Pretty Papers!

The last several posts have been about using up my ugly papers, and frankly I was tired of looking at them.  SO, I decided to make some cards using PRETTY paper and techniques learned while working with the ugly ones.  Today's cards are a result of that choice, and I LOVE them!

I chose 3 papers from a 6x6 pack from Stampin Up called Feels Like Frost:

These are double sided papers, so here's a picture of the other side:

I'm not at all sure that the front of the papers goes with the back, but the fronts certainly coordinate well as do the backs.  As it turned out, I didn't combine papers much unless I was using the silver foiled side - but that's getting ahead of myself.  I started by using a triple one sheet wonder pattern by StampHappyNZ (see video here) and chopping all three papers the same way:

I had expected to make the cards up the way she demonstrated in the video, but four things changed that. 1) I wanted to make 5 x 7 cards instead of A2 (I ended up with four 5x7 and 2 A2), 2) I wanted to decorate the insides of my cards - not just the outsides, 3) I didn't feel the backs of my papers coordinated well enough with the fronts, and 4) I couldn't BEAR to tear the larger pieces & layer two different ones the way she did - the papers were just too pretty as they were!

Below are the 6 cards that I made. The papers are so pretty that it's hard to choose a side and cover up the other!  I ended up using the silver side for half and the scenic side for half - though I hadn't planned it that way! 

Card #1:

I started by looking for some card stock that would blend nicely with the scenes.  I didn't find card stock, but did find this Glitzy paper that looks SO GOOD with it!  As you can see, I used the paper to narrowly mat the paper (and later, the stamped sentiment).  Not wanting to waste this gorgeous paper, I used a die to cut a large piece from the center that wouldn't be seen and used it elsewhere.  I found a ribbon that blended nicely, and wrapped it around patterned paper & mat before gluing to the card front.  Then I simply created a sentiment from white card stock and a stamped message (stamp from JustRite's Antique Christmas Tags One). After matting it, I added it in place above the ribbon using foam squares for dimension.

Inside:

Inside I simply used a couple of the other cut strips that used the same pattern, matted them, and used them to border my stamped sentiment (from large no-name Christmas stamp set).

Card #2:

This time, I decided to use the silver foiled side, but left the panel intact once again.  This time I matted it with a silver foiled poster board from my stash, then added it with foam tape to a larger embossed white panel (a 3D folder from Crafter's Companion called Sparkling Snowfall).  Next, I wrapped the ribbon around all 3 layers, tied a bow, matted all on another silver panel (actually, all silver mats have the centers cut out so as not to waste this special card stock), and glued the whole to the front of the card.  I then found a sentiment from a Hunkydory Little Book of Essential Christmas Sentiments and added it with foam tape to complete the card.

Inside:

I wanted to carry the foiled theme to the inside of the card, and remembered these lovely foiled inserts that I had gotten from Crafter's Companion.  I forgot to stamp a sentiment on it, but it really makes the inside look pretty.

Card #3:

Once again, I chose to use the last of the large cut panels on it's own.  This time I stamped directly onto the panel using one of my Mom's stamps.  I narrowly matted the panel with white card stock and then tied a ribbon around it with a bow.  After cutting a frame from the glitzy paper and gluing it to the front of the card to serve as a mat, I added the prepared panel using foam tape.

Inside:

I prepared a border using the glitzy paper, white card stock, and a little piece of the same paper I used on the card front - then glued it in place at the top of the card.  Next, I die cut the word wonder from the glitzy paper using a die fromTim Holtz word dies called Happy Holidays: Script and added it on top of the border.  The stamped message was created using one of my Mom's stamps.

Card #4:

This card is the last of my 5 x 7 cards in this set.  At this point, I'd used all the larger panels of patterned paper and some of the smaller strips.  I stared at them a bit to try to figure out what to do with them.  I realized that I could cut several of the strips into squares that were all the same size.  I proceeded to do that with the strips I had in front of me and ended up with 8 squares.  I had a piece of silver left from cutting out the insides of mats and I cut a white piece of card stock just a bit smaller than the silver and glued the squares (silver side up - alternating those that had more silver with those that had less) to that white card stock.  I had to put them pretty close together to get all 8 on the card stock, but was left with a fairly large strip of white between the columns of squares.  I wrapped silver ribbon around this & tied a bow at the top. Then I glued the panel to the silver & glued both to the front of the card.  I found another sentiment in the Hunkydory Essentials book and added it with foam tape.

Inside:

Using a couple more small strips of the patterned paper, I matted them on silver and added them top and bottom before stamping a greeting (from my large no-name set of Christmas sentiments).

Card #5:

By this time, I had only bits and pieces left, so decided to use them on an A2 card.  I found a die cut silver piece (Spellbinders Captivating Squares) in my stash & decided to make a little "stack of presents" on it using bits of paper & silver ribbon.  As you can see, I matted the presents with a narrow white mat.  After gluing them to the silver piece, I glued the whole to my card front.  I found a couple of sentiments in my Hunkydory sentiment book that I thought would work great to complete the card front.  After gluing those in place, I turned to work on the inside of the card.

