Product Shuffle- Zip Strips and Paper Weaving

Good morning everyone!

I had so much fun with this week's product shuffle.  First I loved the collection I got to play with.  Simple Stories is one of my favorite manufacturer.  Just look at those greens, blues and yellows.  Charmed Life is just so fun, fresh and summery. 

I simply love coming to the realization that something that you ordinarily throw in the garbage could be used on your projects.  Most of the pattern paper you buy today come with a zip strip, also called tearaway stips at the bottom.  It's the strip of paper that contains the bar code that you usually trim off and discard.  Do not discard it anymore.  Part of this strip also contains pattern that can be used with the paper weaving technique!  I got the idea from this awesome video by Paige Evans at Two Peas in a Bucket.
For the first layout, I used the same technique as in the video.  With the help of rectangular cardstock,  I glued strips of paper on one side covering the whole paper.  I then took strips of paper and weaved them over and under the glued strips.  I then repeated with another strip going over and under until the paper is covered in the opposite direction

That big piece of woven paper becomes the picture matt, the centerpiece of the layout

To complete this layout, I added Studio Calico wood butterflies, Prima and Kaisercraft flowers,  American crafts thickers, CTMH ribbon, Doodlebug Designs twine and Prima pearls.

I had so much fun, I decided to try a different twist on paper weaving with the zip strips.  I took my trusty paper trimmer and made slits in my background paper.  I then slid the strips of paper over and under to create the weave.

 I made vertical slits in one corner, horizontal slits in the other and across the bottom of the page.

To complete the layout I simply added some Maya Road and Studio Calico wood butterflies, Maya road and CTMH ribbon, a Basic Grey wood die cuts and CTMH buttons.

I hope that you liked my take on paper weaving and that you give it a try.  If you have another use for the tearaway strips, let us know in the comments below.  Hope to see you all on Saturday for another sketch reveal.  Have a great day!