Cachetmakers Contest Open

AFDCS Holds Annual Cachet Contest; The Year's Best FDC Designs To Be Chosen In 16 Categories + 2 For Youth

Entries are now being accepted for the American First Day Cover Society's annual cachet contest. The best FDC designs from 2010 will be chosen in 16 categories.

The deadline for entries is April 15, 2011. Those entering covers must be members of the AFDCS. (Youth cachetmakers need only be related to an AFDCS member.)

The entry fee for adults is $5 if the cover is donated to the Society, or $10 if the cachetmaker wants the FDC returned. A complete set of rules can be found in the Jan. 15 issue of First Days, the official AFDCS journal or downloaded here.

"I'm looking forward to seeing lots of entries from cachetmakers in this contest," said new contest chairman John Byrnes of Ajo, Ariz.

A cachet is the artwork on a first day cover envelope that complements the new stamp. These designs can be as simple as a few words of text or as complicated as an oil painting or mosaic. Typically, the media used in the entries to an AFDCS cachetmakers contest range from colored pencils and markers to acrylic paints, woodblock prints and movable parts.

The categories include hand-painted with no mass production of any kind; hand-colored; computer-produced; one-color; event (not first-day) covers; Rookie of the Year and two age groups for young cachetmakers. There is also the top award, which cites what the three judges feel is the best cachet submitted in the entire contest, regardless of the media used.

Last year’s winner, Fred Collins of New Jersey entered a first day cover for the Edgar Allan Poe stamp (above). It also won the Hand-Painted/Printed from Original Art category.

As winner of the top award, Collins may enter the contest again, but his 2010 cachets are not eligible for the top award.

The results of the contest will be announced at Friday evening, August 5, at AMERICOVER 2011 in Indianapolis, and later that evening online.

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