Alternative Uses for Scrapbook Paper

Scrapbook paper can be used in a variety of ways -- other than scrapbooking. Think outside the box! There are many different textures and patterns of paper that make terrific collages for wall art. Here are a couple of examples of collages I have made.




I purchased a 10x10 artist stretched canvas and painted it black. Then I layered and glued different textures and sizes of scrapbooking papers.


Across the bottom, I pierced two holes on each side with a sewing needle and threaded a wired string of orange beads.


Paper is from Paper Pizzaz.

When I saw this frame I thought it was perfect for a paper collage. The papers are sandwiched between two pieces of glass, which makes them appear to "float."

I crumbled the paper and then smoothed it back out for a textured look. Paper is from Paper Pizzaz. Other elements are Rebecca Sower's Fresh Cuts - Keys to the Past.

Iris Folding Cards

A couple more cards using the iris folding technique. The template and papers are from the Anna Griffin kit.

How to Create a Sunflower Centerpiece

November was my parents 47th wedding anniversary! We planned a very nice family dinner at home for them. I created a fresh flower centerpiece to brighten the table. I re-used a square glass container (I think it had cashews in it before) and placed river rocks in the bottom. I filled the vase about half full with water and emptied the packet of flower perserver that came with the bouquet. This stuff really works -- the flowers lasted over a week before they started to wilt.

I picked up a fresh flower bouquet for $15 at Sam's Club. Starting with the most prominent flowers first (the sunflowers) I cut them to size and placed in the container. I use kitchen shears and cut the steams at an angle. Remember to remove any leaves that will lie below the level of the water in the vase as this will help to keep the flowers fresh. Next, I cut the filler flowers at shorter lengths and placed in the container. Since this arrangement was a centerpiece and viewed from all sides, the flowers must be placed all around at different angles for the best look. For a finishing touch I added some lengths of grapevine and leaves I had on hand from another floral arrangement.

A Quick Baby Shower Invitation

Have you ever needed to make an invitation quickly? That was my dilemma and they needed to be fairly simple since I was making 20. I could have resorted to an e-mail invitation, but there is just something nicer about a traditional paper invitation. Browsing through the racks of scrapbook paper at the store, I came upon an idea of using a clear overlay of baby words from Creative Imaginations. I used a green paper from Die Cuts With a View for the background. For all the inside details of where and when, I printed those out and glued it inside. Done!

Upcycling contest

I entered the Upcycling contest sponsored by Singer/Craft Magazine and was chosen as a runner-up! I created baby shower decorations using a pair of old jeans, stash ribbon and paper napkins. Check it on on their website.

Instructions:

Invitation -- use a blank greeting card, stitch ribbon, jean material, and paper napkin to front of card using zig-zag stich.

Centerpiece -- cut out two squares from old jeans, stitch sides together to create a bag, insert ivy and flowers, tie with ribbon, and cut out paper napkin elephant graphic and glue on front of bag.

Favor bags -- cut out small squares from old jeans and stitch sides together to create small bags, fill with candy, tie with ribbon, cut out elephant graphic from napkin and glue on front of bag.

Banner -- cut out denim squares and paper napkins with pinking shears. Stitch paper napkin squares to denim using zig-zag stitch. Cut small slits in corner of denim squares and thread ribbon through, tying knots at each slit.

Iris Folding

This is a recent card I made using the technique of iris folding. The paper and instructions used come in a kit by Anna Griffin. I added the ribbon bow and metal circle tag. I also used a Fiskar corner punch on the green background paper.

Iris folding refers to a technique where folded strips of colored or patterned paper are layered in a spiral pattern behind an aperture. It is called Iris Folding because it resembles the iris of a camera. This particular pattern included using ribbon as well as paper in the layered look.

I found an excellent tutorial on iris folding here. This really helped me in understanding the technique.

You can find free patterns here.

Scrapbook Flip Calendar

I bought several of these flip calendar kits from K & Company. I made one for me and 3 other for gifts.

The kits includes the easel-back calendar, die-cut pocket pages, lined and numbered tab cards, die-cuts, stickers, Grand Adhesions, Clearly Yours, rub-on transfers, lace, buttons, ribbons, bow, colored floss and string. You add your own photos for each month. It also comes with 5 years worth of stickers to change the year at the bottom of the calendar.







Since this involved so much time in creating, I wanted to use it year after year. So, I attached each photo with photo-safe repositionable tape, so that I could change the photos out.


These are close-ups of two of the months created with photos of my nephew.














The tabs for each month pull out and you can write dates to remember on the cards and then slide them back in the pocket.