Being in the stationery business has made me an avid lover of postage stamps. One might even call me a philatelist. Since I assist many of my customers with wedding postage, I’m especially fond of love stamps.
We used a combination of vintage love stamps on my sister Ali’s wedding invitations this year. I was smitten. While researching postage stamps on eBay, I came across this retailer of postmarked vintage love stamps. The price was almost nil (it is a used stamp after all), but I was intrigued. There’s something romantic about postmarked stamps, isn’t there? After my stamps arrived, it was time to get crafty. And so I created…. a map of love!
First, I painted my 20 x 36 canvas with blue acrylic paint.
Next, I freehanded a map of the U.S. in pencil. (Here’s a great printable to work from; just be sure to scale it to your canvas.)
Paint the canvas section by section with a thin layer of mod podge. Layer the stamps inside the map. Once completely filled in, paint the entire canvas with 2 layers of mod podge on top of the stamps. This will leave you with a shiny, lacquered finish. (If you aren’t into the shine, you can always use matte mod podge.)
Voila: a map of love (stamps that is).
The stamps came in packs of 150. I ordered 3 of them but didn’t use them all, but it gave me a wider variety so nothing the same was next to each other. You could also try this project with different stamps like ones from a specific country or year, animals, air mail — there are tons of options!
grapefruit / 4819 posts
That is the coolest thing I have ever seen!! I am so impressed…and jealous! I’m a huge geography nerd and would love to do something like that! Thanks for sharing and well done!
clementine / 930 posts
Omg! I love this! What an awesome idea.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
That is so cool!! Love it!
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
This is sooooooo cool!!
blogger / pear / 1964 posts
So cool! I love maps and stamps – what a great combo!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
You are so creative! What a neat idea. Love it!
pomegranate / 3401 posts
What a great idea! I love it!
apricot / 298 posts
I love this.
grapefruit / 4669 posts
Love it! I’m a fan of the love stamps, period.
guest
That’s awesome!
apple seed / 1 posts
So clever!
GOLD / pea / 11 posts
Thanks for all of your sweet comments! My canvas was 18 by 24.
guest
This is SO creative! I’m so inspired! need to try
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
I LOVE love stamps! This is beautiful!