Use Your Scraps

For May I am featuring a class called Use Your Scraps. We all have a ton of scrap pieces of paper lying around. What to do with them? Here are three ideas for you:

Card #1 Long Banners

A simple way to use scraps is to make them into various length banners. For this card, I took some random pieces of Moonlight DSP and cut them into random lengths. The banners fill most of the card. Adding a punched sentiment and some candy dots completes the look.

Stamps: Hello There
Inks: Lost Lagoon
Cardstock: Basic Gray; Moonlight DSP
Accessories: Brights Candy Dots
Tools: Scallop Punch; Hexagon Punch (banner ends)

Card #2 Hexagon Punch

The second card features my favorite scrap technique: hexagons. I love the repeat of patterns and colors in this card. A simple sentiment finishes the card.

Stamps: Label Love
Inks: Midnight Muse (retired)
Cardstock: Gumball Green (retired); Summer Starfruit (retired); Print Poetry DSP (retired)
Accessories:
Tools: Artisan Label Punch; Hexagon Punch (banner ends)

Card #3 Short Banners

Lastly, I have a cute rainbow colored card featuring short banners. I love the play of patterns on this one.

Stamps: Petite Pairs
Inks: Rich Razzleberry
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry; Random scraps
Accessories: Gumball Green Ribbon (retired)
Tools: Banner Punch; 1" Circle Punch; 1 1/4" Circle Punch; Decorative Dots Embossing Folder

August PL Swaps (Part 1)

I joined a Project Life Swap group on Facebook a few months back and have really been inspired. Basically every month, the admins post swap themes (8-10 usually). You sign up for how many you want and commit to making usually 10 cards utilizing the theme. Before the due date, you send your cards to the swap host. She collects everyone’s cards, sorts them, and sends you back a packet of cards.

This month, I joined eleven swaps. I'll be showing four of the swaps today:

Love -- For the love theme, I immediately knew that I wanted to use this heart tree stamp (Michael's). I found a pretty pink polka paper to be a background and start cutting and stamping. Then came the hard part: coloring all the hearts. I took a bunch of my Stampin' Up markers and went to town. The effect is fun and colorful and I love it! To help round out the card, I added the love stamp from SU Ciao, Baby (retired) and punched it and some pink paper out with SU Petite Curly Label Punch (retired). Very clean card, but lots of fun.

Butterflies -- I pulled two random stamps (medallion and "Live") from my non-SU bucket and decided they would work well together. With added punched butterflies, the stamps actually create a cohesive card. I stamped the medallion in Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, or Primrose Petals. The "Live" sentiment was stamped in Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, and Raspberry Ripple. I then pulled coordinating patterned papers from the SU Print Poetry DSP Stack (stacked) and punched out big (Elegant Butterfly) and small (Bitty Butterfly) butterflies. For the finishing touches, I added some coordinating ribbon (mostly scrap pieces) and a jeweled rhinestone. Love this set!

Fall -- Initially I wasn't super excited about making a fall card, but I thought I would challenge myself. Turns out, I absolutely love this card! I stamped a leaf design (Michael's) in Baked Brown Sugar as a background. I then used my alphabet stamps to stamp "fall" in Mossy Meadow on top. The pumpkin stamp actually had "Happy Halloween" written underneath it. I masked out the words to stamp just the pumpkin in Early Espresso. I then colored in the image with Always Artichoke, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, and Pumpkin Pie. The pumpkin was then punched out with the Artisan Label Punch. I layered the pumpkin onto a circle of random paper scrap, added a strip of washi tape (SU retired), and finally added a brad on the pumpkin. Overall this card looks amazing and very fall without being cutesy.

Washi tape -- For this theme, I decided to go simple but with some extra fun. I adhered a few strips of washi tape to the base. I then stamped a few quote bubbles and a camera from the SU Project Life Point & Click Stamp set in Staz-on black ink. Finally I added a small brad in either yellow, blue, or green to help add a bit of embellishment.

Archives: Crafts of the Weeks

Originally Published on April 19, 2014 This past week I've been working on two crafting projects. Here's a look at them.

