December 31, 2009

Scrap-tastic Challenge

Happy New Year!!! (toot-toot) The party's still going. Let's start the new year off with a Papertrey Senior Team challenge, shall we? Nichole has perfect timing with this challenge: Incorporating leftover paper, ribbon or fabric scraps onto a project. At this time of year, we all get the need to purge. But before you tear through your craft space, let's use up some of those scraps. If you're like me, I know you have a lot of scrap sitting around. ;)

For my project, I've dug out scraps of ribbon and patterned paper. I don't save every single snippet but if my paper is at least 2" square and my ribbon is at least a couple inches long, I try to save a few pieces here and there.
Punches make great use of those leftover paper scraps. I know you have lots and lots like I do.
I'm also using scraps of some old sheet music I bought at a garage sale. It's great stuff!
I'm gonna show you guys how to make some of those great hand made embellishments...I call them doo dads......for your projects. Let's give it a whirl. I started out by punching circles from the old sheet music.
Then I decided nahhhhhhh, let's trash it. Just kidding, this was part of my plan. Wad up the punched circles. It feels goooood. We want crinklage here, peeps.
Then kinda flatten out the wadded up, punched circles. Not all the way or we'd be wasting all the good waddage we just did.
Next, use a slightly smaller scalloped circle punch to punch circles from leftover patterned paper. I'll be using Simple Valentine. It's so dang cute, I keep every single scraplet of it.
Next up, layer the punched circles and top off with a Vintage Button. Using a large needle and Rustic Cream Twine, thread the twine through the button holes, going through all the paper layers. Don't tie it yet. Slip in a scrap piece of ribbon. Then tie a know around the ribbon, using your fingers to flatten it out. Tip: If you leave the twine uncut from the needle, you can tie the knot a lot easier because you can work with a longer length. When you've tied the knot, then snip the ends.
Viola, in no time you've got a nice little pile of doo dads sitting on your table, nice and cute-like. These are just waiting to hop on a nice little Valentine project!But wait, we're not done. Don't throw away those scraps of paper yet. There's still some goodness left in them!
Reach for your smaller punches and punch even smaller accents like hearts and circles. Just turn your punch upside down to make sure you're getting the full punched image.
Reach for your favorite Vintage Buttons........
...and more scrap pieces of ribbon.....and you've got yourself some more cute doo dads. You can also just use ribbon and buttons and skip the paper altogether.
And here's a finished card using one of the sheet music doo-dads. I love how you can use other elements on your projects that tie in with the doo dads. And if you followed my blog yesterday, you might notice that this card follows my Hip To Be Square card sketch challenge.
For my card, I used Simple Valentine patterned paper, Vintage Buttons and Twine, Say It With Style, Background Basics: Hearts, Lavender Moon ribbon and patterned paper from the Raspberry Fizz Mix collection. The Vintage Duo Tea Dye inks helped to make my card look vintage.
Hope you enjoy it! Wanna see some more fun inspiration using scraps? Check out these blogs:
Becky Oehlers
Heather Nichols
Lisa Johnson
Betsy Veldman

Jessica Witty

29 comments:

Angela said...

Hey - I totally did your sketch challenge with Say it With Style, too! I'll take a photo and link it when I have some light. Your card is awesome!

Nancy said...

Oh now this is just such a cute idea..doo dads! Gotta love them. Now I need to place another PTI order. LOL

Winter said...

So cute! I LOVE using my scraps! I'll have to try and make some of those doo dads! :)

Tinkertaylor said...

Fab doo dads! love em

itsallrosi said...

love your doo dads!

Heidi said...

Your card is so pretty!! Thanks for showing us how to make doodads! They're adorable!!

Caryl P said...

I think I'll clean up my craft area by making some doodads...thanks for the inspiration. Happy New Year!

SAMARA said...

oh i just get such a hit of girli when i look at your cards! i love that. this is so gorgeous and it is so great that you showed [me] how to make it. what a generous thing to do! Happy New Years Michelle and thank you for all your fantastic posts and creations in the past year. Your art has brought such a blessing and feast to my eyes and heart!!

Peggy Lee said...

I love your doo dads!! always have, cute card!! *I can't live without my scraps*

Peggy lee

CardMaking said...

These "doo dads" are really effective -they make wonderful cardmaking embellishments.

starsandcards55 said...

i like your ideas. i have used my punches on scraps of cardstock and bagged up the various shapes (hearts, flowers, star, etc) to give to my 8 year old great niece who has started paper crafting. tfs.

Cindy O. said...

You str sooooo clever! I love your doodads and the card! Thanks for sharing all of your great ideas. I love your blog.

mimiburroughs said...

cute...cute...cute!!!

Kari D said...

As always...wonderful ideas, great inspiration, amazing recipes, and thoughtful projects. YOU ROCK! Happy New Year and many thanks for a year filled with art and inspiration. I so look forward to seeing what you have for us next!

Carol's Ink Spot said...

So creative! Love what you did with all those little bits of paper.

Anonymous said...

Such a sweet Sweet card. :)
A Happy New Year to you, Michelle!

Tracey McNeely said...

Michelle, you are fabulous! I love your ideas and leaving the thread in the needle? just love it. Especially helpful when you have many buttons to thread.

Antje said...

What a great idea, I will have to bookmark it in ty that out in the coming time. Thanks for sharing!

Sylvia/LittleTreasures said...

Oh so many ideas..thanks for all the great little quick tips. I have a big "OLE" Jar of things, but the heart items are awesome.
Thanks for sharing

Kim said...

I love these doo-dads! I'm seriously tempted to punch a bunch of shapes out of my scrap decorative papers and just store them in little baggies so they are ready to go.

tonyamaries said...

You are so darn talented! I love seeing all the creative ideas you come up with. It is always a pleasure checking your blog. Wishing you a creative and Happy New Year!

Sharon said...

Thank you so much or this mini tut, I so enjoyed it. Learnt a lot. Hugs Sharon from South Africa

Sam said...

Mmmm. I hate storing scraps but I do love buttons! Thank you for sharing. What a awesome way to use up scraps, beautiful buttons and neglected punches.

Sue Lelli said...

I LOVE your doo-dads! I LOVE your card! Just FABULOUS! And i have a ton of buttons I need to use up. What a great idea!

janine said...

Love the sheet music paper!! I used to play the violin (and a few other instruments). It makes me smile everytime I see sheet music being used in the crafting world.
And, I have to be a total dork and tell you that I know the song that was on the sheet music---Roses Are Red (my love), violets are blue. I also think it was pretty neat (however unintended) to use Hearts Made Of Stone sheet music to create Valentine doo-dads...lol I don't think a heart made of stone would be celebrating Valentine's Day but somehow it ended up being the perfect paper to use :) At least in my sometimes backwards world, it made total sense.

Lovely ideas...thanks!!

@JoyceCasaldi said...

I love them all! I think I may have to make some embellishments to send as card candy to my scrappy friends. What a great way to use up some of those well deserving scraps! Love your card!

Nerina said...

I really love your Mish Bits! They are so *jolly* cute - I just made an envie decoration with something similar over the closure - thank you for the inspiration :0)

Wendy K. said...

What a great idea! Your doo-dads are super cute!

Dorothee said...

derfull your work

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