Eliminating paper pads
 

This hoiday crafting season I came across a series of Youtube videos by Kristy Marcotte. She inspired me to use up those 4x6, 6x6 pads and 12x12 kits. Grant you she didn't do a lot of stamping or embellishing, but that is optional.
As I move forward with card production in the New Year, I'll be refering to her videos.
https://youtu.be/q7S50Sbj9iA

She says it takes 4½ hours to use up a 6x6 pad, excluding planning time. I am now trying not to think of how much crafting time I need to find in order to use up my stash https://images.splitcoaststampers.co...icon_smile.gif

Thanks for sharing Kristie Marcotte's talent!

I'm so pleased with myself this holiday season. Using my handmade papers and paper pads I produced so many cards, calendars, including a 2019 calendar swap, by watching her videos. :)

I don't think of the time spent on the production since I enjoy the whole process of prep, organization and assembly. I don't try to do it all in one sitting. I still work full-time so I limit my creative time during the week to work on digital designs at my computer while watching movies, etc. Over the weekends I'll have sessions of focusing on one technique: die cutting, foiling, embossing, geli prints, watercoloring.
I like to have a stash of handmade papers to choose from as well.

Wow. Bring on the paper pads and black cardstock. I need to do this!

Impressive! I even watched the entire video (which I never do)! None of my pads are pads at this point, but I can see a marathon in my future to use up a lot of the papers, regardless... Thanks for sharing!

I did too, and I’m not sure why. I guess just waiting to see what she would do with them.

Thanks so much for that link! I'm inspired!

I'm glad you girls found some inspiration in her videos.
If you go to her blog link for the video playing and click on one of the cards it will take you to all designs and sketches used in the video.
I've been creating reference sheets of the sketches (with multiple layouts) for quick reference on my work table. I don't know about you, but sometimes I will struggle with a card layout for hours trying to create 1 card I like, lol...

great video

I will check it out. I have printed some card sketches out but I need to take time to figure out sizes as they don't tell those. I really do love her video! Thanks again for sharing it!

I thought the sizes were on the sketch that she had in each frame (although I couldn’t actually see the numbers).

You're right. They were. I was thinking of pages of sketches I downloaded a while back and those don't have the measurements on them.

I also discovered Kristie Marcott's You-Tube channel just before Christmas (and her blog of course) and was so inspired that I subscribed immediately & left a comment on her channel about how inspired I was :D I think it's really important (and nice) to let You-Tubers know that we appreciate the time & effort that they go to & what they create. Gosh, can you imagine the filming & editing for doing so many cards?!! I love how she uses the sketches and shows the measurements which you can see clearly on her blog if you can't see it too well on You-Tube. Even if I used up half a paper pad, I would get so many cards done! I can't WAIT to get started!:D:D:D

I decided to give it a try last night. But, I have 12x12 pads, not 6x6. I have become enamored with the Reccollections Hot Buy pads. They are so cheap when they go on sale! First, it took me forever to find the link to her blog. Then I ended up on a different page. But, she is also on Pinterest. If you go to Pinterest and search Kristie Marcotte, she will come up. She has thousands of cards there!
Anyway, I copied down about 5 sketches, picked some papers, and picked some coordinating Stampin Up cardstock. I started cutting for 3 each of the first two sketches. She pretty much mats everything. Had to decide if the given measurements would be the mat size or the dsp size. I’d love your thoughts on that.
Of course I picked a sketch with circles, so I had to pull out the big shot. I didn’t have a good mat sized circle for the one I cut......
Bottom line, I haven’t finished those 6 cards yet, and my space is a disaster.
But, when I get them done, I’ll post.

Thank you for sharing this link. I found her blog and subscribed. She has great ideas. Love the sketches and using that patterned paper. I have quite a bit.

Since most of my cards are A2 size I decrease the mat sizes by 1/8" - 1/4" and so on.
I will lay my pieces out on card front before I adhere them down and make adjustments where needed.
Last weekend I made 17 cards using the coffee paper pad. :)

Kristie is my hero, so many cards, I'm in awe.

Wow, impressive. I could save loads of time if I were just that decisive on what papers to combine...

That’s the thing.
I had a $10.00 rewards coupon to use at AC Moore. It expires today. So, I found some 6x6 pads on clearance. Yup.....I bought 3 of them

using (up) scrapbooking paper
 

My fellow Aussie Helen Greco http://www.helenscarddesigns.com is my go-to for examples of cards made with scrapbooking paper - she designs cards using 12inch paper, mostly, a lot of Kaisercraft of course but others as well, and like Kristie she doesn't load on a lot of expensive embelishments. Her style is more traditional, which suits me.

Thank you for sharing! I find it hard to find new inspiration for using pattern paper. =)

I gave a few of these a try and found that if I used the measurements as listed as the mats and decreased the patterned paper measurement by 1/4 of an inch, the proportions remain right.

That’s what I’m doing now. It’s working well. Thank you!

I completed another series of cards to use as thank you cards using heavy weight kraft cardstock for bases, coordinating top layer and sentiment blocks cut from a 12x12 sheet. They came toghether quickly and will be used as thank you cards.

Can we see?

Here's a quick scan of the cards.

They are lovely!

Bohodiva, beautiful cards! Thanks for sharing.

I have a lot of those "cards" that are included in paper packs, so I really need to do something along these lines to use them up. Thanks for more inspiration!

Those are really great. Nice selection of coordinating layers too.

Love your cards! Are the cards stamped or is it pattern paper? It takes me hours to make one card. I have such a hard time with it. I am going to watch this video right now! Can't wait to be able to make nice cards. It gets frustrating because it takes so long for me. I will love not taking a week to get them done as well as my art studio looking like a craft bomb went off! LOL

In addition to Kristie, I must give Maymay credit as well for my inspiration.
Maymay uses 12x12 paper packs, https://youtu.be/XzrWwx6Y1Co

Have fun ya'll! :)

Iliana (My Sweet Petunia) burned through her stash on Christmas cards this year - and she has some great tips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqb4W89rqf4

Here's a set of cards I've made as a gift from a friend after seeing the original video in this thread. Rather than aiming to use a 6x6 pack I took the idea of using a basic sketch involving patterned paper and cardstock mats and combined it with using my GoPress & Foil to create the focal points. And yes, my stash is ever so slightly smaller as a result :)

Love these, Stampnnatter! I especially like the shape in the middle.
I’ve been trying to use up an entire 12x12 pad before I post, but I keep getting sidetracked, so maybe I’ll try to post what I have so far.

Well, I took a 12 x 12 paper pad (Recollections Desert Dream), a lot of Early Espresso cardstock, some Poppy Parade cs, and dies, stamps, and embellishments from my stash, and created 40 cards. I did not use up the pad, but I’m getting sidetracked. Time to move on to other things.
Thank you, Bohodiva, for turning me on to Kristie Marcotte’s videos!

No idea why they’re sideways. They’re right side up in my gallery.
https://www.splitcoaststampers.com/g.../photo/2908022

Nicely done!
I don't know about you, but I get a good feeling when I'm actually using up my paper pads instead of collecting them. :)

I am thrilled that I used up some stuff uff! I even used some stamps that have never seen ink before. It’s a win, win!
I just need to finish putting inserts inside,mandt I’m ready to go.