Red Castle Leaf Plate 1 – Faux Postage Plus Rotary Cards by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Inkling

Mail art, mail art! It’s time for some mail art…Faux (fake) postage, to be precise!

Have you ever made your own sheets of faux postage? It was a trend a decade or so ago, but I and many mail art fans have never taken a hiatus. So welcome back if you remember it from those days (everything old is new again, right?), and welcome aboard, newcomer, if it’s something you’ve never heard of before!

For today’s tutorial, I chose Red Castle Leaf Plates 1 and 2. Each sheet has five large vintage image stamps filled with realistic and very detailed leaves and small type (each one large enough for the front of an A2 card).

Creating faux postage is easy and fun and the hand-stamped sheets are perfect for cards, collage, art journals, ATCs, and to decorate envelopes. For envelopes: Position faux postage to the left of actual stamp, spaced so the post office knows you’re not trying to use your creations to fool them.

Last time I checked at The Queen’s Ink, there were only a few Red Castle Leaf Plate 1 and 2 stamp sheets left, and that means once they’re gone, they’re gone forever. In fact, they may be sold out by the time this tutorial is published. But if they're still there and you like this tutorial and want the stamps, please don’t wait. 

Reminder: Red Castle’s generous ‘Angel Policy’ allows you to hand-stamp as many projects as you want for your own use, and you can sell hand-stamped cards and other projects (as many as you want!), but electronic reproduction is not allowed – no scanning or re-sizing, no photocopying. Therefore, you can’t photocopy or scan and print duplicates of your faux postage sheets to use for your own projects or to sell by the sheet or otherwise. (Angel policies vary, so check with the manufacturer to be sure that what you want to do does not violate anyone’s copyright.)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Use a graphics program to create a faux postage grid (dotted lines that look like perforations on a sheet of old-school adhesive-backed stamps). Print onto lightweight white paper. Alternatively, use a sewing machine with no thread in the needle to perforate straight vertical and horizontal on sheets of paper. Individual stamps for faux postage sheets shown: 1.25” x 1.75” and 1.5” x 1.5”.

2. Using a craft sponge, smudge two different inks across the perforation-printed or machine perforated paper, alternating colors. Shown: One sheet has vertical smudges, the other is horizontal.

3. Repeatedly stamp images from Leaves Plate 1 and 2 in a dark, coordinating color. Trust your eye or use a positioning tool. (Red Castle stamps are un-mounted. Use whatever temporary mounting system you prefer - cling foam on the back of the stamps, or an acrylic block covered with Poster Tape and NOTHING on the back of the stamps. With the Poster Tape method, stamps can be immersed in water for clean-up and this is my method of choice!)

4. Stamp a 3” x 5” rotary file card for each card front. Smudge with inks in colors that coordinate with the faux postage sheet. For each card back, turn a second rotary card so that the tab is positioned in the opposite direction and add ink to that one as well. Score a line lengthwise on the top rotary card only and ink the ridge of the score/fold line. Using the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, staple each pair of cards three times along the score line. Stapling along the score/fold line allows the card front to hinge open like a folder.

Options: Substitute index cards with die cut tabs or pieces of recycled manila folders for the rotary cards! Before stapling the front and back, add un-tabbed cards and create a booklet.

5. Add torn collage paper (shown: faux cork gift wrap) and faux postage from the finished sheets to the rotary card fronts.

5. While you’re at it, stamp a batch of envelopes!

6. Don’t forget the inside of the cards. Add an ATC-size clear sleeve to the inside of the card and tuck in a gift card, poem, love note, or an ATC. Stamp a sentiment, add more collage and faux postage.

Here’s another look at the finished cards:

SUPPLIES:

• Red Castle 42010 Leaves Plate 1 and Red Castle 42020 Leaves Plate 2 available exclusively at The Queen’s Ink
• Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (stapler)
• Four coordinating ink pads
• Craft sponge
• Rotary cards (3” x 5”)
• Lightweight white paper
• Graphics software or sewing machine