LSN 2008 August - Cachet Makers Association

Left-Sider News
Cachetmakers
Association
AFDCS Chapter 65
Volume 20, Issue 8
August, 2008
Julian Pugh and Lois Hamilton Received
CMA Life Memberships
Julian Pugh and Lois Hamilton will be
honored with Cachet Makers Association Life Memberships during the Cachet Makers Meeting, on August 23, at
Americover 2008. This is a long overdue award for both honorees. Both
Lois and Julian were instrumental in
founding the Cachet Makers Association. This honor will be given in
recognition of their many outstanding achievements and contributions
throughout the years.
1
Digital Techniques That Can Enhance Your Cachets
Inside this issue:
Bourses and
Shows
3
Stampwants
Stores
3
Ebay Stores
3
Member Websites
3
By John Cropper, C-Cubed Cachets
For those who utilize a computer to
create and/or produce their covers,
some common techniques can add a
life-like touch to your designs.
Keep It Down Back There In
some instances, a specific design element needs to stand out. If you produce ―full-bleed‖ (edge-to-edge) designs and utilize a one-shot )single
picture, usually cropped) technique
for your background, sometimes this
background can distract from the
subject, stamp and/or cancel.
If you lack an expensive Photoshop
program, reducing the impact of the
background can be as simple as
opening the photo in a basic photo
editor and adjusting the brightness
(up) and contrast (down). For very
subtle backgrounds, I use a 30% increase in brightness and 30% decrease in contrast. For bolder, complementary backgrounds, I use less,
or uneven adjustment. You may
need to experiment with the percentages with your particular printer
and monitor combination to achieve
results that you are comfortable with
and you’ll find that this adjustment
may vary from design-to-design.
If your basic photo editor has other
controls, experiment with those as
well but always save your settings in
a notepad file for future reference.
Another important tip to remember
is that if you use a LCD (versus CRT
or big, heavy tubestyle) monitor,
color, brightness and sharpness tend
to differ more from your printed
copy It may take several attempts to
refine your design until you get used
to the differences between monitor
and printed copy.
Continued on page 2
From the Desk of 4
the Vice President by Helen
History Worth
Repeating Defini-
4
tion of an Ad-ON
Confessions of a 5
Cachetmaker
By Tom Harris
Page 2
Left-Sider News
in their cachet. That can occasionally be achieved from a press
copy of the stamp (scans can be
Transparency Is Your Friend found at USPS.com or virtuSometimes you find several difalstampclub.com well in advance
ferent elements you like and
of the release date).
want to incorporate into a single Often, however, the only way to
cachet, but they are spread
do this properly is to scan a copy
across many different pictures or of the actual stamp once it is isclipart files.
sued, then print that on your
By using cropping (reducing the
printer to see what differences
picture to the smallest possible
exist. Basic photo editors should
area immediately around the sub- allow you to then adjust the scan
ject) and masking (changing the
for color (red, green and blue in
background around the subject
most programs). Matching your
to a single, neutral color not
design elements to the adjusted
found in the subject’s design) to
color will make it look like you
isolate the subject, you can grab
and the USPS worked together on
that element for your idea. It is
the cachet design. This technique
then a simple matter of setting
is particularly handy if you design
the background color to transextension cachets (designs that
parent after which you can layer
surround the stamp in such a way
your design element into a cachet that the stamp looks as if it was
making it look like it was part of
part of or designed specifically for
the original design.
the cover).
There are two popular digital file
formats that support transparency. Portable Network Graphic
Devil In the Detail
(PNG) and Graphics Interchange Many modern printers will print
Format( GIF) Either are accepta- thousands of dots per inch when
ble for print use but PNG tends
producing copies, often sufficient
to produce a higher quality image to be deemed ―photo quality‖.
(24-bit versus GIF’s 8-bit). If
While use of the highest quality
your work is more detailed, you
will often produce the best camay want to save your file in
chets, lower settings will conserve
PNG first, then GF and compare ink/toner, while producing copies
which produces better results
that are nearly as good. Dependwith your printer. I’ve found
ing on the source for your materithrough experimentation that
al you many want to consider admore often than not, I’ll use
justing the quality of your printed
PNG, but occasionally GIF procachets to a slightly lower number.
duces a better results.
While many people think that
Match-Maker, Match-Maker, printing with the highest possible
dpi (dots per inch) value always
Match with the Stamp
Some people strive to match the produces better copy, your
color scheme of the stamp design source material, paper type and
Digital Techniques continued
quality of your toner/ink will often dictate whether that is truly
the case.
Older files or those scanned
with low dpi values often work
better slightly softened and
printed at 600 dpi, as opposed
to 1440 or 2400 dpi. The result
can be a subtle, more eyeappealing design. Preparing multiple proofs and comparing
printed copy side-by-side will
give you a feel for what best
serves your needs.
Putting It All Together
Often the best technique for any
design is to experiment a bit,
both with global design settings
and element placement within
the design. It’s also a good idea
to experiment with what your
equipment produces versus
what you find appealing. Often
you’ll find that a little tweaking
will prevent you having to shell
out hundreds of dollars for
equipment you don’t really need
to produce quality cachets.
Documenting your settings can
save you time, but consider
them as a guideline with each
design you create, rather than a
mandate. While some ―purists‖
frown on computer-generated
artwork, truly beautiful covers
can be produced with inexpensive equipment, basic computer
skills and a little experimentation.
Volume 20, Issue 8
Bourses and Shows
PNSE will host its FIRST Cachetmakers
Bourse on Saturday September 6 from
10AM to 6PM. Table fee will be $40.00.
Applications are available from Chris
Lazaroff at Stampshow in Hartford, at
Americover in Falls Church, or via mail at
P.O. Box 2053; Elkton, MD 21922
Page 3
Stampwants Stores
At
Stampwants.com
Member Websites

