Waffle Flower Postage Collage Hello + New Grip Mat

Hello crafty folks! Like so many other paper crafters, I anxiously awaited my Waffle Flower Postage Collage Bundle and immediately cleared my workspace when it finally arrived. Everything about this release really spoke to me and I couldn’t wait to try out all the goodies that are included in this amazing bundle. Plus, I ordered the 6.5×8.5 Grip Mat to fit inside my Misti and I was excited to see how well it worked.
I knew right away that I wanted to pair my first project with the Waffle Flower Oversized Hello die and coordinating sentiments strips to create this bold, graphic card. I decided to use both the Everyday and the Coloring stencils to create multiple postage stamps, cut them apart and then overlapped and layered them for this fun, colorful collage. What I love the most about this release is the ability to really be creative and put your own unique spin on any of the coordinating products. All the details on how I created this card are listed below. Thanks for stopping by!

STEPS

1.) After die cutting two Postage Collage frames, I used both the Coloring and the Everyday layering stencils to create 12 different stamps, 6 per frame. I used the Grip Mat inside my Misti to hold the frames and the stencils in place and it works amazingly! This product is definitely worth the hype, I can’t imagine stenciling without it anymore. The layered stencils line up perfectly and create the cutest images, some of which need some masking of their neighboring images to avoid inking in the wrong area. I just used Post-it notes for masking because it was easy and they were the perfect size. After stenciling, I snipped apart the frames to create individual postage stamps.

2.) I wanted my stamp collage to look like it was on a package, so I used Neenah Desert Storm cardstock for my A2 background panel. Then, I stenciled the layered Air Mail frame that is included in the Coloring Stencil set, using royal blue and white pigment ink. After the background was ready, I arranged the postage stamps a dozen, ok, probably two dozen times, until I got it just right. I ended up using 8 of the 12 stamps I made, in addition to a sentiment strip that I made using the smaller rectangle die included with the Collage Die set. I had to modify this rectangle a bit because it wasn’t long enough for the sentiment that I had chosen. I masked the very edges of the rectangle to keep them white and ink blended the inside with Celery green.

3.) Now that I knew the placement of all the postage stamps, and before attaching them to the background panel, it was time for the details. I now knew which corners and portions of the postage stamps would be visible, so I could add all the little stamped postal icons, rates, and sentiments. These icons and cancellation marks provide the details that, I think, really put this bundle over the top. They are the perfect finishing touch to these postage stamps. I also chose to add the two smaller secondary sentiments to a couple of the postage stamps before attaching everything to the background panel.

4.) Lastly, I stamped the oversized “Hello” with VersaFine Onyx Black ink and die cut it twice, gluing them together to give the scripty font added strength and stability. I attached this across my postage stamp collage and then affixed everything to a side-fold A2 card base.