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I was wondering what you do with all the left over scraps from making cards and scrapbook pages???
My box where I store them gets fuller and fuller and fuller... Don't want to get rid of them because cardstock costs money...;) On the other side you can't keep them all, right? I just don't get to use them all on other projects.
Or is it okay to throw them away once in a while (at least the very little ones ) when you haven't found use for them?
I need to do a lot better with managing my scraps.
My plan (someday...haha!) is to sort my small cardstock scraps by *color* so I can find them easier.
If I have a large scrap of SU colored cardstock, I just file it in with my other cardstocks. Otherwise.....mine just go in a big bin. Which doesn't make it very easy to find what you need!
I recently did just sort my scraps by colors and put them in the hanging file folders. I have some that are very small that I put in a big ziplock bag, maybe sometime I might want to punch them out for door prizes or put in glass containers for easy use.
Have fun!!
Once in awhile when they get too unruly, I go through them and take a bag ful to Kindergarten. Kids love cutting and pasting (the other way ) The art table is used continuously and they appreciate coloured CS and patterned paper is a bonus!
I have mine sorted in my scraprack. Whenever I go to make anything that will not require a full sheet, I go to my scraprack first before cutting into a new sheet of CS or DP. Quite often, I find just what I am looking for.
__________________ 9kids Yes I really do have 9 kids ~ ages 4 through 28 ;)
Visit my blog, A Little Bit of Everything
I have a plastic 9x12 bin sitting by my desk (found it at the $1 spot at Target maybe 1.5" deep) - throw things in there...If I need a color and I don't have a scrap I immediately cut 1 sheet of paper in half...put half in in my pocket folder - see below - and use the other half...
every few weeks I go through the bin and I have a fairly large multi pocket file (big enough to fit 1/2 sheet of paper ) and I try to cut my scraps down to the following first
1/2 sheet
1/4 sheet
strips of 4.25 and 5.5
I also keep any larger odd shaped scrap...
so one pocket is for 1/2, another for 1/4, another for large pieces, another for the strips - I also have a pocket for designer paper scraps, glossy and shimmer paper scraps and a pocket for precut rectangles/squares (from when I do swaps and cut a few to many
the rest of my smaller scraps I PUNCH - I use my various punches to punch up my small scraps - scallop, round tab punch, tag punch - then I use these punches as my customer gifts - I throw a small handful in a small plastic bag and incude it in their order...I also keep a small container with the punched shapes in it as my "go to" when I need an accent
I do try and sit down about once a month and try and use up my scraps...I'll usually use some form of outline flower stamp as my main image and mount using my half sheets as base and the rest of my scraps as mats...then color in to complement the colors I used...
this system keeps my scraps down to basically the file and the bin...
__________________ Jenni -Happy SU Demo - MY GALLERY & MY CHAOTIC LIFE One kid makes you a Parent - Two makes you a Referee
It has a lot of cards made with scraps of left over paper. Hopefully some of the card will inspire you and you can use a bunch from your scraps.
I made a big batch of scrap cards and mailed them to our troops over seas. Great way to get rid of the scrap pile and help our troops at the same time.
I have the little stacking drawer organizers. Each is labeled with a color family
Earth Elements
Rich Regals
Bold Brights
Soft Subtles
In Colors
Designer Series Papers
1/2 sheets stay with the full sheets, in stacking letter trays, also labeled, but anything smaller gets dropped into the drawer. I make sure that when I am done playing, I put all the pieces away - it has to be part of my clean up routine or my table would be a wreck.
You also have to be reasonable with what you keep. No sense keeping the 1/2" piece you cut because your first cut was too long.
Of course, this only works if you are SU exclusive.
I have the little stacking drawer organizers. Each is labeled with a color family
Earth Elements
Rich Regals
Bold Brights
Soft Subtles
In Colors
Designer Series Papers
1/2 sheets stay with the full sheets, in stacking letter trays, also labeled, but anything smaller gets dropped into the drawer. I make sure that when I am done playing, I put all the pieces away - it has to be part of my clean up routine or my table would be a wreck.
