Scrappy Valentines Swap

Today I have 6 valentines - all made from scraps & misc elements from my stash - all made for friends on a paper crafting message board.  Several of these cards - including this first one - have sentiment banners created from JustRite's Antique Valentine's Tags One stamp set and their Vintage Labels and Banners die set.

Card #1 (above): This first card is a Two-Piece Step card.  The white/red heart paper was an old HOTP paper, the dark red is a "handmade" velvet-type paper I bought years ago at Costco.  In addition to the banner sentiment, I added doilies, die cuts, and cut outs from my stash, and some Border Dazzles.

Inside:

More of the same covers the inside of the card - along with the sentiment stamped from JustRite's Because I Care stamp set.

Card #2:

Once again I've used scraps of paper, along with die cuts, punch outs, stickers, doilies, etc. to create this next card.

Inside:

Inside I have a sentiment stamped from a Gina K stamp set called Wreath Builder.

Card #3:

This card was made using not only scraps of paper, die cuts (Just Rite's Vintage Label & Banner) & punched heart from my stash, but also some pieces cut on my Silhouette a long time ago that have been sitting in my stash (the L & inserted letters). I've also added some washi tape to the border. 

Inside:

More scraps decorate the inside - along with more die cut hearts (Spellbinders' Classic Scalloped Hearts).

Card #4:

This gate-fold card sports a collage of scrap paper backed with card stock, a doily & sentiment banner, and misc tags & other cut outs from an old HOTP set.

Inside:

This time the inside sentiment is from another JustRite set called Good Friends Labels Twenty-Nine.

Card #5:

This slim line card is once again made from various scraps (the mat for the background paper is pieced), doilies, die cuts, and misc other pieces from my stash.  The tag is from a HOTP set, in a mini envelope stamped with a sentiment from Melissa Francis Holiday Greetings.

Inside:

I didn't add a sentiment to the inside of this one yet, but the decorations are more of the same as the card front.

Card #6:

The background is pieced from scraps - with a ribbon & punched border to cover the join.  The card was created using a suggested card sketch which I believe comes from the page maps website.  You've seen the sentiment stamp on an earlier card.  The pocket, tag & many of the other decorative pieces are from an old HOTP booklet of pockets. A bit of clear Stickles adds some sparkle.

With Tag Showing:

I stamped a sentiment on the tag - using stamps from JustRite's Special Gifts Labels Twenty-Nine.

Inside:

The sentiment on the inside comes from the same JustRite stamp set.

Scrappy Cats, Birds, & Butterflies - Oh My!

Today I have 4 scrappy cards - not really a lot in common except that they have scraps in their make up.  

Card #1 (above): First up is a cut-away card.  I LOVE this cat image - scavenged from a used greeting card.  The pink background paper was alcohol ink scraps. The black and white border paper pieces are scraps, and the greeting was die cut from scraps (Card Making Magic's A2 Card & Box die set).  The butterflies are dimensional stickers from the dollar store.

Inside:

Here you see more of the same - black strips & circles (both for the "gems" and the butterfly trail) were from black scraps.  The pink centers were punched from the pink alcohol ink background paper.

Card #2:

Originally from HD's Flight of the Butterflies set, the focal was up-cycled from a card I received.  The border strip was made with alcohol inks and gold foil card stock strips, glued to a piece of white - then the whole thing was embossed (Spellbinders' M-Bossabilities 5x7 Framed Petite Labels) and thinly matted with a plain piece of turquoise card stock (after I cut out the inside of it to use inside the card.  The sentiment is a piece from HD's Little Book of Essential Greetings (2016) and is matted on a piece of gold foiled poster board die cut with Spellbinders' Labels Twenty die.

Inside:

The leftover turquoise card stock from the card front was used for a background on the inside.  Another strip of the alcohol inked material was prepared the same as for the card front & used for a border near the bottom.  The top uses a gold frame (cut with Spellbinder's Labels Twenty) and backed with white paper to showcase the small greeting that was on the original card front.  Small strips of gold on either side anchor it and give the appearance of a border.  The butterfly was cut from the remaining piece of alcohol inked card stock & a scrap of gold poster board. (HOTP 10 Tiny Things and Shadows).

