Sealing stamps

[caeterle]

I have a plan for jewelry, but this is not necessarily a jewelry topic, so I put it in here.

I have a friend who has been using stamps in her sewing for years, but I have always wondered if they are sealed in any way because my guess would be they are prone to ripping pretty easily.
We talked about stamps in a daily thread before in which I mentioned that I still have the family stamp albums, probably worth $5.45 or something like that
As resin is not an option for me (although I saw a tutorial for a domed look that was very nice), so I thought about laminating them and hoping for the best as the results sometimes come out a little wavy and I have no idea if that has to do with the paper or the size of the paper I have used before (the laminator was originally used for some zoo documents), but I hope as stamps are small, that I won't have that problem.

Another option may be to use clear packing tape - which I don't have at the moment.

Have any of you ever tried something like that?

[brad]

Once you mentioned stamp albums and packing tape, I assume you are referring the postage stamps, or printed stamps on paper or fabric, and not impression stamps? Can you post a pic? Brad

[caeterle]

Yes, ordinary vintage postage stamps. Still thinking of that old daily thread, I failed to be more precise, sorry.

[brad]

I once worked with a sewable, clear "vinyl fabric." It comes in all kinds of thicknesses and attributes. You could glue the stamps on to this fabric. Then sew it into your piece? Go to Amazon and google vinyl fabric to see what is offered. Brad

[caeterle]

Ah, the dreaded word - glue. I'm really not good with glue and I wouldn't want the glue to show through the vinyl.

On the other hand I know that laminating can destroy paper over time and I have no idea how long "over time" could be and how the old stamp paper would hold up. Different kinds of paper can react so differently that it is really hard to predict (as I could see at work every day, we had old journals that are still in great condition while others that may even be younger fell apart. Of course none of those is laminated, though).
Librarians frown upon laminated items for storage, but actually packing tape doesn't make us much happier because it can also eat away at paper.

I also thought about nail polish, but again, no idea if that would be enough to seal the paper and if it could yellow over time.

Another possibility, also with the adhesion problem, though, could be the foil that we use to protect some book covers. I think I may even have still have some of that. It's not as bad as usual tape, so maybe not as bad as packing tape, either.

And maybe I'm worrying too much.

[brad]

Hmmm, how about this...make a high-rez scan of the stamp, print it out on vinyl sticker paper, then stick that on to vinyl fabric. The sticker paper is somewhat weatherproof, the vinyl fabric can be sewn. (I am way out over my skis, because I still do not know what the end product is?) but my tossing things out might cause you to have a "Eureka" moment. Brad

[caeterle]

I may begin to sound annoying by saying no to everything, but I'm really grateful for your ideas, Brad. It helps a lot bouncing off thoughts even if it doesn't lead to anything because every thought is worth exploring.
I don't want to do prints, though. For me, they don't have the same charm as the real thing.

And as for not saying anything about the end product, it's normal for me not to share jewelry ideas or WIPs as I never even know myself what the end product is going to look like You could call it a creative superstition of mine, I don't want to jinx anything.

I may just have to pick the ones I think are really cheap and try different methods.

[brad]

Feb 29, 2024 15:07:25 GMT -6 caeterle said:

I may begin to sound annoying by saying no to everything, but I'm really grateful for your ideas, Brad. It helps a lot bouncing off thoughts even if it doesn't lead to anything because every thought is worth exploring.
I don't want to do prints, though. For me, they don't have the same charm as the real thing.

And as for not saying anything about the end product, it's normal for me not to share jewelry ideas or WIPs as I never even know myself what the end product is going to look like You could call it a creative superstition of mine, I don't want to jinx anything.

I may just have to pick the ones I think are really cheap and try different methods.

Not a problem on you being careful with ideas.  I understand.  And using the original stamp is better, anyway. 
How about brush on, wipe on, spray lacquers etc, like one sees on bowls  that were decoupaged with paper cigar bands and stamps etc then clear finished.  Even after a hundred years they look good.  I assume it was nasty ol lacquer and not shellac?  I did see a modern clear finish product for paper called Mod Podge (its waterbased sealer, glue, finish) and others on Amazon.

 Brad

[caeterle]

I have absolutely no experience with lacquer because I think my relationship with it would probably be the same as with glue. I have used shellac on copper before, but it's no fun putting it on wire, so I stopped using it (does anyone need a bottle? ).
I have never used Mod Podge myself, but have seen it being used by a friend. I think it wouldn't be enough as it is used on just one thin layer of a paper napkin and the stamp paper is thicker, but maybe a decoupage sealer for thicker paper would work. Nice hint, thank you!

[DawninCal]

A lot of good suggestions have been shared, but given your glue issue, I think clear packing tape would be the way to go. You could tape the stamp to a large area and then trim to your needs. I've never seen clear tape yellow, it's pretty much water proof and it's tough as can be.

There is a product used by scrap bookers that I really like, but I don't know if you can get it in Germany. It's called glossy accents and it's similar to resin. The beauty of it is that it's much easier to work with, ready to go out of the bottle which has a nice long, skinny nozzle for easier control and it's not sticky like glue or resin. It's quite cloudy when first applied, but it dries to a beautiful clear finish and I've yet to have any problems with it yellowing over time. It also domes if that's the look you'd like and it dries much more quickly than resin. Oh, and it's not expensive either, at least not here.

I'm quite curious about what your latest project, Cat.



Dawn

[DawninCal]

P.S. I used Glossy Accents to seal this pendant - sharing photos to give you an idea of how it looks after it's dry.







Dawn

[caeterle]

Thank you, Dawn!
You can get Glossy Accents here (for the example from the shop I just bought from last week, figures). Most of the feedback is good, but a few people say that the ink is running. I will keep it in mind.
I don't need a domed look, I just want the stamps to be safe enough and water proof would be nice. I found a decoupage sealer that is supposed to be water proof, so maybe I'll give that one a try.

[DawninCal]

If the ink runs, the way to fix that is to seal the original art (in your case the stamp) with a mix of water and white glue (such as Elmer's or Mod Podge). Simply apply the water/glue mix with a paint brush (including all four sides of the stamp) and let dry. I usually do this step twice just in case I missed a spot.

Let dry overnight and then you can apply the Glossy Accents without worrying about the ink running. It sounds like you're going in a different direction, but I thought I'd post that info in case anyone else is looking at ways to seal art work.



Dawn

[caeterle]

I wish I had some ordinary stamps to try different things on because I don't want to use up the vintage ones, but the paper feels different, so it might not be of much help, anyway. Also I hardly ever get any mail with real stamps anymore.

Thank you for the tip, I have several bottles in my cart as I'm feeling very uncreative and undecided today. Stupid question, what would you use for a surface. As kids we managed to glue a whole bunch of stamps to a marble top in our bathroom (we had wetted them to get them off the mail and very smartly decided to dry them on the marble top, they all had to be scratched off and thrown away because no wetting got them off again, my mother was not amused), and I'd like to avoid something similar

[DawninCal]

I'm going out for a while, but will think about your question and post an answer later. I also thought of another product that might work for you.



Dawn