No SCRAP left behind! - Idea/Tutorial!

     Hey ya'll...here's an idea! Do you like me; have a little box loaded with paper scraps that you just hate to throw away? This became a bigger problem for me recently because my box had gotten FULL which meant it was time to "put up or shut up" and sadly (boohoo) throw my tiny scraps away admitting that I would never give them the attention they deserved. Then low and behold I was perusing the stars and stamps blog and came across Debi Rice's blog. Her take on paper is a bit different...yet refreshing. In fact it got me to thinking about those tiny neglected odd-sized scraps and it also reminded me of a mosaic piece of art where no pieces are the same measurement or color but together create an interesting design. So my recycling "experiment" began!
     Here ill share what I learned with you as well as some of the cards I made. You will need your scraps, a cuttlebug & folders (if you have one/ if not - you can still do this without embossing!) and some matte mod podge and/or glitter (if desired)!

     First dump out that scrap box!










     Second choose some colors you like, never-mind the pattern! Then get to cuttin' 'em into even smaller pieces -no piece is too tiny -no scrap left behind! Take that Laura Bush! lol. You could do triangles and/or whatever -let the scraps dictate your shape and be "random" about it (or even use your punches if you want to end up with a different look - a whole page of butterflies/circles/stars would be interesting.) Get a sheet of card stock in a (background) color of your choice. I used White to make my pieces "pop". I sprayed my card stock with craft bond which stays tacky and makes for faster adhesion. It also apparently attracts dog hair but hey - who couldn't use a dog hair or two for extra embellishment? lol. You could instead use glue stick, tape runner, or even the mod podge but it does dry fast so be careful...maybe do a small section at a time and lay down your pieces. When you're done you'll end up with a sheet of card stock that look like this!

     Now you can cut your card stock into four equal card fronts. But I did not stop here because all those Carol Duvall shows kept creeping into my head. When I think Carol Duvall I think Mod Podge, for whatever reason, I do not know - but I knew I had to secure all these tiny pieces or my shipper would have a terrible time with the Aleenes and somehow it didn't seem quite "finished" to me! So I bought some Mod Podge (I used Matte for this project.) I used a Spouncer (is that a word? -I think that's what it's called) to dot on my Mod Podge in a light coat and waited a little bit for it to dry - I preferred the spouncer because most of my triangles had been cut from computer generated papers and it did tend to pick up a tad of the color especially the bright red pieces. Had I used a brush it would have been a big ole mess or... ?another interesting look? lol. So then I wondered...could glitter be added for a different effect? I tried it on one card front with some white iridescent glitter I had on hand. This turned out OK ...more on this later. Then after my card fronts dried I wanted to try my cuttle bug folders to add some dimension. It worked very well! On the three card fronts I had left I tried the swirl, traffic jam, and swiss dots.

 

 Pictured below are the three card fronts after embossing. I stuck them under my sewing machine light to try and highlight the embossing as I wasn't sure if the camera was picking it up -you may have to enlarge to see the detail.

     Ok so there it is...I thought it turned out to be really pretty card stock that could be the main focus of any card. The matte mod podge actually left a semi-gloss sheen that also gave a nice weight & professional look to the card stock & these pieces will never fall off - so mission accomplished! (Of note; the mod podge jar actually states that if your mod podge stays tacky you can use a coat of acrylic sealer over top but I did not find this necessary at all - even running them through my cuttlebug they did not stick to my folders or anything - but I made sure they were very dry first.
     As promised out of this experiment came another unexpected one... when I began using the mod podge...  I thought "wow this stuff would "trap" glitter and dry to clear - wonder if I could make some "OWH approved" glitter card stock this way? Well they do in fact sell glitter mod podge that already has it in there so you might try that but that is really no fun & as crafters we like to get our Messy On-don't we? So in my experiment using white iridescent glitter -it came out slightly lumpy when dry as the glitter had accumulated in some places more than others and it being white it was hard  for me to tell this...after it dried it did have a "glisten" to it and of course a bumpy texture. I would need to try it with a colored glitter combined with a colored card stock to say for sure if I like this method. One thing is for sure -the mod podge did successfully trap the glitter as though it was embedded so I think it would be acceptable for OWH cards. The picture below shows the card front with the white glitter. Enlarge and you may even notice the lumps at the bottom! It kinda gives the effect of snow.

Now you can NEVER throw away those scraps again - lol. Below are a few of the cards I made using the recycled card stock! I hope you liked this idea/tutorial. I can only take half of the credit and humbly owe the rest to Debi Rice for inspiring me to try her project! Check out her blog if you can because she has a lot of other (outside of the box) creative ideas for card making in her archives! 

In the next pic the flower "parts' were made with the mosaic card stock.

For some reason I REALLY liked the look of using the black and white neutrals along with the funky mosaic pattern.

I also thought this mosaic would make a colorful birthday card. Here I used the "glitter" experiment paper. You didn't think I was going to throw it away did you?

Thanks for looking! If you decide to make your own mosaics - and you have time...leave me a link-I'd LOVE to check out your work! Cheryl