Anyone else out there have trouble throwing away scraps of pretty papers or card, or bit's you've cut off other projects that have interesting colours or patterns, or ANYTHING sparkly???  Come on I KNOW you do - who can throw away bits of Lindy's starburst paper gorgeousness.  So to help you use some of that stockpiled yumminess I'm going to show you a really simple idea for using scraps to make a fun card suitable for any occasion.

TECHNIQUE

Gather some of your scraps and offcuts from other projects, they can be a variety of colours, patterns, textures - pretty much anything.  I like to make sure there are some with sparkles and some without just for a little variety.

Cut shapes from your scraps, you can use dies if you are working on larger projects like scrapbook pages, or punches if you are creating something smaller like a tag or a card.  Either way make sure you have several different sizes and when you cut your shapes make sure you pick the interesting bits!  If you are looking for a generic shapes, try butterflies, dragonflies, stars, hearts, circles or flowers.

Once you have your shapes cut - pick a few favourites - these may be the ones with interesting patterns, colours or even textures.  These will be the pieces you highlight and draw a colour theme from.  Once you have your favourites, choose 3 colours from these - or you may choose to only use one colour.  Either way, use the chosen colour/s to create a background for your page or card.  I like to splash and flick the colours over a piece of white paper - leave a lot of white space.

Cut your paper to the desired size and choose a metallic colour to accent your design - just one this time, gold, copper or silver (though you could also go with pearl or steel!).  Add touches of this colour to the background and if you have one, use the same colour to add text or a focal design.

Give your cut our shapes a little more life by bending or folding to create a 3D effect and glue onto your project.  Bending the shapes also allows any sparkles to catch the light and draw the eye.

Choose one of your accent colours and use this to frame your piece, this reinforces your colour theme and helps bring it all together.

TIPS

• Choose the most interesting colours, patterns and textures for your shapes
• If your shapes are 'busy' keep your background mostly white or things may look overwhelming
• Only add a maximum of 3 colours to your background (or it may take-over)
• Choose either a metallic colour or black to accent your piece

and you can see how this card was created right here - though I have to warn you - the lighting is terrible!
 

SUPPLIES

Lindy's Stamp Gang

• Starbursts: TiffanyLou Blue, Hottie Patottie Hot Pink, Milk Chocolate Brown, Delphinium Turquoise, Creme Brulee Cream
• Fabios: Summer Lovin Sun, Ocean Breeze Blue

Other

• White card and coloured card
• Gold rub-ons - Heidi Swapp
• Butterfly Punch - Martha Stewart
• Scraps from previous projects

I hope this gives you a few ideas on how to use all those scraps you've been 'saving', I've even started a butterfly collection - cutting our shapes from scraps as I go and putting them in a little container so they are ready to use as needed.