Valentine Paper Scrap cards with G45 and Creative Impressions

Happy February everyone!  Today I have seven Valentine's Day cards to share with all of you which were created completely out of paper scraps!  I had a small bag with leftover paper scraps from a wonderful class I took at Rocky Mountain Art Retreats last year.  We made a wonderful Birthday Planner paper bag book using Graphic 45's Time to Flourish paper collection.  The scraps were just too beautiful to throw out, so I stored them away and waited for the right time to use them!  Now is the time!

I love to challenge myself to make cards using paper I might have otherwise thrown away.  G45's cut-apart papers are so versatile as there are many designs on a piece of paper.  However, I knew that these cards needed some ribbon and fabulous embellishments, so off to my stash of
Creative Impressions embellishments I went!

Here is the first card I created.  As you look over the different cards, keep in mind that there is a lot of paper piecing going on!

To give you an idea of how I started the card, here is a photo of the different paper pieces I decided to use.  Of course I didn't have a big enough patterned paper piece for a background, so I overlapped two smaller ones together.

Now you can't tell there was even a gap in the background, can you?

The addition of some fussy cutting pieces as well as some Creative Impressions Double Stitch Gros Grain and Crepe ribbon and a Burgundy Country Heart makes this card pop, don't you think?  I had some tag "tops" left over from another G45 project that I had saved.  Now it looks like there is a tag.

Here is another card:

I forgot to take a photo of the "before" of this card, however, it started out in a very similar way.  The background paper only went part of the way down the card, so I used a strip from another piece of paper to "lengthen" it.  I had the two cut apart pieces plus a postage stamp.  I die cut a larger heart, placed it in the center of the card, adhered the two cut-aparts on an angle and then, using foam tape, adhered the postage stamp to the card.  It still wasn't quite right.  Creative Impressions Gingham ribbon tied in a bow onto each cut- apart along with an Antique Copper Country Heart  solved the problem!

Now for the third card:

I like the way this card turned out using cut aparts as well some die cut hearts and a fussy cut rose bush, however, it still needed something.

Creative Impressions Velvet Shimmer ribbon and a word stamp by B Line Designs to the rescue!  Now it "pops".

Now for something a bit different.  I only had a little background paper left, so I decided to try covering an ivory card panel with Natural Web Ribbon from Creative Impressions.  I used matte medium to adhere the mesh to the card panel in three strips.  I love it!

I trimmed off the excess around the card panel, added a G45 cut-apart panel, used foam tape to adhere another "cupid envelope" over the top of the middle one and finished the card by wrapping some Creative Impressions Thin Red Twine around the cream panel and adding an antique Copper Country Heart to the center.

Love this textured background!

This next card was pieced again using a background paper:

Again pretty paper, but too simple a card for me.  Here is the finished card:

A big difference, huh?    I added some brown cardstock as a mat for the patterned paper panel, a piece cut from a decorative border punch that was in my stash, a postage stamp matted with a piece of brown card stock along with the word "Valentine".  Creative Impressions finished off the piece nicely again.  I used their lovely Singe Stitch Gros Grain ribbon along with another Antique Copper Country Heart placed in the center of a die cut heart.  Five cards finished!

Now I was getting low on supplies, but determined to get another two cards made with what I had.  This card has tons of piecing on it!

Now I had two holes to cover on this card!  Once again I added a strip of border  punched cream card stock above the cut-apart border strip.  Then I decided to create a faux tag again using another leftover tag topper and a piece of burgundy card stock with postage stamp images on it.  I made a burgundy mat for the words "Hugs and Kisses" and adhered it to the card.  I used a fabulous Crepe Ribbon from CI to finish this card.

Finally I arrived at my biggest challenge!  This last card started out as nothing more than this:

 and ended up like this:

I truly almost surrendered with this card.  Nothing seemed to work with the pieces I had left.  Then I decided to take the postage cut aparts I had left and see if they would work for the card.  I am pleased with the way it turned out!  Of course adding some "bling" from Creative Impressions really finished the card off well.  I used light and dark silver pearls to different areas of the card as well as a small heart from Heart Bling for the finishing touches!  It worked!

Now it's your turn!  Take a look in that scrap paper drawer of yours, pull out some Creative Impressions ribbons and embellishments and have fun!

Susan