PATTERNED PAPER - THE CARD MAKER’S SECRET WEAPON

Hello Stampers!

I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of patterned paper! Each and every sheet is beautiful in its own way, and I enjoy using those papers. When I first began buying patterned paper, it stressed me out! The paper was double sided, and it was torture having to put adhesive over such a beautiful design in order to use the other side on my card. It took a while, but I overcame that issue. I realized patterned paper, as beautiful as it may be, is a tool and meant to be used, not collected. Today we’ll talk about many of the ways we use patterned papers to create great cards, and yes, I have a fun layout to help us use those patterned papers. Let’s take a look at the sample cards. There are a bunch of them:

VIDEO

CARD LAYOUT #2611

CREATING THE BASIC CARD

WHAT YOU NEED

* Card Base - A-2 size. Cut cardstock at 81/2”x 5 1/2” score and fold at 4 1/4” or 11” x 4 1/4” scored and folded at 5 1/2”

* Patterned Paper - Cut at 5 1/4” x 4” and cut strip at 5 1/4” x 3/4”or 4” x 3/4” for inside panel; to cover envelope flaps use a piece of patterned paper cut at 6” x 2” or size needed to cover flap and trim. Extra for cutting out images or patterns from paper to use on card.

* Inside Panel - white or light colored cardstock cut at 5 1/4”x 4”

* Cardstock - for focal image and greeting - white, vanilla, etc; mats -same color as card base and cut or punched to leave a border around the image and greeting.

* Dies, punches, stamps, inks, markers, adhesives, embellishments, etc.

WHAT TO DO

* Cut, score, and fold card base. Go over fold with bone folder.

* Adhere patterned paper to front of card base.

* Stamp and color focal images. Stamp greeting. Adhere these panels to their bases.

* Stamp inside panel, add patterned paper strips or cut outs to panel, adhere to inside of card.

* Adhere focal image and greeting to card front. Adhere with dimensionals if desired.

*Add embellishments if desired.

WAYS TO USE PATTERNED PAPER

1. Use for backgrounds / layers

2. Use the scraps for card layouts / quilt cards, etc.

3. Use fussy cut or die cut images from the paper for focal images or embellishments

4. Use as a card base for certain fun folds

5. Use to create 3-D projects- boxes, treat boxes/ bags, etc.

6. Use to decorate envelope flaps

7. Use to select color schemes for cards or focal images

SELECTING COLORS FOR THE CARD

I used the colors in the patterned paper to help select the colors for the card base and mats, and the ink colors, as well as the embellishments. I had leftover patterned paper to cover the envelope flaps use.

(All supplies - Stampin’ Up!)

COLOR A, COLOR B, OR NO COLOR

Sometimes patterned paper offers us multiple option for a color schemes. I knew right away a black card base would be perfect, as black is the darkest color in the pattern and seems more of an accent than main color. Trying to select a color for the butterfly was a bit more challenging. At first I was certain the red would be perfect. I like it, but seemed like a lot of red, so I tried the yellow-gold color that is used for the center of the flowers. I like it, but I wanted to try another color. I stamped the butterfly outline and I sort of liked it. I placed the mat underneath it, and I really liked that! So do you just keep making versions of the card until you find the color combination you like? No, simply cut some circles (or whatever shape) from scrap white cardstock, printer paper, or other white paper. Place it on a mat and on the card. Use this as a sample. Which color really pops? Make the focal panel using that color.

(All supplies - Stampin’ Up!)

ADDING INTEREST INSIDE WITH PATTERNED PAPER

Selecting the color for the focal image is simplified by using colors from the patterned papers. You can choose the main color or an accent color. Which do you prefer?

It is easy to cut a strip of the patterned paper and adhere it to the inside panel. Fussy cut images from the patterned paper to use inside the card or for focal images or embellishments. 

 

It is easy to cut a strip of the patterned paper and adhere it to the inside panel. Fussy cut images from the patterned paper to use inside the card or for focal images or embellishments. 

(All supplies - Stampin’ Up!)

MIRROR IMAGES FOR IMAGE PANEL AND GREETING

For these cards I flipped the position of the focal image and greeting panels making them a mirror image of those on the card layout.  As for the patterned papers, I used the darkest color for my card base and then chose colors for the fish and greeting. I think the blue and the orange colors both work well for the focal image / greeting. I did not care for the green color for the focal image. It is okay on the background panel. Patterned paper not only helps you select the colors you want to use; it helps you decide colors you do not want to use. 

(All supplies - Stampin’ Up!)

LOTS OF COLOR

The patterned papers I used for today’s cards feature multiple colors. Those colors can be very helpful not only when selecting the card base color, but also when selecting the colors for focal images.  That is what I did for these cards. I also changed the card layout circles to rectangles. I really like the way these cards turned out!

(Stamped image - Woodware Craft Collection; All other supplies - Stampin’ Up!)

WHICH COLOR IS THE DARKEST?

Many time when selecting a color for my card base I select darkest color found in the patterned papers. Sometimes it is a challenge deciding which color is the darkest. The paper used for the card above is an example of paper with colors of similar saturation. The darker purple or berry color and the turquoise color are very close in saturation, as is the orange, but the purple and turquoise seemed closest to my eye. Basically, I chose the turquoise. There seemed to be few blobs of it than the purple. I felt using that color as a card base would tie things together and make the turquoise pop. What do you think?

(All supplies - Stampin’ Up!)

I MADE AN EXCEPTION 

I just shared I look for the darkest color in the patterned paper and use that color for the card base. Well, not always. The patterned paper used on the card above features navy blue as the darkest color. My card base is orange. Why? The navy card base “dulled” the card. I wanted a light hearted card, bright and cheery. The navy was too overpowering. The contrast between it and the light blue was stark, and the orange print basically faded away. I switched from navy to orange for the card base, and the card conveys the desired message. The colors, focal image, and greeting are congruent. In cardmaking there are no rules! Remember, if you like it; it is perfect!

ALL THE COLORS - DIFFERENT ORIENTATION

Here is a look at the card layout in landscape orientation as opposed to portrait orientation. Once again the patterned paper contains several colors. I did select the darkest color for the card base. I used the remaining colors as inspiration for coloring the cat images. I used the same set of colors for both cat images. I used orange for one cat and yellow for its balloon. I switched those colors for the second card.The orange cat seems to bring out the brightness of the colors in the paper, whereas the yellow cat makes the more pastel colors in the paper pop!

(All supplies - Stampin’ Up!)

TODAY’S CARDS

Until today I never really stopped to consider all the ways I use patterned paper. Whether it is used as a layer on the card front or there is as all strip inside the card, patterned paper truly is a versatile (and in my mind necessary)supply in the craft room. So . . . let’s put that paper to work!

Thank you for stopping by today. Until next time …

Stamp Happy!

Kim