Valentine's Day/Love and Mother's Day OSW sets:

I grabbed this sketch from InkyPinkies and went to town cutting two 12x12 DSP sheets. Once I got them cut, I started pairing pieces to card bases. Unfortunately, I realized that the pieces cut would not make 12 complete cards. I would have to add other DSP pieces or something else. Obviously if you look at her examples, she used other paper pieces to complete the cards. Oh well. I just combined the paper to make 8 cards for each set. Then, I cut some more DSP from full sheets to add layers and embellishments to make 12 cards for each set. After making one complete set, I talked to my mom who requested I send a batch of Mother's Day cards for the shop. So I actually made two Love sets and two Mother's Day sets. Crazy crazy... but they do look great.

Valentine's Day/Love Set:

Stamps: Retired SU stamp (sentiment), Perfect Pennants (heart)
Inks: Primrose Petals, Riding Hood Red
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Smoky Slate, Twitterpated DSP
Accessories: Heart washi tape
Tools: Swiss Dot Embossing Folder, 1 1/4" circle punch, Petite Petals punch

Mother's Day Set:

Stamps: Random Mother's Day stamp
Inks: Riding Hood Red, Island Indigo, Basic Gray
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Smoky Slate, Twitterpated DSP
Tools: Embossing Folder

Archives: Cards #31

Originally published on February 16th, 2014

I joined a Project Life Swaps group on FB and signed up to participate in three swaps (all for February!). The idea is that you create PL cards based off of a theme, send them to the organizer, and she sends you cards from others. I went a little overboard, creating more than I needed. So, I decided to make some of the extras RAKs for my other PL group on FB. Now I just need to get to the post office sometime tomorrow to send these packets of happiness out.

Archives: Cards #30

Originally published on January 26th, 2014

Wednesday was crop night. Usually I get overwhlemed by my options and end up not getting much done. I also always forget something. This time I got smart at least on one point. Instead of throwing a ton of supplies into a big bag, I made little card kits in quart size ziploc bags. Everything I needed for a specific card except ink went into the bag. As an added organizational tool, I found six different inspirations on Pinterest to use. Unfortunately, I forgot my snail adhesive at home. Thankfully Judy let me borrow hers. Thanks friend! I'd say even with my forgetfulness, the night was a huge success. I made six cards using three of my designs. Love them!

Archives: Weekly Crafting

Originally published on June 3rd, 2013

I figured I should finally dedicate posts to my card crafting and scrapbooking. Over the past two weeks, I've done a lot of crafting. My first task was to finish the boys' scrapbooks for last summer. I am determined to be completely caught up before the baby comes in October. I've ordered our pictures from last September to now; should get those in a few days. Then I can get started on that section of pages to catch up. I'm planning on switched to Project Life for the family album in October. I want to start with a clean slate. The baby will also start with a Project Life album. The boys will stay the same, but I still want them all caught up.

Now on to the card making...

Last month I snapped up the Round Array Bundle (Stampin' Up) with the stamp set and punch. I couldn't wait to try it out. I used a pretty dark pink paper as a card base with a light pink paper to stamp onto. For the white paper, I used my swiss dot embossing folder and the Big Shot to give some dimensions. I like the randomness to this card.

A card class card. The original design was different. I messed up my designer paper piece, so I changed the design to work with what I had. I like the simpleness of this card. All supplies are from Stampin' Up.

A new technique I was trying. We made an awesome card at class using Versa mark and a brayer. I bought some glossy paper and tried it out. Unfortunately the color did not adhere evenly. I want to try it again and see if I get different results. I do kind of like the tie dye effect I attained by mistake. (Looks better in person)

Another class card. I like the simplicity of this card. The colors work well together to create a masculine multipurpose card.

Class card. We were focusing on retiring stamps. I love the play of pattern with the designer paper and the embossed piece.

I love the designer paper on this card. The colors are bright and very cheery! Class card.

This card came from me grabbing some random supplies and working with what I got. I'm not in love with this card, but something about the mix of patterns intrigues me. After finishing the card, I went back to add the metallic jewels. Without them, the card just looks plain.

Another random supply card. I would have loved to see a thicker font for better contrast. But I do love the flower I constructed. I layered different sizes and shades to create a better embellishment.

