Scrappy Sympathy & Birthday

Today I've got two more up-cycled cards using focals from used greeting cards, photos, or calendars - and scraps from my stash.  Both are 5" x 7" in size.

Card #1: First up is a sympathy card. The focal was cut from a greeting card and framed with black paper (die cut with Stitched Rectangle Dots & Stars die set from Crafti Potential).  The greeting was stamped with a stamp from a HOTP set called Stamp & Punch.

Inside:

This focal was chosen because it had a similar feel to the one on front - but this was a picture we took in the Chinese gardens in Sydney.

Card #2:

The focal on this birthday card was also from a used card - as was the greeting.  In person, the picture is simply beautiful with fine glitter shimmering from many parts of it.  I simply embossed the card front (Swiss Dots embossing folder by Cuttlebug) and added the two pieces I cut from the card.

Inside:

I'm not quite as happy with the inside of this one.  I cut a piece from a Thomas Kincaid calendar - the florals looked very similar.  However, being too lazy to use Stickles to add glitter to the surface to match the front, I used a clear glitter adhesive sheet I had.  It isn't nearly as nice as the Stickles would have been.  I should also have stamped the greeting (Greetings & Labels from HOTP) with a bit darker color, too.  

So there you have it.  Two more quick cards made from up-cycled materials & scraps!

HD Rustic Charm - Coastal Town

Today I have 5 cards that I made from the Hunkydory kit called Rustic Charm - the set called Coastal Town.  

Card #1 (above): is a slim line card.  I cut a piece of the adorable scoreable card stock (AS) for the focal & pieced a background for it from the remaining AS. I matted it in black, added a black strip for a border, and added a bird & greeting (from HD Little Book of Essential Greetings from 2016).

Inside:

Card #2:

This is an A2-sized card.  I took one of the deco pieces & backed it with a sky scene I cut from a calendar.  I added a bunch of birds to try to hide the fact that the dark outline of a square from the back side of the calendar picture showed through - but I didn't realize it until everything was glued down!  It's a bit of a chaotic scene with all those birds - but I've certainly seen gulls behave that way - especially near fishing boats!

Inside:

The border is from the set.  The stamp is from a HOTP set called Simply Susan's.

Card #3:

This is a standard 5" x 7" card.  The deco piece is backed with a marbled light blue paper scrap that looks like sky & then matted with gold poster board.  The greeting came with the set.

Inside:

Inside I've got more of the marbled blue paper, strips of the gold poster board, and a deco piece from the set.  The greetings come from 2 sets.  The first is from JustRite's Enjoy the Day.  The others are from a freebie birthday greetings set I got from Divinity Designs (formerly Our Daily Bread Designs).

Card #4:

This is a standard 5" x 6.5" card.  All materials are from the kit - but the rock wall had to be pieced in places.  The focal is the main focal designed for the accompanying deco pieces.

Inside:

Inside has some leftover pieces - including a little boat from the set.

Card #5:

This is a larger card than I usually make - a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" (half letter size) card.  The card base was made from black card stock.  I started with a deco piece and backed it with a small scrap - then bordered it on both sides with some wall pieces.  I then used a Sharpie & ruler to draw around the focal & wall pieces before matting it all on a piece of gold linen card stock.  The greeting was from the set.

Inside:

Inside, in addition to the wall pieces & gold linen card stock, I added a cream colored piece so there would be a place to write or stamp my message when I decide who this card is for.

Scrappy Notecards

Now that the Valentines are done, I'm back to using up my scraps & up-cycled focals in in earnest.  Today's cards are all A2 sized cards.  I don't always put stuff on the inside of this size of cards, but I have done a little this time.

This first card is a gate-fold card.  I embossed the card fronts with a Cuttlebug folder called Swiss Dots.  The focal is cut from a calendar - and backed with a blue mat.  Washi tape forms borders top & bottom.

Inside:

Inside I have another small picture of goldfinches - again from a calendar.

Card #2:

I knew I had to do something with this card front as my SIL's favorite flowers are violets.   Since I already had her birthday card made, I didn't add a sentiment yet - may just use it for a note to her.

Inside:

Since I'm not sure how I'll be using this card, I just added a piece of lavender paper for now.

Card #3:

Another goldfinch card - I just LOVED this card front & knew I had to do something with it.  It was already embossed and beautifully colored. I just added the stamped sentiment to the front (from JustRite's Musical Notes Labels Twenty).

Inside:

The stamp used here is from that same Musical Notes stamp set.  Unfortunately, you can see it well because of the glare, but I added a bird sticker that looks very similar to the bird on the card front.

