I knew I wanted to craft today, but I had no idea when I sat down that I would end up making a full set of handmade embellishments. It all started out with me watching organization videos on YouTube during the week and in one talking about 6" x 6" paper pads, there was a suggestion to go through the paper pads and do the following: put aside the ones you don't like anymore and put aside the ones that you might prefer to take apart instead of keep as a collection. I've already discarded what I didn't want anymore earlier, but I thought taking apart some of them to use sheets individually was an interesting concept, so I went back to my paper pad box and sorted through them. That's how I found the pad that inspired my Look on the Bright Side card shared recently and also how I found the Hello Easter pad, which was down to a single 6" x 6" page of cut-aparts and a cello bag filled with scraps. I wasn't especially fond of the page I had left - the cut-aparts all have English wording and the floral on the back is not my cup of tea. I was about to toss the whole thing in the recycle bin, but as I was leafing through the Spring edition of the Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine (I finally got my hands on a printed copy), I saw the add from Echo Park in the front of the magazine with all of the tags displayed on a table and I wondered if I had scraps big enough to make something similar out of them.
I took the magazine to my stamp table and started playing with leftover papers and punches. I handcut one of the cut-apart to put in the middle and I fussy cut eggs from the patterned paper to tuck behind. I've recently made a full set of embellishments from leftover papers (which I have yet to photograph and share) so I went through those and picked the smallest ones for inspiration, which led to the little banners with the ribbon and folded top and the "You are such a cool peep!" piece. At this point, the creative juices had started flowing and I just kept going: the accordeon piece, then the circle, then the folded strip...
At this point, I thought, "hmm, what about a polaroid frame?" so I went looking through my Lawn Fawn dies and as I was looking for the Selfie Frames, I spotted other dies that might be interesting so I grabbed them all and came back to my table with more ideas to try out.
This is the result of part of the afternoon and part of the evening and I can't believe I ended up using every - single - last - piece of paper. I mean it literrally: once I was down to next to nothing, I used the Ornate Frame dies from Stampin' Up! everywhere I could, then the tiny bow die from the Mini Wreath die set from Lawn Fawn and then the tiny tag punch from Stampin' Up! on every last inch of paper I could find. I tried to stick to the plain colours rather than the patterns if I could so that the embellishments can be used on generic projects more easily, but I also know that since my niece loves crafting with me, she will be absolutely delighted if I gift her a little baggie filled with shapes she can include in her projects. Can you believe this all came out of a single 6" x 6" sheet and a 24-sheet paper pad scraps? This blows my mind, and it definitely proves that I have more paper than I'll ever be able to use in my lifetime. (Patterned paper is my personal weakness when it comes to craft supplies.)
Supplies
Patterned Papers: Hello Easter (Echo Park)
Dies: Everyday Sentiment Banners, Say What? Gift Tags, Selfie Frames,
Mini Wreath, Mini Easter Eggs, Heart Shaker Gift Tag (Lawn Fawn);
Puzzle Pieces, Ornate Frames (Stampin' Up!)
3D Embossing Folder: Tufted (Stampin' Up!)
Drops: Calming Aqua, Bubblegum Blush, Ripened Pumkin, Dandelion Yellow Crystal Drops,
Indigo Eclipse, Cloud 9, Dragon Scales Dream Drops (Nuvo)
Accessories: White Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon,
White Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon, Stampin' Score Tool, Ticket Corner Punch,
Corner Rounder Punch, Petal PInk Rhinestone Gems, Circle Punch, Butterfly Punch,
Scalloped Circle Punch, Mini Tag Punch, Mini Label Punch, Mini Banner Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Decorative Scissors (Fiskar); Glitter Enamel Dots (Doodlebug Design)
Comments