Hanging Chads??!!

Well, I guess they're not technically hanging chads...but have you ever noticed those quarter inch strips at the bottom of your 12x12 patterned papers?  Let me just tell you, that they are pretty awesome!  I love, love, love to use border strips on my layouts, but I hate cutting them from a full sheet of my 12x12 paper!  Why, you may ask?  Chances are, that I am going to want to use that piece of paper for a full background, so I don't want to cut a small amount off and not be able to use it later.  That's why the quarter inch pieces at the bottom are so great...they save a full 12x12 sheet.  Most of the time, the quarter inch strips are a preview of what's on the other side of the paper and they are 12 inches in length.  Echo Park papers, usually have a shorter preview piece, but definitely still useable.  And lately I've noticed a fun trend, where the companies make the quarter inch piece a totally different pattern that still coordinates with the papers.  

Now you might be wondering what other ways these could be used, other than just border strips across your page.  You can use them to punch small holes and use for confetti across your layouts.  You could also use them with your border punches.  For my second layout in this post, I cut the smaller strips from the bottom of the Echo Park papers and used the as the pennants in my banner.  And I am sure there are a ton more uses for these skinny mini patterns!

First, I'll share a layout, where I just used them as border strips at the top, center, and bottom of my page.

I loved Sketch #205 from Creative Scrappers and knew it would be perfect for these photos!!  I really thought little boy pages would be a challenge, after doing pages for two little girls for over 4 years, but I am definitely getting the hang of them.  And I think the industry has started putting out some awesome products lately for little boy pages...Sasparilla by October Afternoon, Charming & A Boy's Life by Echo Park, Chap by American Crafts, Awesome by Simple Stories, and of course the one I used on this page, Technologic by Kaisercraft!

Products Used:

Cardstock & Brads:  The Paper Studio
Patterned Paper & Rub Ons:  Kaisercraft
Font:  Euphemia & Arial Black
Thickers:  American Crafts
Punch:  EK Success
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
Buttons:  Michael's
Acrylic Paint:  Apple Barrel
Pen:  Sharpie
Metal Rings:  Avery (Office Supply)

On this second layout, I used the small preview pieces for my pennant banner and I also punched a few of them with the notebook edged punch.  This layout is also for one of the fun weekly challenges, hosted by my friend, Erika Hayes at Club CK.  Our issue challenge this week, was to create a button banner (inspiration taken from the March/April CK magazine).

  
This was a really fun page to do, because it was my "inaugural" layout using Echo Park's Charming line.  Now I will say that it is definitely hard to pick favorites when all of the new CHA releases come out, but this one is definitely in my Top 3 from CHA-W!  So using the little preview pieces at the bottom of the page worked great for this page.  I was able to add 7 different patterned papers in my banner, without having to cut from my full 12x12 sheets.  And just another little tip...the preview sheet at the front of each of the packages, is also great for cutting little bits and pieces, here and there!


I hope I gave you a few new ideas to try on your next layout, and I would love to hear any other fun ideas you could think of for using the quarter inch strips.  I'm sure the possibilities are endless!!  :)


Products Used:


Patterned Paper & Stickers:  Echo Park
Brads:  The Paper Studio
Smooch Spritz:  Clear Snap
Buttons:  Dill-Buttons & Close to My Heart
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
Punch:  EK Success
Washi Tape:  SEI