Did you hear the story about the guy who made a boat load of Designer Series Paper Swatch Books? No? Well, let me tell you! So, there was this guy who made a boat load of Designer Series Paper Swatch Books for all of his friends, customers and fellow demonstrators. He had such a good time assembling all of these books and sending them to their new homes in little, brown padded envelopes. When he was finished, he had a box full of 3/4″ card stock strips in several colors. The colors really looked good together, so he made a single card with them. 
You’d never know this card was made with (mostly) discarded strips of paper unless I told you – which I did. I would have never put these colors together had they not been forced together in my little box of scraps. I absolutely love this card with all its simplicity and unexpectedness. And, apparently, this card loves me back – it says so in the bottom, right corner. How sweet!
Tips, Tricks and Reminders:
- GO vs. MATCH. As they say in fashion (and I’m an expert because I’ve watched every season of Project Runway, Project Runway All Stars and Project Accessory), you want your shoes, purse and jewelry to “go” with your outfit, not to “match” with your outfit. That isn’t always the case with a card. While Stampin’ Up!’s color families are perfect for coordinating colors (the base of your card can perfectly match the color found in a Designer Series Paper), sometimes you don’t want to be all matchy-matchy. Sometimes you just want it all to go together in a beautifully complementing way. That’s my approach with the colors in this card. These colors don’t “match” with each other, but they sure look like the “go” together.
- Center first. It was easy to layer these strips of card stock on the Whisper White piece beneath. Since I had an odd number of strips, I started by gluing down the Calypso Coral strip in the center of the card stock. I then tucked the next piece right next to that one, lining it all up and making sure my edges were clean. Much easier than starting with one of the outside pieces, don’t you think?
- Flipping the heart. I played around with a lot of different ideas for the heart in the center of the card. I stamped patterns and cropped them out. I cropped solid pieces of cardstock. I really liked the idea of flipping the stripes to crop the heart. I had the extra strips, so I glued them on a piece of scrap cardstock and then cropped the heart with my Framelits, making sure I flipped the pink and blue pieces. It makes for an interesting visual.
Stamp sets: Itty Bitty Banners Papers: Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Summer Starfruit, Pool Party, Melon Mambo, Not Quite Navy Inks: Not Quite Navy Accessories: Hearts Collection Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits Dies, Stampin’ Dimensionals
Before you leave…I hope you know how much I enjoy this time we spend together each day. I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world sometimes because I have such kind visitors who are so generous with their compliments. I put a lot into this blog, but I also get a lot out of it. It really “fills my cup” each and every day to receive your feedback. It makes me feel like I’ve done something wonderful for this world. I want to remind you (in case you may have forgotten) that, aside from being a stamper who truly loves to share and teach, I also sell Stampin’ Up! products. If you don’t currently have a demonstrator (or if you have a demo who doesn’t mind sharing the love), please click here. And, as always, if you have questions or want my advice on anything, please email me at [email protected]. Thank you!
Thanks for coming by my blog today!
Brian
I just LOVE this card Brian!! You are truly inspiring!!
Thank you for sharing the “Happy Card” with leftovers. The card reminds me of my Mother, “think what you can use(these strips) for”. Now I’m a HOARDER!
Your blog keeps your Fan Club entertained and educated. I just can’t get the words out to say thank you to you and the followers for your sharing and caring!
This is so eye catching awesome. Happy weekend. It’s Friday night stampin with a friend….how different our Friday nights have become from the past “clubbing” on Friday nights!!! Keep on stampin and inspiring!!!
What a delightful card, Brian. You are a true artist and you just gave me an awesome idea (ok, you do it every single day!!) for how to use my scraps. I have a plastic shoe box for every color of paper scraps, I just can’t throw them away, so now, they will be put to good use. The colors of your card give me a warm feeling on this frigid 2 degree morning, wind chill…..-10, Brrrrr!!
What a fun (and genious) way to use up those scrap strips. No one will ever know. Oh, wait . . . you just told all of us how you did it. Thanks for your inspiration, Brian. It’s always a treat to find a new post on stampwithbrian.com.
Ok you’re bringing back tunes in my head from KC & the Sunshine Band! “I’m you’re Boogie Man! that’s what I am!” sing it with me!
Oh Brian … I wish you could come over and play! I have boxes and boxes just filled with scraps and dsp that just gets bigger and bigger and bigger! A little bit of your mojo and I could do wonderful things … thanks for rocking my Friday morning with another over the top card!!
