Dealing with Scraps Part 1/ Atlantic Hearts Sketch 382

If you are anything like me you are obsessed with patterned paper and want to hoard every scrap. I have done several posts about this before, but I definitely need to get more serious about practicing what I preach. So here are some things to consider before you pull out a new pack. 

1) Start with a "fresh desk". Do a quick stock of what is on your desk, and does it need to be there? For me this is a huge challenge, but I also know "out of sight, out of mind", so I am adjusting my scrap system into 3 piles. 

• Pile 1: Anything bigger than 6" by 8" goes back in the envelope with the rest of the patterned paper it coordinates with to be used on another project
  
  
• Pile 2: Card stock pieces that are midsize stay on my desk in the paper tray where I can see what it is, and use it up. I like to pull out patterned paper from this and challenge myself to create something with it. It is a great jumping off point.
  
  
• Pile 3: I have a small bin of paper that is big enough to die cut, create a small mat or stamp on, small mats or just add some interest. This bin should be regularly emptied (I will may some suggestions of simple ways to use things below, there are also a lot of amazing videos on Youtube)

2) Use it before you lose it!: I am notorious for creating one project out of a paper pack, then leaving it full of coordinating scraps, so lately I have been challenging myself to use an entire pack before I move on to something new. It takes some time, and if you have been following my Instagram you will see that almost everything I have posted lately has been from Summer Vibes. You will see some projects below of me trying to not have much left on my desk and there will be several more coming.

3) Sketches can help: So in a stroke of fortune, I was working on some "sunburst" designs to use up some 2" by 3" bits and got the notification for Atlantic Hearts Sketch 382 Challenge. There are many sketches available online as well as lots of card ideas in "Make it From Your Heart" Idea books. Cards using up far less paper than layouts, so you can usually get at least 3 double page layouts plus a good number of cards from a CTMH paper pack+ Coordinating cardstock, you just have to be creative. The other thing you may want to search for are "One Page Wonder" Card designs with cutting diagrams.

Some ways I use up smaller scraps: 

1. Triangle mosaics (these are all sunburst, but it doesn't have to be). These happen to be my submission for AHS 382 and the only one of these I have a decent image for.
   
   
   
   
2. Mosaic style backgrounds from die cut scraps. 
   
   
1. Try to stick with geometric shapes that you can piece together well
2. Can do for cards OR layouts, depending on volume
   
   
   
3. Add some texture to change things up, and then die cut 
   
   
   
4. Piece scraps together on a base, and die cut those. 

I will do more posts of cards made as I clean up piles, but for now I would love to hear how you all use up scraps! What are your favorite ways? Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting.

Yesterday and Today Cross Canada Blog Hop

Welcome to our March Blog Hop featuring Yesterday and Today Creations. To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order. This is the third of our new catalog, with the new 2 month model.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop. You should be joining us from Michelle Stewart's blog, and if you get lost a long the way she also has the master list

I usually am super keen to create archival or historic photo layouts, which this paper pack is perfect for but this time of year I am struggling with the winter blahs I guess, and wished for a little more colour. So I used that as a jumping off point; add a little colour to some sort of interesting fold to spice things up. My card base is 4 1/4 by 11 inches, with the gates scored at 2 3/4 from each edge. I do really like the Cardmaking Set from this collection. The leaves are made with scraps of sweet leaf and evergreen still on my desk from holiday cards, with the flower on sugarplum. I wanted to highlight the beautiful gold shades from the papers without using the foil chipboard and making the card heavy, so there is a little bit of gold paper behind the sentiment, and then I used the medium embossing pen to add some gold embossing powder to the flower.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Brandi at Crazy4Scrapbooking

If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's blog as she has the complete blog list.


Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring projects created using the coming soon "Seas the Day" Collection. So mark April 10th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Cross Canada Blog Hop: Use Your Stash!!

Welcome to our June Blog Hop featuring artwork where we've used our stash mixed with new products. To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop! 

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join http://mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.com/...  If you came from there then you are in the right place!

I have made MANY posts about using your stash because I have such a hard time getting rid of patterned paper scraps! I mean how does one decide what is too small to bother keeping? I sound like I am just a sale away from being a hoarder I know, so I have been trying really hard to minimize keeping things around.. like I don't need it if it is less than a business card. One of the challenges with scraps is how do I use them outside of what is pictured in the catalogue? How do I combine things and no one other than me will know they are from different times? The easiest way to get over this is to make smaller things like cards to push your comfort zone, then work up to other things like layouts (I am the QUEEN of the Frankenpage when I have a small amount of paper I love, or really have to stretch a kit. I mean who looks at the back of a scrapbook page anyway? No one will know if there are huge holes in the back if it is covered). The other trick is to use cardstock and smaller pieces as accents. You can do even do this with paper from different lines if the colours match and you are feeling brave.

For this post I thought I would do an example with some cards that use the value pack cards, the SE1 Dreamin Big scraps I had after making the Workshop Your Way, whisper thick twine, and poppy, glacier and goldrush bits. I wanted to use one a stamp set from SE2 so I chose the Prickly Pear Cardmaking stamp set with thin cuts. Then I used watercolour paints with our watercolour paintbrush (which I love for not making a mess). I didn't get the paint colours matched perfectly, but the picture makes it look worse!! I then added the poppy and goldrush sequins from the Prickly Pear Line

I thought after throwing around the word "Frankenpage" I should probably make sure I gave an example. So I created a layout using the leftovers from the "Hello Lovely" line from SE1.  I paired this up with some pieces from Rustic Home, Rustic Home ribbon, All Together Compliments, and some of the ever growing pile of sea glass scraps. Don't lie, you have been using the heck out of sea glass too. Oh, and this is pattern 7 from Make it From Your Heart Volume 2.

Partially because I am cheap, and partially because I love scraps I didn't use full sheets as my base, here is what the back looks like, but who looks at the back of a page anyway?

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please don't by any means think that any of these projects helped shrink the pile of scraps on my desk... send help.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Nicky of " Simply Artistic".
If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle S Blog, http://mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.ca/..., as she has the complete blog list.
Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring the Masculine projects. So mark July 15th on your calendars and hop along with us.

1. Michelle http://mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.com/...
2. Colleen http://stressedisjustdessertsbackwards.blogspot.com/...
3. Nicky http://wp.me/p7TZ14-19A
4. Caroline http://cjmacbred.blogspot.com/2017/...
5. Sheena http://kanatanewfpapercrafts.blogspot.com/...
6. Diana http://farmerdistamps1.blogspot.com/...
7. Michelle Hughes http://therighthugh.blogspot.com/20...
8. Carol http://craftycarol55.blogspot.com/2...
9. Jessica https://freshbyjess.blogspot.ca/201...
10. Janet - http://worksofheart2011.blogspot.com/...
11. Corinna - http://corinnacraftfun.blogspot.com/...
12. Kirstin http://craftyinthecountry.weebly.com/...