Using Up Scrap Paper
Before starting on my next project I decided to use up some of my scrap paper. The pencil box where I throw my smaller scraps is fairly empty since I’ve been using the scraps for price tags for my antique booth. The scrap drawer, a 12×12 drawer in one of the rolling cards I have in my craft room, is another story. It’s been awhile since I’ve done a batch of “scrap cards” so the drawer has quite a collection of paper.
I decided to keep it simple and use 1 layout for all of the cards, that way I’d know how many different papers I’d need for each card. I settled on sketch 516 from MFT. I’ve used this card sketch in the past and it’s an easy sketch to use for mass production. Everything is straight lines with easy measurements and no die cutting required. After flipping through the paper I ended up with 14 different paper combinations. When there was enough paper, I made multiples of the same card. Some will go to the antique booth for sale or as give-aways and the rest will be donated to Cards For Soldiers.
To get started I cut each paper combination to the sketch measurements. I did adjust the measurements for a few of the horizontal banners to accommodate the paper available. I then grouped the paper combinations by the color I planned to use for the matting. I don’t work well in chaos so I only pulled out 1 color of cardstock at a time. I went with the easiest paper/cardstock combo first which was black cardstock. I then moved on to brown, orange, purple and rust cardstock. The yellow, blues and green cardstocks were last as I needed to flip through several options to find a nice match to the pattern paper. Once all of the cards were assembled I re-grouped them based on the sentiments I planned to use.
The first cards completed were the “Heartfelt Thanks” and “Thinking of You” cards. Since they all used the same Versamark Vintage Sepia ink for the sentiment it was easy to stamp all the sentiments at once and then cut/assemble the final cards. As there was enough paper, I made multiples of each card.
The next group of cards were birthday cards. Since the papers all had a fun feel to them (donuts, polka dots and fish) I selected a “happy birthday” stamp which had a whimsical feeling font. I used black, orange and lime green inks to coordinate with the papers.
Since I had the lime green ink out, I used it to complete the final “Thinking of You” cards (I was able to make 2) and the “Just a Note” card.
I thought about using the lime green ink for the green/brown “Just Because…” cards but there wasn’t enough contrast against the green horizontal banner. Instead I went with Versamark Vintage Sepia ink. For the other “Just Because…” card I used Memento Love Letter ink to ensure it stood out against the bright red/white polka dot banner.
The horizontal banner on the next set of cards reminded me of confetti or fireworks. I thought about doing another birthday card but since I have plenty of those I opted for the “Congrats!” sentiment.
By the time I got to the last set of cards I was ready to be done. I pulled out a stamp set at random and selected the most appropriate sentiment. Since the brown ink was still on my desk I went with that.
So, 25 cards complete. When doing a mass batch of scrap cards I always enjoy the picking paper step and the cutting step always goes quickly. But, by the time I get to adding the sentiment on the last cards I’m usually bored. I thought about setting a few cards aside and completing them at a later date, but… Based on past experience they would end up in the stack of “mostly” finished cards already sitting in my craft room. LOL.