8/30/2020
Australian Stamp Collector Kristie Corr has used her time in isolation to come up with a creative and unique way to display her stamp collection. Posting on the "Repurpose + Upcycle = Inspiration" group on Facebook, Corr showed how she displayed over 10,000 stamps as a mosaic in her home. She said,
I used to collect postage stamps as a kid.. (I’m guessing 30-32 yrs ago). I would sit for ages soaking them off envelopes and then I’d read all about them in a book that my late Grandfather had given me. I recently found my old collection in the garage. The album was starting to turn yellow and I hadn’t looked at my stamps for a very long time. They were too good to give/throw away or keep in an old album in the garage.. So late one night I had an idea that I would create a feature wall in our home.
Using stamps from her original collection, stamps from friends and family and purchases from collectors, Corr arranged the stamps onto thin pieces of plywood- so the stamps are not directly glued to the wall and can be removed. Corr says after using wallpaper glue to stick the stamps, she will seal the wall with a water-based sealant after quarantine restrictions allow home improvement stores to open. The stamps used on the wall originate from all over the world- from her native Australia to South Africa, The United States, Tonga, Fiji, Mexico, Cuba, India, Indonesia, England, Rwanda, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and more.
Now the project is complete, Corr says that it will now become a learning experience for her whole family.
It turned out better than I ever imagined! We look forward to reading the books we have about some of the stamps. We can’t wait to play a ‘pairs’ game.. we can use the postage prices in our home schooling maths work.. we can count how many Queens.. puppies.. kangaroos.. frogs.. flowers.. horses.. It’s ENDLESS!
Upcycling, or the art of making existing products into new ones, is easy to do with stamps- and can be done safely to display stamps beautifully without damaging them, like in Corr's project.
Want to make a project of your own? Add some used stamps to your existing collection from the APS Stamp Store.
Sara Loebig
Sara Loebig is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York.
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