I can’t believe how easy these cards were to make with the New Horizons designer series paper! I simply love these beautiful card ideas and think you will too!
You should know that these designs were inspired by a set of beautiful card ideas shared by fellow demonstrator, Rachel Tessman. She created an amazing set of cards using 3″ x 3″ pieces of the New Horizons designer series paper (DSP) for her focal pieces. If you want to get a ton of cards made in a super-economical way this is the way to go. With this method, you can get 4 focal pieces from one sheet of DSP! For my cards, I wanted to have a larger focal piece to fill up a bit more of the front of my card so my focal pieces are 3″ x 4″ instead.
For me, it’s all about loving the design even if it’s not the most efficient or economical. That said, I do LOVE efficiency and hate to waste! More on that later!
In the photo below I’ve taken the focal piece from the card above and laid it over the DSP panel so you can see how I cut my piece. I could have justified it to the top or bottom but then to me there wouldn’t have been enough sky or enough water for my taste. For this design, I will not likely be able to use the top and bottom scraps. That’s ok with me though because I love the portion I used and the resulting card.
For the next few cards, I did the same thing, sacrificing the scraps to get my chosen focal piece.
I just picked my favorite portion of the DSP strip, with what looked like the right balance of sky and water, and sacrificed the top and bottom scraps.
Here’s a close-up of a similar but different focal piece from a different card.
I love how this one turned out but it was really hard to decide how to cut this one down.
I love the bright yellow at the top so I made sure to get some of it in my focal piece but I had to cut off a bunch of it which made me a little sad. Here I was attempting to get about ⅓ ground and ⅔ sky which felt like the right balance for my scene.
Now after each of the DSP pieces is cut then comes the decision-making about which images to use and where to put them.
For this next card, I wanted to use both the trees and the delicate grass/ flowers image from the Grassy Grove Stamp Set but the second image seemed a bit large, scale-wise, relative to the trees. To solve this problem, I used a trick that might not be obvious when I stamped the grass/flower image.
Quick Tip: Stamp the trees first and then stamp the grass/flowers image so that you get only part of the image, both side to side and top to bottom. Here’s how I did this.
Instead of pressing the whole stamp on the paper, press it at an angle so only the ink on the bottom 2/3 of the image transfers to the paper, making the image shorter and more to scale with the trees. If you look at the full image on the previous card you may be able to see how it’s shorter on the card here.
Here’s a close-up of this portion of the card.
Here are the first four of my beautiful card ideas altogether:
Evening Evergreen cardstock was used for the card base on these first four cards.
The next set of four cards are a completely different color scheme from the first four.
Blackberry Bliss cardstock was used for the card base on these cards.
This focal piece was cut justified at the bottom of the page, leaving a 2″ x 3″ scrap at the top.
Later in this post, you’ll see how I used some of these small scraps.
The scrap from this DSP piece was used to create an adorable little card you’ll see below!
Check out this cute 3″ x 3″ mini-card!
I love making this size card to put into packages or gifts I’m mailing. It allows me to write a quick little note and it adds to the fun of opening the package. For this mini-card, I pulled in another one of the images from the Grassy Grove Stamp Set. I just love this adorable card! Plus, I love that I didn’t have to waste this gorgeous scrap of DSP.
Have you been noticing all the simple sentiments at the bottom of each of these cards?
All the sentiments used on these cards come from the FREE Sale-A-Bration stamp set called Special Moments. There are 21 stamps in this set with a ton of versatile sentiments. The one on this card is one of my favorites! “I think you’re wonderful!”… YES! I’m talking to you! 🙂
Here’s show I cut this DSP piece! Oooh, can you see that I’m going to have another little 2″ x 3″ piece of DSP to play with?
I think this next mini-card was actually made with the backside of the scrap from the DSP above. I used the same stamps as on the mini-card above. Cute right?
Here is the last of my beautiful card ideas for today!
Isn’t this paper simply incredible! I adore it!!!
Yay! Another 2″ x 3″ piece of DSP to play with!
Again, this next mini-card was made with the backside of the scrap from the DSP above. For this one, I brought in yet another stamp from the Grassy Grove stamp set.
