A technophile lawyer rediscovers the joys of pen and paper

Friday, July 23, 2010

First try at wax seals

First wax stick and seal — kind of exciting!

I bought my first wax seal and wax stick yesterday, and just had to try it out right away.  I chose the palm tree seal not just because I love palm trees, but also because I live near the beach and it thus is a clue to who the letter is from . . . as if my family and friends really will have to distinguish between my wax seal and all those others they get!

I decided to try a practice run before I tried applying the seal to any envelopes I expected to screw up the first few horribly, but I think my first three came out OK!

First tries at wax seals

As you can see from the photo, the wax stick is wicked, so once it is lit, melting the wax is a one-handed operation — no need to hold the flame in one hand and the stick in the other. Also, no need to worry about soot. I lit the wick with a match, but the wick burns cleanly. The only trouble I had was my first attempt to light the wick:

How not to heat you wax for making a wax seal

 Some of those iPhone apps seem so damn real!

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2 comments:

  1. These look great; they seem delightfully old-fashioned. I don't send very many letters, but I'd love to use wax seals just to show to friends and family that I really am as crazy as I seem :) I'm curious to know where you purchased these.

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  2. Heather,

    I bought this at Flax Pen to Paper in Los Angeles and it cost $13.50 for the seal and $4.50 for the wax, I think. Flax doesn't have online ordering, but they do take orders over the phone. (I'm going to Flax tomorrow, so I'll try to remember to take pictures of the available seals. I'd be happy to email you the picture so you can pick a seal and order it from them.) If you've got a couple hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you can try one of these.

    The seal is quite a bit smaller than what one typically sees, and it could use a little deeper relief. Hmmm, I feel a review coming on!

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