Quilted Square Scraps

Do you have too many scraps of patterned papers? Would you like to see them come together in a card instead of tossing them into trash? I had been staring at little squares of scraps and pondering how to put them together. I finally made a decision to do it. Follow this post for tips and ideas for you to use up your scraps too!

I cut my scraps into 1 1/4" squares and 2 5/8" rectangles. You may notice that the rectangle is 1/8" larger than two of the squares. This is the measurement I want to use when I was leaving 1/8" between each piece. You can eyeball the spacing between the pieces or you can use a 1/8" strip of paper between each square and then remove it. Instead of gluing them directly to the mat, I used a piece of copy paper and then trimmed it to 3 3/4" x 5" and embossed it, then glued it to the 4" x 5 1/4" mat.

My next cards I decided to omit the spacing between the pieces so the rectangles needed to be trimmed down to 1 1/4" x 2 1/2" to remove that extra 1/8". Again I glued the pieces to copy paper so that I could trim the final image to 3 1/2" x 4 3/4". After trimming it I ran it through the embossing folder and glued it to the 3 3/4" x 5" mat. This left a wider border of the card base.

For something a little bit different, instead of lining up every square for this next card I dropped one square down about half way. This left me with 1/2 of a square at the top and bottom of two of the four columns.

And my final card was designed as a zigzag. I began on copy paper and glued lots of squares together in the zigzag, then decided how to trim it down to fit on a the 4" x 5 1/4" mat. I embossed the entire mat, but before I did I stamped my greeting. I would not have been able to stamp on the embossed mat.

Now see what I did with old Christmas papers from my stash!

Thoughtful Expressions Corner Fold Cards

 

Stamp & Dies Set​​  Thoughtful Expressions

Poetic Expressions DSP​1st sheet front mat & smaller inside mat cut 4” x 5 ¼” and 3 ½” x 4 ¾” 

                                               Coordinating 2nd sheet cut 4 x 5 ¼” inside mat, outside focal mat 2 ¾” x 2 ¾” and scrap for label

Coordinating Cardstock         Cut 5 ½” x 8 ½”, score at 4 ¼” 

Basic White​                    Cut 3” x 4 ¼” inside mat, 2 ½” x 2 ½” outside focal mat and 1 ½” x 2 ½” for label &sentiment

Bling​                               Tinsel Gems Three-pack

 

Instructions:

1)     Cut a card base 8 ½” x 5 ½”, score at 4 ¼”

2)     Mats for the outside of the card are 2 ¾” sq and 2 ½” sq

3)     Mats for the inside of the card are 4” x 5 ¼” and 3 ¾” x 5”

4)     Create a cutting template 3” sq as shown, this will be the cutting guide for the top right corner of your card base.  You will cut from the 3” mark up to ⅝” from the top and right edges of the card.

5)     Once this cut has been made you will gently push the inside point of the corner up toward the top right corner.  The two uncut ⅝” sections will fold at an angle to make the “flip fold”.

6)     Decorate the card as you like.

For the Moody Mauve design I simply stamped the hummingbird with Moody Mauve ink and blended it out a bit with the shimmer pen.  

 

For the next two sets I simply water colored the humming birds with coordinating ink and then added some glitter pen.

I didn’t like the white inside mat showing so I just offset it to the left and added a second generation image to the mat.

I could not attend the Stampin’ Up! On Stage in Houston this year so I sent 15 of this set with my team leader, Nancy McBee.  

Simply Zinnia Corner Flip Cards

Stamp Set

​Simply Zinnia 

Optional Embossing Folder​

        Zinnia 3D Folder

Flowering Zinnia DSP​

        Cut border sheet in strips 1 ½” x 4 1/8”

        fussy cut flowers from sheet with flowers on white background

Mossy Meadow Cardstock​

         Cut 4 ¼” x 11”, score at 5 ½”

Old Olive Cardstock​​

          Cut 4” x 5 ¼” inside mat, 2 ¾” x 2 ¾” outside focal mat

Basic White​

           Cut 3 ¾” x 5” inside mat, 2 ½” x 2 ½” outside focal mat and ½” x 3 ¼ for sentiment

Bling​

           Shiny Sequins

 

Instructions:

1)     Cut a card base 4 ¼” x 11”, score at 5 ½”

2)     Mats for the outside of the card are 2 ¾” sq and 2 ½” sq

3)     Mats for the inside of the card are 4” x 5 ¼” and 3 ¾” x 5”

4)     Create a cutting template 3” sq as shown, this will be the cutting guide for the top right corner of your card base.  

        You will cut from the 3” mark up to ⅝” from the top and right edges of the card.

5)     Once this cut has been made you will gently push the inside point of the corner up toward the top right corner.  

         The two uncut ⅝” sections will fold at an angle to make the “flip fold”.

6)     Decorate the card as you like.

Here is the most simple design using DSP for the focal image and a single mat layer. 

Now let’s step it up and double mat the focal image and the inside mat.

Or what if we fussy cut a focal image?  This DSP has some great images that can be fussy cut.

There is also a coordinating embossing folder.  What if we added some embossing and decorated the inside a bit more?  Did you know that you can emboss your DSP as well as cardstock?

How about taking the design to the extreme?  I pulled out the glitter specialty paper and made one layer sparkle!  Also let’s add an embossed element to the inside mat.

