Cardmaking Composition Tips Using Scraps From Your Previous Projects!

If you love cardmaking, for sure you have tons of scraps just lying around in your stash. Pieces of decorative paper, trimmings of cardstock, failed DIY backgrounds, and more... we tend to keep these scraps hoping it'll be of use one day.

For this cardmaking tip, you'll finally be able to use these scraps! You'll also learn how to create an effective composition in your cards!

Watch the Video Tutorial:

Read the Step-by-Step Guide Below:

Step 1

As you can see, I gathered all my scraps from previous cardmaking projects. It's quite a random pile consisting of paper with alcohol inks, leftover prints, some have crayon doodles– it's so diverse which is exactly what we need.

Step 2

Let's begin and start off with your base piece. I'm using this red cardstock trimmed down to my standard card size. Then what you want to do is decide what colors and shapes you like.

I have this piece of cardstock with some strokes and splatters of red alcohol inks which I really love, so we're kicking this whole thing off by cutting some rectangles from it.

I also love these old prints so we're incorporating it in as well.

Need Layout Ideas? Click Here!

Step 3

Now, let's talk about the concept that you really need to understand when building a collage card. The key word is contrast. You need to go for contrasting shapes and colors to make this whole design work.

As you can see below, the two red rectangles contrast very well with the white and black piece at the center.

Step 4

To complete it, we need to add a circle element. I just looked through my old embellishment box and chose this white circle.

Once I was able to see how the ensemble looks after adding the circle embellishment, I thought it'd be better to use the shorter gray piece of paper.

That's another thing you should consider, don't be afraid to switch elements around if it makes sense to you.

I ended up incorporating the original shape again into the mix later on, and just tried to change up the position a bit.

Step 5

I got the positions and shapes right, but I felt that the red background just doesn't work. I picked up a green one and trimmed it to see if it's better as a background.

Step 6

And it was so much better! The colors complemented and it just all clicked together! I added my sentiment and put it in the circle embellishment.

You can also opt to have it in landscape, you just need to re-position the elements.

And there you have it! A lovely card made with scraps!

Go ahead and try it for yourself! Just remember to have contrasting colors and contrasting composition, and you'll have a fantastic card in no time!

Stay tuned for more upcoming inspiring and creative tips!

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