NOTE CARD SET + MAGAZINE STYLE HOLDER

Remember in my previous post when I mentioned that I'd be sharing a note card set?  Well, today is the day, and the first photo is what the completed set looked like.  Not to brag, but this set turned out beautifully!  It's been a while since I made a mini magazine holder, so I was pleasantly surprised when the first try was perfect.  Following are some photos of the holder:

The designer paper that I used is the Mariposa stack from DCWV.  I've had this paper collection for quite some time and have used assorted cuts for a few projects, but this project is my favorite!

To cover the holder, I cut the paper as needed--hoping that each slice would be a perfect fit.  Not only did I get lucky with that, look at how beautifully the papers matched up at the corner in the above photo.  Yep, that was random luck.

I have to point out how perfectly the papers lined up in the above photo making a nearly complete butterfly at the corner.  Could I have gotten more lucky?  I don't think so!  I was just grabbing papers to decorate the holder, and I didn't even notice until I was finished that the papers lined up so well.  Would you like to see the note cards that I made?

Making these cards was quite relaxing because I started by cutting all of the strips so that all I had to do was adhere them to cardstock, which was then embossed.  

The gold foliage accents worked nicely, don't you think?  They're retired Forever Gold Laser Cuts from Stampin' Up!  I had such high hopes and plans for using them at the time they were purchased, but then I forgot I had them.  Do you do that, too?

Of course, the envelope flaps begged to coordinate, so I spent a little extra time to do that.  

The complete set was tied up with a coordinating piece of seam binding ribbon.

Because there was extra space in the holder when all was said and done, I cut up some of the Mariposa papers (since they are white on the back) to be used for notes, grocery lists, etc.  You might want to remember this because not only is it a great (and coordinating) filler, it's a very useful thing to include with card sets.  As a matter of fact--for a few years now--I have been using cut up patterned paper as scrap/note paper.  When I doing some purging in my stamp room a few years ago, there was a LOT of paper that I decided I would never use.  Some of it was set aside to give to my sister, but garbage bags were getting filled with the rest.  At some point, I had the "ah ha!" moment to cut the paper to 4x6 to use for scrap/notes.  This has been one of the most genius things I've ever done!  I hate throwing away things that weren't a cheap spend, but finding an alternate way to use them feels less wasteful.  Pictured below is one of the note paper bundles that I made from single-sided designer/pattern paper that has a solid white/ivory back: