LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK) The United States Postal Service is continuing their popular Love stamp series and this years design was created by an East Texas native.

Bailey Sullivan is a 2010 Pine Tree High School graduate who now lives in Pennsylvania and works as a freelance artist.

About two years ago, the Postal Service contacted Sullivan asking about her work. While actually designing the piece of artwork only took about two months, all the hoops to jump through for approval took way longer.

“Once he decided to move forward with me, that was really exciting,” Sullivan said describing the process of being chosen.

The stamp art features the word “love” and three large hearts, strikingly set against a dark blue background. The design also includes a smaller heart, a rectangle and a semicircle.

So how did she come up with the design?

“I did a bunch of initial sketches and I think we gravitated toward this one because it’s a bit different than what you would expect for a Love stamp. I just wanted to do something fun. There’s so many different types of love and I just wanted to do something that was universal and approachable to anybody.”

She says this entire process, and since the stamp was unveiled, everyone has been really supportive and that for an illustrator, this is “bucket list” worthy.

“Just being in a small way a part of all these personal stories has been really something I didn’t expect when I was designing it.”

This years stamp was first unveiled in Loveland, Colorado and became available on January 14. The USPS describes it as a “colorful and lighthearted”.

“The Love 2021 Forever stamp adds a special touch to cards and letters,” said USPS Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President Pritha Mehra, the dedicating official. “It shows thoughtfulness and care have been included, inside and out.”

The first stamp in the Love series was issued back in 1973. Every year, more than 100,000 valentines, packaged inside larger envelopes, are sent to Loveland, where volunteers handstamp them with a Valentine’s Day verse and send them on to the intended recipients.

If you’d like to buy a stamp, you can either visit your local post office, or find them here. The Love stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp. It will remain equal in value to the First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.