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Flowers and Cats, Wild and Domestic: Creating Cards with Postage

Today I’m sharing three of the cards I created using my postage stamp stash. The cards run the gamut from pedestrian to quirky. You can read more about the start of this process here.

Along the way, I tried keeping track of the countries represented as I created the cards. I had so much fun.

This first card took a bit of planning. I used a beautiful new floral die by Hero Arts and 15 stamps from nine countries. I had to cut two stamps to get the colors in the right place, but for the most part, I enjoyed the challenge of placing the whole stamp for maximum color effect.

Here’s how it looked just before running it through my die-cutting machine. Countries represented in this card include China, Germany, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, New Zealand, The Philipines, ROC-Taiwan, Russia, and the US.

Here is the finished card. I placed the floral postage wreath on velum, then added a hand-stamped sentiment to a pink paper scrap.

The next card falls into the quirky category. When sorting my stamps, I set aside images of cats, hoping for inspiration.

I have a set of Sizzix dies featuring cats, something I hoped to use at Halloween. It occurred to me that I could try using the cat dies with the images of the postage cats facing forward. It worked for two of the three cats. Before I knew it, I had “constructed” a cat condo using textured woodgrain paper, various inks, and a sanding block to emulate a well-loved cat tree.

I still needed a face for the middle cat, but the remaining cat postage didn’t work. After pawing through several more stamps and some trial and error, cat number three got a pair of cool glasses courtesy of this stamp from China.

I used coordinating colors for the body of each cat. I finished the card by adding floral paper to the background, reminiscent of kitschy wallpaper. Now that’s quirky. Countries represented in this card include China, Korea, Lithuania or Lietuva, Malaysia, The Netherlands, and the US.

Today’s final card uses a single postage stamp from Russia. My sister loves wildcats, and her favorite color is purple. This over-sized stamp combines both. I used a stitching die to cut two rectangles, added the wild cat stamp to the smaller one, and stamped “thinking of you” in the upper corner. I know she’ll enjoy it.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more cards.

Here is a helpful link if you are new to card making. It’s called The Ultimate Card Making Techniques Glossary

37 thoughts on “Flowers and Cats, Wild and Domestic: Creating Cards with Postage”

  4. Wow, and double wow! That first card made me gasp – how amazing to create such a pretty design from a collection of stamps! And I just love the cat’s eyes from the Chinese stamp. The whole cat tree is simply ingenious! Look forward to seeing more. This must have been so much fun Alys! 😃

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  5. Wow, wow, wow Alys.These are so gorgeous and fun. I do wish we lived closer. I’d live to sew and make cards with you. I’m attempting a “Busy Book” for my grandsons upcoming first birthday. Might be in over my head. I’ll let you know. 

    I love these sweet cards. What creative dedicated work. 

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  7. You do make the best cards ever! The creativity is obvious. Who knew there were so many cat stamps. I just got some puppy and kitten stamps for Valentines day but have yet to come up with a card to use them on. You inspire me to challenge myself here. There will be no going out to purchase any as we finally have a good snow coming down. These cards are wonderful. I bought so many postcards in Germany that I was going to send and they are still here. I don’t have any idea of what to do with them now. ;( Hugs.

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  8. I looked at the initial placement of the pink and green stamps, and below it I read “floral wreath.” So my mental image was of a typical fat Christmas wreath shape. Then I scrolled down and saw the actual wreath, and it is amazing! Just gorgeous, and to me all the postage details say, “these are some of the things that make me think of you!”

    All of them are so inspiring!

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    • Thank you so much! Your comment made me smile. It’s an interesting process using stamps in this way. You hope the layout works, but the proof is in the pudding so to speak, and no do-overs, at least with those individual stamps. You made my day.

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  13. Pingback: Paper Quilts and Purple Hearts: Creating Cards With Postage – Gardening Nirvana

    • That’s kind of you to say, Kate. Thank you. Hobbies require room, and the more you have, the more you starting thinking, perhaps we can add a second floor? I kid, of course. One of the advantages of paper crafting is how little space you need. Thanks for your good thoughts.

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  16. I’ve previously commented on how clever you are with the stamps, but these examples really delight me! It takes a really good eye to pre-plan the color placement, Alys. Very special and delightful.

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  18. So creative, Alys! I adore your floral postage wreath. It reminds me of a tiny, delicate quilt! Noting the countries represented by the beautiful postage stamps truly warms my heart. Each postage stamp is a tiny work of art! Your endless creativity is a gift to us all, my friend! 🩷

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