How Do You Label Your Stamps On Blank Pages?

Hi,
To explain the title question a bit........
I collect worldwide (thru 1960) and the collection is housed in 8 Scott International albums with the newer Scott pages being used.

Behind each country I have a quadrille page which I intend to use for those stamps without designated spots on the pre-printed Scott pages.

I am (finally) at that point now, and am wondering "how do I label these homeless stamps?" Should I put the Scott number under them, or their production year, or group by type, or ????

So back to the original question...."How do you label your blank page stamps?"

Thank you!

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

Why not do it in the same manner as the original album? I mean, make your "blank" pages look like the ones that are in the album.


Peter

Just use the scott number written with a fine #2 pencil ,that way you can erase it if other stamps are later add to the page ,so you can keep them in order .

mobilman44,

Here's an example of how I do my blank Scott pages...





I have also seen pages labeled using a typewriter (remember those?)...gives it that "old fashioned" look.

Typewriter? That's pretty cuttng edge. I use a fountain pen.

You must have better handwriting than I! On the other hand, it has been 16 years since I owned a typewriter. Which I hadn't used for years, so did not bother to take it with me when I moved across the country.

I generally use Scott Advantage stockpages to hold stamps in my Scott albums for which there is no space on the printed pages. With a small piece of pager with the catalog number and whatever additional info that seems useful.

I don't use blank pages, so I haven't yet developed my own system for labeling them. But if I did I'd do what you're doing which is to choose a standard "protocol" for how I'd present stamps on those pages. Different methods can look equally good, but you want the one that's most flexible for you and the one you can manage best.

I like Chris2015's method above because it's basically pretty foolproof. Print out an appropriate heading, attach it to the page (a little rubber cement would work fine) and you're set to go. If you need to add additional explanations, keep it short and perhaps attach them to the page last beneath the stamps you've mounted. Short is better than long. These labels can be printed on slightly heavier than normal card stock for a little more impact as well as ease of mounting to the page. Glue like rubber cement does not show through the page.

I'd avoid printing onto the actual album page since that involves a great deal of guessimating, and you're likely to be off too often and have to reprint the page with more or less space for the stamps.

Some of the most sophisticated stamp albums years ago used to include handwriting -- or hand printing -- which is still very appealing and much more personal. You can handwrite (print or cursive, as you prefer) your labels. I love to look at older albums like these because a work of craftsmanship in the owner's own handwriting is much more personal than mere stamps stuck on a page. Which is more appealing to you -- inheriting an album in which your father or grandfather merely stuck stamps into spaces in an album, or inheriting an album hand-labeled in their own handwriting with their own comments? I know which one I'd prefer.

As to bad handwriting, we all have bad handwriting -- until we practice a little. Printing is easy enough. Just develop a simple, clear style which you find easy. Use a good ink, preferably from a good fountain pen with ink cartridges since it won't smudge, the ink flows easily, and you don't get the blobs and messiness of other pens.
I say this as a long-time teacher who regularly wrote dozens of pages of comments on student papers. As I wrote, my bad handwriting took on a clearer style. And I found a fountain pen much easier to write with than any other type of pen.

An alternative to a fountain pen would be one of the newer smooth ink pens (roller balls or whatever they're called) or even a felt tip pen with a small point, both of which can look nice and won't generally smudge. Buy a bunch and try them out until you find one that works just write. Avoid cheapie pens like ball points which always smudge.

With the label system, you can add the labels after the stamps, and I wouldn't go writing on the page, particularly one loaded with stamps, for fear I'd mess up the page or damage the stamps with ink.

Whatever you decide, practice a little, then do pages of cheaper stamps before more expensive. Eventually, you'll have some great-looking, personal album pages that are much better than standard pre-printed pages. And the work you do making the pages will take your mind off problems and be a kind of refuge for you like any form of craftsmanship. Too much collecting is, I think, just "putting" stamps in binders and little more.

I write the Scott number and any other descriptive text I need using MS Word.

I then print that on my inkjet printer, using AVERY #18665 clear, full sheet (8½x11) label stock.

I cut the printed sheet into the appropriate size and place the label on the blank page as needed.

Scott albums include the appropriate number in each space provided, but they are covered once the stamp is mounted, and as we all know, stamps are not always in numerical order on Scott pages - especially plate block albums. So, I used the process to add visible Scott numbers to every stamp and plate block in all of my Scott National and Plate block albums. Yes, it was very time consuming (and educational), but the final result is well worth it. No more guessing at Scott numbers.

Here are two examples of that: