Many times in my blog I’ve tried to help you use your scraps with my project design inspirations.  I’ve had a few people tell me that finding the right scraps is an issue for them too.  Being organised with how you store and use your scraps is essential if you’re to succeed with this.  That’s even more important for me as I keep the tiniest pieces.

After a few years of trying various solutions I think I’ve got this down to a fine art.  I have one biscuit tin that contains all my card scraps (anything less that a full 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheet).  A small 2″ x 4″ x 6″ box holds any pieces of ribbon, twin and trim I’ve cut from the spool and not used.  Punched pieces are in paper CD sleeves in a small box and filed alphabetically by punch name.  Unused die-cuts live in the case with the relevant dies, and stamped images with the stamp sets.

My golden rule when designing any project is check the scrap storage first and the system really works.  I’ve never had more scraps than my system can hold, and I can always see what I have.

You can imagine my delight this morning when I saw the Stamp Ink Paper challenge for this week.  The theme for SIP164 is Use Your Scraps, and so of course I had to join this challenge.

NOT SCRAP (WITH A SNEAK PEEK)

I must admit that not everything in today’s project is from my scraps.  After all, the challenge is ‘use your scraps’, not ‘use only scraps’.

I began by making my card base, a piece of Merry Merlot Card cut and scored using my Stampin’ Trimmer.  I folded the card along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

The other piece that came from a full sheet was the gorgeous background.  This Tranquil Tide piece with amazing copper foil accents is from the Joyous Noel Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP).  It’s from the Stampin’ Up! 2018 Holiday Catalogue that goes live for customers on September 5th (two weeks from today!)  There’s twelve 12″ x 12″ sheets in the pack, two sheets each of 6 double-sided designs.  One side of each sheet features a printed design but if you turn it over the design on the reverse has copper foil accents.  The colours used in the DSP pack, apart from copper, are Gray Granite, Merry Merlot, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Tranquil Tide and Whisper White.

LOTS OF LAYERS

Having cut my Joyous Noel DSP I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix it onto a layer of Whisper White Card.

Next came the Happy Birthday sentiment and for once I remembered to pull out the Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets.  I stuck a piece to some Whisper White and Tranquil Tide Card and then used my Big Shot to cut it out with the Happy Birthday Thinlit Die.

I peeled off the backing paper from the Whisper White sentiment and fixed it on top of the Tranquil Tide one.  By offsetting the top one slightly I created a shadow effect.  Then I removed the backing from the Tranquil Tide piece and fixed it to the layered DSP.

SCRAPS AND MORE SCRAPS

It was time to pull out some scraps, starting with strips of Whisper White and Tranquil Tide Card.  I create lots of these narrow strips whenever I cut a background layer for my cards.  I layered the Tranquil Tide strip on top of the Whisper White one, and then fixed them to the card front with liquid glue.

The assembled sentiment layer came next, attached with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Now it was time to use up some scraps from my ribbon box.  I grabbed a short piece of 5/8″ Burlap Ribbon and cut a V in the end.  This was added to the top of the sentiment layer with Mini Glue Dots.  Next I found a scrap of 1/4″ Copper Trim, folded it and fixed it onto the Burlap Ribbon with another glue dot.  Finally I attached a large Mint Macaron self-adhesive Faceted Dot to the Copper Trim.

COPPER FINISHES

Rather than using more of the Joyous Noel DSP to complete the project, I decided to go with copper embossing.  I don’t yet have the Peaceful Noel Stamp Set that coordinates with the DSP, so I had to improvise.  I found exactly what I needed in the Sea of Textures Stamp Set, the long ‘weed’ image.  It wasn’t exactly the same as the design on the DSP, but it was close enough.

First I wiped some Whisper White Card with an Embossing Buddy to remove any oils and static from the card.  Then I used VersaMark ink to stamp the weed image up the right-hand side.  The image was a little short so I stamped it again to make it longer.  Next I sprinkled the VersaMark with Copper Stampin’ Emboss Powder, and tapped off the excess.  I checked the image for stray specks of powder and removed some that I found.  Finally I was ready to melt the remaining embossing powder with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

The completed layer was then attached to the inside of the card base with liquid glue.

All that was left was the Whisper White Medium Envelope.  Once I’d embossed the same copper ‘weed’ on the front up the left edge I was finished.

Oh there’s so much I like about this card, the rich colours, the copper accents.  In fact, change the sentiment and it could easily become a Christmas card don’t you think?

You’ll find more about how I organise my scraps in my blog post Scrappy Days.

USE YOUR SCRAPS CHALLENGE

This card was definitely about using up some of my scraps, and there’s always a sense of achievement when I walk away from my desk with less scraps than when I sat down.

Here’s the logo for the Stamp, Ink, Paper challenge SIP164 Use Your Scraps, that got me started today.

Now that I’m done, I think I’ll pop over to the blog and take a look at the projects created by their Design Team.  You never know when and where inspiration will strike next.

BUNDLE BONUS – I purchased the Sea of Textures Stamp Set used for the ‘weed’ image as part of a bundle with the coordinating Under the Sea Framelits Dies.  Buying coordinating products using a bundle item number will save you 10% so they’re definitely worth considering.  I didn’t use these dies today, but I’ve included a link to the bundle at the end of my product list in case you want to look at this in more detail.

Product List