Divide and Conquer!

 This is my second post for today!

Hello Friends! If you are looking for my New Release Post for MelJen's Designs, please scroll down!

 Lesson 3 in Pattern Play has got to be my favorite! Oh my goodness! These ladies are on FI-YAH! Who among us papercrafters, does not have a huge hoard of patterned papers that we look at and love, but then we say, "How in the WORLD will I use that pattern?" Yeah...that's what I thought. Never again will I be intimidated by bold or busy or 'off-color' patterns. I learned so many techniques in this class, that I believe I could write up two weeks' worth of blog posts. But for today, I will share one technique that Kristina taught us.

I call it the Divide and Conquer technique. She didn't have a name for it, but that's how I roll...anyway...let's get to it. We all have them, those colorful 12 x 12 pieces of patterned paper, that are sooo pretty, but the pattern is HUGE and would more than likely overwhelm our sweet little A2 cards. Here are a few examples of what I mean.

Pretty, right? Here is a BRILLIANT way to use this paper. Cut it up! Yep! Cut. It. Up. Now, the trick to making this work, is to take a close look at the paper and make sure that your cuts give you a 'complete' scene. Basically, if there are big flowers, make sure you capture at least one whole flower. If the paper has a randomly stamped pattern all over it, just be sure to center something, because it becomes the focal point of the card.

Take a look at what I'm talking about.

click to enlarge

I focused my attention on one of the flowers. It took some measuring to make sure I captured most of the bloom, so the whole card would make sense visually. So yes, there is a bit of planning involved, but it's well worth it. You can cut the strips into pretty much any size you want. They can all be uniform in size, as I have done here or they can vary in size. When using this technique, greetings and embellishments take a back seat because the patterned paper is the star. BRILLIANT!! I think this is a wonderful way to use those big, bold, busy patterns. Like I said at the top of my post, we were taught many, many more techniques to tone down the 'loud' papers. I will be sharing more of those in the coming weeks.

I am short on time today, otherwise, I would have made several cards like this. It's so quick and easy and fun to do! I have stacks and by stacks, I mean mountains of patterned paper. I have been collecting paper for over 30 years...seriously sick addiction. I have drawers and drawers of it and many of the pieces I purchased just because I liked the colors or the way the paper felt. I had no project or any other use in mind. I just wanted to look at it and touch it. SICK-O! LoL! Anyway...

Let me know if you give this technique a try. I would love to see what you come up with. Thank you so much for visiting me today! I really appreciate it. Have a great weekend.


Blessings~


materials~ Most of the supplies I used are from Close to My Heart; others are noted.

stamp set: Happy Birthday
card stock and patterned paper from The Bella Collection
ink: Creme Brulee
punches: Heart to Heart(Stampin' Up!)
other: Crystal Effects(Stampin' Up!)