My old stand-by... Scrappy Backgrounds

I made about a dozen Scrappy Backgrounds over the weekend while the Ernman was watching football. THEN, on Monday and Tuesday, I turned these seven into cards. Now, my mission (should I choose to accept it) is to get these postal... well, all except that "pumpkin" one. That'll have to wait until fall. ;)

So, let me share my process. I start with this plastic canvas box the Ernman made me (shown in upper left) which sits just above my Genesis cutter. I put all strips from projects or pretty paper that I find interesting. Once that box is full, I organize the strips in front of me in rainbow order, than neutrals to the right and multi colors right in the front...

As I decide which color I want to make, ie: red, blue, black, orange, I incorporate strips of the same background paper INTO the piece. Working on typing paper, I cover the typing paper with adhesive so every strip I lay down has adhesive it will sit on. I start with one color in the top left corner going kitty-corner, about and inch or so down from the top. From there, going perpendicular, all pieces will butt up against it. Going back to the kitty-corner strip, I fill in until all typing paper is covered. I leave NO open space between pieces...

 

The two pieces on the right show what the piece looks like after the edges that hang over have been trimmed off. At this point, I dry emboss the piece which firmly cements those strips to the typing paper. In my opinion, this is what brings this Scrappy Background to a whole new level. Then it's mounted on a 3.75" by 5" colored cardstock matching what's in the piece. The two on the left show that piece mounted on a 4.25" by 5.5" (A2) cardstock. Six of the seven in the first photo were put directly on a white card base...

Before I put this one on the white card base, I added the orange twine, the pumpkin ephemera and bling. Many times, Scrappy Backgrounds just blow my mind. That's what happened with this creation. Many times, I leave the finished piece as is until I decide what kind of card I may need. A lot become "Hello", "Happy Birthday" or even "Merry Christmas". I've been making Scrappy Backgrounds for YEARS so if you search "Scrappy Background" for this blog, you'll find many. I hope you have as much fun with this as I do. Thank you for your interest...