Category: Mailart

Glue recipes vary from great to disastrous. But, they can be a fine alternative to “lickable” adhesive-backed paper and commercially prepared glues, described in my article, Glues and adhesives for artistamps.

Climate differences can affect how well a glue recipe works. Likewise, personal taste–sometimes literally–can influence your choices.

Artistamp genius Jas kindly sent this recipe for stamp glue, as developed by Bugpost.

Get:

1/4 oz. unflavored gelatin
1 T cold water
3 T boiling water
1/2 t white corn syrup
1/2 t lemon extract

Make:
1. In small bowl sprinkle gelatin into cold water, put aside until softened
2. Pour softened gelatin into boiling water & stir until completely disolved
3. Add corn syrup & lemon extract, mix well.

Apply:
1. Brush thinly on to back of stamp sheet
2. Let dry.

Comments:
1. Double boiler is handy
2. Gum tends to react more slowly when licked than conventional gums
3. Mixture can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for a very small amount of time. You may need to reheat it if it’s too gummy and thick.

Note: The lemon extract repels bugs which like to munch on starches (such as gelatin and corn syrup), but you could probably use other flavoring extracts from the baking supplies aisle of the grocery store. Artistamp collectors in tropical countries may choose to store stamps in plastic.

Also, before using another flavor, remember that many people have life-threatening allergies and react badly to anything with peanuts in them.  Since this may include almond flavoring, and perhaps others, humor your tastebuds carefully!

More recipes!

Here’s one contributed by

Arlene Shipley:

6 Tbs. white vinegar
4 packets (1oz.) unflavored gelatin
1 Tbs. mint extract. (or whatever flavor you want)

Boil vinegar in small pan. Add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Add flavoring and remove from heat. Use brush to spread on envelope flaps. Let dry. Moisten to seal. When leftover glue cools, it will set. It may be reused again and again if you take a little caution when storing it. Place it in a small HEAT PROOF container and you can shoot it with your heat gun to remelt it. Or you can place the small glass jar into a pan of water and heat it that way. Just take caution not to break your glass containers when reheating the glue.

Another one, from Linda Mulligan, described as a Girl Scout recipe:

One part white glue
one part white vinegar (you may have to play with the proportions)

Coat let dry and coat again. This taste awful so use a sponge not your tongue when wetting to seal.

Here are a couple from Rubber Rabbit:

18 T (that’s about a cup and a bit) vinegar-bring to a boil; add 1 pkg Jello in whatever flavor; stir til dissolved; let cool; keep in the refrigerator between uses. Brush on and let dry. that one is from Coffee Break Design.

I’m not too sure on this one; someone will correct me I’m sure: 1T each vinegar and white glue; drop or two of peppermint flavoring.

Those recipes were all kindly provided by members of the AML (Artistamps) list at Yahoo!Groups.

If you spot errors, missing links, or if you have yet another recipe, please let me know with the contact form, above, or leave your glue recipe as a comment.

Artistamps can be described as fake postage. Some people call them faux postage, Cinderellas, postoids, or even real postage.

But at the post office, they may call them “fake.”

In other words, if you use artistamps in place of “real” postage, the post office is likely to return your mail, postage due.

Those of us who make artistamps often insist that they are real postage… just not from generally recognized countries.

That is, we often make up our own countries and/or issuing authorities. We’re not trying to pretend they’re legal postage in the US, or any other country from which we may be mailing these stamps. We create these stamps for fun, whimsy, art, and/or a statement.

Artistamps can be printed or individually handmade. They may have perforated edges like traditional postage, or not. They may have a pretend ‘price’ designation on them, or not.

Artistamps are loosely related (or not) to the mailart movement, which in turn evolved from the Dada and perhaps Fluxus and/or Chaos movements.

Or not.

Mostly, artistamps are art, and they’re often fun, too. Some of us make up our issuing authorities.

We send our stamps–on cards, envelopes, and other items–often to people we don’t know. Those people may respond by sending us artistamps and/or mailart.

Or not. (I say that a lot, in connection with mailart.) It’s a boundariless field, and everyone participating probably has his/her own definitions for this art form.

—

Here’s one of my artistamps, from my imaginary country of Ballynafae. The picture actually shows the post office in Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, Ireland. The AML designation is from the Artistamp Mailing List, a Yahoo Group that sometimes organizes artistamp mailings and swaps.

I’ve been making artistamps since around 1978.

My first stamps were handmade, one by one, and sent with my zines of that era. I hand-carved a border that looked like a perforated stamp edge, and stamped it repeatedly to create the ‘frame’ of each stamp. Then, I put art in the middle.

At present, I don’t have copies of any of them. (I may find some as I go through old boxes of art supplies, etc., but that’s unlikely.)

But hey, if those mailings brought people joy, they served their purpose.

This webpage features many of my early digitally-created artistamps. Many of them are clickable, opening printable images… of varying quality. (When I saved my first digital files, I didn’t always understand things like resolution. So, some of them look and/or print better than others.)

Sunrise Series

This block of stamps features some of my sunrise paintings.

Tapestry Parade Series

This block of six stamps includes photos of Disney’s EPCOT parade, Tapestry. The puppeteers include Disney cast member Jeremy Pace (in the lower left stamp). The link opens a PDF version of the stamps.

Disney World Tribute Series

This series features photos from Disney World. This set is not available in printable size.

Ballynafae Mardi Gras – 2001 Series

Also not available in printable size, this series includes photos from the popular tourist attraction, ‘South of the Border’.

Kilmallock Ireland Series

Kilmallock is south of Limerick, Ireland, and it’s one of my favorite towns in Ireland. Many of my ancestors came from this area.

The theme for the Art Day 2005 mail art call was “Art in the Streets.” These 18 entries were diverse and fabulous.

In 2005, Art Day was under different management than in the years that followed. So, this was the only year I was the organizer for that event’s mailart celebration.

I received the art in Houston, Texas, and scanned. Then, I forwarded it to Los Angeles, Calfornia, and from there it was placed on public display as part of a large Art Day celebration in nearby Glendale.

The scans include postcards, envelopes, and any enclosures in them. If the return address was clearly part of the art, it is displayed. If I wasn’t certain, I omitted it or blurred it.

THE ARTISTS: The participants were, alphabetically by last name: Vycki Angel (Pinson, AL), Julia Cardia (Vinhedo, Brazil), Sylvia Cunha (Campinos, Brasil), Michel Della Vedova (Limoges, France) Dante Erbolato Neto (Sao Paolo, Brazil), Sandoval LeFebure (Austin, TX), Suzlee Ibrahim (Shah Alam, Malaysia), Joe Messiah (Portland, OR), George Rivera (Denver, CO), Ashley Schick (Clearwater, FL), Shmuel (Brattleboro, VT), Pablo Wright (Cincinnati, OH),