On:

I don’t care to use White Cardstock for a background as cover it all (unless I am using up scraps) so here is how I altered these layouts:  For Layout 1 I used the Chevron paper as the background, eliminating the need to cut this sheet.  I cut the 1 1/2 x 12 for layout 2 from the Diamond paper.  For layout 2, I used retired Black Fundamental paper as the background.  You could use Black Cardstock and then not cut any of the Black patterned paper for layout 2.

Design credit: Diana Veenendaal