Background papers and card can be made very cheaply by designing your own on a PC and printing them out or by cutting things out of magazines etc. If you are not technically minded or do not feel confident enough, I have put together a CD with loads of background papers, elements for backgrounds, verses, sentiments and lots of other things that are of my own design which you can use time and time again. This is for sale here on this website! One example of a card made with scraps is the card in my card gallery entitled, 'Female Birthday Card - 03' was made by using a piece of plain card, cutting a strip of wallpaper (begged from my Mother), stuck down the left hand side of the card with a little bow (taken from an old card) and some inexpensive stickers. This cost next to nothing.
Another cheap background can be made by getting a piece of tissue paper (used for packing shoes and clothes etc), scrunching it up tight, then flattening it out a little - not too much or remove the textured effect - spraying a piece of plain card with spray glue (or using a stick glue) and sticking the crumpled tissue onto the card. This can then be coloured with any ink pads you might have for stamping, by just dabbing the pads all over the tissue (you can use one colour or any number of colours). Then when it is all dry you can cut strips or squares out to use as backgrounds or decoration on the front of your card.
Background papers can also be cut from gift wrapping paper and stuck to the front of your cards using stick glue or double sided sticky tape.
You can get card for FREE from packaging, tissue boxes, Easter egg, boxes even female personal items boxes (anything that is packed in card), just cut to the size and shape that you want and stick onto the front of your plain card.
For what to do with the old crumpled tissue paper from shoe boxes, see project 3 on this site!
Toppers are so easy to make for free! Just find some pretty pictures in glossy magazines, cut them out and stick to card, frame with a piece of coloured card or crepe paper and attach to the front of your card using double sided sticky tape or for a 3D effect, use foam pads.
You can also recycle old greetings cards that are to be thrown out and cut various elements (including sentiments) and attach in the same way as above.
Plain coloured card from packaging can also be used for punching out shapes with an inexpensive card punch (can be bought for a couple of pounds or so). They come in all different shapes and sizes - butterflies, stars, circles, squares, animals etc etc., you name it, you will probably find it in a punch! These simple shapes can then be stuck to the card with sticky dots.
Other things that you can use for next to nothing are just as plentiful. Buy some old garments from a jumble sale for a few pence and use any lace or trimmings that are on them for sticking down the sides of your cards, or across the bottom as a border. Or if the material is pretty or floaty, cut squares out of it and stick to plain card and make a topper with a difference! Or, stick a square of the fabric behind an aperture in your card to use as a background to stick other elements on to.