I just got the coolest thing!

As most probably know by now, I write a lot of hand written letters to family and friends. I write them on parchment, with fountain pens and have these old style parchment envelopes I send them in. I seal all the letters with a wax seal stamp on the outside of the envelopes.

Historically, the wax I've used for the seals is the sealing wax which comes in a candle form. So you light it, and melt the wax into a puddle and then press the stamp into it. Well, this works, but it's kind of a pain because you have to be quick else some of the wax from the candle will drip on the evelope where you don't want it. Usually the other way to do it is to use wax pellets and melt them in a small metal spoon over a candle. But again, this can be messy, especially with the char on the bottom of the spoon. So I've been looking for a better way.

The other day I was out on Amazonia and I saw this stuff for wax seals which works in a regular hot glue gun. Well, I just had to order some of that! It took a while to show up, and I even forgot what it was when it showed up. So, my first attempt was to melt it as usual which worked. Then I remembered what the sticks were for! DOH!! So I went down to the basement and grabbed my trusty hot glue gun and stuck one of the sticks in there.

Wow...it works perfectly!!! I was shocked. Now I wish I had 50 letters to send because this new wax seal system is just awesome!

Guess I better get writing!

P.S. Anyone need a dumb letter from a cowboy out in the sticks?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I love sealing wax! Can you show us pictures? I'll happily be your penpal if you like!

did you design your own seal? this is frigging rad! i barely get any mail these days so lol you need a pen pal im always down for some cool old school mail .

“ It took a while to show up, and I even forgot what it was when it showed up”

From now on send your stuff to me, I’ll file it all and send it to you when you need it.

Awesome idea though, I haven’t heard of you doing the game of thrones seal,..but I want that.

Well done.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

a reply to: RalagaNarHallas

Yes, I did design it and then sent it out to be cast in brass.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I'd like to be your pen pal. I have the wax seal and brass stamper thingies, but I make a mess with them. LOL

Fancy having a pen pal from over The Pond?
Resume........
#1. I have experience of being a pen pal from my teenage years and beyond
#2. I love writing, and use a fountain pen for special times.
#3. I have a Celtic seal and wax I normally use on my students Diplomas
#4 I will send you Sunny Rainbows

Smiley Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

That's cool you still send actual letters. Fountain pens are cool. How about stepping up your game though? How about using a quill pen?

Of course, then you'll need ink.

Of course you'll need paper. You could buy it, of course, but you could also make your own. This isn't a step by step but it'll give you an idea on how to do it.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: RalagaNarHallas

Yes, I did design it and then sent it out to be cast in brass.

My Dad did the exact same thing years back.
But he found that most of the time the post office managed to break or damage the seal before it arrived at its destination.
This was in the UK,and my Dad reckoned it was maybe the auto sorting machines that were not designed for this amount of old schoolness,so the seals would get damaged.

Have you had any seals damaged in the post?

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Have you had any seals damaged in the post?

Funny you would ask this. The last time I visited Mom before she passed, I specifically looked at some of the letters I had sent her for this very thing. I expected many of the seals to be damaged, but not a single one was. In fact, they looked as new as the day I had applied them. The sealing waxes I have been using are pretty flexible when set so they must be withstanding the sorting.

Last night I did a test envelope and put about four seals on one just to test out the new system. These seals are even more flexible than my usual ones. Just now I took the seals to see how far I could bend them before they would break. I can bend them into a complete "U" shape and they won't break. I imagine if I bent them like this repeatedly they'd break eventually, but a couple times doesn't seem to affect them. I can't imagine the post office would subject them to this much stress, and certainly not repeatedly.

So, I haven't really had this problem, at least not that I'm aware of.

a reply to: Skid Mark

Yeah, the whole quill pen thing is cool. I have a couple around here somewhere. I don't use them too much though because they just make a mess if you're not super careful. With quill pens you usually have to use a really 'wet' ink which requires special non-porous paper and of course a blotter. It's fun, but it is a slow process overall, and invariably you wind up with some ink somewhere you don't want it. Some might call it character I guess.

Maybe I'll try some of this again in the future, but for now I just use fountain pens.

Making my own paper? Fah-geddaboutit! LOL! I'll just use regular paper.

a reply to: KaDeCo

a reply to: Night Star

a reply to: angelchemuel

I will send you all some PM's to go over how we might do this.

Sounds fun.

My grandmother had given me this huge old secretary/bookcase a long time ago. Unfortunately it fell apart. So while we were dismantling it to re use the wood, we found 4 or 5 old metal quill pen tips. I still have them, and really need to try them out.

Isn't there something so calming, in just writing? I love it. Good for you for keeping it up. I need to get back into sending letters.

a reply to: chiefsmom

Yes, it's very therapeutic actually. At first I used to struggle with what to write, and figuring out how to start off a letter was quite difficult. But then I imagined what it must have been like back when the post was really the only form of communications. It didn't matter really what a letter said as much as just hearing from someone at all. I realized you could write about just about anything at all (within reason of course). The most seemingly trivial thing could be of great interest to the recipient. I was always surprised by this.

We get so 'programmed' in our daily lives that we sometimes take things around us for granted. Sharing some of these things which seem boring and 'everyday' (to us) with someone else can brighten their day a little.

I exchange letters with my oldest sister who is exquisitely intelligent (like PhD in Russian history type intelligent) and I would worry about what to write to not seem like some dumb country bumpkin. I realized in pretty short order that I could send her whatever crazy thing I thought of, and she would find interest in it and respond in an equally crazy (yet blindingly intelligent) way.

So yes, you need to break out that old writing gear and start sending some letters to folks. I'm sure they will love them more than you can know.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
P.S. Anyone need a dumb letter from a cowboy out in the sticks?

Yes. Write, 'Augie, I can't quit you'.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
P.S. Anyone need a dumb letter from a cowboy out in the sticks?

Yes. Write, 'Augie, I can't quit you'.

Augie, I can't quit you.

**waiting**

Nothing happened. Was something supposed to happen? I looked around, nothing happened.

I think it is neat how many people in this thread expressed interest in becoming a pen pal.

We lost something in the transition from the handwritten word, methinks.

Cheers

Yea, Yea...

Pic's or it didn't happen!

originally posted by: baddmove
Yea, Yea...

Pic's or it didn't happen!

Said the digital internet.