OSW (One Sheet Wonder)

I’d heard about the OSW principal but had never tried it. The idea is to take a 12"x12" sheet of printed paper (either single or double sided), cut it into a variety of shapes using up the entire 12x12 sheet (with maybe a couple of little scraps left over) and then use those elements to make between 8 and 10 different cards. The pieces can be background or foreground elements. You can use different coordinating solid papers, sayings and embellishments, but the general color scheme is the same. You can also stamp your own paper, but I chose to use a single sided print. I didn’t make all 10 and used the idea mainly for inspiration. The great thing about this is that you can make these cards without even using a rubber stamp as you’ll see in upcoming samples, meaning that you don't have to have rubber stamping as a hobby to make a great set of cards.

The force behind these cards was the fact that my Mom needed something for a Christmas gift for someone in her quilt group that had nothing to do with quilting.. She wondered if I could use my cardmaking skills to make something for her that would be worth about $10. I thought what better way for a creative lady (my mom) to give something creative, then for her to give a set of hand made cards?

I had made this card front for myself originally and used this same color scheme to make the cards for Mom. You can just barely see it in the picture but the "happiness" oval has a layer of clear embossing on it.

Recipe:
Stamp set: Small Script
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, and Naturals White card stock, floral print paper

Ink: Always Artichoke
Accessories: Ivory satin ribbon, Fiskars Leaves border punch, large oval punch, crystal glitter glue, metallic pink brads, Versamark, Clear Embossing Powder, heat tool

I like how the printed paper and the label "frame" offset each other with the leaf "border" in the middle. Not bad for my first attempt at the OSW.