Two new postage stamps are available in Bluffton this week.

On Jan. 22, the U.S. Postal Service issueed the fourth of 12 stamps in its Celebrating Lunar New Year series, which began in 2008 with the Year of the Rat. The Year of the Rabbit begins on Feb. 3, 2011, and ends on Jan. 22, 2012.

On Jan. 27 a stamp recognizing the 150th anniversary of Kansas statehood will be issued.

Lunar New Year stamp
Art director Ethel Kessler worked on the series with illustrator Kam Mak, an artist who grew up in New York City's Chinatown and now lives in Brooklyn. The illustration was originally created using oil paints on panel.

Kessler's design also incorporates elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps, using Clarence Lee's intricate paper-cut design of a rabbit and the Chinese character-drawn in grass-style calligraphy by Lau Bun-for "Rabbit."

Stamp Celebrates Kansas Statehood
The 150th anniversary of Kansas statehood is commemorated with the issuance of this stamp. Kansas is believed to be named after the Kansas River, which bears the name of the Kansa, one of several Native American tribes in the region prior to European settlement. Kansas became the 34th state in the Union on Jan. 29, 1861.

This stamp, which will be issued Jan. 27, features artwork by renowned commercial and fine-art painter Dean Mitchell. Created specifically for the U.S. Postal Service, this stamp is a symbolic artistic snapshot of Kansas that encapsulates many of the state's most prominent features: history, industry, agriculture, and pioneering ingenuity.