Get some tips on mixed media card making using our brand new Paper Pads!

There are loads of ways to get started with mixed media card making and we’ve seen posts from several of our talented Design Team members showing us how to incorporate this “anything goes” style into cards using goodies from our store.

Today, Natasha is showing us a design idea for a fun, rustic vibed mixed media card using our new Autumn Leaves Paper Pad. She says “The colors are amazing and I couldn’t wait to create a fun fall card!” Well, as usual, Natasha has served up a fun project and lots of terrific details to help us learn this method. Let’s dive right in!
Natasha started with I started with Apricot and Pumpkin Color Fuse inks form Set #2, “smooshing” the onto her glass mat and spritzing with water.

She then patted her card stock into the inks, peeled it up and dried it with a heat tool. She spritzed water over the card stock to create droplets, blotting with a paper towel to pull the ink from the water drops. She repeated this process until she loved what she saw.

Next she used our Spring Tree Die to cut this paper to get those beautiful golden leafy tree tops. She also the trunks of the trees from scraps of brown card stock, applying some Pecan Color Fuse Ink from Set #3 to the edges for some dimension. She adhere her trees together with dabs of liquid glue and set them aside.

Now Natasha made a background using the same technique as she did her leaf paper using blue Color Fuse Inks from Sets #7 and #8 and yellows from Sets #1 and 2. When her background was done to her satisfaction, she cut it out using one of the dies from our Nested Deckle Rectangle set.

Natasha then used the largest of our Nested Tag Stitch die set to cut her pick of paper from our Autumn Leaves Paper Pad. Using Pecan and Hearth Color Fuse inks, she added an antiqued look to the edges of her tag.

For a super fun element, Natasha took some scraps from all the papers she used, tore them into scraps and then using her sewing machine, stitched them together! PRO TIP: If you don’t have this option, just adhere your strips together with adhesive on the back and use a fine point black marker to draw on your stitches.

Using her Slimline OPC Circle Dash Die and MSLI Circles Stitch die, Natasha cut some coordinating paper from the same Paper Pad for accents. Natasha says “I love using dies from my stash for additional details!”

Grabbing another scrap of her inked paper, she stamped her sentiment in Hearth Color Fuse Ink from Set #12 and trimmed it closely.

Now it was time to put it all together! She adhered all her elements together using a variety of adhesives to get all that rich depth and layering. She popped on some twine, a button and a little swatch of frayed cheesecloth for lots of texture and, we are sure, spent plenty of time admiring her creation!

Here’s everything Natasha used today so shop your stash, add whatever you don’t yet have and start planning your own super cool mixed media cards:

Are you inspired to try out this idea for mixed media card making? Are you thinking of all the other fabulous designs in our new Paper Pads that you could use this way? Experiment and have fun and remember, if you make it with your hands and send it from your heart, you can NEVER go wrong!