card making · stash busting · use it or lose it
5 Cards from One Paper Pad. Use Your Stash.
Start with what you already own. No new supplies needed.
That paper pad has been sitting on your shelf long enough. Let’s actually use it.
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Grab your coffee and your scissors! We are going to pull supplies off the shelf and actually make things with them.
If you’ve been staring at a paper pad you can’t bring yourself to cut into, I see you. I’ve been there too. The Boho Sunshine paper pad has been sitting in my craft room for a while collecting dust. Until now.
Today I’m showing you five stash busting card making designs made from one paper pad, no new supplies purchased, and no complicated techniques required. This is the first episode of my new series, Use It or Lose It , where I actually use the supplies I’ve been saving and show you how to do the same.
I’m sharing the design decisions behind each card, not just the finished results, because knowing why a layout works is what lets you repeat it with any collection you already own.
Skill Level: Beginner friendly
Time: 45 – 60 minutes
Project: (5) A2 Cards
Techniques: Pattern paper layering · Creating white space · Shape die selection
Key Skill: Building five coordinated cards from one patterned paper pad
To make sure you don’t feel stuck again, I’ve included multiple shortcuts in this post that you can refer back to whenever the “blank page anxiety” hits.
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through my links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps me keep the craft lights on and the coffee flowing. I only share products I actually use in my craft room. Thanks for supporting Miss. Carrie’s Creations! Full disclosure here.
About the Simple Stories Boho Sunshine Collection
The techniques and cards that I am sharing today use the Simple Stories Boho Sunshine 6×8 Paper Pad, but they work with any patterned paper pad in your stash. Remember, we are using what we have – not buying anything new.
This collection of pattern paper is a 24-sheet double-sided pad with warm, cheerful patterns. I personally enjoy all the images of sunshine, florals, stripes, butterflies, and vintage images.
The color palette runs through yellows, warm corals, teal, soft rose, and earthy brown. It’s a summer collection with enough variety to make multiple completely different-looking cards without opening anything else.
To bring in some solids, I selected another collection collecting dust. The Boho Color Vibe cardstock was sitting on the shelf next to the pattern collection. No new purchases. I pulled colors that matched what I could already see in the designs.
Before You Cut a Single Pattern Paper
Before I reach for a trimmer, I do two things: I sort my sentiments and I build my five piles. Both of these steps prevent the mid-project chaos that wastes paper and stalls momentum.
Choose your sentiment first. The pocket cards in this pad are the perfect sentiments. They already have the words, the colors, and the coordination built in. Picking a sentiment before choosing paper sets the mood for the whole card. Once you know the mood, every paper decision becomes obvious. A Stay Groovy card wants completely different energy than an Enjoy the Ride card.
Build five piles before you cut anything. I chose my five sentiments, then picked one or two patterned papers and a coordinating solid for each pile. Once the piles are sorted, I’m not making design decisions anymore. I used small trays to keep each card’s pieces together, but envelopes or zipper bags work just as well.
Keep your color palette to two or three colors per card. More than that tends to compete with patterned paper, which is already doing a lot of visual work. Two patterns plus a coordinating solid is a solid starting formula for any paper pad project.
Why Shape Dies Are Your Stash’s Best Friend
I used nested dies across all five of these cards and one seasonal die set. Like many of you, I am on a crafting budget and I prefer to invest in products I can use over and over again.
Basic nested dies let you cut layers in multiple sizes without measuring by hand every time. They’re the workhorses of card making. Many of these dies come with stitching, decorative edges, and etched background details. These type of elements can elevate your cards even more. You also get more design options from one single card design.
If you’re building your die collection, nested shapes in tag, rectangle, circle, and square are the place to start. Below are links to some of my favorite nested dies that I use on most of my card making projects.
Card One: Smile Big (Rainbow Card)
This card is a lesson in letting the paper do the work. The floral background gives you an instant, complete color story with pinks, yellows, soft blues, all in one sheet. Your job is to build around it without getting in its way.
① Choose your background. Pick the sheet with the most color variety. That sheet is doing the design work for you.
② Add a dark solid mat. Cut a solid dark cardstock frame. This creates visual separation between the busy background and the focal piece.
③ Layer the rainbow with foam tape. Foam tape gives the focal piece lift, which makes the card feel more finished and professional.
④ Add die cut accents. I layered small cut flowers directly on top of the printed flowers for added dimension, then added a single butterfly. That’s it.
Card Two: Enjoy The Ride (Bike Card)
Bold stripe paper is one of those designs that can go sideways fast if you use too much of it. The fix is using it as an accent instead of a background. This brings in the color without letting the stripe take over the whole card.
① Use a stitched frame to cut the striped pattern. Layer behind the 3×4 bike pocket card.
