Hello - One Sheet Wonder

One Sheet Wonder. The principle is simple enough: slice up a single sheet of patterned paper into various sizes and make a stack of unique cards, each with only one or two bits of the PP. Many OSWs  leave no waste of the PP, most leave just tiny bits. It's a great way to create a set of cards that are matchy but not samey. This OSW uses an 8x8 sheet. The cutting guide and samples can be found at Joyfully Made Designs.

Now the down side...

While the OSW is an economical use of patterned paper, it requires matting and embellishing with coordinating paper. That is to say, the entire sheet of Patterned paper may be used to its most economical advantage but you'll need to chop up several additional sheets of coordinating cardstock which will not  be used to advantage. I keep a box of large scraps for just this purpose but the deception of the name, One Sheet Wonder, still bothers me.

Several bloggers have found their own very useful solutions to this problem. Sandy at OWH cuts her full sized sheets down to card sized bits so she only ever handles papers 4.25x5.5 inches.  After she makes the card, she tosses the trimmings, no messy leftovers. I'm always afraid I'll want an additional 1/4 inch stripe and have to cut a whole paper to get it. Connie at Simply Simple Stampin' has a series called Flash Cards. The premise is you cut your papers into basic sized swatches and use only those 3 bits for your cards. I was skeptical. Being an inside the box thinker, I was sure you could only make two cards with the sizes she gives. She has created an entire series of terrific (ie: reproducible) cards using 3 little bits of paper each. Pretty. Darn. Amazing. Her videos are on YouTube as well as her blog. Seriously, check it out. She is a fabulous designer and a great teacher. LeeAnn at Flowerbug's Inkspot has created something more like what I'm interested in. She calls it a Four Sheet Wonder. Her pattern includes instructions to cut the patterned paper as well as the mats and embellishments for 9 cards using 4 sheets of paper. Plus, the patterns are printable onto your cardstock. That means no measuring, just print and cut on the dotted lines. Pretty cool, but there is a charge for the pattern and unfortunately my budget only allows for FREE.

So what to do? I'm just going to have to invent my own solution to the One Sheet Conundrum. I don't know how this is going to go down but it will be awesome.I'll keep you posted on the progress.