draws these December stamps with style, but also postcards with lighthearted, cheerful humor. Some of these cards immediately invite collectors to create a maximum card. With a stamp on the image side of the card, an attractive visually supportive ensemble can be created.

December stamps 2024: issue date 18 November 2024

Typographic designer / illustrator Marieke Ruts, nicknamed Mrs. Emmerhas designed the 'December Stamps 2024' issue, consisting of 20 stamps, featuring 10 different scenes. During the period from November 18 to January 4, the self-adhesive stamps at €1,06 each can be used as discount stamps; afterwards, the standard rate of €1,14 applies. The print run amounts to 3.000.000 sheets, which were printed by Koninklijke Joh. Enschedé BV in Haarlem.

December stamps 2024 with December illustrations

Fresh, sleek, clear, warm, and with a touch of humor, the stamps with contemporary illustrations have been created. Marieke Ruts“I always hope that people look at my drawings with a smile.” As mentioned, a dachshund named Frits and a robin perform human activities. In doing so, the robin functions as a story connector with hearts in various places. 1) Christmas sweater with stockings A Christmas sweater with a stocking hangs outside on the clothesline, while two robins on the ground wonder why a sweater is already hanging on the clothesline to dry. The snowman looks on in understanding silence. 2) Christmas wreath On a twig of a richly and festively decorated Christmas wreath, a cheerfully singing robin connects us with the cozy days of Christmas and New Year. 3) Girl A girl surrounded by snowflakes heads after a pile of Christmas presents. Both robins wonder curiously to which dear people will all these gifts be delivered? The girl embraces the rootless Christmas tree like a welcome darling. It's quite a job to transport the tree! Dachshund Frits is on his way to drop off Christmas mail at a PostNL counter. Both little birds wonder curiously: “Is a letter going to a foreign address as well?” 4) Robin The arrival of Santa Claus is announced with the phonetic onomatopoeia “Ho ho ho”. The robin looks forward to his arrival with longing. 5) Arrenslee A sleigh loaded with Christmas packages (one even features the PostNL logo). The robin on the box acts as the driver (instead of Santa Claus), flying the sleigh at high speed over the pine forest, heading purposefully towards the addressee recipients. 6) Teckel Frits Dachshund Frits, with a party horn, carries a box filled with Christmas mail on his back to the recipients. The good-humored Christmas running duck is just in time to put his piece of mail in the box. “Meanwhile, the robin is beating the drum with cheerful drumming,” says the designer. An atmosphere-enhancing, cheerful, and lively image of a quacking Muscovite, a drum-beating robin, and a dachshund blowing a roll-tongue whistle. *) literally 'under' and 'between' both animals. Due to the rounding of both lines on the drumstick, you 'see' and 'hear' the roll on the drum, but the vibration of the roll-reed flute is also made visible by round lines, as is the spiky hair of dachshund Frits. 7) Canal house The small canal house surrounded by snowflakes, with potted Christmas trees on either side, a street lamp, and flanked by canal houses (one with an illuminated Christmas garland), embodies the sense of home and domesticity during the December period. The robin on the sidewalk stands waiting invitingly for guests. 8) Pastries Whipped cream running down a Bundt cake transforms a pastry (topped with twinkling lights, a candle, and a Christmas garland, and with a cheerful robin in between to liven things up) into a festively decorated Christmas cake. Quick on his feet, dachshund Frits rushes with a Christmas cake on his back to the Christmas celebration down the road. The whipped cream on the cake can't keep up that fast! 9) Wheelbarrow A wheelbarrow with a Christmas tree decorated with lights and a few snow-covered trees in the forest in the background represent Christmas tree season, while a few presents symbolize the generosity of the December period. A container of colored flowers 'warms' the robin seeking shelter from the winter cold beneath the wheelbarrow. 10) Eland A moose with a two-colored scarf around its neck (surrounded by a few snowflakes) looks lovingly at the robin on a post by showing the tip of its tongue.

And finally

*On every stamp hides a little story related to the days of December, in accordance with the hopeful slogan: “Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!” * The clear-line version with

• clear refined forms,
• sleek, dynamic-suggesting lines
• with color contrasts between foreground and background

It is characterized primarily by strikingly essential details. * In the metaphorical comparisons/imaginings, there is cooperation between the animals, which take place in the human world. Does the tiny robin, through the enlargements, play a connecting leading role in the ten December scenes? * Designer Ruts has muted the colors somewhat to better capture the December feeling. Nevertheless, the details are fresh, as yellow and lilac can be seen in details throughout. * A stamp from this surprisingly attractive issue will undoubtedly be able to win the annual top stamp prize! * When purchasing two stamp sheets in the store, the customer receives a Christmas ornament specially designed by Vondels (corresponding to a number of previous years), which is identical to the shape of the presents in the sleigh.