Paper

As I have created Robbie using more than pens (for once) I thought it was time to explore paper for a bit. Paper is one of my addictions and I have stacks of beautiful backing paper and card that I regularly stroke!?! but all around the home is a variety of paper which is great to use on cards.

I recently went to a D.I.Y. store and was collecting some gorgeous wallpaper samples to create a "feature" wall in my lounge....naturally these sample won't go to waste! And I had great excitement the other day when some halogen bulbs that I had ordered from the Internet arrived wrapped in Chinese newspaper....can't wait to see what I can do with that. I do have a box that I keep all my recycled cardmaking stuff in and it's full of paper and card that I have kept from packaging, magazines (Grazia is printed on lovely paper which has got a lovely soft look to it!), exercise books, folders, graph paper (there are free downloads of stationary style paper on the internet), wrapping paper, brown paper, even envelopes (some have some great patterns inside them).

I must be the only person who likes to receive junk mail, some glossy brochures are great for collage and always keep the return envelopes ....these can be turned into a card blank (will post an example later), plus the inside of many envelopes have some very interesting patterns, great for men's cards. Tissue paper, kitchen roll, serviettes even toilet paper are all also useful when making cards. And don't forget recycling commercial cards. IMPORTANT NOTE: Please remember not to use someone else's artwork or design for commercial use. I hope any artist or manufacturer is happy with people using their cards in another form before it ends up in the bin, especially as it is not for profit.

I find it useful to cut the greetings off cards and these become instant message plaques for your own designs. If the image on the front is not to your taste don't forget the reverse is most probably plain white and very useful for other projects, the back piece can also be used, even if it has printing in the centre, this can be covered with an image or embellishment. If you haven't got a base card, try covering the entire card in paper, matting the design on the front then perhaps using matching paper to cover any writing inside. (Envelopes can be made out of wrapping paper as I did with Robbie.