② Add a white layer between colored pieces to create breathing room and make the whole design feel less busy. A scallop frame gives this a softer feel.
③ Place layered butterfly die cuts on the left side finish the card without adding any complexity.
When a design feels too busy and you can’t figure out why, add white. White creates a place for the eye to rest. Your eye moves from color to color, lands on the white, takes a breath, and moves on. Without that rest point, even a beautiful design can feel overwhelming. This is one of the most useful things I know about card design, and it works every single time.
Card Three: Stay Cool (Ice Cream Card)
This card uses a nested tag die for the main focal image. I had to make a few adjustments to my pocket card before cutting the image. I want to walk you through the one thing that trips people up with tag dies when they don’t fit your design.
If the die doesn’t reach the bottom of your paper you can move the tag die to create a clean edge. Flip the tag around, line the die up along the bottom edge, secure with a small piece of mint tape, and run it through the machine again. Both ends now have a perfect finished edge.
I didn’t capture this technique in the video, but I show how this can be done in my Interactive Christmas Scrapbook Layout video. I walk you through multiple ways that you can change the sizes of your tags with just a few adjustments.
Card Four: Smile (Plant Card)
This card has a few small details that separate a card that looks intentional from one that just looks assembled. Both are worth knowing.
I continued my die decoration on all pieces. Running a paper strip through the same die as your background layer continues the stitched or dotted edge all the way around the card instead of cutting it off mid-design. It’s a small detail, but it’s the kind of thing that makes someone pick up your card and look at it more closely. Those little moments of polish are worth the extra thirty seconds.
The fussy cutting wasn’t perfect. The plant image was rough cut from another pocket card. I planned to pop it up on a white circle, so I chose not to spend time overthinking the cuts. Once it was in place, the missed white edges were not noticable and became part of the card.
Card Five: Stay Groovy (Sun Card)
This might be my favorite of the five, and the most complicated thing I did was trim a panel down to size. Sometimes the answer really is just trimming something to fit.
① The Stay Groovy pattern was too large for a card design, so I trimmed it down. Don’t feel locked into the original dimensions of a pocket card.
② Thin strips of pattern paper above and below the focal panel act like a frame. They define the edges and give the rest of the card room to breathe.
③ A bit of white lace cut with a border die sits along the edges and adds texture without competing with the busy focal panel.
The thin strips of white above and below act like a frame. They tell the eye where the panel starts and stops, and they give the rest of the card somewhere to breathe. This works for any busy patterned piece.
Want the sketches for all five cards?
I created a card sketch for each of these five designs and added them to my Creative Library. If blank page syndrome is your nemesis (and let’s be honest, it is for most of us) the sketches give you a design blueprint so you can fill in the colors and go. New resources are added every week.
Visit My Creative Library for more:
The Finishing Details. Make It Yours!
Once the layers were all assembled, I went back and added finishing details to each card. I used a white gel pen to add dots, dashes, and small lines that tie the layers together. I also added hand stitching on a few cards because that’s something I genuinely enjoy.
But these details are not steps you need to copy. They’re an invitation to let your own creativity show up on the card.
Ways to personalize your finishing details:
The structure, the layers, the color choices – those are the system. The finishing details are you! Grab a favorite stamp, some ink, an extra bit of twine, or a button from your stash. Maybe you love the clean, simple look and you don’t add a thing. There is no wrong answer here. This is where your personality shows up on the card. And that’s the best part of the whole process.
Watch the Full Tutorial
Watch me build all five cards from start to finish, including the supply sorting process, die selection tips, and every technique covered in this post. If this helped you, I’d love a thumbs up over on YouTube, and come leave a comment telling me which card was your favorite.
Did you watch the full tutorial?
If this helped you, a thumbs up goes a long way. It helps more crafters find these tutorials and keeps the coffee fund alive. ☕
Which Technique Should You Use?
None of these five designs is the wrong choice. They’re just different moods, different techniques, and different starting points. Try the one of the techniques I share with you and use it to create a few cards from your stash is right now.
Bold Framing
A bold frame does all the work on a busy pattern. If your unsure how to layer, start here.
Add White
Avoid the overwhelm with a little bit of white – or any neutral. Give the eyes a place to rest.
Layered Clusters
Most dimension. Use this when you want to spend time adding layers to a card for delightful details.
Grab your coffee & your paper pad. Go make something!
Which of these five cards was your favorite? Drop it in the comments below. And if you’ve got a paper pad sitting on your shelf right now that hasn’t been touched in way too long, tell me about it. You might just inspire the next episode.
If you want more tutorials like this one, come check out Miss Carrie’s Creative Library. It’s where I keep the sketches, printable guides, and planning tools organized so you’re not hunting for it all over the internet.
