Monthly Report: Season of Celebration

It was exciting to witness our 3 years and our 3 month old enjoy all that is wonderful about Christmas especially in a year of turmoil and fear.

We have connected to a number of families this month who redefined or rediscovered the hobby of stamp collecting. Some of the firsts were a family from Latvia and a mentally handicapped adult.

Thankfully through the Internet and the Grace of God, opportunties that arise to serve our fellow citizens of the world will be met with starter-kits, information and good cheer.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

Stamp Preservation Hinges on Hope

Every so often you come across someone who reports a friend or relative is using scotch tape or even glue to affix stamps to paper. If there is any supreme rule in stamping: using anything other than hinges or mounts is an absolute no-no. Never ever ever ever.

I promptly wrote about the correct procedure and mailed out a packet of hinges. Hinges are small sticky cellophane strips that safely connect the back of the stamp to the front of an album page. Over the years they become dry and fall off but another can be placed on the stamp without any fear of damage.

If anyone needs any because they are going to traditional route of album pages verus vario pages let me know and we will include in the starter-kit.

Stamps on Paper: Soaking and Saving

One of the most fun and cost effective method to collect stamps is to clip them off envelopes from the general mail. When I was a child I would go to the travel agency with my father and he would get a bundle of envelopes they saved for him. In the bundle would be hundreds of stamps from around the world.

The following are time-test ways to save and collect these stamps:

1. Clip stamp from envelope using a scissor. Just cut around the envelope leaving as little paper

as possible without damaging the stamp.

2. Fill up a basin or bowl with warm water.

3. Toss your pile of stamps on paper (with faces upward) in the bowl and dunk them in the water.

4. Wait 15 minutes.

5. Manually, but gently, separate your stamps from the paper and place them on a series of

dry paper towels.

6. Once they have dried, press the stamps (because they curl) into the pages of a book (or you

can buy a stamp dryer book for the same purpose.

7. The next day remove stamps and determine which you want to keep and which you might want to trade or give away.