March 15, 2026 by Born To Organize

Creating with Paper Scraps

Crafting cards has been a welcome distraction from the world’s chaos. I sit down at my desk to create as often as I can.

I’m joining Kate and others for the monthly “ScrapHappy” challenge. where makers create with scraps. I also enjoy upcycling with calendar pages and advertising mailers, so I’ve made some cards using them as well.

My friend Therese inspired this first set of cards. She passed on a drugstore calendar from Hawaii, full of tropical photographs in rich hues, and challenged me to have fun. I did!

I used the heavier paper from the calendar’s cover to make a few bookmarks.

The following two cards are created with a Tommy Bahama mailer, in tropical oranges and greens.

I managed to cut two butterflies and the floral image from the mailer.

I used a piece of blue-and-silver paper left over from a set for the birthday card. The body of the butterfly is darkened using a black Sharpie marker, with a scrap of vellum behind the wings.

The second card uses a piece of gold card behind the butterfly, centered among a few flowers, and as a thin mat to frame the card. When the recipient opens the card, the butterfly wings lift up for the illusion of movement.

These three small gift tags will accompany some Easter chocolate for my family. I colored the bunny’s bow in Mike and our son’s favorite colors. I’m not sure where that scrap of yellow ribbon came from, but I had just enough for the three tags.

This “thinking of you” card is for a friend whose partner died in an auto accident earlier this year. They owned horses together. I fashioned this card after one of her horses, using a downloaded silhouette of a horse cut from patterned brown paper, which my sister passed on to me years ago.

I cut the horse’s spots, the fence posts, and the background from scraps, and used leftover floss from a kit for the horse’s mane and hooves. She loved the card.

Using the last bits of my spring paper and some extra envelopes, I made fifteen crafting kits to put next to our children’s Little Free Library. They’re always a hit.

If you’re interested in what other bloggers are making and sharing, you can click on any of the links below.

Thanks as always for hosting, Kate.

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Chris,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Viv, Karrin, Alissa, Tierney,
Hannah and Maggie

July 2, 2019 by Born To Organize

Scrap-Happy July: Cards and Letters Come Full Circle

I’m joining Kate, of Tall Tales from Chiconia, for her monthly scrap-happy blog post. The challenge is to create something made entirely of scraps.

Here is the inspiration for this month’s scrappy project.

I’ve been friends with Carrielin for nearly forty years. We met doing theatre at San Jose State in 1980. After she left the area, we stayed in touch the old-fashioned way: through cards and letters. Recently Carrielin came across a box of correspondence from me, mailed between 1989 and 1994. She re-read the letters, then offered to send them my way. My dear friend mailed the cards with little notes attached letting me know what she had liked about certain cards. Isn’t that the sweetest?

It took some emotional preparation to re-read what I had written nearly three decades ago. When the time felt right, I read each one. Then I hatched a plan.

Now parts of those cards are heading her way once again, but this time as slivers of the past.

I decided to try a paper-piecing pattern shared by Kate on her blog. Kate is collecting gorgeous quilt squares to include in an ovarian cancer fundraising quilt. She’s done several over the years, with blocks she and other quilters create based on a theme and the color teal. You can read more about her efforts here.

One of Kate’s squares for the theme Scinteallation is called Basketweave Braid Star, a paper piecing pattern by Nydia Kehnle. You can have a look at Kate’s gorgeous paper-piecing star on her blog.

Using her design, I cut strips from several of the cards using blues and creams. I chose bits of the cards that represented our interests, including theater and dance, whimsy, art, flowers, cats (of course) and the Victorian era. I used card backings which are generally white, and I even included her name from one of my letters.

There was only one blue envelope in the batch, so I carefully cut triangles to create the star effect.

Here is the finished card with the envelope border.

Do you like crafting from scraps? Why not join us for the next round.

From Kate’s blog:

“ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? You can email Kate at the address on her Contact Me page. You can also contact Gun, via her blog, to join. We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long-term commitment or even join in every month, just let either of us know a day or so in advance if you’re new and you’ll have something to show, so we can add your link. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.”

March 14, 2019 by Born To Organize

Scrap-Happy March: Paper Greens

I’m joining Kate, of Tall Tales from Chiconia, for her monthly scrap-happy blog post. The challenge is to use scraps from other projects to make something useful, beautiful, or both. Several bloggers post once a month showcasing a project made entirely from scraps.

This month I’m using green paper scraps and pages from an old wall calendar.

I started with this pile of paper scraps…

Green just happens to be my favorite color

Assorted pages from an old gardening calendar…

The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Calendar

And a green Christmas tin.

Swiss Miss chocolate tin

I made three greeting cards…

Card made from scraps of green paper and a calendar cut-out

Calendar page card with vintage ribbon rests near deep purple hyacinth

Tri-fold card

…and about 30 bookmarks. Here’s one made from the center of a calendar page.

Calendar page bookmark with vintage seam binding

I also made a sign for our Little Free Library in honor of St. Patrick’s Day this coming Monday, and I covered a hot chocolate tin to hold the bookmarks.

A bit of four-leaf clover lore in our LFL

Books with green spines and a covered Christmas tin full of bookmarks

All three cards incorporated bits of the calendar and paper scraps. I like creating like this, with a small pile of bits and bobs and no real plan.

I used a small bird drawing from the calendar for the first card

Scraps of green paper

Lovely bird drawing on side of calendar

Bird drawing from calendar

Completed card

The trifold card incorporates the center panel from one of the calendar pages on the cover and on the inside of the card.

Finished trifold card

Inside panel uses calendar cut out of bird

I cut the third flap at an angle and secured at the bottom so you can insert a note or a gift card

Tied closed with a bow

The third card is simply a photograph from a Nature Conservancy calendar, tied with vintage seam binding. I used a die to cut a note of thanks from a green paper scrap.

Photograph from a Nature Conservancy calendar

Into the woods

Completed card

The bookmarks are an eclectic bunch. I used several scraps of green paper, bits of vintage seam binding, Washi tape, and again, parts of my Old Farmer’s Almanac calendar. Lexi, my artistic friend, designed her own Washi tape. You can see it here along with several of her other creations.

I cut the center of the upper left calendar page

…folding it into thirds…

…notched the top and added vintage seam binding.

Here’s another bookmark made from a calendar page

I layered rows of Washi tape across this scrap of green floral

I cut the strips, then rounded off the top

Red Riding Hood Washi tape from a friend, Lexi’s Washi tape on the left

When you’re really tired…just cut strips of pretty paper into 2 x 6 strips

My friend Lexi designed this Washi tape. She sells it on her Etsy site

Tin of green bookmarks with the LFL in the background

The green theme won’t last long in the Little Free Library as books come and go, but it has been fun playing with paper and ideas. Thanks for inspiring me to slow down, Kate, and to take some time to play.

Do you like crafting from scraps? Why not join us for the next round.