Faux Postage

When you've been stamping 20 years or so, you tend to see a lot of trends come and go. Quite some time ago, faux postage was all the rage. At least one company came out with plastic stencils and rubber stamps to create the "grid" of postage sheets. I recall picking up a couple of these templates at my local stamp store many years ago. What I failed to do, however, was pick up the matching rubber stamps!

Fast forward to 2012, when I am once again in my local stamp store. (Stampers! just celebrated their 15th anniversary in business in Victoria BC Canada. In an industry that's seen so many failures and closures, it sure is nice to see them thriving. I try to do my bit...) Some kind soul had donated a bunch of her old stamps to the store to sell in random discounted lots in aid of a local animal shelter. I spied the Just For Fun diamond-shaped grid stamp that matched my stencil at home and snapped that up. After all, it is my duty to protect poor animals!

After stamping in black Staz-On ink, I masked off the grid with the plastic stencil and then sponged Dried Marigold and Barn Red Distress Inks in the windows. I stamped the French motifs in Ranger Black Archival Ink over top.

This border would make a fabby bookmark!

I stamped the French border and sentiment on white cardstock in Versafine black ink and thermal embossed in clear. I used the same Distress Inks to shade these pieces. I used Versafine Ink in Blue Lagoon to sponge-shade strips of cardstock mats (cut using my Perfect Layers tools) and stamped the chicken wire background in the same ink. This is an easy way to get coordinating cardstock! I used a Spellbinders Ribbon Banner to die cut the sentiment. All stamps (except for the grid and chicken wire) from the same Waltzingmouse set: French Country. The layout of the card is from this week's Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge. Can you see it?

And speaking of my local stamp store turning 15, here is a little teaser about the card I made for that occasion. I'll reveal all in my next post!