You also have to be reasonable with what you keep. No sense keeping the 1/2" piece you cut because your first cut was too long.
Of course, this only works if you are SU exclusive.
HTH
This is pretty much what I do too. I have a rolling cart from Costco with one drawer for half sheets, and one drawer for scraps, and they are all in color families.
If a scrap is too small to be punched out, I toss it.
you could weave the thin strips like this or this which was actual trimmings from a swap-I didn't want to throw them away cause they were kinda pretty.
I used to throw out my thin strips of cardstock until I saw where you can run them through a crimper and put it in boxes or bags for a nice accent to any gift. I don't throw anything away unless it is teeny tiny! I store them in a shoe box according to color family. Hope that helps!
Almost all the cards in my gallery utilize scraps because once I know that I need a large square of So Saffron, I look in my scrap basket to see if I have a workable piece.
Here are links to several cards that specifically used scraps. I hope you find it helpful and inspiring. I bet you'll find much better examples if you searched the gallery using "scraps" as the keyword!
Cards in TeeGeeDee�s Gallery that use up scraps:
Looks Like Spring - Invitation for 26Aug2007 Event Each of the squares were cut/punched from strips of cardstock ~
3x3 (plain white) mini card - Thank You to customer (sent w/retired punch) This card�s design came about from playing with scraps on a 3x3 card. I�m still pleasantly surprised at how much my customer (and SCSers) seem to like it ~
Cheery Chat Birthday Card for Nephew (January 2007) This card made good use of scraps and the scrap basket actually helped me pick the color combo since I piled up pieces that were big enough and then decided which three went best together (at least imo) ~
Are you a demo? I have to tell you, I came across a great deal in May, and now I look for it. Let me explain. We (south of Chicago) have a great local stamp store here. Twice a year, they have a "flea market." What it amounts to is that anyone, including SU demos, can go and sell used stuff there... it's AWESOME. One of the things I go crazy buying is SU scraps. One gal bags up nice big baggies of color family CS and sells them for $1 each baggie... there would be different shades of read together, different shades of green, and then a baggie of white. I got a ton in May (it's over Memorial Day weekend and then again on Labor Day weekend) so I was hoping for the same, in different colors, this past Saturday. The lady with the CS wasn't there, but another was, and she had BIG BIG BIG baggies of SU patterned paper scraps. And when I say scraps, it was like "scraps plus." There were HUGE pieces, some full size even. And add to that, full sheets, and mostly full sheets, of coordinating stickers (SU). Each 12x12 sleeve was FULL of the nicest CS and the CS stickers. It was $5. Now, some might think WHAT A FOOL paying $5 for scraps, but please believe it was more than a deal. I bought 4 bags. It has been a godsend. It has given me a chance to try out the different CS and patterned paper without committing to a whole pack.
SO, to make a long story short (sorry about the long story!), you could put together scrap baggies and people like me would BUY it!
Another idea, is for those of you demos that do workshops, and you put together little project kits but have leftovers? You could sell those, too! This one lady had about 20 of them that she was selling for $1 a piece. Each baggie had directions AND enough to make four cards! For $1 each!! If I could go back, I would have bought a few. My mom bought 5, so she got one free. SO she got stuff to make 24 cards for $5. It's a great way for demos to recover a cost AND for people like me to really have a great opportunity.
I will mention that the patterned paper was all retired. But I am fine with that! I'm not a demo
ANYWAY.... your scraps can be VERY valuable if you want them to be!
You may need to give yourself "permission" to just toss some of the smaller scraps. I was in a similiar position earlier this year - trying to clean the stamp room and get a handle on my paper - I just could not throw away those scraps!! I have mine sorted by general color, blues, greens, etc - in large zip lock bags. However, I went through and threw away a ton of the smaller sizes - it has to be at least 3 " square or 1" strip of an entire sheet for me to keep now. Once you tell yourself it is OK to toss the smaller scraps, you will then go to your scrap bags all the time. Keep in mind that your scraps should be very visible in your stamp area or you will not use them. Now when I make cards I ALWAYS go to the scraps first. Recently I made a bunch of ATC's using nothing but leftover scraps from swedding invitations I made the year earlier.
