Hi friends!
I love to create cards using patterned paper, especially as a collage. The process of layering pieces of paper in unique and playful ways just relaxes me so much! Unity Stamp Co has an AMAZING selection of patterned paper that is perfect for collage techniques! Today, I’ll share easy ways to use patterned paper to create a collage on your card, and it won’t be bulky at all! I’ll be using the Bohemian Dreams patterned paper for both cards!
For my first card, I grabbed 2 sheets of coordinating paper from the Bohemian Dreams set. I love that these paper pads are pre-coordinated for you, so any combination you choose should work! For me, however, I tend to go with one bold print and one abstract print so that we don’t have too much competition amongst the paper pads! LOL!!! Getting back to my card, once I decided on the 2 sheets I wanted to use, I trimmed the abstract piece to 5.5×4.25 and adhered it to a card base. Then I took the other one (the floral piece) and tore it in half at a diagonal. One piece was set aside, and the other was adhered over the first layer.
Then I took a 3rd sheet of the paper from Bohemian Dreams and trimmed a few pieces that either had writing on it or looked like a ticket. I inked up the edges of the ticket with brown ink, adhered a scrap piece of paper that was left over from trimming it earlier, and adhered the scrap slightly below the ticket, tearing the ends and inking those up as well. Tearing paper may seem sloppy, but it’s actually quite attractive in mixed media and collages! Give it a try!
I finished by wrapping a piece of ribbon around the ticket for texture and dimension. Then I tucked a half doily behind the ticket, inking up and stamping the doily to give it a grunge look, and tucked a smaller ticket at the bottom of it. I finished with a freebie cut apart sentiment that Unity includes randomly with orders. I inked that up with brown ink and then inked up the edges of the entire card panel! I also stamped an item from Eiffel Grunge over the ticket for added interest!
My 2nd card uses the floral piece that was torn in half earlier and another piece of patterned paper from this set. I placed the floral piece over the abstract piece. This design was so beautiful that I wanted to keep it simple so you could see how well these papers work together!
I stamped one of the abstract sentiments from Eiffel Grunge in a few places over the patterned paper and then inked up the edges in brown ink. I grabbed one of the printed items that I trimmed earlier, cut it in half, inked it up, and adhered it to the top of the card panel. Inking up the edges seems to draw the eye inward towards the design. The ink is like a frame!
Next, I trimmed another freebie sentiment and adhered it over a piece of black cardstock. I adhered a bow in the left corner of the sentiment and then adhered a scrap of the patterned paper behind it, tearing the paper and inking it up in brown ink. I adhered the sentiment onto the background with foam tape.
I truly enjoy finding creative ways to use patterned paper. Don’t hesitate to tear the paper up and use it in unique ways! To shop Unity’s patterned paper supply, click here. Thanks for stopping by!
