It’s late at night and your papercrafting. You need an alpha and you just want to finish your project. You don’t want to wait until tomorrow to get it at the store. Or, your making a card for an event tomorrow morning and you can’t get to the store for stickers or a specialized alpha. Here’s a quick and easy way to make an alpha that’s perfect for cards, papercrafting, or scrapbooking!

What you will need:

1 sheet 12x12 patterned paper
1 sheet 12x12 coordinating solid color cardstock
Scissors
Gluestick
Paper cutter (optional)

First, we’ll work with the patterned paper. Just go thru your stash (yes, we all have one with extra papers!!!) and select one with a nice overall pattern. Using your paper cutter, cut strips 1.5 inches wide by 12 inches long. Then, cut the strips into rectangles 2 inches wide. So you’ll end up with rectangle pieces 1.5 x 2 inches. Each strip will then make 6 letters.




Use your scissors and cut the rectangles into each alphabet using straight simple cuts. Try for a very simple handmade look. Don’t look for perfection in each alpha. Use a hole puncher for letters with a hole in the middle such as A, B, D, O, P, R. Try to maintain a similar height for each letter so that when you use it in a layout, it works in a straight line. If you use straight cuts, you will also get a cohesiveness in appearance.

With the paper cutter again, take the solid color cardstock (yes, we all have coordinating cardstock to go with that extra piece of patterned paper!) and cut into strips 2.5 inches wide by 12 inches long. Then, cut the strips into rectangles 2 inches wide. Again, you’ll end up with 6 rectangle pieces of 2 x 2.5 inches. Center and then glue the patterned letters onto the cardstock. Maintaining a border around the patterned paper (try eyeballing ¼ inch border) cut the cardstock to follow the patterned paper.

If you decide that you just cannot cut the alpha spontaneously, take a ruler and draw your lines out on the back side of the paper and cardstock. You can make alphas ahead of time certainly, but then you’ll need to make each letter. It’s easier and quicker if you know what letters to make for each project.