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I keep them for a whil and then I just throw them all out and start over, it's just too much to worry about, KWIM?
I store them in the file folder with the same color cardstock but I still almost never, ever use them.
Throw some and use the others in my personal challenge
Every few months I throw the really small ones out. But, lately I have been taking a piece of scrap paper and using that as a focal point for a card. Of course often this means I make even more scrap paper from other colors of paper I need - but oh well!!!
I orgainze mine like Jenn mentioned, sorta. I have a rolling file cart that I bought at Staples, with hanging files for all of the SU colors I use, plus one for patterned paper.
I have found that by organizing my scraps I use them so much more oten. This is the first place I look when I need something smaller than 1/2 of an 8 1/2x11 sheet of paper for a card base. It's also great when you are going to use a punch! These little pieces are perfect for punching out a square, circle, tag, etc, without wasting a larger piece of paper.
I have a plastic 9x12 bin sitting by my desk (found it at the $1 spot at Target maybe 1.5" deep) - throw things in there...If I need a color and I don't have a scrap I immediately cut 1 sheet of paper in half...put half in in my pocket folder - see below - and use the other half...
every few weeks I go through the bin and I have a fairly large multi pocket file (big enough to fit 1/2 sheet of paper ) and I try to cut my scraps down to the following first
1/2 sheet
1/4 sheet
strips of 4.25 and 5.5
I also keep any larger odd shaped scrap...
so one pocket is for 1/2, another for 1/4, another for large pieces, another for the strips - I also have a pocket for designer paper scraps, glossy and shimmer paper scraps and a pocket for precut rectangles/squares (from when I do swaps and cut a few to many
the rest of my smaller scraps I PUNCH - I use my various punches to punch up my small scraps - scallop, round tab punch, tag punch - then I use these punches as my customer gifts - I throw a small handful in a small plastic bag and incude it in their order...I also keep a small container with the punched shapes in it as my "go to" when I need an accent
I do try and sit down about once a month and try and use up my scraps...I'll usually use some form of outline flower stamp as my main image and mount using my half sheets as base and the rest of my scraps as mats...then color in to complement the colors I used...
this system keeps my scraps down to basically the file and the bin...
Wow! You have made handling scraps a real art! And I thought I was doing good by having sorted through mine and finally deciding to throw away the really small pieces...and transfer the "use-able" pieces to a new, nicely stamped shoe box...LOL I am going to have to start doing it your way! Thanks for the great idea!
I have my scraps sorted into colors in large gallon sized ziploc bags. I always look thru them first before cutting into a fresh piece of cardstock to see if I have the right color. I don't save any scraps smaller than 1" square.
Anything SMALLER than 1/4 page gets put into gallon ziplock bags. I mix SU! with other cardstock, so my bags are divided into things like blues, greens, yellows, etc. I use a lot of scraps for layering and little "tags" for sentiments.
When I get too many scraps, I sort through and take a bunch of them out---and give them to a couple of people I know who are just starting out stamping and don't have much money for supplies. You should see the looks on their faces when I give them my scraps: you would think I had handed them a bag of gold! That in itself is worth the effort of sorting and saving scraps.
I have full sheets of paper in file folders. I keep a quart-sized zippy bag in front of each color for scraps. I pull that out first when making anything.
This came in handy a couple of days ago when I needed some letters die cut. I just pulled out my scrap bag for Pumpkin Pie and cut all my letters from scraps. Bigger scraps covered 2 letters. I kept the extra letter and will put it in storage drawers for letters.
SO -- if you have a die cutting machine -- make up some letters/numbers from scraps to have handy.
So many scraps...
