I’ve mentioned lately that I’ve been participating in a few online challenges. This is the card that I designed for the 3rd challenge for an online card-making class that I’ll be taking next weekend. This particular challenge was to create the paper-strip background and use it on a card. The samples that the leader provided for the sample all used 3/4″ strips in vertical or horizontal orientation. I decided to go with narrower 1/4″ strips, and have them on the diagonal instead to create something a little different. The key is to use a few paper scraps to create something new that you then emboss with an embossing folder. It’s actually really easy to do, and you can have a lot of fun coming up with all sorts of color schemes.
Here’s the cutting instructions to replicate my card:
- Basic White Thick: 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ scored at 4 1/4″, 1 3/4″ x 3 1/4″ (3 pieces for the diecut greeting)
- Basic Black: 4″ x 5 1/4″, 2″ x 3 1/4″ (for the diecut greeting mat)
- Copy paper: 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″
- Lemon Lolly: 1/4″ x 11″ (several strips)
- Tahitian Tide: 1/4″ x 11″ (several strips)
- Lemon Lime Twist: 1/4″ x 11″ (you get the gist
I used the piece of copy paper as a building layer for my strips. I used strong liquid glue, applied sparingly so it wouldn’t gush out all over the place. I adhered down a strip diagonally across the copy paper; the ends extend past the copy paper. Then I attached the next color strip so that it butted right up to the one that I just glued down. I kept adding strips on the same side (I worked on the right of the center strip first) until that side of the copy paper was covered. Then I trimmed off all of the pieces that extended over the edges. Then I repeated the process by rotating the copy paper and adding strips following the same pattern until the copy paper was fully covered. I trimmed off the extra bits again so that the paper was back to it’s original 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″ size. Finally I used the dotted design of the Basics 3D embossing folders to add some interesting texture to my new “paper” that I created. Ta da!
I encourage you to give this a try. It’s a great way to use up some paper scraps and create a color combination that you love. You could also try having variation in the strip width for a different look. There are no limits to the fun with this particular technique!
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