Have you read about Stephanie’s Minimalist Scrapbooking challenge and wondered how you could make it work? I did.
I’ve been a card maker for about 10 years longer than I’ve been a scrapbooker, so today I’m sharing with you how I’ve managed to keep my card making supplies in this chest of drawers.
Today I’m focusing on ways to use up paper scraps or sheets that have just been sitting around for way too long!
Using Tools
Die cutting
I’ve been borrowing a friend’s Cuttlebug while she’s overseas. I know some people don’t recommend this, but I love the idea of my boring old scraps being cut and embossed into fun shapes. Even some scrap packing card board looks adorable cut with the 2 inch tag dies.
Emboss
You can heat emboss, dry emboss or use a embossing folder to create some texture on your paper.
Glitter
I know that scrapbookers often have a drawerful of stickles, so why not use them to dress up your older papers. Adding some glitz to older style paper works a treat.
Don’t have stickles? A glue pen and fine glitter works a treat.
Punch
Cut
Modify seasonal supplies
In my rosettes video below, I show a quick way to modify a Christmas themed flower set – simply rip it up!
Alter art supply style materials
With a few years of crafting (and hoarding supplies – did I mention I collected stickers and easter egg wrappers as a child) under my belt, I quite a few old art supply style items theat aren’t really in fashion any more. In this card for my daughter’s first birthday I tool the red art stock paper and black leather style papers from the backs of spiral bound reports.
I just traced and cut out the Scottie dogs and number 2 then drew some white stitching on to make it a big more special. Emily’s birthday card was a hit!
Make rosettes and banners
If you fancy using up some strips of old paper banners and rosettes work!
For a rosette you can just get a long strip of paper offcut, and then fold them every 3-4mm. then just tape 2-3 together – see my quick video for more details.
The simplest banner can be made by ruling diagonal lines onto a paper strip, then snipping off triangles, drawing in your string (or use real twine to dig into your stash further!) and sticking them to your page, as ScrappyJedi does here:
Make paper flowers
I used Kelleigh Ratzlaff’s paper flower tutorial to create all of these paper flowers – I just drew the flower shapes by hand. I was stunned when they came out looking this good!
For the leaves I just cut a pointed oval out of vellum and folded a centre line to make them three dimensional.
The other embellishments were handmade too – I just tied a bow and repurpose a bit of packaging bling!
Use a production line to get more done
So how does this help you use your stash? I simply use more of it up if I make more cards at once, rather than just making a card with the latest thing I bought. Here’s my basic process:
- Gather your tools, ie paper trimmer, craft knife, glue.
- Cut and prefold excess card stock. I usually do about four times as much as I plan on using at one sitting.
- Use your scraps to create a couple of standard embellishments
- Do any stamping and let it dry
- Assemble the cards.
I used a production line for my Peter Rabbit cards above. I couldn’t resist the felt stickers, so I used some plain paper, my scissors and corner rounder to complete these cards. I have left some space to add a sentiment for a few of the cards.
I did a few cards for Christmas a couple of weeks ago using this method. For my Christmas in July crafting party I created just two card designs and prepared 15 sets of card making supplies.
I love Lain’s idea for making 4 cards in 20 minutes and her tips for cardmaking here.
I hope you are feeling inspired to go to work on your stash – why not link me up to your latest stash-busting creation?
Melissa
Melissa Shanhun is a scrapbooking educator, specialising in live online and in-person training. She loves scrapbooking and shares her passion through inspiration and training.