ScrapHappy in January

This month’s challenge combines two inspirations: Kate, who encourages crafty projects from scraps, and Natalie Brown, who shares clean, simple card tutorials on YouTube and Facebook. 

Natalie shared a sketch, colour palette, and theme, challenging us to make cards using her suggestions.

Here’s the inspiration:

A calendar page for January 2026 featuring a sketch with the word 'sentiment', a photo of a pink flower, and color blocks in green, pink, and orange. Additional details include 'Medium: Paint Pens', 'Tool: Smoosher', 'Theme: New Beginnings', and 'Shape: Feathers'.
copyright NB Cards (Natalie Brown)

My first scrappy card uses the envelope of a marketing mailer (scrap).

A colorful greeting card featuring a floral design framed in pink with the word 'Bloom' in a playful font, placed on a background of green grass.
A partially opened envelope featuring tropical flower designs, with a message indicating a $50 award from Tommy Bahama.

It also incorporates Natalie’s design sketch, suggested colours, and applying ink with a smoosher, a simple DIY tool made from a plastic bag and some paper towel.

I cut parts of the envelope into narrow strips for the background, and chose a focal point from another area, then matted it in on a scrap of white paper, inked with a coordinating shade of pink.

Close-up of a partially torn envelope featuring floral designs with white flowers and green leaves, alongside the text 'Start your holidays at Santana Row'.
Used to cut image for focal point
A decorative card featuring a floral design in a framed square with the word 'bloom' in a stylish font, set against a white background and surrounded by colorful embellishments.

I stamped the “bloom” greeting on an image of a pink petal and punched circles in three tropical colours. Cutting the narrow strips was fiddly, but fun in the end.

The second card uses a shiny black page from a paper sample book given to me by a friend years ago, a piece of gold paper from the lining of an envelope, scraps of two kinds of white paper, and the last of the paper napkins gifted to me by Pauline King before she passed.

A greeting card featuring a colorful illustration of a black cat with white paws and a yellow background, bordered by decorative edges. The text on the card reads 'thinking of you'.

You can see other napkin cards in my post, Crafting With Scraps.

If you would like to share your own crafty creations, please get in touch with Kate, at Tall Tales From Chiconia.

Please have a look at other ScrapHappy posts at the following links:

KateEvaSue, Lynda,

Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan

Moira, SandraChrisAlys,

ClaireJeanDawnGwen,

Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue LVera, 

Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,

VivKarrin,  Alissa,

Hannah and Maggie

ScrapHappy for Christmas Cards

I’ve been making paper Christmas trees from scraps and using them to create Christmas cards. I’m sharing here for Kate’s monthly ScrapHappy day.

A collection of handmade paper Christmas trees crafted from various shades of green paper strips, arranged on a white background.

It’s been a fun process cutting slivers of paper at an angle, then arranging them on two-sided sticky paper. I started making them in August. When I have enough, I use a metal die to cut the shape. Each tree is unique.

A collection of green paper strips and pieces arranged in a scattered manner on a brown surface, some peeking out from a transparent envelope.

Included in the mix is a handful of Christmas trees made from vintage postage stamps. I think of them as scraps, too. 

A collection of unique Christmas trees made from green vintage postage stamps, arranged on a white background.

For the cards themselves, I embossed white paper using an In the Pines embossing folder, then matted it with another green paper scrap.

I placed the trees in the center of the card in some cases and to the right of the center on others. I couldn’t decide what I liked better, so I did both.

Two handmade Christmas cards featuring embossed white backgrounds with green and gold borders. Each card has a green tree design and a translucent vellum overlay with the text 'peace on earth'.
Two handmade Christmas cards featuring embossed white backgrounds with green accents. Each card displays a distinct paper Christmas tree and a vellum overlay with the phrase 'peace on earth'.

Full disclosure: the vellum stamped with “Peace on Earth” isn’t technically a scrap, just part of an open package, but I like the effect, and I know we all appreciate the sentiment.

A Christmas card featuring an embossed white background, a decorative tree made from vintage postage stamps, and a translucent vellum overlay with the phrase 'peace on earth'.

If you would like to share your own crafty creations, please get in touch with Kate.

Please have a look at other ScrapHappy posts at the following links:

KateEvaSue, Lynda,

Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan

Moira, SandraChrisAlys,

ClaireJeanDawnGwen,

Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue LVera, 

Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,

VivKarrin,  Alissa,

Hannah and Maggie

ScrapHappy for Paper: Cards and Craft Kits

I have several scrappy projects to share this month. I’ve been in the groove, so to speak. At the end of this post you’ll find links for other participants of Kate’s monthly ScrapHappy challenge.

First up, crafting kits for our Little Free Library. These kits are part scraps and part up-cycling.

It’s summer holidays here, so children are looking for things to do. I started with a stack of envelopes that I’ve had for years. I had ordered Christmas cards with our return address printed on the envelope. Instead, they mailed plain envelopes. Without any prompting from me, the return-address ones arrived the following week. All these years later, I still have a stack of unused envelopes, which led to the creation of these crafty card kits.

I cut half of the envelope flap and sealed it shut, then trimmed the other half and closed it with washi tape for a “secret compartment”. I folded the envelope in half, then cut scraps of yellow paper to use as the cover. I used one of my tag dies to cut the white paper, stamped it with black ink, and colored the image with markers as a sample, but left it for the crafter to color it themselves.

The second card uses the same envelope but with the flap at the bottom to make pockets. I cut three shapes for the cover and added an iridescent butterfly to the kit. I hope the children enjoy them.

Next up, a thank you card for my friend and neighbor. Val brought me a box of chocolates from the Big Island of Hawaii. I made her card using leftover glitter paper and the front of an envelope I would have otherwise tossed, with an island-themed vibe.

I embossed the paper to suggest water drops, with a special thank you to World Wildlife Fund for the complimentary gift wrap and a cool envelope for card-making.

Over the weekend, I created the following card using a prompt from a Facebook card-making group. Natalie is all about clean and simple cards with a lot of white background. She presents sketches to the group as a starting point, and we build upon them from there.

I used a textured white paper as a background, then cut circles from the patterned mailer. After applying green and orange oxide ink to a scrap of white paper, I cut the shapes with one of my dies. I had just enough of the remaining scrap to create a sliver-thin border.

Please join us with your scrappy, crafty creations by contacting Kate for more details.

Kate has provided these links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).

KateEvaSue, Lynda,

Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan

Moira, SandraChrisAlys,

ClaireJeanDawnGwen,

Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue LVera, 

Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,

VivKarrin,  Alissa,

Hannah and Maggie