I love a good card making session where I can put multiples together that don't all look alike but look like they were fun and created with the moment in mind. I created this set of seemingly unrelated cards in 1 hour sessions over a period of about 4 days.  See below for more about the process and techniques involved.
Norma Anne Chattin, The Artful Tourist
                             Make something of it
2010 Quick Card Sessions from the Stock Pile
Gallery Index
Paper Art Doll 2003
This page was last updated: May 6, 2010
Norma Anne is the humble princess of her own domain. Many thanks to all who help and apologies for my mistakes. All artwork and articles copyright Norma Anne Chattin 2000-present. Please do not reproduce with permission.  Contact Norma Anne at NAChattin@NAChattin.com

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Stock Pile Paper Art!
(aka Scrap Stash Magic)

I hate to waste but I'd rather have too much of something than run out just before  I finish a specific project.

I often work in phases such as the cut phase, the background color phase, the ink phase, the glitter phase and so on...

These habits lead to fun projects and a wonderful feeling of accomplishment, but they also lead to quite a few leftover bits and pieces which can either be thrown away (gasp) or stashed in the stock pile.


Quick Cards March 2010------click to enlarge
Beachy BirthdayHula Happy--from same paper pack as Beach Birthday but incorporated a stamped image from the stock pileEaster Spring card from same paper pack as previous 2 cards, this one was used as an Easter card.Water Color Flamingos-Image found in my stock pile and matted with Spellbinders dies for a quick (this session) cardMore Flamingos--again using same paper pack as first 3 cards in gallery, I took a stockpile image as focal point.Orange Crush--Used same paper pack to show off a Club Stamp image that was in the stock pileKokopelli smiles-Same paper pack with stamps and die cuts--love how these reversible papers make cool interiors for cardsKokopelli smiles interior shows how cool double sided paper works on cards for interiorsFlorida Train-all ingredients for this card are from the stock pile. I love that Spellbinders Palm Tree.togetherness--used all stock pile images again including backround stamp from Club Scrap and Sizzex Palm Tree cut from Basic Grey paperMerry Deer--Now that my stock piles are sorted by category I decided to move off the pink/beach stuff and head over to Christmas for the next 3 cards. Pine cone Press paperParamount--What could be happier than a pink Tim Holtz Christmas card? Used polished stone backgroun when I orginally made this image and just matted on sparkle pink cardstock with flamingo embellishmentTriumph Christmas--Happily found this in the Christmas stockpile--it's a C. Hellmuth stamp on cardstock and the stamped again on a starry velllum overlay.King Tut--This card was created from stockpiled stamps and die cuts. I had made several working on a consignment design two years ago and never reused it....until now!Asian treasure-This is a card that was created for Spellbinders and then never or breifly published. I just found it again and decided to show you and then send to a friend...
Keys to Stock Pile Paper Art

Find a storage system that works for you today. Some examples I've seen are sorting items by:

Don't save everything. Set up a quick evaluation  criteria of your leftovers and stick to it. Ideas for criteria might include:

Make regular dates with yourself to play with your stockpiled items. Consider a time to create all-occasion cards, small collages, tags, or scrapbook pages that you can add photos to at a later time. Let serendipity enter your art time.

Think FAST--Stockpiles are great resources for those times when you only have an hour or two and you want to get creative. Just play without great purpose and enjoy the end results.