A Postage Collection collection

Lately I've been very drawn to using my Postage Stamp punch for the focal images on my cards. So when I saw the Postage Collection hostess stamp set in the new 2013 - 2014 Stampin' Up!^® Annual Catalog, I knew that would be the first hostess set I would order. I love the variety of frames/borders, images and little sayings, and I had fun using some of them to create three different cards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Postage Collection
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Soft Suede, So Saffron
Ink: Soft Sky, Soft Suede, So Saffron
Accessories: Postage Stamp punch, Honeycomb embossing folder, 3/4" circle punch, Subtles Candy Dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals

As it turns out, this is the only card of the three that uses colors other than neutrals, but I love this soft color combo. For the background, I embossed a strip of So Saffron cardstock with the Honeycomb embossing folder and then cut a V into one end to create a flag. I also cut a V in a narrower but longer strip of Soft Suede cardstock (not embossed) and adhered it below and slightly overlapping the So Saffron strip. For the stamped images, I stamped the frames with Soft Suede ink and then used the Stamp-a-ma-jig tool to line up the balloon images inside the frames. I punched out the squares and adhered them to the card, using Dimensionals for the piece with the So Saffron balloon.

The upper right corner looked as if it needed something, so I added one of the new Candy Dots. They look like brads without the prongs, but they are a little bit flatter. I love that the Candy Dots come on a clear sheet, so you can hold it over your project to see which color works the best.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Postage Collection
Cardstock: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: Postage Stamp punch, Siply Scored tool, sponge, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals

I tend to make a lot of thank-you cards with flowers (OK, I tend to make a lot of everything with flowers), so I wanted to focus on making a more masculine thank-you card. On this card I used only one color of ink, Soft Suede, so when I stamped the car images, I first stamped them on scratch paper and then on the Very Vanilla card stock so the ink color was lighter. (Again, the Stamp-a-ma-jig tool was helpful in stamping the cars evenly inside the frames.) To add to the vintage look, I sponged Soft Suede ink on the edges of the punched squares as well as on the flag with the sentiment. I adhered the pieces to the card at different angles, using Dimensionals for the square on the right as well as the sentiment. To add a little interest around the focal image, I embossed a line along each side of the card front about 1/4" away from the edge.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Postage Collection
Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black cardstock; Natural Composition Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Postage Stamp punch, 1" square punch, Dimensionals

I decided to stay with the minimal and masculine themes for this birthday card. I wanted to try using the images without having them look like stamps, but alas, that Postage Stamp punch was just calling my name. Oh, well. For this very simple card, I cut a narrow strip of the wood grain-looking piece of Natural Composition Specialty DSP, trimmed both ends into a V and adhered it to the card base. I used Dimensionals to adhere the stamped and punched images over the strip and stamped a birthday sentiment below the middle image. With these images and a different sentiment, this card also would be great to congratulate a graduate, to say bon voyage, or to send good wishes to someone who is moving.

These cards really got me going with postage stamps, so come back in the next couple of days for more faux postage-stamp cards using other stamp sets. Thanks for stopping by!