On top of everything else going on (see last post!), I had my own little health scare this month, so I have been truly MIA (all good news, though!). Anyway, I’m back in the craft room, and ready to share some ideas for making cards quickly.

I find that using “pretty papers” goes a long way to making a quick card, and, while I often skip ribbons and other embellishments, they can help elevate a simple card. I meant to post about this earlier this month, but if you’re reading this before the end of October, there is still time… Stampin’ Up! has a 15% off selected pretty paper sale. Anyway, I am finally up and running, and I made the card here with nothing more than pretty paper, stamps, ink, and some dimensional foam.

I cut a piece of green cardstock to 5 and 1/2 inches by 4 and 1/4 inches, and a piece of coordinating designer paper to 5 and 1/4 by 4 inches. I then took an angled piece off of the lower right-hand corner with my trimmer, then put the cut edge of the larger piece of designer paper with the cut edge lined up at about one inch, and cut that piece off. Then, I lined the pieces of paper up on the green cardstock without attaching, leaving a margin as shown on the card, and drew two light pencil lines to help me guide my stamping. I then stamped my sentiment- this one is from an old Paper Pumpkin kit- in black ink in the center of my guidelines.

Next I took some scrap strips of gold foil paper, and glued them to the cut edges of the designer paper, and I trimmed the ends with snips to follow the angle of the paper (see photo). Use dimensional foam on the back of the pieces for extra flair. I used foam strips for extra sturdiness, the adhered the whole thing to a card base. Here is another view, though I’m not sure why the color is so changed!

This is a really great way to use your pretty papers, and to make cards for any occasion- birthdays, holidays, etc. I can just see some pretty Christmas paper with a gold-embossed Merry Christmas in the middle! Also, if you struggle with masculine cards, this would work well with a subdued paper- no froufrou!

I hope you enjoyed stopping by. I am also hoping that 2020 doesn’t have any more surprises for me, and that I’ll be back next week for another visit.

Happy stamping!

Michelle