Postage Stamp Suitcase

Hi everyone! I was happy to get to play with the new Darkroom Door Postage Stamps background stamp. Don't miss the post on the Darkroom Door blog where some of my design team mates show different projects using this same stamp.

This is a really useful background stamp which can be used on a large variety of projects: cards, layouts, 3-D projects etc. My first thought when I saw it was of old suitcases covered with stamps or travel destinations stickers. 

 

I made a suitcase using Eileen Hull's Sizzix Suitcase Bag die, which is a favourite of mine. There is a mini-book inside. The suitcase was die cut from cream mat board and stamped with the Postage Stamps background stamp, using Archival Jet Black ink. I inked it with Old Paper and Gathered Twigs. If you want to see a tutorial for another version of the suitcase, I made one here. More suitcases: here, here and here. My suitcases look pretty nice standing together on a shelf.

 

A suitcase needs a ticket and some luggage tags. The ticket was stamped with one of the sentiments from the Nomad set, and the two small tags were inked and stamped with sentiments from New York Vol. 1. 

 

Background stamps don't only need to be used for backgrounds, I stamped the Postage Stamps again, on Ranger's Specialty Stamping paper and coloured three of the stamps lightly with Distress Inks. They were cut out and placed underneath a die cut postage stamp frame, just cut the inner frame away to form a frame. The postage stamp frames were inked first with Brushed Pewter Distress Stain, but I wanted more colour and went over them again with Barn Door Distress Stain, giving them a nice red metallic look. 

 

I kept the back of the suitcase simple because I didn't want to cover up the background, and used only one framed postage stamp.  

 

Here you can see the suitcase from the side.  

 

The two small tags were tied to the handle. I love these types of small sentiment stamps, they are very useful. 

 

On the inside, I stamped the gorgeous Central Park photo stamp with Archival Jet Black and inked with Old Paper, Bundled Sage and Gathered Twigs. I love how it looks like you are looking really far into the suitcase because of the perspective in this stamp. A little left-over bird on my desk flew into the suitcase too. 

 

On the front flap, I stamped a stamp from the Love Letters Vol. 2 set and some more sentiment stamps from New York Vol. 1. As you can see 'N.Y.C' is stamped twice, I forgot that the lower part of the suitcase would be covered up by the flap. 

 

Inside the suitcase there is a small mini-book, which can be filled with travel memories and photos, or perhaps with quotes.  

 

The pages are made from manila cardstock which was coloured with Bundled Sage, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Brushed Pewter Distress Stain. When dry, I cut them into pages (7x8 cm) and stamped them with different background and photo stamps using Frayed Burlap ink. I also added some sentiments and more stamping with black ink. The back of each page was left blank, to give more space for writing or photos. All the edges were inked with Gathered Twigs. 

 

I bound it with my Bind-it-All. This first stamp comes from Venetian Vol. 1. 

 

Here's one of the inside pages, with a stamp from New York Vol. 1.

Thank you for looking!!

Happy Stamping!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

Darkroom Door products:

Background stamps: Postage Stamps, Alphabet, Woodgrain, Stone, French Script

Stamp sets: New York Vol. 1, Nomad, Love Letters Vol. 1, Love Letters Vol. 2, Venetian Vol. 1

Photo stamps: Central Park, Bicycle, Laneway

Other products:

Dies: Sizzix: Suitcase Bag, Tiny Tags & Tabs, Mini Tickets, Mini Bottle Cap & Stamp, Birds on a Wire

Surfaces: Sizzix Little Sizzles cream mat board 6 x 13; Ranger Manila Cardstock, Specialty Stamping Paper

Ink: Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink; Ranger Distress Ink: Old Paper, Gathered Twigs, Bundled Sage, Mustard Seed

Stain: Ranger Distress Stain: Bundled Sage, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Barn Door, Brushed Pewter

Embellishments: twine; ribbon