Cards made with 3 strips of patterned paper

For my birthday last month, three of the handmade cards I received had a commonality - all were made with three (3) strips of patterned paper.  The similarity ended there which got me thinking.  I want to show you the three cards that got my creative juices flowing.  First is a card from Ally - her card is basically green with a simple floral pattern - horizontal card with vertical strips.

 Next is a card from Dawn.  Dawn used CTMH Florentine paper which is has more colors and a busier pattern.  Her card is vertical with vertical strips.

The third card is from Sue.  Sue used CTMH Twitterpated paper.  This striped paper is a very busy / loud pattern.  It is a horizontal card with horizontal strips.

Aren't they great?!?!  Now what did I do....  Well, let's start with a true guys card - camo from the CTMH Victory paper pack.  Vertical card with vertical strips.

 Then go to a very feminine card using CTMH Sonoma paper.  I really wanted to do something with this paper but what I had was a scrap piece and it wasn't quite big enough so what do you do??? Improvise.  I used an edge punch to get the pretty border and now my piece of scrap paper fits perfectly.  You can't really tell from the picture but I used Liquid Glass (luv Liquid Glass) on all the stems and leaves to give everything a little 'pop'.  Horizontal card with horizontal strips.

Next I made two cards with the same base - CTMH Mayberry (the background papers look different but that''s just my photo skills not the paper).  The outcome was two very different looks.  Both cards are Horizontal with vertical strips. The first one has yellow and pink flowers to pick up the colors from the paper - the center of the flowers is Bronze glitter gel.

The second one has a happy birthday banner from the CTMH Artiste Cricut cartridge.  The bigger flowers have dots of Bronze glitter glitz and the smaller flowers with the pink centers has Liquid Glass over the pink.

Just a few more... wanted to try striped patterned paper.  If you don't know some of these papers, it is because I'm using paper scraps.  The first one here is a soft striped patterned paper from the CTMH Miracle paper pack.  I used the CTMH Artiste Cricut cartridge for the die cut then used the corresponding Frame Flair stamp set.  I used a plate of cupcakes for the center but think of the possibilities... animals, flowers, words the list goes on and on.  At the bottom are three Antiqued Gold Durables.  Horizontal card with horizontal strips.

The second striped pattern is bright - the paper is from CTMH Animal Crackers... which just naturally leads me to creating a kids card.  The CTMH Artiste Cricut cartridge was used to create the "3"and the cupcake. The great thing is how easy it is to create a shadow background by simply increasing the size.  The "3"I ran thru the Cuttlebug swiss dot folder.  The cupcake - well, that I just went a little crazy on... I used Liquid Glass on the cupcake paper, the cupcake top has pink, blue & green sparkles with some red and silver glitter gel for good measure (did I mention I kinda went crazy on the cupcake... lol).  Horizontal card with vertical strips.

The final card... it isn't three (3) strips, it's five (5).  How can you not love CTMH Bella paper?!!?!  I have to admit, I saw a similar card to this on Pinterest.  I used the Bronze glitter gel in the center of the sunflower and Liquid Glass on the greenery.  Vertical card with horizontal strips.

Whew... that's what I came up with for now.  Hope I inspired you to try some cards with 3 strips...