Inside:

There were two small strips of patterned paper left that I could use as borders. When I started pulling scraps of the silver to mat them, I discovered a piece that had a pretty edge left over from die cutting a border.  I thought it made a perfect decorative mat for my paper strip borders.  The stamped sentiment was again from my no-name large Christmas sentiments.

Card #6:

You thought I had used up all my paper pieces on the last card??? Well, I did too!  However, as I was cleaning up, I found I had missed one strip of the patterned paper!  What to do?  It was bigger than I wanted to throw away, but was only a small piece!  As I pondered it, I suddenly imagined it as a small focal panel on an A2 card, and began to create this final card.  I found some scraps of a pretty light blue paper in my stash, that I thought would coordinate well.  I cut a panel from white & embossed it (Leafy Vine embossing folder from HOTP).  I was really pleased with it - it embossed a lovely deep impression!  I glued a strip of the scrap patterned paper down the left side of this panel, then added the matted small focal, and a strip greeting (from Mom's stamps & dies) using foam tape.  I matted the panel with a narrow piece of darker blue before gluing to the front of the card.  

Inside:

I added a strip of the matted scrap patterned paper & a stamped sentiment (CCC - Birthday Female) to complete the inside of the card.  This last card was an unexpected surprise made from just a tiny strip of the patterned paper - but it turned out to be my favorite of all of them!

Ugly Papers Round 2

While the last "ugly paper" I worked with grew on me as I used it, the same was not true of this paper!

I'm not that enamored with the pattern, but the colors are REALLY difficult.  I'm not sure how you can have bright colors that are subdued at the same time, but that's what you have here.  And trying to match or coordinate colors with them was VERY challenging. I had already used part of the paper for another card (see this post), so got a total of 6 cards from this sheet - 5 in this post.  What a CHALLENGE!  Here are the remaining 5 cards:

Card #1:

This card is one of the two that I actually like - and it actually uses 2 of my "ugly papers".  The other one used here is this one:

As you can probably see, I used some of it for the background on this card - after matting it in black.  Then I took 3 strips of the weird flowered paper, matted them with black, and glued in place across the width of the card as you can see.  Then I went looking for a focal.  Part of the reason these cards were so challenging was that I really couldn't stamp and color a focal because the colors were so weird I had nothing that would match them - or even coordinate well.  I found the focal on a recycled card front that had been sent to my grandmother.  The border around the oval was bright purple, and it had a bright fat yellow checked bow on it that mostly hid the flowers in the wheel barrow - but it seemed to go fairly well except for those two problems.  So, I did some surgery!  I first cut a black mat the same size as the focal - then cut off the purple & replaced it with the black mat.  Next, I removed the yellow bow and replaced it with the black - making sure the flowers came in front of it, so they could be seen.  Then I went looking in my stash for a sentiment & came up with this one that goes perfectly!  It's from a Debbi Moore freebie download.

Inside:

The stamped message inside is from Crafter's Companion Compendium (CCC) the page called With Sympathy.  The border is created from a strip of each paper - matted in black once again.

Card #2:

I struggled so much to find ways to create interest with this paper.  This time I paired it with a yellow patterned paper and yellow card stock.  I also added punched borders using cream colored card stock and the Martha Stewart border punch called Cherish.  As you can see, for this card, I fussy cut a bunch of the flowers from the paper, added a fussy cut butterfly (freebie download from somewhere that was in my stash), and a stamped sentiment.

Inside:

Inside I added strips of several papers to form a border - and stamped a CCC sentiment from the page called Thank You.

Card #3:

This card is made in a similar way as the last one - with a pink patterned paper and pink card stock for the borders (same punch as last time).  I found another sentiment piece in my stash & added a few more fussy cut flowers.  Then I stamped "Happy Birthday!" using a stamp from a freebie birthday set I got from Our Daily Bread Designs (now called Divinity Designs). I added a small butterfly sticker towards the bottom right corner - to cover up a mess that was made by stray glue that didn't want to be removed without removing color from the paper.

Inside:

After adding strips of the papers & punched border like we had on the card front, I stamped a message to complete the inside.  The stamp was also from CCC - this time the page called Birthday Female.

Card #4:

I liked the way the paper looked with pink, so made another using pink & black card stock.  As you can see, I cut the patterned paper into strips and glued them in place before adding another piece of matted pink for the focal.  To this, I added a strip of black, a sticker sentiment (which I inked to subdue the white which just seemed out of place) and a couple of flowers from my stash.

Inside:

Inside is a simple border using the two card stock colors & a small piece of the patterned paper.  I'm sure I will stamp a message at some point, but was too tired to figure out what message would be best!

