Wax Seals--My latest obsession

It is my nephew's fault I got involved with wax seals. He is eight going on thirty. He wanted a Harry Potter themed birthday party. He told his parents that Uncle Russ needed to get involved with the preparations this year. I have always been enamored with wax seals but never really experimented with them. Years ago, I tried but I found them too messy and the seals broke too easily in the mail. Things have changed drastically over time and the process is much cleaner and less stressful. The above image is the sample page in my wax seal book. It is easy to take the book around to show clients how wax seals work.

The above image is the simple wax seal with no adornment.

The above image is the wax seal with silver highlights. The highlights are created with stamp pad pigment ink. Rub your finger across the stamp pad and then lightly rub the image on the seal.

The above image is the seal in relief with an inked background. This uses a pigment ink stamp pad as well. To accomplish this look, the brass seal is dipped onto the stamp pad and then placed in the melted wax.

The above image illustrates two techniques: highlights using PearlEx powders and wax seals with ribbon.

For my nephew's project, we used the gold background technique (next to last photo) on the outer envelope. Each "student"/guest will go to the  sorting hat to get assigned to a particular house. Once assigned, they will get a scroll of assignments . At the end of the party each student will graduate and get a diploma signed by the headmaster and sealed with a ribbon.