Frugal Scrapbooking: Get into the Paper Stash!

Are you a "paper hoarder" like I am?  I have always loved paper, every since I was a young girl.  Stationery with matching envelopes, coordinating stickers, notebooks, journals . . . . it's no wonder I love scrapbooking and card making!  I admire all the many varieties of paper, and it is usually the item that I stock up and hoard more than anything else in the scrapbooking store aisles.

This summer, I actually set a paper crafting goal -- to dig out paper that I have been "hoarding" and make myself use them in projects!  (Easier said than done!) This past week, I found a DCWV 4" x 6" paper pad in my stash called "Once Upon a Time" that I had not touched.

It is girly paper, and I knew I would never use it for my boy layouts.  Since I was in a card making mood, I went through the pack and tore out all the papers that I could see on cards, then I looked through my other paper box and found solid card stock pieces that coordinated with the printed paper.  After three days, I have enough cards to give or to sell as sets!  Here is what I came up with:

The card layouts are fairly simple, but in this case, I wanted to highlight the gorgeous patterns of the paper that went from "fairy tale" to more feminine, girlfriend cards.  I am glad that I finally used this paper pack, and I'm very happy with the results!  

Card Making Process: Trying out Washi Tape

I just picked up the new July issue of Cardmaker -- LOVE that magazine!  I went right to work on a couple of the ideas to make my own simple cards.  

The first one I "scraplifted" was from page 34 that was made from the popular Washi tape.  I didn't have much tape here at home but had a small package of three colors that I could try with this card.  I went with a khaki card instead of their white option:

I love ribbon, and I think that this Washi tape is going to be my next addiction!  So fun and easy!

The next card I chose to recreate was from page 36, called "Scrappy Birthday."  I did a little twist on it, and this is the result:

I used papers from the Garden Party matstack from DCWV and thought it followed their theme well.  

This July issue has so many projects I plan to try -- good thing it is summer time so I have more free time to make cards and fill up my stash again!