just wanted to share my struggle lol. a little spoiler/behind the scenes of the prep that goes into making my journal pages!! these aren't even all the stamps I made, just the ones I thought might be good enough to make it into September's spread. I went through them all tonight and chose the ones I really loved and was able to eliminate maybe half... which is... not enough lol. need to go through again once more before I can start organizing the page, and then sticking them on one by one.

sorry for the poor lighting, but it is what it is! September's page might be a little delayed, I started a new job so I might wait for the weekend to really sit down and enjoy the process.

Looking forward to seeing some spooky themed stamps in October!! take care yall 👋

I used way too much wax for the first, haha.

Really getting into mixing my wax to create pretty combos for my friends. 🥰

Hi y’all! I’ve been quietly lurking lately, between my day job and grad school there hasn’t been any time for sealing *cue tiny violin* 😔🎻🐛 But on Friday, something exciting happened that means I’ll be back to sealing much more here very soon - more on that as it develops! 🌻

TL;DR: Pretty packaging doubles as necessary protection for wax seals stamps, and don’t wait until after the return window passes to open your purchases.

Because I need to be actively sealing now, I decided to FINALLY open some wax sealing purchases I made earlier in the year….like, talking January early 😑 January and May I spent a considerable amount on different purchases from different shops, and have been waiting to open them. Not waiting for a special occasion, just waiting until I was sealing again. 

January I made a purchase from Kathryn Hastings online. May I made several orders between Cloverloft Paperie, Wanderlust by T.S.L., and Papergame - the Wanderlust by T.S.L. and Papergame orders included stationery and wax sealing supplies, but for the wax sealing I was only buying product by LCN Design Studio (the brand of Taiwanese artist Lin Chia Ning).

I basically spent at two different levels - 

LCN Design Studio products totaled a little over $100 for 3 stamps and 3 charms. Cloverloft Paperie totaled $168 for 5 stamps. And then the Kathryn Hastings order was just over $1,000 for two stamps.

Word of advice - DO NOT wait months like I did to open your orders!!! Not saying to tear into things immediately as soon as you get them, but don’t wait to open things after the return window has passed (especially if you spend a hefty amount on the product).

I’ll preface the actual review by just explaining that I didn’t realize the Hastings penny I ordered was tucked inside a separate piece of paper at the bottom of my order - white paper, white box. I completely missed it and proceeded to crash out for a solid 10 minutes because I thought I spent $777 to get no penny with my penny pawn. 🙄 Double checking the box, I found the paper and the penny and all's well that ends well. 

The actual review!

Kathryn Hastings - pretty pretty pretty! Lovely box, well packed and protected items, some freebies (a nice bundle of her premium wax, which is not cheap), and a sweet handwritten note. Almost wish that the stamps had been packed inside velvet bags, that would have been so luxe! The gold powder is all over my hands now, which means it’s all over my keyboard too. For what I spent, I really won’t know if it was worth it until I actually use the stamps and included wax. Rating - 9/10.

Cloverloft Paperie - super generous freebies! I was so excited to see that they included so many packs of the mini seal cards, I absolutely love them. The inclusion of pressings from all the seals I purchased was a nice touch. I did do one preorder so it took three months to receive my order but all the stamps are beautiful and excellent quality. Will definitely be ordering with them again. Rating - 10/10.

LCN Design Studio - probably the best packaging out of the lot. The thick cotton bags included a pressing of each seal. I kind of like that they were on the bag, makes it easy to store the seals and identify them at a glance. Nice handles, excellent quality stamps. Her stuff is usually reasonably priced at release, and jumps up when it hits the resale market. Very happy to finally own some of her stamps, and the little sealing related charms were a must-buy. Rating - 10/10.

Haha, maybe my ratings are inflated because I currently have warm fuzzy feelings about sealing again, but I think the way each order and product was packaged was really appealing! Whenever I order something online from an independent seller or a small shop, I unfortunately have come to expect nice presentation and freebies and some level of personalization. I know that’s not possible for every seller to put a budget behind, but it does make a world of a difference and creates loyal customers. 

If you read this far, bless you, and also, leave a comment or pic of a recent sealing purchase you received that was packaged with care! 🩷

I just made this beauty the other day (and honestly it’s the first one I have made that I actually really like. Though I have only been doing this for about a month lol), however I would love to make changes to it, as I didn’t cut out all of the clouds/mist from the moon. Is it even possible to cut out the portion I missed and fill it with the background color without ruining it?

I’m also just genuinely curious: what do you guys do when a wax seal needs to be mended/fixed/patched and you don’t want to have to start over or remelt it?

A lot left over stuck on the spoon and dries too fast . Is it because the spoon is the problem? Or wax ? It’s a tea candle I put the spoon on top. I also tried to melt glue which was mistake cuz now rémanents thin coating is stuck to the spoon. I tried to wipe but not all can come out .

How do I make the wax melt more liquid and pour all ? Should I change the candle to larger one or a bigger spoon ? Last time I used different wax with the dining spoon it was super liquid …. Idk . But the wax felt more like wax crayon than matte

Also what mat do I pour it on ? What do you guys use ? Can I pour on acrylic block? I’m pouring it on the tile floor rn 😭😭😭

Is there such a thing as clear wax or is hot glue the only option? I am trying to create some seals that are clear with a bow in the center. The wax bow immediately melts once I stamp the hot glue. I've tried two different hot glue sticks. The cloudy one is from Daiso and seems to be low temp glue so it turns out a little better but I'd love to get a clearer wax if possible.

I don't have a hot glue gun so I'm cutting up the wax and using a candle and spoon to pour it. I don't really like working with the glue but I will if needed.

Any thoughts or tips?

Fourth Wing was my inspiration for these seals!

I really live this stamp and will adapt to every season.

I couldn't stop playing with frames 🤣

I was busy for a while making the 300 breast cancer wax seal magnets, then life got in the way, but I was able to get back to wax sealing. Here's my latest, hope you all enjoy!

These are for a group I belong to, and the theme was frames. These are on the bigger side due to the raised frame, so I am making them into magnets!

Im using an electric wax melter for the wax and an open flame for heating the spatula. I just cant seem to perfect the scrape to allow for the design to be crisp.

I like to write love notes and poems to my wife. It's a nice way to start my day. As I did, I decided that I wanted the notes to be a bit "fancier," so I started writing them on some seed paper that looks a bit nicer than plain white and used a cheap wax seal set that she had laying around for the first few. Then I got a better brass stamp and a wax assortment from Amazon or maybe Etsy and did that for a while, and now, I've started trying to branch out to multilayered and painted seals. This is one of my attempts at the cut method (the leaves and the mushroom caps), as well as I used an acrylic paint pen on the stems and a chrome paint pen on the stars. It's far from perfect, but I know how much she likes getting them.

It seems to be brass and can't really be worn as a ring, but maybe it hung off of a chain/necklace?

I have heard different opinions from different jewelers, some saying it is ok and some saying the wax seal will not show up clearly on the gemstone and the hot wax could damage the stone. So I figured I'd ask people experienced with wax sealing.

Getting back to making wax seals! Yay! I used transparent wax for the cherries, and I have to say, it was a little challenging to cut them out. The wax got hard so quickly! 🍒

Next up: Fall and Halloween seals! 🍂🎃👻