Use Up Your Patterned Paper Scraps
There is nothing like finishing something – or finishing off something too – and today you will learn a fun way to use up your patterned paper scraps!
It's that time of year when Stampin' Up! retires most all of its patterned paper to make room for new, and this year is no different. By this time of year, I have lots of odds and ends. To see the entire list of what is retiring, click here – then on the left side, click on Last Chance Products
Part of me is always so tempted to throw them away, the frugal part of me is like heck no!
Here is a big takeaway from today's post. It's something I wholeheartedly believe in.
Creativity Thrives Within Boundaries
Boom – there it is! Seriously, when we are limited, we are limitless!
Here is a perfect example of this… and then we will get onto the card. Have you ever taken a paper crafting magazine or catalog on a plane with you? Or a road trip? And you see so many things you want to try, so many ah-ha moments, so much creativity that you can't wait to get back to your crafting? And then you bust through your front door upon returning home, you pull out all your regular tools, you pull out the magazine that you have dog eared corners on, or there are a million post it tabbies on the side, and you have ever thing ready to go…
And you just sit there.
Staring.
You can't figure out why you are no longer intrigued by the projects a few days ago you were totally dying to create.
It's because Creativity Thrives Within Boundaries. It truly does.
When we are away from our supplies, we are no longer limited to what we have vs what we don't have.
This card is the PERFECT example of this.
I wish I had taken pictures of what I had in front of me before I made this card, I really do. So I will do my best to explain.
My Supplies
I LOVE the Pick a Pattern patterned paper. Wait… scratch that. I love HALF of the Pick a Pattern patterned paper. I only like one side of most of the papers, and I will happily admit that there is one pattern I don't like either side. BUT, here is the big take away – half is enough!
Well, half is kinda enough. It's enough if you are going to use it!
While I am not a card carrying fan of Crushed Curry, I do love all the black, yellow and white patterns in this package – Crushed Curry or not.
I had a rectangular piece of the striped paper. And then a FLS of the dots. (FLS = Funky Little Shape)
My FLS piece was this odd angular cut – I have no idea how/why I have an odd angle cut piece in my bin. I *almost* cut it down to a rectangle but am so happy I didn't.
The Goal
I set out to use these two pieces of patterned paper exactly how they were. No die cutting, no punching – just a go for it moment. I also decided to pair it with a sentiment that had never touched ink until this card was made.
The Project
I will break it down even further a bit below, but wanted to go ahead and jump in with showing you the project.
Three pieces of non-scrap were used to make this…
- The Crushed Curry card base
- The Whisper White panel
- The Whisper White sentiment layer
The rest are all scraps! EVEN the bow 🙂
The Making
I started with stamping my sentiment in Tuxedo Black ink. Then I die cut it out using one of my most favoritist die sets – the Stitched Shapes.
Next I had two pieces of Basic Black that were 1-1/8″ x 4. I used one as is on the card, the other met with the larger size stitched square from the Stitched Shapes. What is behind the sentiment layer is no taller than 1-1/8″ believe it or not!
The Assembly
It starts with adding the striped patterned paper flush to the top of the Whisper White piece. I then added my partial die cut of black below the odd dotted/angled piece of patterned paper. That all went on the card, but here is what you can't see…
That odd/angled piece is only as big as it looks. So between the stripes and the odd dotted/angled strip is a space of Whisper White.
The strip of black covers all of that and brings some balance to the card. If I had butted both pieces together, two things would have happened… 1) there would be too much white space on the bottom of the card 2) the patterns wouldn't work as well together. The colors – yes, the patterns – nope!
Then all that goodness went onto a Crushed Curry card base. The sentiment was added and then I used a scrap of silver ribbon to tie a bow (if you struggle at all with bows – my hubby fixed that by creating the 10 Second Bow Maker – be sure to grab one!)
What I Wish I Had Done
Trusted myself to know that it would work out – OR that it wouldn't – enough to have taken pictures to share with you! I knew it would be something, I just didn't know what it would be.
But I personally love the way it turned out! AND I have the satisfaction of finishing off scraps of patterned paper – and hopefully inspiring you to use up your patterned paper scraps!
The Supplies
The items that are retiring are the Pick a Pattern patterned paper and the silver ribbon (I stocked UP on that ribbon – it's one of my all time faves!)
To order any of these goodies, simply click a pic below.
Product List
Coming Up
We have a Friday Flip headed your way on (duh) Friday! ALSO, a new tutorial that is exclusive to my email list. If you are not on my email list, take two seconds and get that done. Lots of free, good, helpful, useful, funny, interactive, and more info that gets delivered to your inbox! Click here to get on that list!
