Scrapbooking Doesn't Have To Be Expensive

[Elias May]

I love scrapbooking, making cards and little gifts, but it can be very
expensive if you limited your creativity only to items you purchase.
We all love die cuts but who says you have to buy them? Why not make
your own? It takes time of course, but like scrapbooking it's very
therapeutic. Plus when you're done you have something else special to
add to your scrapbook, die cuts personally made by you!
When I sit down at my table to start on a project I have two bowls
near by. One is for scraps and the other is for trash. Scraps come in
handy for many reasons. One, you don't have to cut a perfectly good
sheet of paper for just a small piece. You can use a piece of scrap. I
also use my scraps to create my own die cuts. Whether I'm creating a
journal block or a snowman with pop dots, I eventually end up using
all my scraps.
Another good source for die cuts are magazines. Believe it or not, you
can cut pictures out of a magazine and glue them to a piece of card
stock and have very nice accents for your pages. I'm pretty
resourceful when it comes to finding the perfect items for my
scrapbook pages. I have even used old Christmas Cards and pieces of
wrapping paper. I save movie tickets, napkins and brochures to put on
my pages. I've even used a paper placemat from a dinner on my page.
I've seen pages that used pieces cut from a cereal box.
Titles for your pages don't always have to come from the scrapbook
store. You can make your own, too. Cutting letters out of a magazine
works really well as does using your home computer to create titles
and to do your journaling. Clip art works well on scrapbook pages,
too! I've also made it a habit that when I'm taking photographs to
think about titles. If we're going to a museum I will take a picture
of the museum sign and later crop that picture to create my title for
the page. Taking photographs of signs is also a good way to remember
names.
Many times instead of purchasing new paper for my backgrounds I'll use
my rubber stamps. I have a small variety of stamps and using white
card stock I can create some beautiful pages. Making gift bags is so
easy using plain luncheon sacks and my rubber stamps. My family and
friends always appreciate a gift bag custom made by me. I've purchased
several rubber stamps throughout the years. Some stamps were all ready
mounted while others required me to cut the rubber and mount the
stamps myself. In those cases, I did not let the scrap rubber go to
waste either. I saved each piece to use as pop dots. I still have
several pieces of scrap rubber and eventually I plan on making my own
mosaic stamp.
I love all those different pattern scissors but I can't afford to buy
them all. I found that ripping paper with my fingers works well. At
first I was terrified to rip a page but I got the hang up of.
Sometimes I use a ruler as a tearing edge. I will hold the ruler on my
sheet of paper and rip the paper straight down the side of the ruler.
This technique is quite effective.
I bought a tag punch a while back and it has proven to be a wonderful
investment. I can make my own tags in as many different colors as I
want and tags are great for journaling, too. I no longer have to
purchase expensive tags.
A friend of mine introduced me to drywall tape instead of buying magic
mesh. I couldn't believe the difference in cost and drywall tape comes
in a variety of colors. I've also used my inkpads to color white
drywall tape to match my color scheme if I didn't have that color on
hand at the tape.
For organization I've purposely stayed away from items that are
specifically for scrapbooking. Ziploc bags work great and I love the
aisle in Walmart that has all those plastic containers. I have a
storage bin on wheels that I store all my paper in. It works great and
didn't cost much at all. Plastic kool-aid containers and butter tubs
come in handy.
Something else about shopping and staying away from the scrapbook
aisle, you can usually buy things so much cheaper. I buy quite a bit
of paper and I usually stick to solid colors. Occasionally I will buy
pattern paper if it's something that I know I can use. I use a lot of
white card stock and it's actually cheaper to buy it in the office
department than in the scrapbooking department. Check it out! I'm
telling you the truth. Same thing with craft bags, they're cheaper in
the food section.
Instead of subscribing to those very expensive craft magazines I surf
the Internet. There are many craft sites that offer free newsletters
and many sites are packed full of ideas free of charge!
I'm always looking for a sale, too. This is the time that I will buy
the items that I need whether in the stores or on the Internet.
Keeping an eye open for those sales papers and newsletters that
trickled in your inbox can save you a lot of money.
Scrapbooking doesn't have to be expensive. There are so many ways to
save money. The ideas are endless and so is your creativity.