I wanted to share with you a quick little technique that can bring a lot of pizazz to your design.  It's really quite simple, and not at all earth shattering...but sometimes those little ideas can still be fun to try out.  At least I hope you think so!  ;)  I'm calling this the Paper Strips Tutorial for lack of a better name and that pretty much sums it up all.  Cutting thin strips of patterned paper and using them to form shapes, letters, etc.  Here's how to get started. 
 
1.  Gather several (I like to have at least 4) different patterned papers that coordinate together.  I think smaller scale patterns work well here so you can get a good display of the different colors even on a small strip.

2.  Use your trimmer to cut long, thin strips from the papers.  I cut mine about 1/4 of an inch wide.  
3.  Decide on the type of shape or design that you want to create with your strips.  You can fill in the negative of a shape with the strips, cover the positive shape with the strips, or even create a free hand design for a background.  Lots of possibilities!  

4.  Start gluing down your strips of paper!  I like to do mine in a repeated pattern, but you could glue them down in a random order as well.  I think it goes really fast to apply some wet adhesive all over the shape you are covering, then place your strips down, then snip off the edges of the strips that hang over your shape.  And that's it!  So easy.  
 
Here are some ways I've used this technique in the past month....

• To fill in letter/number outlines. 

Supplies:  patterned paper: State Fair Cream Ledger Die Cut, State Fair Guess Your Weight, State Fair Cotton Candy, State Fair Side Show, State Fair Step Right Up ; rub-ons:  Weekdays Blue , Tweets Pink Ledger ; stickers: State Fair Label Stickers , October Afternoon; banner:  Maya Road
 
I created the number outlines in Word, printed them out, cut them out, and finally traced them in pencil onto the canvas banners.  I decided I wanted some sort of outline to the numbers to make them pop more, so I used some Zip Dry glue along the pencil line and just ran some floss along the glue line.  You could hand stitch it, but this was much faster!  I really liked how this worked with this page.  It's a great way to use patterned papers that have a color scheme you want, but patterns that maybe don't really fit with your subject.  Once you cut them down to strips, the patterns don't matter as much...you just get a sense of the colors.    

• To cover a shape.

Supplies: Clear Skies kit, vellum, DMC floss
 
For this one, I cut a heart shape out of vellum and then covered the vellum with the paper strips.  You could also fill in the negative of a punch or die cut shape.

• To make a grouping of shapes.

Supplies:  Pink Lemonade kit, vellum, DMC floss
 
To make the "flowers", I covered a larger section of vellum with my paper strips.  Then I just punched the circles using two different sized circle punches.  It was very fast! 
 
So go ahead and give this easy little technique a try.  Be careful though... it's a little addicting!

Comments

[Jessica R.]

This is one of the best ideas/tutorials! I just adore your layouts with this design. So colorful & fun!

[Kimber-Leigh]

i love paper strips :) i always save them! i love how you filled the numbers with the strips!

[Lisa Westphal]

very pretty! so darn clever. . .love it! :)

[Barb in AK]

Oh gosh! I thought you were going to show us weaving--Hee! Hee! This is a fabulous idea---so simple, yet so effective!

[jan m]

So very cute!

[Lauren Law]

THIS is one of the best posts I've seen...what a great way to use up all the odds and ends I've been saving! So impressed. I guess "less is best" is really true!

[Kimmy Jaster]

Great tutorial! Love the baby rolls!