There are paper crafters who save every little piece of scrap for future use.
I am not one of those.
I started out that way, but found myself spending way too much time sorting and filing and never seemed to use the scraps.
So, I created a new system that works for me and thought I would share it.
First, I keep to just a few brands of cardstock — American Crafts and Bazzill are my favorites. That way, scraps tend to match the papers I am working on and I find that I use them more often.
Next, I take anything large enough to use again and place it in a large Ziploc bag. No filing — I just toss it in. When I need another piece of cardstock to go with a layout or for cutting out a die, it only takes a minute to find it. And, by making it easy to find what I need, I actually use my scraps, so the bag doesn’t become too full.
For patterned paper, I only keep large pieces that I plan to use on a card. I have a plastic paper shelf I toss them on for future use.
It’s a simple method, but it works for me.
However, that doesn’t stop me from using what some would consider garbage on a scrapbook page. Sometimes the packaging on a product is as scrap worthy as the product it is holding. On this page, using papers, tags and ribbon from My Mind’s Eye, I added the top of the ribbon card as a tag on the page. (it’s the one that says Great Southern)
I also added some leftover chipboard letters from Maya Road (covered with Distress Ink), the word Guam — cut out of Cricut’s Songbird, and tickets made from stamps and die cuts by Tim Holtz.
candy scraps 