Faux Postage Technique

These are the last Christmas cards I'm posting again until much later in the year, I promise! I had so many different Christmas cards to show you this year, and not enough time to get on the computer and post them before the big Dec 25! These were the other cards from my last stamp club meeting in November. Again, I couldn't decide which card for them to do, so I cut everything the same, showed them both cards and let them choose which one they wanted to attempt. The snoman card was a little more difficult to do, because you had to mask the area around each rectangle so you didn't get the rest of that stamp (snowman from the now retired Holiday Tag Team) anywhere you didn't want it. This was a great technique I always wanted to try; if you visit www.Splitcoaststampers.com they have a great tutorial for this technique, along with a link to a file so you can print out the "stamps". If you haven't tried this one yet and have a little extra time to play, I would definitely try it. I've so many beautiful examples with it! I have to say, I had a fun experience trying to get acetate though. You need window sheets for this technique, and have to cut out rectangles (or just one) to mask the other stamps. Well, since I didn't have enough acetate to go around, I was on the hunt. I went to Michael's and asked for sheets of acetate. I had to explain what I was using it for, that it was clear pieces of plastic to make windows on cards, etc. The lady had no idea what I was talking about, so asked someone else to help us. Well, the next lady pointed me in the direction of Staples Office Depot, because she said it was an office item, not a craft item. Doesn't she know ANYTHING can be a craft item? ;) At least she knew what I was talking about! So off I went to Staples, where I proceded to explain to this 16 year old boy what I was looking for. Eventually he said "do you mean transparency films for overheads?" And I figured that would work, so he showed me the way. Well, I had no idea there was such a selection! And what a price range too! In the end I found, tucked behind a bunch of others, a small pack of transparency sheets for the cheapest price. Whew! What an ordeal! All this with my then 2 year old tagging along; poor girl! So, if you want to do this Faux Postage technique, now you know where to get those window sheets and what they are called to those "non-crafting" people!

Just a quick note, because I'm such a proud mommy - my baby turned 3 today! I have been on the verge of tears for half of the day, first last night thinking about the experience of having her, and then today thinking about my first hours with her in my arms. Even typing this, my chest is getting heavy and my eyes are tearing up! She was so cute this morning, waking up asking "is my birthday starting yet?" What a girl; she's amazing and makes me feel like the luckiest mom in the world! *sniff*