Tutorial for "Six of the Best" Cards from Patterned Paper

In my ongoing quest to use up patterned paper (mainly so I can justify buying new stuff !) I have put together this simple tutorial for using 12x 12 paper.

Many tutorials for using patterned paper are all about maximising the number of cards made from one piece… but that wasn’t what I was after. Now don’t get me wrong, I love to use up my scraps (refer to the name of my site) But this paper situation is out of control.

So here I am using the patterned paper in large pieces for card fronts. #loveitchopit #useitup

And they look great! Patterned paper looks much better on finished cards than filed away in my craft room!

From one piece of 12 x 12 paper I made two 5 x 7 inch cards, 2 standard greeting cards (metric) 2 notecards and a 3 ½ inch square card. From the leftovers I made 5 gift tags. I have given measurements in inches, even tho I am really a metric girl, because the numbers just work out better for these card sizes.

For half of the cards I used just the paper mounted straight on the card base, the others I used a cardstock mat. I think both versions look good. For the purpose of this exercise I just used one of the patterns, but of course all SU paper is double-sided, so there are even more options there.

The 5 x7 inch cards are an impressive size, but you can only get one out of an A4 sheet of card. So to make these seven cards I needed to add 3 sheets of A4 to the sheet of patterned paper, plus scraps for mats and diecuts. I used premade notecards that come with envelopes for the 3 ½ x 5 inch notecard size.

I am using an old Designer series paper from Stampin' Up, Season of Style, and added to my Christmas Card tally. But this tutorial works for any patterned paper or occasion.

To make the base for the large size cards, cut a piece of card (A4 or letter size) to 10 inches x 7 inches, and score at 5 inches landscape.

The 5 x 7 cards:

The A6 cards:

The notecards:

The small square card was cut  from a scrap 3 1/2 inches by 7 inches and scored at 3 1/2 landscape. I also used a 6 inch square of patterned paper to make the envelope:

The tags were made from 3 1/2 x 2 inch scraps, using a tag punch:

  I hope you enjoyed this simple tutorial. Please contact me if you need clarification ( I haven't written a tutorial for a while!) and I would love to see the cards you make.