October 2024

Other than the cut-apart, this card did not include any Halloween specific paper.  For the background I used a black/orange gingham print.  The focal panel is a floral print that matched the flower on the witches hat.  For the 2 banners I used a scrap of black cardstock and an orange tone-on-tone print.

For this card I used the spooky eyes print as the background.  Although it is a busy print, the size of the print worked well for a background.  To ensure the cut-apart didn't get lost, I choose an orange plaid paper for the larger horizontal banner.  Also, using a dark black cardstock for the punched scalloped strip helped draw attention to the cut-apart.  To finish the card I added a small fish-tail banner cut from a scrap of black/white polka dot paper.

I hadn't used any of the black/white bat print paper.  I wanted to use it with the "Let's Hang Out" cut-apart but found it very stark.  I knew I needed to bring in another color.  I paired it with more of the orange plaid.  To separate the prints, I used a black glitter Love from Lizi peel-off in the pinstripe style.  A scrap of tone-on-tone black houndstooth print was used for the small banner.  For embellishment I added 3 small black brads.

The skull print paper with just 2 colors was also very stark.  I paired it with the last of the black/orange gingham print.  I didn't particularly like the 2 papers together but once I added the cut-apart and bakers twine which included all 3 colors (black, white and orange) it helped tie the 2 papers together.  So while not my favorite card I don't think it looks too bad.

I used a small circle die to cut out the candy corn "You're Sweet" sentiment from the last 1.5 x 2 inch cut-apart.  At this point I was down to strips and small scraps of pattern paper.  The diagonal stripe with the 2 shades of orange was perfect with the candy corn.  For the background I used a tone-on-tone print paper from an American Crafts 6x6 paper pad.  A thin strip of orange cardstock and a few orange rhinestones finished the card.

For the first card I was able to use up several paper strips.  To create the background I cut the wide strip of striped paper into 2 strips and covered the "gap" with a strip of the polka dot paper.  I think the "Smile" sentiment was perfect to pair with the camera print paper used for the focal panel.  

For the second card I used the last of the full 6x6 sheets to create the background.  More of the paper strips were used to create the striped panel and pink floral banner.  With all of the patterns, I went with a larger sentiment panel with plently of white space around the simple "Just Because..." sentiment.  For embellishment I stacked 2 sizes of a flower die cut and added a Queen and Co. bubble in the center.

The first card uses more of the pink lattice print for the background and a smaller piece of floral print paper for the focal panel.  The strip across the card is a scrap of the white woodgrain print, bordered by gold Love from Lizi pinstripe peel-offs.  The sentiment is stamped in Momento Bamboo Leaves ink.  As a finishing touch I added a few pink brads in the upper left side of the floral panel.

This card uses up the last of the pink lattice print paper.  I used more of the floral print for the circle focal panel.  Everything is matted using kraft cardstock.  After stamping and matting the sentiment strip, I thought it was too small next to the circle panel.  To make the sentiment strip appear larger, I staggered strips of green and pink glitter paper beneath the sentiment.  To finish the card I added a few clear goosebumps from Queen & Co. in the upper right corner.

At this point I didn't have any tone-on-tone paper large enough to use as a background.  Instead I used a Honey Bee coverplate die to add texture to a piece of plain pink cardstock.  A simple "Just saying hello" sentiment is stamped in Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and placed on the focal panel so that it does not obscure the floral images.  For embellishment I added a fishtail banner to the upper right corner of the card.

To lighten up the dark floral and woodgrain print on this card, I used white shimmer cardstock for the background.  I used another coverplate die to add texture to the shimmer cardstock.  With all of the white, I opted to double mat the background first with black cardstock and then again in the same green cardstock that I used for the 2 narrow vertical strips.  The sentiment is stamped in Momento Bamboo Leaves ink and then die cut using a Spellbinders oval die set.  To add a bit of color to the right side of the card I added 3 green epoxy dots.

I used this layout for several cards, using up many of the paper scraps.  I was able to use wider scraps for the strip across the top of the card and narrower scraps for the vertical strips on the lower portion of the card.  To cover the "seam" between the top and bottom portions, I tied a coordinating ribbon around the panel.  Sentiments were stamped in green or black ink, depending on which worked best with the papers used.  As a finishing touch brads or epoxy dots were sprinkled around the cards.