I have always found ordinary stamp collecting albums to be annoying. Pictures of stamps are printed in them. The idea is to find a stamp that matches a picture and place it over the picture with a stamp hinge. The problem is that I often have stamps that are not pictured. The albums do have blank boxes to put un-pictures stamps, but I usually run out of blank boxes. So I've decided to think outside the box and forget about conventional stamp albums.

A year or two ago I bought a beautiful journal that actually has FP friendly paper. The cover is a collage of postage stamps and fountain pens. I'm making it my stamp collecting journal. I'm simply putting stamps in as I get them - most of them coming from the envelopes from all my nib fellows. I make a note by each stamp, saying whose letter it came from and the date, and any other remarks about the stamp or the nib fellow that might be interesting. This is a lot more fun than the usual stamp-collecting methods. Since I'm using the reccommended stamp-collecting hinges to attach the stamps, they can always be removed without harming the journal or the stamp - you know, in case I discover that one of you has sent me a stamp that's worth $zillions.

Judybug

What a GREAT IDEA!!!! I think I will try this too. I wonder if I have any stamp hinges left with all my stamp collecting stuff from when I was a kid.... I have been using cancelled stamps to decorate stationery & sometimes they find their way into my regular journals, but I really like the idea of using good old stamp hinges. Thanks for the inspiring idea!

Polly

I haven't done any stamp collecting since I was a kid. I used to do the thing with the hinges in the album too. I haven't kept up with the hobby at all since then, but I remember reading that using hinges on stamps is a really really Really REALLY bad thing to do. It ruins the pristine stickum on a new stamp and thus lowers the value. It adds its own stickum to a used stamp and lowers its value. Pressed in a book, the doubled hinge can permanently deform the stamp. There are other problems with it that I don't even remember. I guess the way to make a small fortune is to spend a large fortune on a stamp and then use a hinge on it.

Paddler

That's a real original idea Judybug ..............but I think I am gonna copy it.

Yes, if you're collecting old mint (never used) stamps and you want to preserve the stickum, hinges are not the best way to go. But I'm a cheap stamp collector - for the most part, I'm just collecting stamps that are on letters I receive. I soak them off the envelope paper in warm water and then put them in the journal with hinges.

I like writing little notes by my stamps (with fountain pens, of course) - for example, the gal who cuts my hair just got back from Italy. Next to the Italian stamp that came from her, I made a note that I have this stamp as a result of Donna's Italian vacation and that she purchased the stamp on the Isle of Capri. I guess this is really a "memory book" centered around stamps.

Stamp collecting - like a lot of hobbies - can get so complicated that you don't even enjoy it. Of course, I understand that if you're a really serious collector and you're buying mint stamps, your collecting method should be more sophisticated than the method I'm using.

Judybug

This is a wonderful idea. When I travel I take a small travel journal. In there I put details that I know will slip my mind like sand through my fingers... things like people's names, what I had for dinner... and then I leave room for some pix too. Also ticket stubs and I always like to put a few stamps in there too. They're just such a wonderful statement of local culture.
skyppere