I was working on a few "secret" projects when I came across some leftovers from an album I did last year for my Dad's 85th birthday. The album I wanted to use was an older Creative Memories 7 x 7 album and the paper I had was some newer 8 x 8 paper so there were lots of one inch strips that I had trimmed from the paper to fit the smaller album.
I started experimenting with weaving the strips to create a sort of patchwork topper for a card.
The papers were two sided so there were lots of possibilities - I just kept trying different ways until I found one that I liked.
I cut a piece of plain cardstock a bit smaller in size than the card topper would be to use as a base.
I started weaving by setting up the left side strip and the four horizontal strips on the cardstock base.
It is a little fiddly to move the pieces into position but I just kept adjusting and adhering the strips once they were in the right place.
It didn't take long until I had the weaving done and all of the pieces adhered to the base or the other strips.
This is the back of the paper weaving - the cardstock piece is just a bit smaller than the card topper will be.
I trimmed off the excess lengths with my small trimmer. The piece measures four inches in height since I started with one inch strips.
The width is about five inches. Normally I would cut a card topper for an A2 card at 4 x 5 1/4 inches or 3 3/4 x 5 inches but this size will work - the side margins will be wider than the top and bottom but that's fine.
Here is the trimmed topper - it look like a mini patchwork quilt.
I decided to ink the edges of the patchwork for some dimension. I had considered inking all of the strips but decided against it to help the colors and patterns blend into each other (if I make another card with some more of the strips I may try inking them all before weaving to see how it looks).
I used my new Creative Memories Chalking Ink in brown. At first I wasn't sure if I would like the shape of these ink pads but I am finding them very easy to use and haven't lost the top layer of the ink pad yet (this often happens for me on the teardrop and eye shaped ink pads).
The card base is a textured Bazzill cardstock in a medium brown. I found a lot of this cardstock in a value pack a couple of years ago. It is great for card bases since it is very heavyweight.
I had a couple of flower options in mind for this card. These are the Braided Daisies and the Vintage Velvet Poppies from Creative Charms.
I "auditioned" both types of flowers and decided that the more homespun look of the braided daisies was a better match with the patchwork topper.
These flowers a quite sturdy and heavy so I needed a strong adhesive to make sure they would stay on the card. I used 1/2 inch wide Scor-Tape which is a very strong and easy to use adhesive.
Here is a close view of the flowers - I really like the button centers.
Since the card base is a darker color, I added a liner for writing a message inside. I used ivory cardstock and punched the edges with a Martha Stewart leaf border punch (this is part of a Punch Around The Page set). I might add a sentiment to the front of the card but I will probably just use it to write a note.
Here is one more view of the card. I always like to find ways to use up my "leftovers" and sometimes find that working with them is a great way to explore new ideas at a very low cost!
We are experiencing the effects of the "no-longer-a-hurricane Earl" - fortunately it is just heavy rain and wind for us tonight. The prediction for tomorrow is a lovely day in the 80's so the weekend won't be a washout after all! Have a great holiday weekend!
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