6 x 6 Celebration - Part 1

Hello, Lisa-Jane here today!

Have I ever told you how much I love 6x6 paper pads? If you already follow my blog you will know I'm rather fond of them. I LOVE them! A lot!

Many people don't realise that these pads are not just quarter sheets but a scaled down version of the 12x12 design.  This makes an incredible difference to how easy they are to use in so many projects and it also makes bolder patterns easier on the eye and less intimidating than on the larger scale.  The miniaturised design gives a denser pattern making them ideal for making coordinating embellishments and die cutting smaller items.

6 x 6 papers with matching 12 x 12 to show scaled down designs!

Cost wise it can work out a great investment too.  The Echo Park Everyday Eclectic Collection that I used contains 24 double sided sheets and is just £6.20!  You get all of the designs in the collection so you don't have to make tricky decisions on which sheets to buy and miss out on any of the gorgeous patterns.  

Cutting into a single sheet of 6x6 is much easier on the heart too - I find I don't squeal like I do when I cut a full sheet of 12x12!  I did all these projects using one pad plus bits from my stash and the coordinating stickers and I still have a few bits left so it is definitely worth it.  I also bought the 12 x 12 collection kit which I love too, and using them together with the 6x6 pad makes them go a LOT further so that's a great reason to purchase both sizes!

So lets have a look at some projects shall we?

One of my favourite ways of using 6x6 pads is in a quadrant design.  You have a ready made coordinating set so just choose 4 designs and you're good to go.  To make a background you can either go overlapping or straight on, and either edge to edge or with a small border as I have here.  I trimmed off half an inch from 2 edges of each piece and stuck them to the corner of a piece of cardstock that I wasn't keen on.  I trimmed the egdes off and I effectively had an 11 inch square of patterned paper.

I gutted a 10 inch square from the middle of a piece of white cardstock so that I could use the inner portion for a photo mat.  This might seem like a palaver but the patterned paper needs something to adhere to and I  don't like wasting cardstock that I know I will use when I have colours and bashed or marked pieces that I don't want on show.  I'm all for using everything and getting the most out of your stash!

Once you have your quadrant background you can build up your layers and embellishments any way you like.  I used a another design from the pad for this layout and then I turned to the 12x12 collection for the journalling card which I made into a pocket.  I also used a 12 x 12 sheet to make the scalloped border in the same pattern as the orange quadrant so that you get the contrast of the 2 patterns but with careful joining or strategically placed embellishments you can make a border from a 6x6 sheet too. Just cut two 6" borders and carefully place together to make a 12" length!

Of course, I haven't ditched my trimmings from the 6x6 papers - I  layered up a couple of little pennant style flags and added a couple of pins and gems.  The rest of those edge trimmings?  You'll see them again in another layout later. 

Of course, lots of people use 6x6 pads for card making and they are absolutely wonderful for that too, again because of their handy size.  I recently made matching tags and cards for my son's teachers for leaving presents.  I wouldn't want to cut into a 12x12 page for a single tag and a couple of little die cuts but using the 6x6 pads make great economical sense here and I can go to town with how many different designs I use.  The pink labels are the reverse of one of the other designs so everything stays perfectly coordinated.

I used pop dots to add dimension on the die cuts and inked all the edges with faded jeans distress ink.

So that's cards/tags and quadrants covered but there are many more ways to get the most from your 6x6 pads, which I'll cover in Parts 2 & 3, so I hope you'll come back for those!

Lisa-Jane

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