Here’s the full set of four made with the Blackberry Bliss for the card bases and…
My set of three adorable 3″ x 3″ mini-cards. Cute right?
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing all these beautiful card ideas and that you’re inspired to create your own!
As a reminder, today’s cards are all variations of one of the current Stamper’s Club projects.
So, if you join a club soon you can get the parts and pieces to make this card, plus two additional cards for FREE. Kits are only available while supplies last!
In fact, you get the pieces to make 2 each of 3 different designs, and the cutting, dry embossing, and die-cutting will be done for you! A PDF with the dimensions, supplies, and photos of each of the three projects will also be provided. Here’s a photo of the current kits:
Learn how you can get a FREE Class-To-Go every other month plus FREE Stampin’ Up! products by clicking on the button below!
OR… Click on the button below to register to join my Online Stamper’s Club NOW!
Thanks for spending some time with me today and Happy Crafting!
Melissa 🙂
More Going On Now
- Maker’s Mojo Creative Escape After the Live Option – Click HERE to Buy it NOW!
- Become a Newsletter Subscriber and get Special Perks! Click HERE to subscribe!
- Become a Stamp Club Member and Receive FREE Project Kits Plus FREE Products! Click HERE for more details.
- Earn Loyalty Leaves with your purchases in my Online Store! Click HERE to learn more.
- Join me for my next Facebook Live Event on Thursday 2/10/22 at 7 pm EST. Find me on Facebook here: Melissa’s Crafting Treehouse Facebook Page
Click HERE to Shop in my Online Store Now!
Current Host Code:
SM46U3QZ
Become a Stamp Club Member and get a Free Class-To-Go and Free Products!
If your order is $150 or more Do NOT use the host code! You’ll get host rewards AND a gift from me too!
Not sure how to apply the Host Code? Click HERE to learn more.
See the January to June 2022 Mini Catalog PDF by clicking below!
Click below to see the January to February 2022 Sale-A-Bration Brochure!
With EVERY $50 in merchandise you spend Get a FREE item; Get a FREE Host-Only Stamp Set with Qualifying Parties; Get TWO FREE Stamp Sets when you buy the Starter Kit by 2/28/22!
Check out the 2021 – 2022 Annual Catalog PDF below.
Learn how to make these beautiful card ideas in my video here:
If you watched this video here on my blog and enjoyed it, please go on over to my YouTube channel and give it a Thumbs Up, Share it with friends and Subscribe to my YouTube Channel. I’d be so grateful! Plus, once you subscribe, you’ll have the option to click on the bell, to be notified whenever I publish a new video.
Project Dimensions:
- Evening Evergreen or Blackberry Bliss Card Body: 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″
- Basic Black Focal Backing: 3-3/16″ x 4-3/16″
- New Horizon’s Designer Paper: 3″ x 4″
- White Inside Piece: 4″ x 5-1/4″
Gorgeous cards. I just disovered you when looking for a new technique to try for a card challenge with a friend. I’m now following you on Pinterest too.
Thank you! I’m glad you found me! Let me know if you ever have questions or if I can help in anyway with your paper crafting needs. Have a wonderful day and Happy Crafting!
I love how you showed just where on the paper you cut the front of the cards. Not everyone has the talent to see past the 6 x 6″ paper. Sure gets the creative juices flowing. Nice job.
This is a perfect design for a sympathy card I need to make today. TFS! Love the design.
Thank you! I’m so glad to know you’re going to make some of your own! Happy Crafting!
Fantastic cards! Thanks for all the great ideas on using DSP. You spoke of not being able to use the small scraps. Maybe they could be used to decorate the inside of the card or the envelope?
Kathleen, Thank you, and thanks for the suggestions for using the small scraps. I hate to waste even these tiny bits! Happy crafting!
I absolutely love all your cards, and all the papers are beautiful. I actually purchased 2 packs of the papers myself but can’t bring myself to cut into them lol. Thanks for the wonderful inspiration 🙂
Hi Margaret. Thank you so much for leaving a comment on my post. I’m so glad you enjoyed these cards. I hope you’ve cut into this beautiful paper and created some projects! It’s super fun paper to play with. You can do it! 🙂