Fun With Scraps

If you do a lot of crafting, you end up with a lot of scraps! Strips of cardstock, small pieces of Designer Series Paper, and bits & pieces of things you cut or prepared, then decided not to use at the time. There are lots of ways you can use these small pieces, turning them into lovely backdrops for cards.

To make this background I laid one strip of DSP across a piece of scrap paper. You can put it anywhere, I like it off centre. Then lay a strip at 90 degrees to that piece. Lay strips side by side until you get to the edge. Move to the next area, laying strips in the opposite direction. Once you have covered your area, trim the edges and you have an awesome patterned background piece.

For the next card, I laid strips of paper straight across a piece of scrap paper. Once completed, I cut small sections to use for accenting cards.

Using bold sentiment stamps such as this one from Tasteful Touches along with your patterned pieces makes card making easy. Some simple stamping with the bright colours and you have a great card to share.

Sometimes you don’t have strips, as much as small pieces when you are finished crafting. I cut these into 1 inch squares and use them to create patterns for backgrounds. The natural tones of these squares makes a great card with a big birthday wish for a friend at the cottage. I’m sure he will love it!

These are just a few things you can create with small leftover pieces of cardstock and Designer Series Paper. I like to spend some time creating these pretty backgrounds, having them ready to pull together a great handmade card in a snap!