Class card. I never bought them, but the button stamps really grew on me in the last month or so. Plus, I love the designer paper.

Class card. Love the mix of patterns on this one.

Class card. I love the rock n roll technique to create two color stamps. But overall I'm not a fan of the colors and stamps on this card.

Class card. Love, love, love this card. I love the combo of purple, pink, and orange. I love the simple sentiment.

The following two cards were part of my homework assignment for stamp club. We had a general sketch. I decided to play with the alignment of the card to make two different cards. Both cards used Stampin' Up paper, stamps, and punches. I just love the Print Poetry designer paper pack from the spring catalog. I'm rationing the paper to make it last.

Class card. I love the 3D tie we created and it really wasn't that hard to do.

Class card. I'm not a huge fan of the color/designer paper combo, but I loved work with the Shimmer paint and the coloring techniques.

More random supply cards. I'm on a mission to use a ton of my paper scraps. This strips were leftovers from cards made a long time ago.

Class card. Love, love, love the color and pattern combinations on this card. I think this is my favorite card from this entire post.

Class card. I want to do a replica of this card with different colors. I have all the stamps to do it!

Very cute little card. I didn't end up buying this stamp set, but I still like the look.

Class card. Like the layout, don't like the color combos that much.

Archives: Cards #21

Originally published on March 24th, 2013

Monday was stamp club. We made three cards and a 3d project. The extra card (on brown cardstock) was my version of our homework. I particularly loved the whale card. I don't plan on buying the whale clearlit, but I love the play of circles. I'm debating about whether or not to get the banner framelits next order. I didn't like the coordinating stamp set, but the framelits are cute.

On Saturday I acquired a ton of new card supplies. I had to try them out, so I made 10 cards, 5 color/designs with 2 options. Some of these are sticking around until April stamp club as they are my interpretation of our homework. I'm really loved the blue vine embossed cards with the polka dot flowers. The colors look really nice together.

Shopping Scores: I was hostess this month as stamp club. I bought my $50 of products to get the Sale-a-bration gift. With everyone's combined total, I earned $50 of free products. Holy cow! After searching through the catalog, I finally narrowed it down to a few great finds. Our order arrived on Friday. My scores: Four Seasons stamp set (hostess), Sweet Essentials stamp set (hostess), Wacky Wishes stamp set (hostess), Stacks of Wishes stamp set (hostess), 2011-2013 In Color Markers set, Secret Garden Bundle (framelits and stamp set), Glimmer paper (hostess), Vine embossing folder (sale-a-bration), Perfect Plum Ink pad.

A crafting friend clued me into the big clearance sale as a local craft store. She picked me up early Saturday morning so we could get there before the rush. Tables upon tables of new and used card making and scrapbooking supplies. People can sell their supplies on consignment. We dove in, but the crowd was intense and the aisles small. After about 1/3 of the way through the tables, we decided to call it quits. But I did find some awesome supplies: 3 stamps sets from Stampin Up, 1 stamp set (manufacturing unknown), 1 double sided circle stamp, 1 square punch, 3 Stampin Up ink pads (basic gray, real red, and tangerine tango), 100 sheets of various paper ($5!), and 1 mini scrap pad ($0.50). Such a great shopping trip!

Archives: Cards #18

Originally published on February 17th, 2013

I had a bit of fun with my new butterfly punch this week. I love the simplistic look of colored butterflies on a white background. For the two polka dot cards, I wanted to play with repeating background images. I stamped the same simple dot flair stamp in a yellow, light pink, and pink to match the designer paper (DSP stack from Stampin' Up). In real life, the colors work much better. Plus, I love the repeating colors. I want to play around with the idea some more. Lastly, I used another sheet of the DSP for the background of the "Bloom" card. I tried to bring out the green of the paper with green ink, but it doesn't quite work right. Maybe layering of stamps is a bit much.

Archives: Cards #16

Originally published on February 3rd, 2013

I went a bit crazy this week and crafted a ton of cards. Instead of cluttering up this post, I made a separate post yesterday to show off my creations. As to general crafting, we had our first Stampin' Up Club meeting this past Monday. It's Sale-a-Bration, so of course I had to spend $50 to get my free product. Here are my goodies: