This collage style card is so easy and there are no specific
rules to follow. There are endless possibilities with various designs, color
schemes, or themes such as: Christmas, Easter, Valentines, or Oriental that can
be achieved with this beautiful technique. Have fun and let your imagination
run wild!
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| Cardstock: Baja Blue - Stampin' Up and navy - Paper Studio. Sentiment from Stampin' up, also used pop dots on sentiment. |
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| Cardstock: So Saffron - Stampin' Up and navy - Paper Studio. Sentiment from Stampin' up, also used pop dots on sentiment. |
Serendipity: noun – coined by Horace Wolpole after the Three
Princes of Serendip; a fairy tale in which the princes make discoveries.
1. A seeming gift for finding
something good accidentally.
Paper Salad: Scraps of all types of paper, all shapes and sizes;
“cut off pieces” left over after cutting cards, stamping mistakes that didn’t
emboss correctly, etc.
Materials:
cardstock 8 ½ X 11
paper cutter
stamps
scissors
paper salad
metallic ink pads
glue stick, double stick tape or Xyron
3 ½ X 3 ½
square of cardstock to mount squares on
3 ¾ X 3 ¾ for
frame around your serendipity piece
1. I make these on black cardstock, but you can
make them on any color you like. The first step is to use your 8 ½ X 11 sheet
of cardstock and design a collage with paper salad. Begin placing paper salad
randomly on the background cardstock. Metallic papers and other papers with
nice textures look especially good. Tear some of the paper pieces, cut some
with decorative scissors, or cut some straight. Don’t worry about the quality
of your collage; the design really doesn’t matter, because you’re going to cut
it up into squares anyway. Don’t cover the whole sheet, just stick bits here
and there, leaving some background showing so you can stamp on it. (I run my
paper salad through the Xyron machine, then cut and stick down.)
2. When you have a pleasing arrangement of
papers, stick it down with your choice of adhesive.
3. Ink desired stamps and randomly stamp images
on top of the papers and in the spaces between papers. You can emboss pigment
or metallic inks if you like. I always stamp with metallic ink, and some of my
favorite stamps are text/handwriting images. You don’t have to cover every bit
of the paper with stamping, open areas are nice.
4. Cut this large sheet into smaller squares. 1
¼ inch or 1-inch squares work will on cards. I prefer the 1-inch size because
it’s easier to cut on the paper cutter by using the lined grids. Accurate
cutting is important so that the squares are all the same size. Getting these
little squares exactly the same size does leave some room for error. If a few
squares are too small, don’t use them. Embellishments such as charms or layers
of stamped images can always hide areas that you don’t care for.
5. When you’re finished cutting up squares, mix
them all up and choose them randomly to piece back together. Select a color of
cardstock on which to mount your squares. The squares can be arranged in any
manor that appeals to you. One basic pattern is 3 rows across and 3 down.
6. Glue arranged squares to cardstock leaving
about a 1/8 inch border around them. You can layer this on another color paper
which you apply directly to your card.
7. Your card can be embellished with any number
of things like: charms, embossed images, or fibers.