John Byrnes
www.onedogfdcs.citymax.com


Helen Fowler (Compuchets)
John Cropper
4flagsstampsandcovers
www.c3cachets.com

SOUTHEAST FEDERATION OF
STAMP CLUBS SHOW is including a
Cachetmakers Bourse in their 2008 show
September 26-28 at the Cobb County
Civic Center, 548 S. Marietta Parkway,
Marietta, GA. The theme of the show is
the 100th anniversary of the issuance of
the first US Christmas seal. The Cachet
Makers Bourse is from 12:00 noon until
6:00 PM on Saturday, September 27; table
cost is $40.00. Contact: Dave Hill, 4539
Pineridge Circle, Dunwoody, GA 30338.
770-458-4456
email: [email protected].
OKPEX is being held Oct. 31– Nov. 2 at
the First Christian Church Gym, 3701 N.
Harvey, Oklahoma City, OK. Contact:
[email protected].

Olde Well Cachets
Dave Curtis
Www.Stampwants.com/stores/ConnecticutFDCMaven
www.theartofdavidecurtis.com


Tom Peluso (Therome Cachets)
Bob Emrick
Coversrus
www.emrickcachets.com

Do you have a StampWants store? If you
are a member of CMA we can list it
here.
Helen Fowler
www.compuchet.com

eBay Stores
Tom Peluso
www.theromecachets.com


Helen Fowler
Julian & Sharon Pugh
User ID: 4flagsstampsandcovers
www.pughcachets.com

AmeriStamp/TEXPEX 2009 will be
held February 20-22, 2009 at the Arlington
Convention Center, 1200 Ballpark Way,
Arlington, Texas.
Is your organization having a Cachet Makers Bourse or Stamp Show? Send your information to Left-Sider News so that it can
be listed in this column.
Tom Peluso
User ID: bigt13
DO YOU HAVE A WEBSITE?
BECOME A MEMBER AND LIST IT
HERE!
Do you have an eBay store? Become a
member and list it here.
New and Renewing
Members





