The amazing Courtney Kreeber has a Facebook group that is a wonderful community of cardmakers. Today, some of us from the group are having a hop in an effort to dig out supplies we haven’t used in awhile or to focus on trying to use something up. You should have gotten here from Jennifer Holder Schoolcraft, but if you came here first, start here with Lucille Holmes Manos! For my project, I decided to use up an entire 6×6 paper pad, and incorporate some other older supplies in the process. I’m proud to say I made 35 cards from a 24 page pad of single sided paper from Recollections! Today, I’m just posting a lot of pictures and not writing a ton of details about them. Over the next couple days, I will explain my process, give tips, and show how I worked with some of the more challenging pieces of paper. 2 pages were just borders, 2 pages were cut-aparts, and 2 pages had a full page sentiment design meant to be framed or used on a 6×6 square card. (ETA: Here are the links for the follow up posts: Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.)
Since this is part of a hop, I don’t want to be a hop hog and keep you here too long 😉 So what does 35 cards look like? Here’s the big pile of cards, along with the cover of the paper pad I used (and the scraps I had left over).
And here is a closer look of the cards, grouped by the papers I used for each set.
In the process of making these, I used almost a whole roll of gold ribbon, an entire pack of gold rhinestones, all my gold Rinea paper, and a *bunch* of colored cardstock scraps and mirror paper scraps from my stash! Aside from card bases, I only cut into 1 sheet of red cardstock… all the rest are scraps! That was a nice bonus – Yay!!! I also used some really old foam snowflakes, put a tiny dent in my gold sequins, finished off a partially used pack of 15 year old epoxy embellishments, and used a half sheet of vellum. They are not my most detailed cards, but they are all mail-friendly and will make the recipients smile and feel loved. *And*, some of the left over scraps can used as gift tags. Bonus!!!
The idea for this hop came up long before Covid-19 quarantines and stay at home orders, but it couldn’t have better timed! Right now its not essential to run out for new craft supplies, nor are the stores open in many cases. And, many people lost their crafty budget when they lost their jobs, so this is the *perfect* time to give those supplies in our stash some love, and a full workout! So now I challenge you to grab something in your stash that needs some love and have some play time! Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more details on the cards and tips for using up your paper pads!!! And to continue on this amazing hop, head over to Cathy Arenzana to see what she did 😊 Special thanks to Renee Moran for setting this up!!! And if you would like to be part of the Facebook group, just hit up Courtney Kreeber. The group is ever growing and open to all, and we’d love to have you!
Edited to add:
I’ve done 3 follow up posts to give more info on the process I used to Kill a Paper Pad here. I’m linking them below for your convenience:
#digitoutoruseitup
Misplaced Mojo 
Beautiful cards, Karen. Looks like you have a great start on your Christmas cards.
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Thank you Amanda! Yes, a great jumpstart to Christmas cards, especially for April. And a tiny dent in my paper pad stash! 1 down, a whole bunch more to go!!!
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Awww….how many beautiful cards you made!
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Thanks Silvia! Crazy, isn’t it? And I honestly could have gotten 40+ if I stuck to designs that were more CAS or incorporated more supplies or cardstock.
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Your cards are amazing Karen! You came up with so many great layouts!
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Thanks Jen! Yes, this is proof that you don’t need to repeat the same layout over and over to kill a pad. I typically get bored doing mass production but this process allowed enough variety to keep me totally engaged and excited to keep going!
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Wonderful set of cards! I really admire how you were able to use it all up – Kudos!
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Thanks Anna! For what its worth, with this being my first time trying this I was really surprised that I could use up SO MUCH of it, down to tiny scraps. Very satisfying!!!
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You have been quite busy. So many wonderful cards. Beautiful Job
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Thanks Courtney! Not my typical cards with colored images and blended backgrounds or techniques… but very satisfying nonetheless!!!
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This is a primer on how to get your entire stash of Christmas cards done months before they’ll be needed! lol What a great way to use up old stash, Karen, and the cards are wonderful. I’m inspired to do something similar but I’m going to work on Thank You cards. Maybe I’ll dig out some of my dies and old dp and see what I can do. 😀
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If you do I’d love to see it Connie! I have never met a Christmas paper pad I haven’t liked, so my stash needs to have a dent put in it before the stores start stocking Christmas (at the end of July, it seems)… providing the stores have reopened by then!
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Love all the Christmas cards! What a haul. Beautiful!
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Thanks, Anne! And if I had gone with more CAS designs, I totally could have gotten more than 35. Crazy, right?
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This is awesome! I so need to do this! TFS
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Thanks Luci! When I tried to fit the last paper pad I bought in my already busting at the seams stash, I knew I had to do something too!!! This is the perfect scenario for the pads you no longer want to hoard (and pet, while whispering sweet nothings to it) anymore. I still really liked the paper but I was willing to let it morph into cards I really liked instead of taking up space with the pet Doodlebug pads! LOL!!! 🤣
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Wow!!! This is awesome & amazing!!! So grateful you shared your time & creativity!!! Stay safe & healthy! Blessings & hugs!!!
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Thanks Maria!