Scrappy Valentine Frenzy Part 2

I had expected to need nearly 10 more cards, but when all was said & done, I found I only needed two - so quickly made them using more scraps.

This first one uses a gorgeous layered bear I received in a swap.  The card front was embossed using a Darice folder called Heart Background.  I added a strip of red for a border - then some washi tape & a piece of ribbon.

Inside:

The inside was why I added washi tape.  I put it both on the inside & on the back of the card - to hide a split in the card stock from when I embossed the card front.  Another bear from the same set - this one a single layer decorates the inside.  The sentiments are from 2 Fiskars sets: Lasting Love Quotes and Just Married Quotes.

Card #2:

This card front feels pretty plain.  I may sprinkle a few small white hearts on the border or something, but for now, this is what I have.  I embossed a piece of light green paper using the same embossing folder as I did for the last card.  The light green heart says "Love Inside" (which you'll see is literally true for this card) was a sticker from my stash - matted on a dark green heart (Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Hearts) and then a heart-shaped doily.  All paper was scrap.

Inside:

The inside focal was another that I got in a swap in 2010.  It had small gems on it, but I didn't want the bulk so removed them and put Jewel Dazzles there instead.  I also removed the high foam pads under the word "love" and replaced them with much thinner ones.  That gave me a lovely focal to decorate the green border strip.

Scrappy Valentine Frenzy Part 1

Today I was in a bit of a card making frenzy.  I need a BUNCH of valentine cards to send to people, and time is SHORT!  I've been throwing together what I can from paper scraps, die cuts, punched hearts, doilies, & stickers, from my stash.  I've made 10 cards in one day!  That may be a record for me - though admittedly they're quick and easy ones. You'll see several of the sentiment banners that you see on this first card.  All are made using JustRite's Antique Valentines Tags One stamp set (usually heat embossed) & matching die set called Vintage Label and Banner.  You'll also see quite a few different sizes of scallop-edged hearts cut using Spellbinders' dies from Classic Scalloped Hearts.

Scrappy Slimline

In my quest to use up a bunch of scraps, I've also gone through my stash of stuff to "up-cycle" and chosen ones from which I could envision making cards.  Then I arranged them into standard card shapes that I thought would work well for them.  Today I show you the last two of the slimline series before moving on to the next card size.

Card #1 (above):  The focal came from a greeting card.  I started with the light green for the base card, but it split too badly when I scored & folded it.  So, I went with plan B - which I think turned out better anyway!  I cut the card base into panels to use on a black card base that held up better to the scoring & folding.  Then I just made use of scraps in my stash to mat my focal & decorate the front panel.  The sentiment was a JustRite stamp from the "With Sympathy" set.  The butterfly was from the dollar store & I added little dots of adhesive vinyl for a butterfly trail.

Inside:

I didn't have left over pieces of the focal to bring to the inside, so chose a piece that had been scavenged from a calendar.  I had a gold die cut that I wanted to use for the mat (cut with a Spellbinder's Scalloped Squares die), but it was SQUARE - and I didn't like the way it looked.  SO, I sliced it and overlapped part of it to make it shorter - then covered the "join" with black washi tape.  In real life a quick glance makes you think it's a ribbon there.  I brought a piece of the yellow from the front & some black strips to add to the green panel on the inside.  I turned the flowers at an angle so the inside wouldn't look quite so "stiff".  I often like to leave space for a personal message on the inside of my card - which is what I did here.

Card #2:

This was a really interesting one to work with.  I had a really narrow piece of a calendar or magazine or something that had a couple of trees, but nothing that really stood out as a focal.  It was also a bit narrow for this card. I had a couple of things I tried to add as a focal, but nothing was working.  Suddenly I remembered these little birds I had stamped/die cut/colored from Heartfelt Creations (Woodsy Treescape/Woodsy Landscape) and had sitting in my stash ready to be used.  They looked okay in the trees, but how to make a focal?  As you can see, I die cut the most colorful bird with a portion of the tree (Spellbinders' Labels Three).  I wanted it to have pointed corners but not be simply square or rectangular - this fit the bill.  I found some scraps of orange that were about the same color as the bird's breast & used it to add some interest.  The light colored mat is a scrap of wallpaper.  I had some fairly large scraps of green that coordinated well with the trees, so added that. The greeting is from a download - I think Debbi Moore, but not sure.

Inside:

Fortunately when I die cut the mat for the focal on the front of the card, I decided to cut it from the center of the small square scrap (thinking it could be used for a mat for something that way).  It was all I had left of this color and I really wanted to bring it into the inside.  It worked great as a frame for the message inside (stamp from JustRite's Good Friends Labels Twenty-Nine) - and another little bird finished it off nicely.  Oh yea, I did a bit of pen work on the frame & on the mat on the outside of the card.  I left the bottom of this card blank because I wanted space to write a personal message.

