I stopped at my local Michael’s store last week to pick up some cardstock. While there I saw that the Recollections 12×12 paper pads were on sale. I don’t need paper, but… There was a cute Valentine paper pad that I thought would make cute kid cards. And since some of the papers aren’t pink, red and hearts, I figured I can use it for non-Valentine cards as well.
I started out by pulling 1 sheet of each print and all of the cut-aparts out of the paper pad. I then separated all of the cut-aparts. I like to see what I have to work with. Based on the colors in the papers, I pulled out a bunch of embellishments (brads, rhinestones, washi tape, etc.) that I might be able to use. I also pulled out Valentine rubber stamps and went through my cardstock to see what I have on hand that will work for matting. So now I’m all set to get started.
I thought the 6×6 cut-aparts with some roller skates and the sentiment “That’s How I Roll” was funny. The cut-apart was too big to use on it’s own as I’m doing A2 sized cards, so I split the cut-apart into 2 pieces and used the sentiment on one card and the roller skates on another. I paired the sentiment with some of the roller skate printed paper and added a small banner in the upper left corner.
![](https://peridotcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Valentine1-e1549389144324-225x300.jpg)
I paired the roller skates with some pink hearts and smiley faces paper and added a simple “Luv U” sentiment in the lower right corner.
![](https://peridotcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Valentine2-e1549389156294-225x300.jpg)
For the next card I used another cut-apart. I trimmed off the “To: and From:”, keeping only the sentiment. I used some more of the pink hearts and smiley faces paper for the long banner and a diagonal stripe for the background.
![](https://peridotcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Valentine3-e1549389118803-225x300.jpg)
Next I used the sentiment portion of another of the 6×6 cut-aparts. I cut the sentiment using a square die. The paper pad includes a cute dog print, so the “You Are Top Dog” sentiment was perfect. I popped up the sentiment and added a few silver heart brads to the bottom right corner.
![](https://peridotcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Valentine4-e1549389226448-225x300.jpg)
The next card I used some of the non-Valentine paper for the background and another cut-apart. The card wasn’t very “Valentine-ish” so I added a die cut pink heart.
![](https://peridotcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Valentine5-e1549389211740-225x300.jpg)
The background paper for this card has all kinds of cute sentiments, but is a bit busy. Since a couple of the 12×12 sheets have prints or sentiments too large to include on a card, I trimmed off some plain portions and used it for the pink panel on the bottom of the card. I think the pink panel helps tone down some of the busyness.
![](https://peridotcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Valentine6-e1549389198245-225x300.jpg)
This card is my favorite so far. I used the same background paper and another cut-apart. To make the cut-apart a little larger, I added a strip of paper to the bottom. The strip is cut from a 12×12 sheet made up of stripes of different designs. I attached the cut-apart at an angle and added a few red rhinestones.
![](https://peridotcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Valentine7-e1549389185481-225x300.jpg)
One of the 12×12 sheets had a row of dogs on the bottom 1/3 of the paper. The dogs are really cute and I wanted to use them. I matted the dogs on some white paper and added a scalloped border. There was no sentiment so I added a small die cut heart and stamped “Be Mine”.
![](https://peridotcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Valentine8-e1549389172530-225x300.jpg)
Since I used both sheets of the cut-aparts, I was able to make 2 of each card. I still have a long way to go, but this paper pad is fun to use.
Supplies for these cards include:
- Recollections Better Together 12×12 paper pad
- Recollections cardstock
- White 110lb paper (card base)
- Tsukineko VersaFine Onyx Black ink
- Spellbinders Nestabilities Large and Small Circle dies
- Firefly Nested Square dies
- Firefly Nested Heart dies
- Fiskars Border Punch – Scallop
- Fiskars Border Punch – Apron Lace
- Double sided foam tape
- ATG tape
I also used:
- Tonic Studios Tim Holtz Guillotine trimmer
- Scotch Advanced Tape Glider
- EK Success Cutter Bee scissors