No stamping required

A couple of weeks ago I was craft shopping with a friend (always a dangerous past-time), and I found two 12" x 12" stacks of patterned paper that caught my eye. I try not to buy patterned paper too often because, although I love it, I just don't use it fast enough, and it starts to collect and overwhelm me. But these packs were card stock, rather than lightweight paper, and I don't have much patterned card stock. What really convinced me, though, was that the sheets of card stock were printed on one side and white on the other. I realized that with a couple of cuts and a fold I could have a cute card base that would just need a sentiment and/or a little embellishment to become a finished card.

So I gave in and bought the card stock (they were on sale, so I ended up paying less than half price for each one). After flipping through the stacks several times at home I finally picked a print from each pack to make into cards; there were two sheets of each print, so I made two sets of six cards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Fiesta Forever Stack (DCWV); Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Tangelo Twist, Gumball Green card stock
Accessories: Fun Flower punch, Pansy punch, Bird Builder punch, Itty Bitty Accents punch pack, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), 5/8" neutrals brads, rhinestones, Glue Dots, Mono Multi liquid glue

I love the bright colors and energy of this patterned paper; it feels so happy and uplifting. Who wouldn't smile when they pulled this card out of an envelope?

To make the card bases, I followed these steps:
1. Cut a 1" strip off one side of each 12" x 12" piece, leaving two 11" x 12" pieces of card stock. Note: Save the 1" strips of card stock.
2. Cut each of those pieces into three 4" x 11" pieces.
3. Score the 4" x 11" pieces at 5-1/2" and fold them into the card bases (six card bases total).
These cards are 1/4" narrower than traditional A2 cards, but no one will notice the difference, and this way you can get three cards from each piece of card stock instead of just two.

With the bases done, I knew I wanted to use punched flowers as the focal points. I found a few colors of Stampin' Up! card stock that coordinated perfectly and punched and assembled my flowers. (To add a little dimension to the flowers, I gently curled the petals.) To break up the busy pattern on the paper and provide a solid background for the flowers, I used the 1" strips of card stock from Step 1 above. I cut the two strips into 4" pieces, adhered each piece to one of the card bases so the white side was visible, and glued the flowers and branches so they overlapped the strip. As a final touch I rounded the bottom corners of my card bases.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Blue Citrus Stack (DCWV); Island Indigo, textured Wild Wasabi card stock
Accessories: Chalk Talk and Secret Garden Framelits dies, Island Indigo 1/4" cotton ribbon, Very Vintage designer buttons, linen thread

The print I used for the second set of cards is much calmer and more soothing than the first set. I love the combination of blues and greens and the layered images. (I wish this photo were better; the colors coordinate better in person. Since we moved a few months ago I haven't quite figured out the best place to take pictures of my cards.)

To make the card bases for this set I followed the same three steps outlined above. For each card I added a piece of Island Indigo ribbon across the card and adhered an Island Indigo die-cut shape (from the Chalk Talk Framelits set) over the ribbon. I trimmed off the bottom two leaves from a die-cut branch and used linen thread to secure the branch to the back of a button. I tied the linen thread in a bow and glued the button and branch to the Island Indigo shape.

I also used the extra 1" strips for these cards. I cut the strips into 4" lengths and adhered one piece inside each card to add visual interest and to repeat the print from the front.

That's two card sets done, and no stamping required. Thanks for stopping by!