"Faux Postages" is French and means fake postage stamps. They look great on cards and layouts! Here's what you need:

• white paper


• printable transparencies or transparent paper


• stamps and ink pads


• ruler


• cutter


• cutting mat


• kleenex


• my template (free download) - click here :)

The procedure:

1. Print page 1 or page 3 on your white paper. Page 1 is for blank postage stamps, page 3 has the common German value "55" printed on each stamp.
   
   


2. Print page 2 on a transparency because that's what you'll turn into your stencil. If you don't have that option, some plain paper will do.
   
   


3. Using a ruler and a cutter, cut out one of the grey rectangles (image 1). Crop the rest of the sheet.
   
   
   


4. Place it accurately on your stamp template and color your stamp's background (image 2 & 3).
   
   
   
   


5. Using some scratch paper and a kleenex, you can easily clean the stencil - in case you printed it on a transpareny (image 4).
   
   


6. When the background has dried, you can use the stencil to stamp the stamp's motive (image 5).
   
   


7. Let it dry (image 6).
   
   


8. Crop the faux postages using a ruler, or do it freehand or with scalloped scissors -whatever you prefer (image 7).
   
   


9. Great! (image 8).
   
   


10. Now you can create a card (image 9). As you can see, I decided to stamp the stamps' value on the corners. You might add little words instead (Love, Friend, Fun, Hug...). Have fun!
    
    


11. If you do, please let me know - I'd love to see your creations!
    
    Thanks for reading!
    
    
    www.anke-art.de