The Hens' Den Valentine's Day Blog Hop

Simple Stories Generations collection

"A Kiss for My Valentine" card

Created by Janet G. Bagnall

Faux Postage Technique

Hello everyone!  If you have come from Carolyn's blog, you are in the right place :) Today is an exciting day for me because it is my very first blog hop as part of a design team and am beyond excited. I sure hope you will join in on the fun.  When Charlie informed us about this hop, she wanted us to create something using our favorite technique.  I gave this a lot of thought, but couldn't come up with a favorite, so thought I would create a Valentine's Day card using a technique I haven't tried before.  When I first saw faux postage a few years ago, I loved it but just haven't been able to give it a try until now.  I am now kicking myself for not trying it earlier, because it was a lot of fun.  My process, however, was a little different than the standard way, but the end result came out great.

****************

Before I start with my tutorial, let's go over the blog hop details first:

• You need to start at The Hens' Den blog and visit all the team members' blogs, leaving comments along the way.  Each member will promote a portion of what is included in the BIG prize that will be given to one lucky winner who visited all the blogs and left a comment on each one.  This is what my blog is promoting - Graphic 45 Place in Time February Cutouts and Graphic 45 Place in Time February Foundation. This is a beautiful collection and can't wait to use it myself.
• You have until noon, February 17, 2013 to leave a comment on each blog and the lucky winner will be announced on The Hens' Den blog that evening.
• But most importantly, have fun !!!!

****************

Okay, now to my project.  After inking up the, what I call the "4 square", stamp with black ink, stamped it onto Bazzill cream cardstock.

I then printed off the image I wanted to use.  This is a very special image because in 1945, while my mother and father-in-law were walking down the Charleston Pier, Carew Rice, a silhouette artist from Charleston, asked them if he could make several silhouette designs for them.  This is one of the two he made - he wrote "Ain't love grand" on the bottom of the image, but didn't include it.  Dad was in the navy for a short period of time and I'm sure this is how happy they were to see each other when he came home from being out to sea.  It was a lot of fun using this photo and reliving their memories are very special.

After trimming the image down a bit, I took a clear plastic mask that I purchased when I bought the "4 square" stamp and laid it over my image.  Now, this is where the difference comes in from other faux postage techniques because since I am not actually stamping an image, I traced around the edges to determine where to use my scissors (move it around until you are happy with the position before tracing).

Once you have drawn your outlines, it is time to take your postage scissors and cut around those lines (make sure you cut as close as you can).  When you are finished cutting, you will have four postage sized squares.  Before adhering your pieces down, make sure you erase all the pencil marks.

Adhere your cut pieces onto the "4 square" creme cardstock you created earlier and once that has been completed, take your postage scissors and cut around the entire block.  This is how your finished postage stamp design should look.

Now, it's time to put it all together.  For this project, I used Simple Stories Generations collection and the key trinket is from Bo Bunny's Country Garden collection (I am giving this card to Jim for Valentine's Day, so I wanted to keep it as masculine as I could and knew these papers would be perfect - I also love the vintage feel it gives the image). 

Here is the finished card.  Cute, uh?

Now it's time to move on to see the fabulous creations the other design team members have prepared for you using their favorite techniques!  Be ready to be WOWed !!!

The Hens' Den
Anita Mulcahey

Carolyn Lontin

Janet Bagnall <----- YOU ARE HERE

Lori McClellan

Nicolle Kramer
Moriah Macdonald

Stephanie Wagner

Charlie LaBonte/The Hens' Den

Supplies:

Simple Stories Generations 2 x 12 Border

Simple Stories Generatoins 6 x 12 Page elements

Simple Stories Generatons 4 x 6 Vertical Journaling Card Elements

Bo Bunny Country Garden trinket set
Cream Bazzill cardstock