My friend Susie Cortright wrote this article.
Memories are priceless, but the cost of preserving them can be high.
Here are nine tips for making the most of your scrapbooking budget.
1.
Be on the lookout for scrapbooking supplies everywhere you go.
I once made the cutest shabby chic card with the corrugated cardboard
liner in a light bulb box. Another example: you can buy 100 brass brads
for less than a dollar at the local discount store and then customize
them to match your layout with acrylic paint and/or sandpaper. Or
look in the clearance bin for ribbon, fiber, and fabric remnants - or
bouquets of silk flowers, which you can take apart and attach to your
cards and layouts with brads, eyelets, bottlecaps, or button. You’ll
find all kinds of treasures at office supply, hardware, and dollar
stores, as well as flea markets and garage sales.
2.
Keep your supplies organized. When your papers and embellishments
are logically arranged and easy to find, you’ll always know what you
have, which means you’ll buy fewer duplicates. And you don’t need
expensive racks for storing your paper. The large 14″ Ziploc bags
are perfect for storing 12×12 paper. You can even hang the labeled
Ziploc bags from skirt hangers to maximize your space. A few
inexpensive baskets or plastic containers can hold your adhesives,
pens and trimmers. And a common tacklebox is great for small
embellishments. Or use resealable Ziploc bags to organize brads,
eyelets and other small embellishments by type or color and store
in a shoebox.
3.
Here’s a little known secret. You can join a scrapbooking direct
sales company, simply to get the discount on your own supplies. Of
course, you’ll need to make sure the monthly minimums are low enough
that you’ll be able to meet them with your purchases alone. Here is
one such company with monthly minimums of just $25 wholesale per month.
Details are here:
http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking/wholesale-scrapbooking-supplies.htm
4.
Use your scanner to create a unique patterned paper, perfect for your
layout. Scan items of clothing, for example, that match the clothing in
your photographs. Print the paper and use as part of your background or
as a tag or other embellishment.
5.
Do a google search for “free fonts” and “free scrapbooking.” You’ll
find thousands of free templates, fonts, and other free resources for
scrapbookers.
6.
Check your local paper for 50% off coupons at large discount
crafting stores. Save these coupons for your larger purchases.
Subscribe to Joann.com’s email newsletter at the store’s website:
http//www.joann.com. This store frequently offers special
discount codes to newsletter subscribers. But keep in mind, when you
are shopping the sale aisle, a good deal is not a good deal if you
never use the product. Buy only those things that you love - and
know you’ll use.
7.
When shopping for tools, keep quality and versatility in mind.
Investing in quality tools will ultimately save you money, because you
won’t need to replace them very often. You’ll also want to look for
trimmers and cutters that allow you to replace only the blade - and not
the entire cutting system. The Coluzzle, by Provocraft, is one of the most
versatile cutting systems available. It takes a little practice, but
once you get the hang of it, you can cut a huge variety of shapes and
alphabets, as well as envelopes and tags - all with very inexpensive templates.
8.
Save and organize your scraps. It’s amazing when a small scrap is perfectly
suited for a card of scrapbook. And you can always use the backside of
white-core cardstock or patterned paper when you need white. Or give
your scraps to your children. My kids are constantly making friendship
cards out of my scraps. They each have a basket on the family scraptable,
and at the end of a project, I divvy up all my scraps in the three little
baskets. They love the new art supplies, and I love to share my love of
scrapbooking - and my time spent scrapbooking - with them.
9.
Network with other scrapbookers for more low-cost ideas. Arrange a
supplies swap with your scrapbooking friends. And read through the scrapbooking magazines for more money-saving ideas. In the last few issues of Scrapbooks, Etc. and Memory Makers, for example, I’ve read (and then used) the following ideas:
(1) Take photos of interesting signs and cut out the letters for fun, eclectic
alphabets.
And (2) make your own stamps from your favorite font or images with a
computer printout and some foam board.
You can subscribe to these magazines at significant discounts online.
I’ve compiled the best deals on the industry-leaders here:
http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking/scrapbooking-magazines
or see if you can check out current issues from your local library.
Scrapbooking magazines often feature sweepstakes, drawings, and layout
contests, in which you can win free supplies, as well.
You can also save on scrapbooking idea books and techniques books by
shopping online. Overstock.com often has these books at an even greater
discount than amazon.com, and their shipping is usually much less, too.
http://www.overstock.com
Copyright 2005 by Susie Cortright
About the Author:
Susie Cortright is the founder of momscape.com - http://www.momscape.com and
Momscape’s Scrapbooking Playground - http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking - devoted to helping
visitors record and preserve their cherished memories. Susie also trains and supports new scrapbooking instructors with a new and rapidly- growing direct sales scrapbooking company.
Find out how to join her team here: http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking/business.htm
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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