Wow !! I am so impressed …… How do you think these things up? It`s that cat !!! Where else would you get the idea to reverse the colors . He`s the one that comes up with these “Other Worldly” ideas !! Love this card..it could be used for lots of events. And Maria I want one of your cards you do with this idea…. Hey Patti…wanta dance???
I simply love this one! And a terrific way to use up some of those scraps you’ve been saving. It really screams HAPPY! Thanks so much for sharing.
Love the card Brian and the way you have used these card strips. Who’d have thought these colours would go together so well!!!
Thanks for another insightful edition of ‘Stamp with Brian’!!!! 😉
Jenny
Genius idea, I also have that growing box of scraps, thanks to you I now know what to do with at least some of them. Happy Friday All!
Wow Brian, this is really amazing. How clever and eye catching. I have a feeling that we will be seeing this technique for years to come. You need to come up with a catchy name for it.
LOVE this card! Such a happy card… amazing the affect of flipping the heart, really makes it!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful talent.
LOVE this card! Bye; I’m headed for the scrap basket.
Brian, I so love your heart “rainbow” card! Absolutely stunning, as usual, for you!! ;D And thanks for the tip about starting in the middle…I remember that from a long time ago, but every now and then I need the “reminder”!!
You are our wonderful, talented leader, and for that, I am so proud of you!!
Hugs!
I like this a lot! Perfect for a hobby stamper who has all kinds of random papers from your paper share!
You rocked it!!…Again!!
Thanks for the inspiration…happy Friday! “See” you tomorrow…
Extremely CLEVER and CUTE Brian! I love it as much as the inspiration and joy I get from visiting your site each and every day!
Absolutely love this! Your blog is one of the first things I check every morning. Love that you post everyday!
OK. This is my style. I am not matchy-matchy most of the time. This is why abstract art appeals to me. I call my box of left over pieces “potentials”. I just can’t throw them away.
Why am I surprised about how fun and utterly creative this Valentine card is? After all, it’s from you, Brian! 😉 If only I weren’t 11 hours away from my card room and my supplies (SIGH!)
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and if it is really cold where you are, try your best to keep warm – stay inside and stamp if you can!
Sonny, I think you are right…Bandit is giving Brian all his ideas through the Kitty Mind Meld Technique (paw to forehead, purr loudly, lick once and run). Obviously its working! LOL!
Happy Stamp-With-Your Scraps Friday, everyone!
I absolutely LOVE this card and you too Brian!! I’m still laughing about the itty bitty card in your big baby hand. 🙂 Thanks for always making my day!
Good morning Brian! What s cheerful way to start the day! Spent yesterday waiting for the electricity to come back on so I could get to the computer and read your blog. The wind storm lasted forever and I learned that stamping in the dark DOES NOT WORK! However, I won’t throw out the card I tried to make but will “rebuild” it with scrap strips. I can’t wait to get my swatch books so I can decide what new papers I may want. We all appreciate your blog Brian. You are the best.
Beautiful card. Way to go. Thanks for sharing. I’m going to give it a try.
What fun. I totally love this card–the colors, the reverse color-banded heart, the simple little banner that sez it all. Pret-ty in-genious!
How do you THINK of this stuff Brian? This is truly amazing! I have played with scraps too, but my results are never this nice. This is an awesome card. I love how you changed the colors in the heart. I just have to say…. every single time I get to your blog, I am never, ever not exceedingly HAPPY with warm fuzzies! I could SQUISH you! 🙂 (that’s a good thing, not like I would squish a bug… just means I really really enjoy your creations)
Just LOVE this card–gotta try it! Thanks Brian!
PS Your swatch books are the BEST–thank you so much–they’re a terrific help!
I really enjoy your daily blogs, it makes me smile! Thanks for doing what you do!
Really cool idea, Brian. It’s colorful and fun! TFS
Cute, Cute, Cute!!! Isn’t it funny how like in our lives and the world….put different pieces together and you get a great rainbow of love!! Great Job Brian! Thanks for sharing.
How clever! That is a striking, eye-catching card. Your design will be added to my “to do” list!
You never cease to amaze and surprise and make me smile, thank you!!!
Brian, just found your website and have to say I am in love! Your designs are great–clean, stylish and elegant. I can’t wait to see all your cards.
Love this!
The epitome of a CAS card. And perfect. And colorful. And happy. And fun. And a great blog post, as usual! Thank YOU! –Terri O
could this be any more clean and colorful? love it!