Mango Papers Quilt

This is my blog post for OUTSIDE THE BOX which was published on February 28th.


Don't you just LOVE the new 8 1/2" X 11" papers from Memory Box?!!!  Key Lime, Squash, Mango, Cranberry, Currant, and Bubblegum.  Thistle, Pool, Bluebird, Blueberry, Vanilla Bean, and Licorice.  I LOVE them all!!!  I don't usually use orange tones on cards I make, so I challenged myself to come up with an idea to use all of the new Mango papers--Distressed Dots, Dots, Moroccan, and Gingham.  In the July/August 2002 issue of The Rubber Stamper (one of the magazines in my hoarded collection), I found a design by Susan Cobb that I used for the front of this card that is just perfect for highlighting the Mango paper collection!

• Papers:  Mango Distressed Dots, Dots, Moroccan, and Gingham
• Cardstock:  Orange, Red Orange
• Adhesives:  Double-sided tape, pop dots
• Stamp:  E1713 Wonderland Butterfly

Make a card 4 7/8" square from the Orange cardstock.
Cut all of the Mango papers.
    One 4 7/8" square from Dots
    Four 1" squares from Gingham
    Two 1 1/2" squares from Distressed Dots, each cut in half diagonally to make four triangles
    One 2 1/2" square from Gingham
    One 2 1/2" square from Moroccan
Cover the front of the card with the 4 7/8" Dots square.
Mount the four 1" Gingham squares on Orange cardstock, trim close; then mount on Red Orange cardstock, trim close;  adhere one to each corner of the card front .
Mount the four triangles on Red Orange cardstock and layer onto the card front between the corner squares.
Using the 2 1/2" Gingham square, rotate it into a diamond and center it over the triangles.
Place the 2 1/2" Moroccan square centered over the diamond.
Add a 2 1/4" square cut from Red Orange cardstock to the center.
Mask the front of the card so that only the Red Orange square is showing.  Stamp E1713 Wonderland Butterfly in Archival Sepia ink.
Stamp E1713 Wonderland Butterfly two more times on Moroccan paper in Archival Sepia.  Cut these out.
Adhere one butterfly to the Red Orange square, lining up the design.  Use pop dots to place the second butterfly on top of the first.
Cover the inside of the card with Gingham (on the back of the card front) and Moroccan papers. Moroccan is light enough for writing a message and for stamping another image or sentiment.
There are so many ways to change up this card idea using the four designs of any one of the paper colors and selecting coordinating cardstock colors for layering for very different looks.  A sentiment could be stamped in the center, perhaps B1354 Happiest Birthday with the tiny butterfly on the side added multiple times in the square. Two or three of the smaller C1714 Cocoa Bean Butterfly could flit in 3-D across the card front.  The center square could also be stamped with E1715 Leafy Background before adding a sentiment or layering on another stamped image.  E1426 Reverse Bird Branches or E1427 Reverse Bird Grass could also be trimmed to use as the center square.  Ooh--how about embossing an image for the center square?!!!  I could go on and on!  Just browsing through the latest Memory Box catalog encourages me to think of even more ways to decorate this card front for lots of different occasions!