Card #3:

I'm really not that happy with this card, but it represents trying a new technique and I learned a lot in the process.  I started with a piece cut from a greeting card - then cut out the birds using a small circle die.  The card was a mess that was barely salvaged by adding a border strip of green suede paper scrap and a piece of ribbon from my stash.  Fortunately it looks a little better in real life, but not great.

Inside:

The thing that DID please me was that I had a bird I cut from the front that I could use on the inside.

Card #4:

This is the only card made today where the focal was not up-cycled.  This focal & greeting came from a card set download freebie from CraftsUPrint.  The background was made with alcohol inks.  I made good use of a dark blue scrap & a doily from my stash.  The silver were die cuts from my stash (Card Making Magic Octagon Box Kit and Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles Two).  The latter set of dies was also used to cut a piece of white to back the light blue fussy cut greeting.

Inside:

For now, all I have inside are some leftover strips of alcohol inked card stock left over from the card front and inked in dark blue before gluing in place.  If I have time, I may go and print another butterfly from the CraftsUPrint kit to embellish the inside.

A Beautiful Day

It is indeed a beautiful day outside.  Snow on the trees (though it's melting) and a sunny blue sky.  Today I spent most of my day organizing my papers/scraps.  I should probably do a post at some point about how I'm managing my scraps.   With my new system, I'm MUCH more likely to actually use them!  However, I DID make one card today and that's what this post is about.

This card started with a Colorists page from HOTP.  Most of it was colored with Inktense & a water brush, but I used Spectrum Noir's Metallic Markers for the gold.  Once I had my piece colored, I had to figure out how to use it on a card.  It turns out that these are a bit of an unusual aspect ratio, so I had to figure out what I would do about that.  I ended up making a black 5 X 7 card base & then going from there.  I added a piece of yellow that was slightly smaller than the card base.  Then glued my focal in the center.  Next I added two strips of ribbon - top & bottom - and added a strip of black & gold washi tape top & bottom.

Inside:

I really wasn't sure what to do with the inside, but then I thought of this peony I had made and put in my stash.  The colors are similar, but I wish I had matted it on a very light blue.  At any rate, I used the same color yellow for the inside, added a wide strip of black top and bottom, then a more narrow strip of yellow on top of that - finishing once again with some washi tape.  The peony & leaves were made with Gemini's Double-Sided Peony die.

Scrappy A2's and one 5X7

Once again I've been working to use up scavenged card fronts & paper scraps from my stash.  These are the result for today.

Card #1(above):  This beautiful scavenged card front just begged to be turned into a 5X7 shaped card - so I did!

Inside:

The stamps used on the inside are from HOTP Birthday Greetings.  Stamped on a die cut/embossed/stenciled piece (Spellbinders' Labels Eight). 

Card #2:

The rest of these are A2 sized cards, so I didn't always do anything to the inside.  Here I've got a gold lattice (Cheery Lynn French Lattice) over a blue piece of card stock.  The focal & sentiment are matted on gold glittered card stock.  The sentiment was die cut with a die from JustRite's Vintage Labels Four - then stamped with a stamp from HOTP's stamp set called Botanical Frames.

Card #3:

Next card has a two-piece background with rounded corners at the top.  The lower piece of the background paper has been embossed with a Darice folder called Scroll Background.  The focal is backed with a piece that was die cut with Spellbinders Luscious Labels One.  The sentiment is a stamp from Divinity Designs Thanks for Everything stamp/die duo.

Inside:

The stamp used on the inside was another I got from HOTP - from an unnamed Poppy set.

Card #4:

Next up is a card I made with a pink card stock base (so I could use up some of my cream colored scraps!!!  The darker pink is a piece of vellum & the sentiment was stamped with a JustRite stamp (from their With Sympathy set).  Die used was a JustRite die from the set called Antique Tags One.

Card #5:

Cutting this scavenged card front down allowed me to create this card.  Stamp was from HOTP - Janie's Girls Frames.

Inside:

Inside the stamp used was from JustRite's Good Friends Labels Twenty-Nine.

Card #6:

The last card for today was so pretty that I didn't want to add a sentiment to the front.  I decided it would just be a generic note card.  

Inside:

It feels good to use some of this stuff that's been sitting in my stash forever.  But I've got a LONG way to go!