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HONEY!!!! these are ABSOLUTELY LOVELY – and now you have a honking pile o Christmas cards lol!!! what a great idea. *she says, heading off to see what kind o small paper pads she has to kill. . ..
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LOL, Cindyellen! It was a lot of fun once I got started though I freely admit to being intimidated to start! Once you start cutting the paper and seeing how they will work together you’ll be so excited!
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35 cards?? That’s amazing. I’m going to have to try that challenge. Thanks for sharing. ❤️
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I promise, its not hard once you get started!
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Hi Karen! I love what you did for the hop! I look forward to coming back for the more “in-depth” look! 🙂
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I hope you enjoy the follow ups! Its an easy process once you start cutting paper!
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I love this style of cardmaking. Making a bunch of cards and using up a paper pad. I really enjoyed your post and your cards and I’m excited to see the details in the next few days. Thank you for being part of this hop today- Renee’
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Aw, shucks Renee! Thank you!!! It was weird for me to make so many cards without images to color but I love how it sparked my creativity to work with what I had instead of pulling out stacks and stacks of stamps and dies. Toward the end, I used the poinsettia stamp, but only because it was in the set I was using for most of the stamped sentiments. If I had gone looking for the *perfect* poinsettia, I’d still probably be looking or have bought 3 more stamps sets by the time I was done! LOL I hope the follow up posts aren’t boring, but its hard to describe concisely without doing a video. Thank you SO much for organizing this hop and encouraging us to use up and dig out supplies! I hope to schedule a similar project every month to give old supplies some love!
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Great way to use up your pads..your cards came out awesome
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Thanks Allison! It is seriously the way to go when you want to thin down your collection of 6×6 pads!
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Your cards look incredible and such variety!
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Thanks Tracy! I can’t make 20 of the same card if I tried… I get to bored! But it was nice learning just how much variety you can create with one paper pad!
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So many lovely cards! You really mowed through your stash☺ I kinda forgot this hop was conceived before the pandemic blew up. 😳Participating has been a mirror-cardstock and gliding flake lining to this COVID-19 cloud!
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I did mow through a lot! I’m eager to grab another paper pad and make some Thinking of You cards for friends and family stressing out over the sheltering at home / quarantines. I love your thoughts on the crafty silver lining!!!
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Whoa! You are ready for Christmas in record time!
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I know, right? So satisfying!!!
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Wow, looks like you’re all set for Christmas! Your cards really turned out great! Thank you so much for sharing 😊
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Aw, thanks Jill!!!
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I am not sure how I missed your stop. I’m glad you shared that you were hopping. Holy wow! Did you ever create. Your cards arw so sweet. I love the colirs in that pad. A girl can never go wrong with pink, can she?
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The colors were what drew me to that pad, but it was also why I picked it to be my guinea pig for this process. I know not everyone likes non-traditional colors at Christmas, so if I was going to flub up the process, this paper felt like one I could sacrifice. I know I’m going to find more Christmas pads I *have to have* when the stores start setting for Christmas (in July 🙄) so I had better kill a few more to make room!!!
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I am not sure how I missed your stop. Thank you for letting me know you were hopping. Holy wow! Did you ever get a ton of cards made. They are so sweet and the papers are a color combo I love. A girl can never go wrong with pink!
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Wow! Thirty-five cards! That is amazing! I love all the layouts . . .and the pink paper with the Christmas lights is sooooo cute! And what a great feeling it must have been to use up so many scraps.tyfs
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That was the surprise bonus, the scraps!!! I knew I would kill the paper pad but I had no idea how much of a dent it would put in my scraps! Next time I do this, I will take a picture of the pile of scraps I pull out to use and see how much I have left of that too. I just need to remember to pull more than I think I need because its easy to use them up! That light bulb paper was my favorite too! Well, that and the rows of houses! And yes, the whole process was very satisfying!
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Karen, these cards are so awesome and so many!! Such a great idea to use up your stash! I almost bought that same paper pack last year but knowing that all of my relatives love traditional colors made me change my mind….and now I regret it 😀 I love how happy and cheerful your cards turned out. I’ll finish hopping along and will come back to read more!
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Ah, shucks! Thanks Bory!!! That means a lot to me 😁 I have uploaded a few follow up posts with more details. I regret that you can’t enlarge photos on my blog, but hopefully you get the gist. Its funny you talk about the paper and how many people don’t like the nontraditional colors. That was exactly why I picked this paper pad to experiment with. If I totally screwed it up it wouldn’t be the end of the world, despite the fact that I personally loved the paper. And I thought if I did mess it all up, I would learn lessons from it for trying it with another pad. I am really pleased with the cards given how there are virtually no colored stamped images (other than the poinsettias) and no big or messy techniques. Would love to have you as a subscriber if you come back and like what you see on my blog!
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35 cards!! Woww!! They are all very beautiful.
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Thanks!!!
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[…] then too, I had fewer cards with the same layout and I ended up with so much more variety. Check out this post if you would like to see my previous Kill a Paper Pad post using a Recollections… It includes links to follow up posts describing the challenges of using that paper and how I […]
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