Upcycled Card Collection

I seem to have a bit of an addiction when it comes to pretty patterns. Let me explain what I mean by that. When I see something that is packaged in very pretty colours and designs I have a hard time throwing it our after it's served its original purpose.

Take for example tissue boxes. There are so many wonderful and creative designs and patterns available these days; they are just too nice to throw away. I figure they are perfect for using in paper crafting projects. So much so that I have 3 bins dedicated to storing my recyclables.
This might give you an idea of what I'm speaking of – some of my current stash:

So many beautiful designs; who could just throw those out?

And these ones are amongst my favourites:

They are the current line of Puffs with Lotion. Don’t they look like a collection of designer pattern papers? I figure I’ll be making not just cards but little gift boxes and notebook covers and maybe a few journals from these.

Around Christmas time this gorgeous red and gold box caught my eye while grocery shopping. It’s not my usual brand but I had to buy them just so I could make use of the box once it was empty. (I know, I have a problem. I admit it openly).

 

A few days later my daughter brought me this empty box.

The darkest yellow/gold colour matches the gold in the red box perfectly. So the wheels in my head started spinning and the creative juices flowed.

I designed 17 cards using the red box, half of the yellow and not counting the card bases, 8 sheets of cardstock. Not bad if I do say so myself.

I figure someone might be inspired by my creations so I’ll be sharing them over the next week or so.

Here are the first two cards.

 

The red and gold made me think of Chinese New Year, hence the theme of this card.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics

Coluzzle circle template - approx. 3" size

Large 2" oval punch - SU

1 1/4" square punch - SU (to cut the flag ends)

Colorbox black ink

Greeting stamp: Kanji - SU

3 x 1/8" black brads

Foam dots to pop the greeting

Next up:

 

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics

Coluzzle circle template and circle punches (PB): 1 1/2", 1 3/4", 2 and 2 1/2" size

Border - eyelet border punhc (PB) (you could also create the same look by using a scallop paper edger or border punch and a 1/8" circle punch)

Colorbox Autumn Pastels chalk ink set (olive green, gold, red and black)

Greeting stamp: Simple Sayings II - SU

9 x 1/16" black square rhinestones/bling

Foam dots to pop layer the circles

Check back for more cards in my upcoming posts. I promises some even feature punch art :)