Season's Greetings (Faux) Postage

I have another floral-themed Christmas card for Christmas Card Throwdown's "Flower/Flourish" challenge. Nichol Spohr's work strongly inspired the look of this card, especially these cards she recently shared. While I didn't have any of the stamps or dies she used, I loved the overall look of her cards, & just put my own spin on her techniques.

I began by creating my faux postage stamps. I die cut the outer part from a scrap of white cardstock with one of the "Postage Stamp Squares" by Elizabeth Craft Designs (discontinued). I didn't have a square die exactly the dimensions I needed, so I used my paper trimmer to cut 3 squares from Strathmore smooth bristol paper. I stamped the poinsettia from Hero Arts' "Vintage Christmas Post" set (discontinued) on each square, varying the orientation & how much of the flower showed. I used the "2" from Sunny Studio Stamps' "Kinsley Alphabet" stamp set for the postage amount, & just drew a cents symbol with a black felt-tipped pen. I hit each square with my heat gun to make sure the ink was totally dry, and then colored with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. Finally, I glued each square centered on its background.

For the frame, I centered a Waffle Flower "Additional A2 Layers" die inside a "Scallop Rectangles" die from Pink & Main. I taped the dies together, & cut 5 frames from white cardstock. I glued them together, one on top of another, to create a more dimensional frame.

I cut a panel of white Hammermill cardstock to A2 size, and ink blended an ombre background with Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn, & Rustic Wilderness Distress inks. I only wanted my background stamping inside the framed area. So after I finished ink blending, I determined how much of the panel I needed to mask off around the framed area. It ended up being about 3/8", so I applied yellow Frog tape around the perimeter of my panel. I then stamped the "Crackle Background" from Simon Says Stamp with white pigment ink. I used a dry cloth to wipe the ink off the tape (so the ink wouldn't smear onto my panel), then carefully removed the tape. I thoroughly dried the ink with my heat tool, to ensure the embossing powder for my greeting wouldn't stick everywhere.

After deciding where to place my "postage stamps," I positioned my greeting stamp, from Honey Bee's "Pretty Poinsettias" set (discontinued). I stamped with clear embossing ink, and then heat embossed with Ranger White Super Fine Detail embossing powder.

To bring the card together, I first adhered my background to a white card base. I added my postage stamps, & finally adhered the frame in place. I hope I have done Nichol proud, and will definitely employ these techniques in future cards! :)

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create: "Anything Goes" (not playing the optional twist)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Paper Funday Challenge #69: "Anything Goes" (playing the optional twist to make your own background)

Double Trouble Challenge #175: "Any Way You Punch It"