Hands up if you are guilty of hoarding packs, sheets or even scraps of double sided paper. I really can’t deny that I am. And, here’s a picture of everything I managed to pull together yesterday. I’m sure I have more hidden somewhere in my craft room although I did donate a ton of the stuff the other week.

Designer Paper Series, Stampin' Up! UK, Oakfield Crafts
The pile on the left is all retired Designer Series Paper (DSP) and the pile on the right is current DSP. I’m not sure which pile is the most alarming. What’s even more worrying is that the pile on the right will at the end of May be moving to the left and I’ll be starting a whole new pile!!! 
So, I’ve taken the decision that enough is enough and over the next few months I am going to try to make inroads into the piles and actually put the paper to good use.
With this in mind, I am going to be posting pictures with ideas on how to use up the paper I’ve been hoarding.  Here’s my first idea which is a set of cards.

True Gentleman, Guy Greetings, card for men, Oakfield Crafts, Stampin' Up! UK
I love the muted colour combinations in the True Gentleman Designer Series Paper ( Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Night of Navy, Tranquil Tide and Very Vanilla) which is why I bought the pack. I have two men in my life (my husband George and son Michael) and it’s Michael’s birthday tomorrow so one of these cards will be going in the post to him.
Both cards were made using identical supplies –
  • Night of Navy card base – 10.5 x 29.7 cm 
  • Tranquil Tide layer – 10.0 x 14.4 cm
  • Very Vanilla layer – 10.0 x 14.4 cm (glue inside the card)
  • Designer Series Paper – 5.0 x 13.9 cm (2 pieces per card)
  • Tranquil Tide strip – 0.5 x 14.4 cm
  • Tranquil Tide and Very Vanilla scrap for punching
  • Night of Navy Enamel Shape from the Regals Enamel Shapes
  • Night of Navy ink
  • Tailored Tag Punch
This is quite an economical way of using the paper because you can get 6 cards out of each sheet of 12″ x 12″ paper. That means 72 cards out of each pack, and because you can mix and match the paper you will get lots of different variations.
Making the cards is super easy, and here are the instructions.
1. Score and fold the Night of Navy card base at 14.9 cm.
2. Glue both pieces of the DSP to the Tranquil Tide layer so that there is a 0.5 cm border showing around the edge. You will need to overlap the DSP in the middle and you can choose which of them to show more of.
3. Glue the Tranquil Tide strip over the join in the DSP.
4. Adhere the Tranquil Tide layer to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals.
5. Stamp sentiment in Night of Navy onto Very Vanilla cardstock and punch out using the Tailored Tag Punch.
6. Punch out a tag from the scrap of Tranquil Tide using the Tailored Tag Punch, and then cut the tag in half (along it’s length so you have a point top and bottom). 
7. Adhere the two pieces of the tag to the back of the Very Vanilla tag so that you can see a thin layer of the Tranquil Tide. Add the tag to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals – you can at this point decide if you want to make the card portrait or landscape.
7. Glue the 10.0 x 14.4 cm piece of Very Vanilla inside the card and decorate with a strip of DSP from the scraps left over from the 12″ x 12″ sheet.
So I dare you to cut up a sheet or two of paper and turn them into quick, simple but effective cards.
Happy stamping (and cutting).
Fiona xx

My supply list of products is