I am a total flea market junkie and I share with you lots of things I “found at the market, ” I’m sure you guys think I am a total hoarder. I guess I am, kind of, but they really do find a home somewhere. Just to prove it I figured I should share with you what I have done with one of my recent finds. You may remember these vintage stamps I bought not too long ago.
Well they were turned into a piece of art for less than $20. It started with a print I saw at a shop on Etsy of arranged postage stamps, unfortunately this store is no longer open. I thought the print was great and I loved the idea so when I ran across this bunch at the flea market I knew exactly what I could do with them.
I started with and Ikea RIBBA frame which is about 20″ square and comes with a nice wide matte, but any size or shape you like would work. I wanted the art area to be larger than the pre-cut matte size so using and Exacto knife I cut the matte opening a little wider.
Then came the sort. First by color then by laying them out in an arrangement I liked. Using a piece of white foam core as my back ground I laid out an ombré sort of effect. Don’t be limited by my idea though, you could do all one color or even lay them out into a shape.
TIPS: When you are doing your layout, if you’re opting to just fill a square matte draw a line that will be just outside of where the matte will fall to guide you (see photo below.) Once you apply the matte it will be hidden and not one will be the wiser. Just remember how far the stamps should be from this line so they don’t get hidden by the matte.
For my adhesive I went back to my days at the School of Architecture, I remembered doing a paper piecing project that had a lot of small pieces and I remembered using rubber cement (super cheap.) The great thing about rubber cement is it rubs right off once it dries. That means if it gets on the front of the stamp or on your foam core you can rub off the extra later. Just remember to wait until it dries before you try to get it off. Once it dries just give it a rub with a clean finger and it will ball right up and you can brush it off with a clean paint brush.
So pleased with the results and I have lots of stamps left so maybe another will be in the works soon…
What a darling idea. I actually don’t think I’ve seen anything like that before. Wow, in all my years, should have come across some kinda stamp art! Love it, so colorful for the right spot. Thanks for the DIY instructions also.
Oh, I love this! Thank you
Let me know if you give it a try, I’d love to see the results. It’s a super east project!