Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I am what you might call a “pack rat” scrapper- I save…save…save! Scraps of pattern papers, cardstock pieces, the packaging from stickers- I just never know when or how that little scrap can be transformed into something beautiful, but I know I WILL need it, and therefore I MUST save it!

I keep 2 files of paper scraps- 1 cardstock sorted by colors (great when you’re in need of a strip of paper to use as a border, or a small piece for your journaling or a photo mat) Another file houses all of my of patterns sorted by colors. I am a big fan of layering many pieces of pattern papers together on one layout, and rarely use a full 12x12 sheet, so I always have a TON of good-sized scraps.

Now, every once in a while my pack-rat nature pays off and I’m able to find a use for something long before it’s spent 5-years sitting in my craft room, and today was just one of those days! A few weeks ago I made a layout using a 2” strip of torn blue sky pattern, leaving me with 10” of blue sky to file for another project. And then along comes another layout that I had planned to layer with various reds, but when they all stacked up it was just too much red, and needed a bit to break it up…so out came the blue sky and it fit perfectly for me, didn’t even have to trim the paper! Had these 2 layouts been headed for the same album, I probably wouldn’t have duplicated the patterns like this. Fortunately, my 1st layout is going in my 2009 album, and the 2nd is going in 2007. THIS is the beauty of working out-of-order!

Try it for yourself, save a scrap and use it for another project, you’ll get more bang for your buck every time! Not into reusing? Why not swap large scraps with another crafty friend? One girl’s trash is another girl’s next scrapbook layout!! =)T