Today we are going to blow the budget!!!

Hi there, from me Di, wishing you juicy “Watermelon Afternoons” . And its been another week of great inspiration from IACW design team. What a fabulous post yesterday! Today we are going to blow the budget and use loads of stash so get prepared to "Use Your Stash".

I am currently selling my home and as my friend Jann has been a frequent visitor to my home over the past 20 years, I decided to include the theme of my home into a birthday card for her. So just a little view of my home...

When I saw the "3 Bugs in a Rug Blossom Laughter" patterned paper, I just could not believe it. It said to me, “buy me, buy me, buy me”. So I did. A newbie card maker, I have loved folding paper since I discovered origami as a child. Here are a few views of the card I made for Jann…

On the back of the card, I have include a little pic of my "laughter" lounge, to remind Jann of lots of happy afternoons. The card folds up because of the scored base and is tied together with ribbon.

Oh! Oh! Oh! By the way, remember that I am the “Crafter on a budget”, normally persuading you to “Use your Stash”, so yes, I recycled some chipboard letters using an “I” and a “3” to make the “B” of “Birthday”.

To make the card, I used Bazzil red cardstock, 3 Bugs in a rug Blossom Laughter, loads of ribbon, buttons, and a few chipboard letters.

And then I blew more stash and made a large envelope for the card. Again I used Bazzill pickle, Bazzill Bling Pink and 3 Bugs in a Rug Blossom Tulips, some ribbon, a button, and some tiny magnets hidden beneath the PP to keep the envelope closed. OK, here are the normal “scribbled instructions” from my original design. (If you click on the image it will enlarge!!!)

You of course could use this technique for ANY card so on the same theme of folding the paper – here’s a different shape made as a "Welcome to your New Home" to the 'Buyers' of my home. To make the card, I used Bazzill Bling pink, Basic Grey Phoebe collection and loads of ribbon. But.... if you want to use your scraps, you could use 6" by 6" squares of leftover patterned paper and scraps of assorted ribbon.

Ok now you can have a laugh at me!!! Just in case you thought that's all for today, we are going to blow even more stash!!! I do not like to give away the things I make, so decided to really use my stash and create a layout of Jann's birthday card.... It took me all of 15 minutes.

OK I've included my home in a "birthday card", a "Welcome to your new home" card what you think I have made for me? I have made something very special for me, but you have to wait a while to see that lol.

Thanks for reading and love from Di XXX