I don't know about you, but I LOVE a good tip for using up patterned paper strips, because I generate a ton of them! When you cut six 4 x 5.25 inch background pieces from a sheet of 12×12, it leaves a 1.5 inch wide strip of paper. The other day as I was sorting scraps I counted more than fifty of these strips in my scrap basket!! Time to use them up. 
I sorted them all roughly by color and set to work adhering them diagonally on 4 x 5.25 inch pieces of cardstock (use whatever you want to use up, because it won't be seen on the final card). When the whole piece was covered by strips, I trimmed off everything that hung over the edges so it was nice and crisp. Mount that on a card base and you have a great background!
I got 12 beautiful backgrounds of the style above, just from scraps I might have tossed otherwise! Now when I need a quick card I can just stamp a pretty flower (this one is from To A Wild Rose, a sneak peek!!) and choose a sentiment (Bloom & Grow, likewise coming June 4th!)
I can't wait to tackle another pile of those strips in other coordinating colors and use them up! It feels good to find the perfect use for some of these pretty patterns. If you love using up scraps like I do, you'll want to browse my Paper Scraps Projects section of the blog for all kinds of ideas using very small pieces of cardstock and paper, and more ideas for even narrower strips, too!
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