Serendipity

After my Radiant Pearl fun, I turned my attention to using up some paper scraps. This way of using scraps produces what's called "Serendipity Paper". For ideas on paper scrap storage, see these posts: http://experimentsincreativity.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

http://experimentsincreativity.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Here's what you'll need:
1. Paper scraps
2. A substrate (something to attach all these scraps to)
3. Glue (I prefer a glue stick)
4. Damp cloth or wet wipes for sticky fingers
5. Stamps and ink pads (optional)

The first photo shows a pile of paper scraps in browns. As you can see, some of them really are ridiculous, but I feel compelled to save them and find a way to use them. I had seen posts on Serendipity paper, but had never tried it, so I've been learning as I go. All you're doing is tearing scraps (to avoid too many hard edges) and gluing them down. The second photo shows a completed piece, with additional stamping on top. I think the stamping helps tie all those odd papers together.

The third photo shows some ATC size pieces cut from a couple of brown serendipity pages. They won't need much additional work to be ready to go. These can also be cut into smaller squares to be used as accent pieces on a card or scrapbook page.

The fourth photo is a red and green page in progress. You can see the substrate is still showing in places.

The last photo is a green page. I'll tuck these away until I'm ready to use them.

As I've been doing this, I've learned a couple of things that you
might find handy if you want to try this technique. The first few I did were on chipboard (saved from various packages, etc.; I never buy chipboard). I've decided that chipboard is a little heavy, but lighter materials (manila file folders or poster board) work well. I'm sure cardstock would work, too.

I tried both glue stick and a more liquid glue. Glue stick has less moisture, so less possibility of warping the page.

Finally, I found that using heavier weight paper scraps can be problematic. This was especially apparent when I cut the larger page down into ATC size pieces. It's very difficult, even with a guillotine cutter, to cut through some of the thicker portions. If you want to use those papers, it's worth the time to separate and remove some of the layers underneath to keep from adding too much bulk.

This was a lot of fun, and of course, I feel so virtuous for using up those scraps! I recommend you give this a try.
Immi