Say that title five times fast. Stroll down the aisles of your local scrapbook shop and it won’t take you long to see that the slumping economy is hitting the world of memory book embellishments. Have you noticed that your dollar doesn’t get you nearly as many die cuts these days? What’s more, the size of the cardstock cut-outs seems to be compromised, as does their overall appearance. What has this world come to that we now have to embellish embellishments in order for them to add pizzazz to page designs? In defense of die cuts, most are relatively inexpensive, … Continue reading →

When it comes to creating visually appealing page borders for scrapbook layouts, nothing beats free. Earlier this year I got hooked on rubber stamps. During that time I used just about every stamp set available to design eye-popping page borders and photo frames. Now, I am all stamped out. Whereas I considered seguing to stickers, my friend had an even better idea—-free printable borders. I’ve known for quite some time that you could print out free scrapbook borders online, but up until now I hadn’t really explored the option. Much to my surprise the Internet is an amazing venue for … Continue reading →

Apparently, I am not the only one in the world who has questioned the quality of IKEA furniture. Google, “Is IKEA furniture any good,” and you’ll get nearly two million results in less than a second. When you are on a tight budget and want to furnish your scrapping space, then inexpensive IKEA-like tables, chairs and storage items may seem like a reasonable option. Well, they did to me anyway. All I want to do (and I suspect other scrappers feel the same way) is to organize my scrapbooking area in a way that I can access my materials as … Continue reading →

Scrapbooking doesn’t always come cheap. Sure, there are many ways you can reduce the amount you spend on embellishments and tools, but like any hobby, materials add up over time. Fortunately, the more diligent you are about keeping track of your scrapbook spending habits, the more you can save in the long run. For example, I have to adhere to a strict scrapbook budget. To ensure I don’t go over budget I keep all the receipts from my scrapbook buys in a Sterilite container and at the end of the month I add up how much I spent. If I … Continue reading →

What is the biggest frustration you deal with while scrapbooking? Mine has to do with paper, or more specifically, paper cutting. Given that I work on a tight budget when it comes to scrapbooking, I am constantly looking for frugal ways to get layouts made without compromising style or substance. So how cheap am I? Here’s my dirty little secret: For years I used a traditional paper cutter to trim my scrapbook paper. Talk about frustrating. As many of you know, scrapbook paper cutters are designed to trim 12×12 paper, so imagine having to working with a tool designed to … Continue reading →

When the household budget gets really tight, the first thing that is placed on the chopping block is my scrapbooking hobby. I completely understand the decision, as food, insurance and my young daughter’s extracurricular activities take priority over photos and fancy embellishments. What’s more, when there is a freeze on funds for family hobbies it forces me to be more creative with my scrapbooking. Fortunately for me and thousands of other cash-strapped scrappers, there are a dozens of websites that offer free scrapbooking supplies. I am not a huge fan of digital scrapbooking, but when times are tough I often … Continue reading →

One pet peeve of mine is that when I buy a set of Alphabet stickers, there simply aren’t enough of the letter E. I am frequently searching through my stash of alphabets hoping to just find one letter E in any font. I mix and match my alphabets a lot so, is is not really a problem for me to use a letter from a different set of Alphas in my layout. But, in the same way I have a problem with not enough “E”s, I have a problem with too many of the letters Z, X, and Q. Who … Continue reading →

If you are a scrapaholic, then you know how much you can save by buying supplies in bulk. It truly is the most cost effective means of creating layout after layout, considering how much you have to pay for individual pieces of patterned scrapbook paper, stamps, stickers, etc. Fortunately, you can scrapbook like mad without going broke by purchasing supplies from a wholesale source. By doing so you can get mountains of materials at discounted prices. Of course, there is a downside to these bargains. For starters, you will need a ton of storage space if you plan to buy … Continue reading →

I hate wasting leftovers. Whether it’s two-day-old meatloaf or two-year-old scrapbook stickers, I rather use leftovers rather than toss them out. This time of year it is not unusual for scrappers to do inventory on their materials. I spend at least a week trying to make use of all my leftover supplies, so I don’t start the New Year purchasing items I don’t need. Once I figure out what and how much I have, I set about using as much as possible to embellish layouts. However, I try to find unique ways to spice up my leftovers, so they don’t … Continue reading →

I am a sucker for beautiful patterned scrapbook paper. Though, given how much a single sheet of fancy paper sells for these days, I often stick with basic, plain paper and try to jazz up my layouts with stickers and die cuts. Still, I willingly admit to drooling over the latest and greatest scrapbook paper designs, and I have a hard time resisting the temptation to buy, buy, buy. Fortunately, there are ways to save on scrapbook paper and still create amazing layouts. Start by doing an inventory of your scrapbook supplies. Assess what you have in your stash and … Continue reading →