You Matter to the World!

Today I was going to make some cards for St. Patrick's Day and as I looked through my sentiment stamp sets I came across the Inspired Thoughts set which had words that made me think of the war in Ukraine. I then saw my Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle and knew I needed to make a card to express my feelings.

I gathered together some Balmy Blue and Bumblebee Cardstock to symbolise the colours of the Ukrainian flag which reminds me of my Swedish heritage. The Here Together Bundle was perfect for these cards because of the meaningful words. I used the Here For You Dies to cut the words 'you matter' out of blue cardstock which I glued to a piece of yellow to create the bottom of one card. The top of the card was the same size in blue just like the Ukrainian flag.

I decided to use the negative piece for a second card so I carefully glued all the little blue pieces on to some yellow cardstock. This created the bottom of my second card. I continued using both parts of my die cuts for each card to create the sunflowers and leaves. I stamped the largest sunflower from the Celebrate Sunflower Stamp Set using Bumblebee ink on balmy blue cardstock before die cutting it. I then used the largest detailed Sunflower Die to cut a flower from the yellow Simply Marbleous Designer Series Paper and glued the outline on to that piece to make a yellow and blue flower.

To make my second flower I used part of an Adhesive Sheet on Basic White Cardstock to help me stick down all the little inside pieces of the large sunflower die cut. I die cut another sunflower outline with Basic Black Cardstock and stuck that down on the white cardstock to add contrast to the sunflower. This one was popped up using some dimensionals on the top of the 'flag' card.

I masked off some of the words on two stamps from the Here Together set to create the inside sentiments for the 'flag' card and added a small stamped sunflower coloured with some Stampin' Blends.

The words 'Sheltering you with love at a time when words fall short' from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set matched perfectly for the inside of the card that I had stamped 'know that you are loved' from the Celebrate Sunflower Stamp Set.

I am so grateful I can craft when I feel anxious about what's happening in the world around me. I hope you too have some way to relax in this ever-changing world. Stay Safe and Keep on Crafting!

#KeepCalmAndCraft #ComputerAndCraftDesigns #StampinUp #CreativeTherapy #KeepStamping #RubberStamping #CardMaking #CelebrateSunflowers

Three techniques to make cards from pieces of paper scraps

I must admit that I am a hoarder, but not in a bad way. I only hold on to things that I know I will use in the near future. For example, when I cut my card mats to size there is always a little sliver of paper left over and I keep all those little pieces in a scrap paper drawer so I can use them on future projects.

Sometimes they are useful for stamping sentiments for the fronts of my cards and some pieces are just big enough for a little die cutting. However I end up with lots of straight strips of paper which are great for making backgrounds on cards.

I made a video to show how to use the little strips in three different ways on card fronts.

The first card I created by gluing a variety of coloured strips on to a thin piece of Whisper White cardstock. I used the coloured piece as a background to stamp an image of birds from the Free As a Bird stamp set in Gray Granite ink. I then embellished the front with Mossy Meadow Twine and a sentiment stamped on a scrap of Balmy Blue cardstock.

For the second card I used scrap strips of Come Sail Away designer series paper. I stamped a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock with a sentiment from the Peaceful Moments stamp set in Mossy Meadow ink on a diagonal. I glued the dsp strips on the same angle, leaving a little gap between each piece so the Sahara Sand cardstock could be seen. I then added a little anchor from the Sail Away Trinkets with some Night of Navy/Sahara Sand Baker’s Twine.

I attached this to the front of a Night of Navy card base and use another piece of Sahara Sand cardstock on the inside which I stamped with some images from the Sailing Home stamp set in Night of Navy and Sahara Sand ink.

The final card I made with only two colours -- black and white. I wove the scrap pieces together to make a background mat which I cut with the second largest Stitched Rectangles die. You can learn how to weave paper by watching my video.

I glued the woven die cut piece on to some Real Red cardstock I had put embossed with the Subtle 3D folder. I stamped the field of poppies image from the Painted Poppies stamp set on to a scrap piece of thick Whisper White cardstock using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and coloured them with Real Red Blends. I finished off the front with some Real Red ribbon, rhinestones and words cut with the Well Written dies. This was all attached to a Basic Black card base.

For the inside I used some more images from the Painted Poppies stamp set in Memento Black and Real Red ink on Whisper White cardstock.

I hope my three cards have inspired you to keep those scrap pieces of paper to make your own unique cards!

#KeepCalmAndCraft #ComputerAndCraftDesigns #StampinUp #CreativeTherapy #ScrapPieces #PaperScraps #keepstamping