July 2025

Pink Paislee Sweet Freedom 12x12 Paper Pad Part 2

I'm still working with the Sweet Freedom paper pad by Pink Paislee. Before I had started making any cards with this paper pad I pulled out 1 sheet of each design and both sheets of the sentiment cut-aparts. I knew I wouldn't finish the entire paper pad my first time using it and I didn't want to be left with papers I didn't like or that wouldn't coordinate with something else. I mean how many occasions are there to use a buffalo print paper? Lol.

Instead of using a bunch of different layouts for this batch of cards I decided to make it easier on myself. I selected a single layout, one of my favorites - OWH (Operation Write Home) sketch #218. It's a great layout for featuring a pattern paper and enough of the background paper is covered so that if it's a busy print or not quite a perfect match you don't notice. It's also easy to add in a solid cardstock for the horizontal strip across the card.

The dimensions for the panels on each card are basically the same. The only changes I made were for the 2 cards where I cut the background panel to 4 x 5 1/4 inches so that once the matting was added there was a small 1/8 inch border of the white card base showing. Along the top and bottom edges of the horizontal strips I added Love from Lizi peel-offs in coordinating colors. I used the included cut-aparts and a "Happy 4th of July" stamp for sentiments on each card. For embellishment I added a few die cut stars on a couple of the cards.

I am really pleased with how this batch of cards turned out. Since I was working with 12x12 paper I was able to get at least 4, sometimes 6, backgrounds from each sheet of paper, so a lot of cards were made. At this point I think I'm done with patriotic cards for now. I still have at least 1/2 of this 12x12 paper pad left plus all of the scraps.

Pink Paislee Sweet Freedom 12x12 Paper Pad

Patriotic paper is not always the easiest to find so when I saw the Sweet Freedom paper pad by Pink Paislee, I picked up 2 of them. It will take quite a while to use up both 48 sheet 12x12 paper pads but many of the prints have a rustic country look that could be used for many different occasions. Prints in the paper pad include florals, geometrics, and buffalos along with the expected stars, stripes and fireworks. The paper pad also includes a sheet of patriotic sentiments that I fussy cut and used on several of the cards.

Once I actually sat down to start on the cards, I was a bit stumped. Obviously, the prints feature a patriotic theme, but it was a bit challenging to pair up some of the prints with some a bit large in scale and others quite busy.

For the first card I went with what I thought was the easiest paper pairing - the small floral clusters with the rustic geometric. The golden brown color of the geometric print picked up the muted diagonal strip of the floral print. I selected a layout that would work with the fussy cut circle sentiment and used kraft cardstock for the matting and a matte gold Love from Lizi peel-off to separate the 2 prints. I used a dark navy cardstock for the thin vertical strip and the stars that I sprinkled around the card.

The next card pairs a non-patriotic daisy print with a subtle star print. I selected a simple layout and used navy cardstock for all of the matting. Instead of using one of the fussy cut sentiments I stamped the "Happy 4th of July" sentiment in navy ink onto a fishtail banner.

I went all in on prints with the next card. The background is a blue and off-white star print paired with a red quilt-like print. At first I wasn't sure if this would work since the 2 papers didn't have any colors in common. I think adding the navy stars to the red focal panel and positioning the sentiment to run across both prints made it work.

The next card used more of the red quilt-like print paired it with a scrap of the muted star print from an earlier card. A double matting in red and yellow cardstocks bring the colors of both papers together. I used another of the fussy cut sentiments and added color to the apple pie with colored pencils.

This card is all about the sentiment panel. I kept the card very simple by using just one large scale pattern paper for the background. I used a navy cardstock for matting and the 2 fishtailed banners. In keeping with the patriotic theme I added a string of red die cut stars.

Since this is a 12x12 paper pad I was able to make several of each card. I'm still in a patriotic mood and there are many prints I'd like to use so I'll be making another batch of patriotic cards before putting this paper pad away.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse