Papertrey Ink Design Team Tips: Postage Stamp Inspiration

Hello and welcome to this installment of the Papertrey Ink Design Team Tips! I'm really excited to share my projects with you today! As a paper crafter and card maker, I really enjoy sending snail mail! I love to coordinate my postage stamps with the cards that I send! I decided to switch things around for today's Design Team Tips and create a series of cards that match the postage stamps! As soon as I saw the Love die that was released last year, I've had this idea in the back of my head! I've created three different cards based on postage stamps, so make sure you scroll down to see the other designs! I had so much fun on today's projects and I hope it gives you some inspiration! 

Each of the three cards uses the Mix and Mat: Postal die, of course, which really enhances the entire theme of the cards! For this particular card, I layered three of the die cut pieces using Rustic White cardstock. This created a nice sturdy base so that I could layer all of the die cut pieces onto it. I also knew I would be doing some heat embossing and I wanted to eliminate any warping and the triple thickness was perfect! I purposely chose the "forever and always" sentiment from the With all my Heart mini stamp set because the stamp say "forever" and it really enhanced the postal feeling!

I embossed the sentiment in gold because it is gold on the stamp, of course!  The "love" die cut is stacked four times for a chipboard weight piece. I just love the dimension that it gives to the card. Because the "L" and the "ove" portion are separate, I was able to manipulate the leaves that are stamped using the Stitching Garden stamp set and stamp them here and there just like on the stamp.

I used the Bitty Bouquets stamp set for all of the flowers. I know that there are probably quite a few sets that you could use to achieve the same look as the actual postage stamp, but these were the best fit that I actually own. I used the same colors that are on the postage stamp and got to work stamping and die cutting using the coordinating dies. I actually made two of this same card so I stamped quite a lot of images! I arranged them around and under the Love die to give it some depth and dimension. I added a few sparkling rhinestones here and there for some shine. The whole focal piece is layered onto a piece of Lovely Lady cardstock that has been die cut using the Pierced Rectangle dies.  I also used the Pleasing Envelopes stamp set on all of the envelopes on today's projects! I used different sentiments on each of the envelopes!

My second card for today uses the newly released "LOVE" stamp! This was a last minute addition to my projects because when I went to the post office to purchase the stamps that were the inspiration for my 3rd card, they showed me this one! Of course I had to get some, partly because the stamps are increasing price on the 27th, but mostly because I knew it would make a fantastic card! LOL! I knew that I had just the right supplies to make this and it is just perfect for Valentine's Day!

To begin, I die cut the Mix and Mat: Postal die twice. I was in a hurry since this was a last minute addition, but I knew that it would emboss well if it was doubled. I used the same sentiment as on the previous card but this time I used silver powder based on the actual postage stamp. I loved all of the white space from the stamp, so I die cut the Bold Borders: Love die from white and the "love" portion twice out of Pure Poppy cardstock. I love how closely the words match each other.

I layered the heart frame onto a piece of Hibiscus Burst cardstock which was the closest to the pink in the postage stamp. I die cut three of the hearts from the newly released From the Heart dies from Hibiscus Burst, Orange Zest, and Amethyst Allure cardstock. These are three colors I don't think I would ever put together, so I was happy for the chance!

To finish off this design, I added a few sparkling rhinestones here and there for some additional detail and shine!  I was glad the cute post office lady showed me these stamps because it is a design that I never would have come up with on my own!

This is the third and final card for today's Design Team Tips! This one is a bit of a stinker because I found out AFTER I made it, that this particular stamp has been pulled from rotation and sale! Ugh! I was so bummed out, but I decided to share it with you anyway. You can still find it with some notecards HERE, which is fun!

I used to have quite a few of these stamps, but I guess I used them all up! Oh well...I still actually really like the card! I used the same "LOVE" die for this card as well, but this time just die cut out of white cardstock and layered up 4 times. I created the stenciled cloud background by creating my own stencil using the Cloud Dies. I was going to take a picture of my homemade stencil, but I forgot. Maybe I will add it later if I get the chance! I just placed them side by side, just overlapping slightly onto a piece of cardstock and glued them down. It was easy to just blend the ink just like you would with any edger type stencil.I am really pleased with the end result!

The plane and skywriting are from the Love you to pieces: Airplane stamp set and work so perfectly for this card! I was so happy I had them in my stash for today's design! The sentiment at the top is from the With all my Heart stamp set, which is linked with the first card, and is heat embossed in silver.

The edge of this card is also embossed using the pierced rectangles as well. I love the extra bit of detail it adds to any design! Well, this is the last of my cards for today's Design Team Tips! 

I hope that you have found today's post useful and inspiring in some way! I really had so much fun putting all of the project together! One of my favorite postage stamps that deserves to be recreated is the scratch and sniff popsicle design which you can see HERE. You could use the Colorful Treats stamp set or any other popsicle set that you might have! Anyway, thanks for fluttering by!

P.S Don't forget to buy some stamps before the price hike on the 27th!😉