I couldn’t stop at five cards.  I was unable to attend the On Stage event in Houston this year so I made a 25 cards for my team leader, Nancy BcBee, to take with her for swaps. 

Faux Fractured Cards

Happy New Year’s Day and a blessed 2024!

I found a really fun and easy card technique called faux fractured or shutter cards.  For more inspiration visit my Pinterest Board here

This is the most simple way to make this card.  Use a patterned paper cut at 4” x 5 1/4” (before adhering to the card base) center and adhere the largest square, then align the 1/4” strip against each edge of the square.  Now trim the 1/4” strips even with the patterned paper.  Now you can adhere it to the card base and layer the sentiments the add a few embellishments . 

Now let’s step it up a bit! Let’s use two strips of paper around the center square and then mat the patterned paper on blue cardstock before adhering to the card base.

Okay I found one more way to make this card using scraps instead of a single patterned.  This time you start with the largest square adhered to a scrap of cardstock and adhere one or two strips to each side of it.  Then add scraps of patterned paper to the corners before trimming each side to finish off the 4” x 5 1/4” mat.  I added another scrap of patterned paper to the inside mat.

Now try your hand at one.  Don’t limit yourself to a square. Try another shape with flat sides and see what you can make.

Please visit some of the great inspiration I found online:

https://inkybeestampers.files.wordpress.com/2023/10/stampin-up-magical-meadow-faux-shutter-winter-card.pdf

https://karentitus.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Fractured-Card.pdf

https://stampyourartout.com/?s=Fractured&et_pb_searchform_submit=et_search_proccess&et_pb_include_posts=yes&et_pb_include_pages=yes

https://youtu.be/3qpM1eivnlE?si=mlp9HDRyf2zLoufT

Pinterest Board 

Pinterest Board 

Faux Fractured Cards

Details Coming Soon

I found a really fun and easy card technique called faux fractured or shutter cards.  Come back on 1/1/24 for more samples and my instructions.  In the meantime visit my Pinterest board.

More Bones

Here are a few more Halloween cards I made last weekend. For a closer look keep scrolling!  Let the papers, stamps and dies do the work.

Here Comes Halloween and Bag of Bones

Stampin’ Up! knocked it out of the grave yard this year with stamps, dies, papers & glow in the dark paper and embellishments. The Bag of Bones Stamps and Dies Bundle and Them Bones DSP made short work of this gift set of mini slimline cards.  The gift box is the TSOF Mini Slimline Box Die.

Book Binding Card Fold and Washi Tape Uses

 Book Binding Card Fold

By Janet

June 2022

 

The book binding card fold is a very simple design that adds a little something to your card.  It is called “book binding” because the folded edge is glued down about ¾” or 1” from the edge causing your card to have a binding that does not open.  

An added idea is that instead of gluing down the entire edge, just put glue at the top and bottom of the binding edge.  This will create a little pocket that allows you to slide in a gift card for a little something extra.

You can make a horizontal or vertical card depending on how you cut your paper.  Below are the measurements and score lines for each size/shape:

Cut your paper 11” x 4 ¼”

Score at 5 ½” and 4 ¼” along the long edge

Glue the 1 ¼” binding to form the book binding edge

Mats are cut 4” x 4” and 1” x 4” 

or

Cut 8 ½” x 5 ½”

Score at 4 ¼” and 3 ¼”

Glue the 1” binding to form the book binding edge

Mats are cut 3” x 5 ¼” and ¾” x 5 ½”

 

Check out my Pinterest Board for more book binding ideas

Washi Tape Uses

By Janet

June 2022

Check out my Pinterest Board for more washi tape ideas

 

1)               Create a frame or border on your card, mat or design element

2)               Create a patterned mat by covering the entire piece with various repeating designs of washi tape

3)               Weave strips of washi tape along two edges or the entire piece

4)               Place strips of washi randomly across the piece (angled, striped, etc)

5)               Use washi tape for masking (for sprays or ink blending, then remove to reveal the design)

6)               Die cut shapes from washi covered cardstock

7)               You can even use an embossing folder to dry emboss washi tape

8)               Make paperclip flags or banner buntings from washi tape

9)               Use washi tape inside the card to decorate the inside

10)           Use washi tape to seal the envelope or decorate envelopes (leave enough space at the bottom front for the bar coding or you may have to pay extra for it not being machinable)

More ideas

 

a)      Keep washi tape at your die cutting machine to keep dies from moving around when cutting

b)      Use washi tape on the back of cut dies to keep all of the pieces together

c)      Use washi tape to keep a mat adhered to a stencil so the stencil doesn’t move around.  If you want the entire mat stenciled turn the stencil and the mat over and tape the mat to the back of the stencil.

d)      Use washi tape folded over on the door to your Misti for an easy way to lift the door.

e)      Make a flap on your Misti magnets so you can grab them easily.

f)       Use colors to mark my blending brushes for various color families.

Products used on my 4^th of July samples – many from supplies that haven’t see any love in a very long time.

Recollections seasonal washi tape

The Stamps of Life – stamps and dies

Spellbinders – star layered dies

Mrs. Grossman’s stickers

Reminisce Stickers

Twine

Twisted paper raffia (for the lack of a better description)

Ribbon

Brads

Tags

Distress inks for blending, stenciling and stamping

Distress sprays for stenciling

Embossing Folders