As many of you may recall, last month was the end of the Crafty Collab Hop, dedicated to using supplies we've squirreled away. But my Squirrel Sisters (Anna, Marie, Karen) and I all agreed that, well, we still had a BUNCH of supplies that we could do more with. And what about the techniques we hadn't even tapped yet or barely scratched the surface of? And themes! Well, before you know it, another hop was born and I couldn't be happier! We now have a Squirrel Squad (hello Bory, Lounon, Natasha, who heard and wanted to participate again) and a whole tree full of tricks and inspiration we'll be sharing on the 20th of every month! So without further ado....
As we started to talk about what we would do for our first challenge, we all agreed on one thing: we have a LOT of leftovers! Some of them came from making holiday cards and gifts, some came from months and years of crafting. Either way, we knew we needed to start busting through those scraps, extra die cuts, backgrounds, and who knows what else! Since I am challenging myself to stick with Just Stash January, this certainly made my heart leap!
Picking a theme was also pretty easy: in honor of the new year, we decided we wanted to focus on celebrating new things (new year, new job, new baby, new house, whatever!). Now that I think about it, it is a sort of ironic juxtaposition: use your old stuff to celebrate the new stuff! Well, either way, it worked for me!
I knew I'd never made New Year cards before, so I immediately started perusing my sentiments and potential images. BUT I also wanted to figure out a way to use up more of these paper scraps.
I also checked out my box of backgrounds. These are potential card fronts I created during the 30 Day Coloring Challenges, during experiments (that sometimes failed), and even when I was bored but wanted to be creative.
I quickly found out I only had a couple of New Year sentiments, but I also had the quintessential images: champagne glasses, bottles, and of course multiple versions of the word "cheers". Armed with this knowledge, I was inspired to create three different cards with three very different vibes!
The first card came together incredibly easily. I simply grabbed a rainbow of strips that were about the same width. I then trimmed them to different lengths and spaced them on a black card front cut down to 5.25" x 4". I tried to make sure that the center of the strip was landing on the horizontal center line of the card. A quick roll of glue down the back of each strip and I had a cheerful front that had a very retro vibe to me. This was perfect for one of my two sentiments, which also felt "groovy" to me. I stamped that down on a different strip, glued it down, and then attached all of it to a white card base.
Next, I focused on a champagne glass. I originally thought I would use the champagne bottle and create a whole scene. It wasn't long before I decided I wanted a fairly simple and elegant card. But I still wanted to incorporate some of the paper strips. I decided black, white, cream, and gold tones would be elegant and use some of the options I had.
To create the "shelf", I trimmed down a piece of white paper. I used the paper to mark a light pencil line so I could stamp the first champagne glass and the "cheers" sentiment. turning to the paper strips, I played around with the order until I found the option I loved. A quick roll of glue and that was set as well. I then stamped a second champagne glass, fussy cut it out, and overlapped it on the card front. I thought some small sequins would make excellent blingy bubbles and frame the sentiment well. I then ran a gold ink pad around the edges just to unify the whole front. With that, cheers to another card done.
The final card relied on kismet. I'd come across the basic background, a piece of white cardstock with ink blending along the edges. I certainly didn't think it was anything special, but kept it out for some reason anyway. I continued to ponder my unused sentiment, "sending warm wishes..." and tried to decide if it could stand alone or what image I would ultimately pair with it. Flipping through my personal stamp catalog, I noticed this adorable mouse holding a cup of cocoa! I'd received him as a free gift with purchase, so, honestly, had never really come up with a game plan to use him. All of a sudden, it all clicked: warm cocoa, cocoa colored swirls, and the sentiment to tie it all together! First I stamped and colored the mouse. I added a little bit of clear glitter glue to his whipped cream and the candy cane. I then stamped the sentiment and die cut it in a fun shape. I trimmed off each decorative side and applied it to a second die cut (the same shape, just fully intact). The sentiment didn't look quite right floating there though, so I decided I would add some ribbon to anchor it. With no properly coordinating ribbon, I decided to grab a strip of white paper and color it the same color as the mouse's sweater. I then cut a slit on each side, thread the strip through, and glued it all down. Ta-Da!
I hope I've been able to inspire you to take a second look at your crafting leftovers! And there is WAY more inspiration to come! Just keep hopping along! Next stop: The brilliant and talented Lounon! And if you love what we're doing, please leave a comment! We love it even more when you subscribe!