Scrappy Sympathy 2

Here is a second sympathy card made with scraps.  I'm not certain where I got the focal - probably cut from a magazine.  The rest of the materials were once again - scraps!  The sentiment is a stamp is from a JustRite set called Sympathy Vintage Labels - heat embossed with white.

Inside:

Here we have more of the same materials, but this time the interest is added by using bits cut from a photograph, and the sentiment, though still JustRite, is from a set called With Sympathy.

Scrappy Sympathy

My fifth scrap card in this series again features a focal cut from a calendar.   It's pretty straight forward with blue & black scraps on a grey card base.  I once again used the Journey Rectangle Long set of dies (Fun Stampers Journey) to cut the black frame.  The greeting was stamped from a JustRite set called With Sympathy.

Inside:

Since I didn't have any leftover pieces of the calendar page, I cut a piece from a photo that I thought looked similar in nature to add interest to the inside of the card.

Scrappy Up-Cycling

After spending days organizing my MANY paper scraps, I'm now working to USE them.  I decided a great way to do so was to use up-cycled focals.  Here are 2 of the resulting cards.

Card #1 (above): The golden background paper/frame is from a wallpaper scrap!  The blue is from scraps of glimmer paper. The bird is cut from a used calendar.  The music notes are from my stash. The "Happy Birthday" is cut with a Happy Birthday Caps die from Divinity Designs (formerly Our Daily Bread Designs), and the frames/mats are cut with a Journey Rectangle Long die from Fun Stampers Journey.

Inside:

The same materials are used on the inside with the same Journey Rectangle Long dies, a die from Divinity Designs' Many Blessings stamp/die duo, and stamps from JustRite's With Sympathy stamp set.

Card #2:

This card started with pieces cut from a greeting card that my grandmother received.  The added papers are all scraps.  The gold was embossed with a Spellbinders M-Bossability folder called Imperial.  The leaves were die cut using dies from Spellbinder's Botanical Swirls & Accents.  The additional flower were made using a cream colored flour from my stash, combined with free-hand cut pieces of pink scraps.  The greeting is from HOTP stamp set called Heartfelt Greetings.

Inside:

I used more scraps to make borders for the inside. The border was cut and embossed with a die from Spellbinders Classic Postage Stamp Edgeabilities.  I backed it with scraps of the two colors of pink that had been used elsewhere on the card. The flower was made in a similar way to the one on the front - with additional leaves from my stash.

Purply Up-Cycling

For the last week or so I've been working to organize my scraps into a more usable system.  It took a long time, but I'm hopeful that I will now actually be able to USE those scraps, rather than just collect them!  Both cards today have a focal that was "up-cycled" from cards I received.  Gold poster board really gives it a boost.

For this first card, I only had 1 scrap piece of the fushia background paper.  I was able to cut out the center of it to add the same color to the inside of the card using a die from Romantic Rectangles Two (Spellbinders - same die set used to cut the gold poster board):

For the inside sentiment I used a stamp from HOTP's Thank You! stamp set.  This was stamped on a piece of white card that I found in my scraps that had been die cut using a die from Sizzix Bonjour Paris die set.

Card #2:

Here's another up-cycled card.  The focal sentiment was on a card I received and I thought it would look great on this deep purple suede paper.  I used a couple of dies from Spellbinders' Scalloped Labels One die set to create the mat for the focal. In real life it looks REGAL!  The background was also a scrap of purple paper from my stash.  I embossed it (Rosa by Anne Griffin - Cuttlebug) and hit it with some ink.  Frame was created using another Spellbinders' die - this one from the Radiant Rectangles set.  Butterfly was in my stash - from dollar store.

Inside:

Inside is more of the same.

Orange Card in Red & Blue!

Today's card started with an orange!  There was a challenge on a message board that I frequent to apply ink to paper with something other than stamps or our normal daubers.  I was getting ready to eat an orange and happened to look at the skin & think to myself "That would be a cool way to apply ink to paper!  So that's what I did for the background - using Faded Jeans distress oxide ink (the picture below shows the paper with the ink applied).  

For the card itself, I was inspired by a sketch challenge.  The focal & greeting came from one of the weekly freebie downloads from CraftsUPrint. The blue & red papers were from my stash.  I used a Spellbinders border die to cut the zig zag shape.

Inside:

Inside was more of the inked paper.  I made a little pocket with the dark blue paper from my stash, then inserted several tools that were included in that same freebie - and added another of the greetings that came with it..