Stash Busting - using scrap paper strips and a card sketch

The papers in the rubber stamping and scrapbooking scene are so pretty. Sometimes, it's hard to part with even the scraps! In the beginning, I had so few supplies, I always salvaged all the scraps I could. Today is a different story, but I still have that mindset of needing to hoard my scraps.

I find card sketches are a great way to use up scraps! On these cards, I used Little Tangles Sketch #72 by Neat and Tangled.

I made this one for my husband's birthday. He was born on Halloween, so the monster theme works. This monster stamp set is by C.C. Designs. I added a balloon die cut from a Stampin' Up! punch. I used my fancy gold mirror card for the oval on this one.

I love that stuff! That's the kind of thing I would hoard, so I've been making a conscious effort to use what I love. What good does it do if it just sits in my stash? (Other than make me happy when I open my drawers and see it - but the point to cardmaking is to make other people happy too!)

I made two other cards with this sketch too.

I used a Spellbinder's oval die on this holiday card. (I think I know who will get this one!) I have tonnes of Christmas paper scraps. I think I could make my entire holiday card list out of scraps alone! Again, I used some precious specialty cardstock, this time in a satin finish rose gold. I also used a very lovely, thick gold metallic cardstock as the mat. I like that stuff so much, I cut the centre out of it with a stitched rectangle to keep. I cut a second stitched rectangle out of white cardstock to fill the void so that my striped piece wouldn't sink.

The stamp is a retired image by Your Next Stamp. (Luckily, the still have the same bunny available, just holding a heart instead of a gift.)

On the last card, I used non-shedding glitter paper. (I somehow acquired so much glitter paper, it doesn't all fit in my drawer, which means I'm over the limit!)

This bear stamp is a retired one from Kraftin' Kimmie stamps. I coloured it with my Copic markers on Bazzill Kraft cardstock. (In fact, all three cards were coloured with my Copic markers). If you use a base colour that is close to your lightest Copic shade, then I find there's less work in getting a good blend because the base colour will hide those imperfections. It's a good tip when colouring die-cuts to add depth. (OR, you could just make all your die cuts white all the time to save on cardstock and colour them all yourself.) I think using a coloured base adds something different - makes it a smidgeon more visually interesting.

And while I'm proud of using up some scraps, these three cards hardly made a dent! I've been making cards with sketches for quite a stretch now, trying very consciously to use up scraps. I'm making progress (but it's not nearly as fast as I accumulate new stuff. Shhh! Don't tell!)