Card #5:

I think I like this card the best of all the ones I made with this paper - but it was a REAL challenge.  The flowers are stamped and die cut (Botanical Blooms from HOTP) - then fussy cut to remove the white around them - then colored (which was the hard part!) and placed on a black mat.  Finding colors that even would blend okay with the background was SO HARD!  I ended up using 4 different markers from my Scroll & Brush set (Wheat, Aubergine, Spice, and Baby Pink) which I scribbled on my craft sheet & picked up with my water brush.  It took a lot of work to combine the colors in a way that I thought would work, but I think the effort was worth it.  I liked the narrow border with tan - and tan for the sentiment (which is stickers from my stash), but I didn't have enough.  I finally found a slightly darker glittered card stock which blended well enough to mat the large background.  As you can see, I used multiple mats for this card.  Even though the mats were mostly pretty narrow, having black, white, and tan together seemed critical to making this card look good.

Inside:

I don't like the inside as well.  The darker glitter card stock doesn't brighten things as much, but I think it will be okay if I go back and color another couple of stamped flowers, mat them with black, & put on each flowered element on the borders.  Then when I add a stamped sentiment, I think all will be well.

Ugly Papers Challenge

 

I just got a pack of paper for my birthday.  Many of the designs are GORGEOUS - pretty patterns - quite a few even have foiling.  However, there are some papers that I find myself wondering "why on earth did they include these? They're UGLY!"  I've set myself a challenge to use those papers FIRST. Today I have 4 cards made from 1 sheet of "ugly" paper.  Here's the paper I started with:

Now, "ugly" is in the eye of the beholder, and I'm sure many people will think this paper pretty, but when I was leafing through, this was one that jumped out at me as being "ugly".  I'll admit, that when after using it to make cards, I actually found myself liking it more than I thought I would!  I made 4 cards with this sheet of paper - 3 slim line and one 5 x 7.  Now, I know I could have gotten a lot more cards if I had used the paper more sparingly or made A2 sized cards, but the point was to USE IT UP - so why bother with that? 😉  Here are the cards that I made, in no particular order.

Card #1:

As you can see, this first card is a landscape slimline card.  After inking the edges and gluing the background in place, I started working on the border.  I had a piece of leftover card stock from making the card base, but I wanted a purple piece that would pick up the colors in the patterned paper.  SO, I ended up using 3 different types and colors of layered ink - Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide, Dusty Concorde Distress Ink, and a Gray Granite from Stampin Up.  I had the stamped sentiment strip in my stash (my Mom's stamp/die set) but it was on white, so I inked it to make it a more cream color.  Finally, I added a couple of 3-D butterfly stickers that I got at the Dollar Store.  

Inside:

Inside I have more of the same - added a butterfly trail with a dark purple marker.

Card #2:

Here's the one 5 x 7 that I made - very simple - This time I matted the patterned paper with card stock I found in my stash.  I also used that card stock to form the mat for the tag that I cut to hold the greeting (stamped with a HOTP stamp from their Tags & Trims set).  The ribbon is one of my crepe ribbons - I hate to use them because they're not easy to replace and I LOVE them.  I DID think it added to this card, though.

Inside:

Inside is more of the same - as with all of these cards, I expect to stamp a message on the inside of the card, but I ran out of mojo and wanted to get these posted!

Card #3:

This is the one slimline in this set that is vertical.  I usually make vertical cards, so it's a bit surprising that all but one is landscape - but I supposed it's because I felt the patterned paper forced the issue.  Anyway, as you can see, I didn't even ink the edges on this card front - wish I had. The ribbon is another crepe ribbon - love those ribbons!  The sentiment is a die cut from my stash.  It was white, but I used ink to color it before inking the edges in purple & stamping the sentiment (May May Made It - Your Faith is Showing).

Inside:

There's not much to the inside of this card - just leftover scraps used for borders.  I DID ink the edges, and will stamp a message when I get around to it.

Card #4:

This last one was not cut correctly, so I ended up having to cut and extend the paper.  The multi-ribbon border covers that.  It's hard to see in the picture, but the border is actually 3 ribbons stacked on top of each other - a wide purple, a green, and a silver.  The sentiment was already stamped, but I cut shaped the ends and inked it to get the color I wanted.  The flower & bird were leftovers from a previous project.

Inside:

Once again, the inside is pretty simple - an inked patterned paper strip border.

I really have been pleasantly surprised to see how pretty these cards turned out to be when I started with paper that I thought was "ugly". 😁

Thank You Octagon

Today I needed a thank you card for a gift of craft supplies - so wanted to use some of the materials I was given in it's creation.  SO, the card base (which originally was a 6 x 6 square card), the patterned paper, and the pink card stock all came from that gift - die cut using a Card Making Magic die set called Octagon Box Set 6 X 6.  To this, I added sticky backed rhinestones, and a die cut sentiment cut from scraps in my stash using another of their die cut sets called Ultimate Words.

Inside:

Again I used dies from the Octagon set and the same materials as used on the front.  To this, I added a stamped sentiment from Crafter's Companion Compendium (CCC) page called Thank You.