Marilyn Nowak
Ed Lyons (Edken Cachets)
Warren and Victoria
Wildermuth (Wildy Cachets and Torrie’s Covers)
May Day Taylor
Tom Harris (Tom’s Cachet Deisgns)
Page 4
Left-Sider News
History Worth Repeating
From the Desk of the Vice-President
(Reprint of articles from previous Left-Sider News)
By Helen Fowler
I hope all of you opened this edition of the Left-Sider
News carefully. We thought this might be a nice
change of pace from the usual. The officers would
appreciate feedback on it. Would you like to see
other editions sent as FDCs?
Did you attend Americover? If you attended did you
stop at the CMA table, sign the guestbook and pick
up your ribbon (to be added to your name badge)
showing that you are a member of the CMA?
Any suggestions for the future are gratefully appreciated.
Add-On Definition
(Left-Sider News 17 years ago)
In a letter to the editor printed in the September/October, 1991 issue of Left-Sider News Judith
Fogt wrote, ― During 1991 AFDCS Board of Directors voted on a policy for add-on cachets. It
was both an essay vote and a yes/no vote on various details. The final consensus was, if a cachetmaker serviced blanks with the intention of cacheting them, and did so within a time period of one
year, then this need not be called an add-on. Anytime after that year, then it would be regarded as
an add-on.‖
When signing an add-on cachet include your
name, date, the number of the cover (e.g. 2/10)
and the words ―add-on‖. A good place to write
all of this is on the back of the envelope.
Volume 20, Issue 8
Confessions of a
Cachetmaker
By Tom Harris
It all started in the early fall of
1995, on a trip to the Post Office to check my box mail. I
needed to get some stamps and
when I saw my friendly window
clerk, he showed me an unusual
White Catalogue envelope addressed to one of our local gift
shops. What made it unusual
was the fact that it had a standard meter stamp franking and
also what appeared to be an
oversized ―stamp‖ next to the
address. The stamp was actually a label applied by the company that was mailing out its
Christmas catalogs. The company (THE GIFTED LINE) had a
policy of applying a colorful label to the catalog mailings so
their regular customers would
recognize the new products in
the latest seasonal catalog. The
labels looked so much like an
actual U.S. postage stamp
(despite their size) that some
P.O. personnel were canceling
them. A supervisor noticed
this and reported it to his supervisors. They in turn contacted THE GIFTED LINE company and its owner, John
Grossman.
The Postal authorities insisted
that the company had to overprint the entire run of labels
with a black CTO (canceled to
order) cancel dated December
25, Santa Claus, Indiana.
Grossman suggested to the authorities that if they thought
the labels looked so much like
stamps, perhaps they should use
his designs as this years (1995)
contemporary Christmas
stamps. As a result they
reached an agreement to crosslicense. The basic differences
from the original designs was to
remove a pipe from Santa’s
mouth and of course the printed
cancel.
I was able to obtain a quantity of
the labels and some note cards
and envelopes by becoming a
―Dealer‖ for THE GIFTED LINE.
This was accomplished by my
placing a minimum order of
$300.00. There were six different designs all with a Victorian
Christmas motif. A ―Girl with
Toys‖, ―Boy with Toys‖, ―Santa
in Workshop‖, ―Santa Stepping
into Chimney‖, ―Christmas Angel‖, and ―Boy and Girl
Sledders‖. The first four subjects
were issued September 30, 1995
with First Day ceremonies at
North Pole, NY and the last two
were issued on October 19,
1995 with First Day ceremonies
at Christmas, FL.
It was a balmy, Indian Summer
day that September 30th when I
set forth for my very first 1st
Day Ceremony as a cachetmaker. I thought I was well prepared to make some covers to
mail my stamp club’s (Norwalk
Stamp Club) December issue of
our newsletter, The Yankee Doodle. We had at the time approximately 55 names on our member list. Since I had so many
stickers I had prepared quite a
large number of covers for servicing. It was when I got in line
Page 5
to buy the stamps and got
caught up in the excitement
that I ―lost it‖! To this day I
don’t know how many stamps
I bought nor how many combinations of covers I prepared! Picture yourself seated on a bench with a large
box of ―sticker-cacheted‖ envelopes and trying to come
up with interesting combinations...single stamps applied to
matching cachet stickers on
covers...blocks of 4 setenant...2 varieties of a stamp
on a matching cover...I even
made up sets of the note
cards for each of the stamps
using three stamps matching
the note cards and envelopes!
One stamp on the cover itself
which received a 1st Day cancel; one on the face of the
note card with a ―socked on
the nose‖ bulls-eye cancel,
and one more on the inside
of the note card with yet another ―First Day of Issue‖
cancel. I have been told I
went a bit crazy with this issue, but please remember it
was my first time at a First
Day Ceremony! It should
come as no surprise to the
reader to learn that I still
have quite a few of the issue
available for sale.
In spite of the additional time
spent standing in lines to have
all the material hand-canceled
and the lines to obtain autographs of the dignitaries in
attendance, I really look back
on the experience with fond
memories of a fun day.
Cachetmakers Association
AFDCS Chapter 65
Cachetmakers Association
AFDCS Chapter 65
Left-Sider News
Executive Committee
Mary Kay Fisher, President
PO Box 1034
Niles, MI 49120
Email: [email protected]
Helen Fowler, Vice-President
PO Box 392
Niles, MI 49120
Email: [email protected]
Fred Fowler, Treasurer
PO Box 392
Niles, MI 49120
Tom O’Hagan, Past President
PO Box 32
Lewes, DE 19958
Earn Free Advertising
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sufficient. We are interested in
what you have to say.
Look for information and pictures about Americover in
the next (October) issue of Left-Sider News.