Making My Own Album

So far I have only been using hinges but am looking at upgrading to nicer stamps and creating my own albums. I plan on using Scott mounts, but not totlally sold on the idea. a few questions:

1. Which mount from Scotts is your preference? (precut, strips, black or clear)
2. What are the most common sizes to start with?
3. I know enough to use archival paper, but is there a paper that works best in your opinion? (ie, card stock, linen, etc)

Thanks for your help!

*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

Jay

Good luck! I use Hawid-style, black mounts, without split back. Strips tend to work out much cheaper. Presumably there's a US stockist who does offers such as this -

http://www.worldstamps.co.uk/Hawid_...style_mounts

I then use blank quadrille leaves. Linen-hinged are nice, but pretty expensive. Blank quadrille in bulk are fairly cheap

http://www.worldstamps.co.uk/Salisb...gback_leaves

Geoff

Jay,

In terms of mounts, I use Hawid-style, clear mounts. These are top loading. While I like the look of stamps in a black mount, I find that clear mounts are more forgiving of less-than-perfect cutting and the clear mounts mix well with hinged stamps in an album.

I also use the strips. I just buy the largest size for the price, then trim them. This way, you really only need to purchase a couple of different sizes.

Jay,
A couple of examples of pages I made recently (modified Steiner pages) -Chris

Thank you all. Chris, Thank you for the examples, that is just about what I want to do to a T. What kind of paper did you use? I was looking at linen papers and such. Not sure if mounting stuff will stick better to one paper over the other. Also, the mounts, are they only joined front and back at the bottom? That seems like it woul not secure well. I looked for a video on the Hawid mounts but couldn't find any. You must moisten them??

The thicker the paper, the less likely to crinkle, but the trickier to turn. Nothing much falls out of Hawid mounts, in my experience. A dab from a glue-stick holds them in place.

Yes, Hawid mounts are attached at the bottom only. Good thing is that they can be trimmed to any size. I also have never experience stamps to fall out of them.

My paper is 80 lb text, cream colored.

Best website to purchase Scott/Prinz stamp mounts at discounted prices with free shipping:
http://www.globalstamps.com/

I use Scott/Prinz mounts, also from Global. I buy them in strips, though the most common sizes really depend on the country you are working with. I have a shoebox that holds one of each size from 20mm to 48mm and a couple drawers for spares (did I mention I bought a supplies lot several years ago that had lots of mounts?). I like the contrast that black gives you, even if it does magnify flaws a bit. :)

billsey,

Looks like you also are adding Specialty borders to your Steiner pages, correct? What size paper are you using?

Chris, is the border something easy to do with the steiner site? I really like the look you both have.

Thank you billsey!

No, you can't actually do anything (other than download the files) on the Steiner site. I use PowerPoint to add the borders, flag, coat of arms, and additional text/photos/maps, etc.

Actually, its 70lb text...

EarthChoice Colors - Opaque Text, Cream, Vellum, 8.5" x 11", 70 lb. Text - 500 sheets (Domtar, 81077)

Thank you. THink I will try and develop my own pages using PP

I think developing stamp album pages from scratch would be pretty difficult and time-consuming. You might consider using the Steiner pages as a starting point. They already have all basic information there for you.