Who else has piles of scrap papers you know will work great on a page or card, but haven’t gotten around to using yet?

Good. I’m not the only one. (Right? Right!!?!?)

Let’s use some scraps, shall we?

You know how Shimelle Laine uses starting points? Basically what you do is you think of your paper as simple squares and rectangles and circles, and overlap them to create a background. That style of layering papers is a great way to use lots of papers and scraps on both scrapbook pages and cards. (If you want a great class about using up your stash, you need to check out Shimelle’s class from the first True Scrap called Creative Stash Diving. (affiliate link) Excellent inspiration for using up all your stash.)

This card started with a scrap piece of test paper that I had used to practice for the hexagon card earlier. While it wasn’t good enough to use in a starring roll, it was good enough to use with this silhouette stamp. The colors from the stamped image then dictated the colors of the scrap papers chosen as well as the card base. By also using patterns that echoed the style of the stamp (circles & a bit of ornate flourishes) the card feels very unified and cohesive.

Final thought for you today: not all cards need a sentiment. If you have a purpose for making a card, that can dictate a sentiment theme, but if you’re just making a card because you like making cards, give yourself permission to leave off the sentiment. After all you’re probably going to be writing something inside it, aren’t you?

Have you been making any cards? Make sure you’re on my mailing list if you’d like to get one of these.

Do you have any techniques or questions? Ask away!