Cardmaking: Keep Calm ... and use the packaging

Hello hello.

Last summer I had a rubbish week. Do you remember?

Don't fret ... it wasn't such a bad time really because ... it was actually a 'Rubbish Week' - a  week's worth of posts and projects based around recycling and repurposing scraps and leftovers aka 'rubbish'!

• If you're looking for some ideas for thrifty eco-friendly crafts this summer then you can catch up with all of those posts here.

And, by way of a little update ... I thought I'd share a new project made using 'things that the everyday folk leave behind' - with this set of general greetings cards:

The 'Keep Calm' logo came from the gift box of a mug someone bought James last Christmas and there was just no way I could allow it to slip away peacefully into the recycling bin! I knew I'd find a more creative use for it eventually ... and if, after giving someone the card, and when they no longer want it on their mantelpiece it ends its days in the recycling after all then ... so be it, but at least I extended its usefulness by a few months!

I also re-used a section of an old map on here:

So far, every time I add mixed map paper packs to my Etsy shop they sell out pretty swiftly, [Suzy of the Sea Glass & Sand blog linked me to a lovely scrapbook page she made using one of hers] so I know that others like using them as much as I do!

I'm working on a couple more packs but that means finding a good source of nice [affordable] old maps ... which is harder than you might think. But I'm on the hunt ....

And, one more thing I re-purposed on to these cards is something I hung on to from inside a Christmas Cracker ... one those cute little tape measures:

You might remember I used the little kitschy gifts from crackers on a whole series of cards earlier in the year or you can re-cap on all those posts here.

So ... who'd have thought that the packaging from a mug, an old map of the UK and a Christmas cracker tape measure could end their days happily nestled together on an eclectic card?

That's why I love using 'found' and reclaimed items on my projects - they just sort of 'evolve'. You can't plan to find this stuff!

And while you wouldn't be able to exactly re-create these particular cards ... I hope they've inspired you to look at your rubbish with new eyes ... and to pause the next time you're hovering over the recycling bin.

Who knows ... whatever you're about to throw away could well become the start of your next craft project!

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I'm currently offline on a break away so either this is a scheduled post ... or that psychic bond between you and I has come on leaps and bounds!

So, I'll catch up with you, your comments and your messages very soon.

Julie :-)