Scrapalicious Mosaic Cards — a Tutorial

A few months ago I re-discovered an old technique that I learned YEARS ago in a cool class taught by the talented folks at Magenta. It uses long, thin pieces of paper to create nifty patterns. Aha, I thought! Another way to get rid of my scraps!

Making these cards, I found, is very Zen-like. Simple and fun and you can’t go wrong. (And did I mention … you can use up your scraps? Grin.)

Take a look:

Here’s how you do it:

1. Cut some long strips of paper, about 1/4 inch in width. I generally use scraps.)

2. Run a piece of flat card stock through your Xyron machine. (You can use other adhesives, but I found this to be the fastest, easiest method. However, you can also line your piece with double sided tape or use any double sided adhesive sheet.)

3. Lay down your dividing lines. This should be a solid color. I generally use black, but every so often I go wild and use white or metallic.) Start with a longer piece placed diagonally across the card, which sort of divides your paper in an upper and lower half. Then add shorter pieces going the other way to create a grid:

4. Start filling in the blank areas with your scraps, laying the strips in a herringbone pattern. Let them hang over the edge, you’ll cut them and use THOSE pieces to fill in smaller gaps.

5. Continue to fill in the areas, alternating directions and strips.

6. When the piece is all filled in, flip it over and trim the ends:

7. Mount your piece on a card front. Add a greeting, focal point, etc., or keep it plain.

My next post will show some examples using this technique, and a variation.

While you’re here, check out my earlier post and leave a comment there for a chance to win a Pinterest book!

Have fun!