ATC Swap - "Stamp"ed Heads...

Couldn't resist joining in with this swap over on UKScrappers - make ATC's using postage stamps that feature "heads" and give them new bodies... the freakier the better in my opinion as from the others I have seen you can really go to town on these!

I have a large used postage stamp collection (sad person that I am) because at some stage in the grand scheme of things I want to make myself a screen room divider and cover it in postage stamps - so any time I see any "pretty" ones, whether foreign or UK, I leap on them... I lay siege to the used postage stamp boxes in the two kitchens at work and snaffle the pretty ones out of there, but make sure I keep it topped up with ones I don't want from home.

Finding loads of heads wasn't a problem, finding bodies to go with them was a little trickier. Luckily I get a free newspaper most days from the railway station next to my office and I spent a couple of evenings cutting out likely candidates. Also, our local Co-Op gives away a free foodie magazine each month which has some good pics in too! Thank goodness for cutting out because I am no good at drawing lol...

Backing papers are cut from one of Mr Holtz's paper stacks, images are glued on with Glue-n-Seal - which I have totally fallen in love with as it gives such a great finish to anything decoupaged... and I can write over it with black and white journaling pens with no trouble at all. (FYI I use black Faber Castell Pitt pens and a white Signo Uniball which I personally find gives me the best coverage - but there are plenty of other white pens out there!) I also went around the edges of the images with a black Stabilo All pencil and ran a wet paintbrush over it to give a slight shadow and blend the images into the background a little more. 

Matching the stamp heads to the bodies was certainly challenging but I like how they have come out. My favourite is the pregnant "Mr Punch" - guess it proves I am totally warped...