Use Up Those Scraps!

Hello Friends!  Today's post revolves around using up all those 1" and smaller strips of Designer Series Paper that are left over from trimming it down to fit your cards.  Do you have a whole pile of those like I do?  This is a technique I saw on a video that Wendy Lee made.  Loved it and had to give it a try.  I've done these cards using strips of the Countryside Inn Designer Series Paper, so they are a mix of blue tones.  You could use strips that are the same color tones but different prints like these.  Or spice it up by using a multitude of colors and prints that you like together.  Either way works beautifully, and you use up some of those strips that are too nice to throw away, but you've got way too many of them to manage.

Here's a sampling of the different cards I made with this technique.  As you can see, all the prints are from the Countryside Inn DSP, but not all of the prints are used on each card.  I just laid them out in what I thought was a pleasing fashion and each card ended up a little different.

To make these cards, start with a card base of Thick Basic White cardstock.  It measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.  The Basic White piece that you'll be using to create the card front measures 5" x 3 3/4".  You will also need a coordinating cardstock that has the same dimensions of 5" x 3 3/4".  For this I used Boho Blue cardstock.  On the Boho Blue cardstock, measure 1 1/2" in from the top left side and place a little mark.  Then measure in 1 1/2" from the bottom right corner and make a mark.  Next you cut diagonally from mark to mark so you have a base to attach all the DSP strips.  In fact, you have two bases the exact same size so you might as well make two cards at the same time!  (Or more if you really get hooked on this idea and need a bunch of cards!)

On one of the Boho Blue pieces, we'll start layering on the strips of DSP.  I found that strips that measured between 1/2" and 1" work best.  As I got into making these cards, I got a little more adventurous in choosing sizes and patterns to make them.  

Hopefully you can see from this picture that the bottom strip will go in first.  If you start at the right corner of the strip at the bottom edge of the Boho cardstock and angle it up so the bottom left edge is slightly above the corner of the Boho cardstock, you will get a really good angle to work with.  On this card I left a small 1/16" or so between each strip so the cardstock shows through.  On more than one of the cards, I forgot to leave the space between them, but it didn't seem to be a problem.  Just follow through on all the strips in the same way.  When all the strips are attached, turn it over and carefully trim off the excess.  Now comes the interesting part.

On my Simply Scored Scoring Tool I've used a marker to draw down a line at the 5 1/2" mark.  This makes it easy to see the correct line on both edges of the cardstock you want to score.  For this, take your White cardstock piece and place the Boho Blue piece with all the strips face-down onto the back of the white and line them up.  Place them down onto the scoring tool with the edge of the Boho Blue following the 5 1/2" mark.  Next use the stylus to score lines in the next three grooves right next to the blue cardstock.  These will show up really nice when turned over to the front of the card.

Here you can see the front of the blue prints with the cardstock brought to the front of the white card.  See how the scored lines enhance the diagonal cut of the card?

At this point, stamp whatever sentiment you want on the right side of the card front.  I used the new Courage & Faith set found on page 72 of the catalog.  I love the four Bible verses that are part of the set along with some sprays of greenery and flowers.  The sentiment was stamped with Misty Moonlight ink that matches some of the blues in the prints I used on the card.

After stamping the sentiment, attach the blue prints layer to the front of the card matching up the diagonal scores and all the edges.  I used "green glue" to attach these together.

To separate the two white layers a little, I added a vellum layer on some of the cards I made.  The vellum measures 5 1/4" x 4".  It's attached flat to the card base.  The focal point layer is attached to the card with Dimensionals.

At this point you could add some bling if you wanted.  For these cards, I decided to forgo any more distractions to the card.  I was worried that adding more would take away from this design.  Now that these cards are finished and in the mail, maybe I need to try this technique using different colors and prints.  Just curious how it would look. 

Thanks for stopping in to see what's going on around here.  Hope you like this idea and give it a try.  It's really not as hard as it looks.  And no two end up exactly the same which makes it fun!

Reminder that the 15% off sale of Designer Series Paper is still going on until the end of June.  The last time I looked, none of the papers were sold out yet, but some of them were showing "low inventory".  Don't wait too much longer if you really want a certain DSP.  Get it while you can.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon