If you are proud of your stamps, so why not show them to more than just your friends.

You can enter various competitions, and win prizes.

If you are part of a stamp group, you might hold a competition among yourselves.

Otherwise, you might like to enter the Stamp Active Stamp Competition, held each year in the late Summer. Those who enter have their stamps shown at a public exhibition, Autumn Stampex held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London.Prize winners at the Stamp Active Stamp Competition receiving their certificates and cups.

Full details are given in Rocket News.

Plus you can send for a free book called ‘Have a Go, Show’.

Amy Cory, prize winning exhibitor, tells us about her collections and approach to Stamp Collecting

"I have been collecting stamps for eight years, during which time I have collected many different themes and countries. Currently my main collection consists of Elvis Presley and Royalty, specifically Princess Diana. A stamp display for my local club inspired me to start collecting philatelic material featuring Elvis Presley. At our club there is an annual four-page competition for which the displays all have to begin with a specific letter of the alphabet.

One year this letter was 'K' so my display was entitled: "King Elvis Presley." After doing this display and researching the philatelic areas as well as the personal history relating to such a famous and influential figure, I was inspired to start collecting material featuring the "King." The material is generally brightly coloured and is often displayed on sheetlets. The only problem is that Elvis material is really hard to obtain and often expensive because it is not only stamp collectors who collect philatelic material, it is also the fans of Elvis who collect any memorabilia.

My first collection was based on stamps featuring all of the Disney characters created by Walt Disney. I collected stamps, miniature sheets, souvenir sheets and first day covers. I was first attracted to Disneystamps because of their bright colours and the fact that they ore eye-catching and fun. I have been collecting them for about six years and have six big albums full of them. The Disney stamps feature the main Disney characters, such as Mickey and Mini Mouse, as well as characters from Disney films. They often tell a story. As well as showing the story of films, Disney stamps also commemorate special events, like the International Year of the Child, or Christmas. Some show sights and Scenes of different places around the world. Unfortunately the license to produce Disney stamps was stopped at the end of 1999, so no more can be produced.

I started to collect Royalty and more specifically stamps issued to commemorate Royal Weddings because of another stamp display I did for an East Midlands competition a few years ago. I was intrigued by the bright and attractive stamps that were issued to commemorate events that I either witnessed or were very historically important, but before my time. The best part that I have found about collecting Royal stamps is that so many different countries issue them for the some event, often within the same collection, so you can collect a set from one country that is port of a set from another country, allowing you to build up a big collection of stamps from many different countries.

You can learn many things from stamps. Stamp collecting can help with subjects such as history and geography at school, but doing stamp displays has helped me greatly with presentation techniques. I apply this to all subjects especially coursework as I want it to be as appealing to the eye as possible. Stamp displays have taught me to plan out the layout beforehand to achieve the greatest overall look."

Amy collects Elvis stamps
	Amy collects Royalty stamps