Paper Quilts and Purple Hearts: Creating Cards With Postage

The cards featured in today’s post are the last in a series of greeting cards I designed using postage stamps. I’ll definitely make more in the future. You can read the first two posts here and here.

While most of my cards feature postage from several countries, this quilt-inspired card features sixteen flower stamps from Germany (Deutschland). I wanted to create a paper quilt, so I spaced the stamps symmetrically, with each color following a diagonal pattern. I used my quilt embossing folder to add to the effect and added a green border.

This card feels unfinished, but I’ve yet to figure out why. I love the stamps. It needs something to break up the symmetry, but what? Creative input is welcome.

The following two cards use a simple collage technique with a monochromatic theme. I had an extensive collection of blue stamps to begin with, so it allowed me to pick and choose. I went with the brightest blues, using sizes that allowed edge-to-edge contact.

Here is the finished card. I mounted the blue collage on a white background, then wrapped some vellum with a birthday sentiment so you can see all the images. I used fifteen stamps from eight countries: Austria, China, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the US.

Purple stamps are uncommon, so I needed a die to feature the few that I had. I went with a heart.

In some cases I used the corner of a multi-colored stamp, saving the five prominent purple ones for the center. There is a bit of luck at play here, too. As I pulled together this card for my sister, I found one purple stamp from Canada, where we’re from. Sharon loves music, so finding the Charlie Parker stamp with the beautiful background seemed equally fortuitous.

I assembled the purple heart from twelve stamps representing Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, The Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain, and the US.

This last card is my favorite. I used three stamps for the greenery, five for the flower, and four for the vase. I like its simplicity.

I assembled this card using white textured card stock, giving the top third a wash of aqua ink. I stamped the image of the jar on vellum in black ink, then tucked a few blue stamps behind it. Postage used for this card came from China, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and Poland.

This is also a card that I can see myself replicating.

Before tidying my desk, I made a handful of bookmarks for our Little Free Library.

Playing with postage has been a lot of fun. Thank you for following along.

Postage Stamp Giveaway: Stamps on the Move

If you took part in my August postage-stamp giveaway, please keep an eye on your mailbox. Packets of postage are in the mail. Soon they’ll be making their way to different parts of the world.

cambrian post office

Our neighborhood post office, though the extra spacing makes it appear to be “United Post, States Office”.

It was incredibly therapeutic going through Daddy’s stamp albums.  I really took notice of the small details.  He wrapped some stamps in cello paper, others not.  In a few places, he added his own section for additional stamps for a particular country, something I hadn’t noticed before. My dad had a meticulous hand so it was easy to overlook. Some countries issued the same stamp in five or six colors. A few were over-stamped with the word “service” in black ink, another new discovery.

It’s fun for me to contemplate the stamp’s trajectory.  Dad started his collection in England. He continued to collect while living in Darjeeling, India, then moved with his albums to Seaforth, Ontario Canada. They traveled with him one more time to Millbrae, California before he died.

Of course the original stamp traveled its own path. At some point someone in Egypt affixed a postage stamp to a letter and mailed is somewhere else. That destination remains a mystery.

The stamps are on the move again, though ironically the postage used to mail them is a computer-generated label. Times have changed.

packets of postage

Signed and sealed with custom forms at the ready

I never acquired Daddy’s love for collecting stamps, but I’ve always enjoyed their individual beauty. I rarely buy ordinary ‘flag’ stamps, the utilitarian postage you might receive from a place of business. I choose flowers, writers, movie stars, cartoon characters, whatever might be new and interesting.

International Postage

Packets of postage are on their way to:

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Duncan, BC, Canada

Dunedin, New Zealand

Mt. Brydges, ON, Canada

Santa Clara, California

and a few bookmarks head to:

Tasmania, Australia

Victoria, Australia

I’m  happy to share them with you.

postage bookmarks

Bookmarks

postage stamp cards

A few notecards

Postage Table

I came up with one more way to honor my dad with the remaining stamps: I’m going to collage a small table top.  Stay tuned for details. I have a few things to work out before I get started.

Thanks for your gracious and loving comments on my original post. My heart is full.