Stamp Projects

Hi everyone, I'm currently working on a project simply entitled "My Favorites Book" I will post pictures once it is complete, but am wondering if anyone is doing something similar?
I'm sure there are many different "Styles" amongst collectors/collecting, and I'm curious to see what you have. For instance, a few of my pages are stamps that relate to me specifically. Stamps featuring things that relate to my personatliy, personal interests, general topical things. I have pages dedicated to certain colors, none of which are country specific (just yet!)etc.
How do you collect? and what does your collection say about you?
Look forward to seeing/hearing about different collections/projects :)
P.S. I also have an envelope of badly damaged stamps I hope to one day use as an art project. Perhaps a collage, or a painting or something of the sort. Anyone have anything of this nature?
~Ash

My neighbour pastes stamps onto all kind of things, carefully paints with lacquer and sells them or gives them as gifts. We had planned to have a little partnership at one stage where I would supply the stamps and she would do the craftwork. It was planned to give gifts using topics or countries. For example, I would supply 100 train stamps, she would make a lovely box from them and someone who liked trains would be the benefactor !

The project is on hold for various reasons, but still may make a comeback at some point.

Londonbus1

Hi Ash,

I am currently working on a project - a bit of mix of stamp collecting and scrapping.

My closest friend of 16 years who has no interest in stamp collecting but has had to deal with my daily bits and bobs about it. It is her birthday in July and I know that if anyone asks her what is one thing about me that was unique/special/irritating/annoying it would be the stamp collecting.

The project:

I am going to design a book with one of the online printing companies revolving around our friendship, starting with how we met till present day. And on each page/section I am going to tie in a stamp that reflects that period of our friendship. I will leave a space for the stamp/s and then mount them on afterwards.

So it is kind of a thematic collection on a personal friendship. I will be asking board members for ideas of stamps once I have all the keywords sorted out.

I am really looking forward to the finished product - I might even get two printed.

Drew

Regarding personal projects with my stamps, I rarely have the time.Hopefully when I retire I can do something nice....or maybe when everyone else goes on holiday for two weeks and leaves me in peace !

But the ideas are being noted for the future.

I have lately [last few years] been keeping all my incoming envelopes and cards in boxes ! Not sure where it's going but I do know that soon, the shirts will have to go as the space for envelopes is getting smaller!

Toplessbus1...

Great idea Drew! She will love it [assuming it's for who I think it's for!].

Maybe I will get a peek if we meet in June?

Noseybus1

Great stuff guys! This is what I wanted to hear! Love the ideas, and the sentiment :) Look forward to seeing the finished projects someday..I fear mine may never be "finished", but thats part of the fun! Will post pics anyways mind you once I'm close to happy. I remember seeing a basket posted on here one time full of GB Penny reds, love the idea!

I have now started a collection of my own covers as well, one very special with my name in stamps. I have them set aside in hopes of one day artistically preserving them (by my own standards) and not just in bags and boxes, something to display to everyone. So far everything I've recieved from SCF members have become sentimental to me and I can't seem to part with any of them...perhaps an SCF commemoration piece is in order...hmmm

Another project I have been working for sometime now - with the help of fellow collectors/dealers is the stamp wiki - online catalog. This is a lifetime project and am always looking for new recruits . Currently the site has over 9000 images with over 3000 stamp sets represented.

Our focus at the moment is Great Britain and have all images and information complete from 1953 to 2007. A page holder for every set for GB. We also have all presentation packs and first day covers for Great Britain from 1977 to 2006 complete - Great Britain

The main link is in my signature. The nice thing about it is that it uses the same software as wikipedia so anyone can edit and make changes and updates to the information. Once we have Great Britain in a more complete state I will start a new thread here regarding the site.

When I was actively teaching and in a classroom of my own, I used two stamp related projects in relation to general world geography or current events or whatever seemed to fit.

Early on, every year, I put up a large (36" x 48") collage that I had made by pasting damaged or just generally cheap stamps onto heavy poster paper until it was completely filled with stamps. Overlapping, straight, slanted, upside down - it didn't matter. Beside it was a large, modern map of the world - as big as I could find.

Whenever one of the kids could connect a stamp with a country, they were to put a pushpin in the stamp, a corresponding one in the map and join them with a long piece of coloured yarn. They seemed to like it and the wall very soon resembled a very large spiderweb produced by a very drunken beast. They were encouraged to use any and all references and there were always atlases and old Scotts Catalogues and anything that I could lay my hands on for reference. I even had parents asking if they could show their kid where a stamp from "the old country" was.

It had the advantage of being easy an relatively cheap and simple to manage. The poster, as you can imagine, had to be redone every couple of years as the pushpin holes rather chewed it up but wasn't a demanding project. I only had to purchase a big lot of inexpensive kiloware every couple of years as I usually gave a prize whenever anyone threaded a new country and by Christmas we were down to researching dead countries, cyrillic alphabets, and East Asian script.

I often wonder if any of the prizes ever prompted a deeper interest in collecting but your average 10 to 12 year old had an awful lot on their plate and might never come back to it until much later.

The other things I had done involved miniature art projects or actual thematic collage projects involving postage stamps. Equally interesting but very hard to get enough material for 35 or so kids to productively work with.

I currently work in a secondary school and would love to get the kids involved in stamps at any level - I just can't see it happening. It is all sport and game consoles for them. Great idea regarding the stamps and matching them to a world map - I will have a chat with the geography teacher and see what she thinks.

That sounds like something I could with my my kids :) Great idea!! Thank you!

I have an old cigar box which is full of 'junk' stamps, those that are torn, stained or otherwise not fit enough to sell or trade. I am slowing covering the box with them (the top is done) but I fear I have more than enough, and may end up covering the inside too. Note - I have kept the Canada Cigar Excise stamp exposed, so it has become part of the coating.

Love it Jamesw!! **Going out to buy some more glue** ~Ash

I have a special collection stock book.
It is where I put stamps, covers and letters.
They are of personal value.
It is my treasured collection of bits and pieces.
Mostly the memories behind a piece that is collected is irreplaceable.