Little Postage Stamp Embellies for tags, envelopes, whatever!

Hi everyone! I've been working tiny again...sometimes that's just the thing that calls to me. The other day, I was pawing through my dies looking for a particular one when I came across an old Spellbinders  set I'd forgotten I had. It's old and has been neglected for a while but is ideal for making junk journal embellies. One of the dies is a 1 1/8 x 1 5/8 inch postage stamp with an opening in the center. I have all kinds of white cardstock scraps and this seemed a wonderful way to use some of them up...because you know I can't just throw them away :)

I ran the stamp die and the white scrap through my die cutting machine but when I was finished, I left the cut out stamp in the die until I had inked the open center using pairs of Distress Oxide Inks. This created a wonderful crisp rectangle evenly spaced from all edges. I experimented with different combinations, inking the center of each before removing the metal die and moving on to the next one.

Using Jet Black Archival Ink, I stamped various smaller size stamps onto the rectangle using washi tape to mask off the white stamp edges where necessary. I was surprised at the number of tiny stamps I have...ones I never used before because I usually work larger that this.

I went back with a fine black Pitt pen to loosely outline the coloured rectangle, thereby framing the stamping. I also added stems, leaves, flight lines, and ground to finish the designs. White Sharpie Paint Pen was used to add highlights and extra detail.

I haven't inked the edges yet with Coffee Archival Ink, which I use instead of Vintage Photo Distress Ink because the archival ink is permanent and I never know what mixed media liquids I might throw at things. I left them white because I like that look and can change it depending on the background I'll be adding these to. They were super quick and easy to do and I love the little pop of colour they add.

Here I just set one on a kraft envelope to see what it would look like...

... and here I set it on a die cut 1.25 x 2.25 kraft tag. I can see using them on larger tags as part of a cluster or on a card as a little embellie. I made a huge pile of them...they are like potato chips (fewer calories). Betcha can't have just one...LOL.

Thanks for visiting today. I have no idea if this stamp die is still available but I did see some nesting ones that would give you the same outcome in various sizes. If you try them out, I'd love to see what you create.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie