Today I stopped by a local craft store to pick up some picture frames. Since I had some extra time, I decided to browse the scrapbook section to pick up something new with my store coupon. All of the aisles for scrapbook supplies really made me feel overwhelmed which was surprising since I am pretty familiar with scrapbooking supplies that are currently available. Shopping at this store made it so difficult to decide what I would want to use on a layout. With paper on one aisle, stickers on another and other embellishments on a different aisle, it way not easy to gain a clear vision for what I wanted to create.
After this shopping experience, I thought that I could share some ways to help keep the shopping fun and keep your scrap space uncluttered.
1. Only buy an item if you have a clear, set plan on how you are going to use it. Don’t buy it if you think it’s cute and you might need it sometime. Buy with a purpose in mind for the product. This will help you keep your supplies at home under more control.
2. When you see a scrapbook kit that you like, buy it! Kits make scrapbooking so much easier because someone else has done all of the coordinating for you. The paper and embellishments all “go together,” so you save valuable time because you are not hunting around for things that coordinate for your layout.
3. Ask for help. If you go to a local scrapbook store with pictures in hand that you would like to scrapbook, the store workers should be able to offer some great advice for putting the layout together since they are familiar with all of the different products available in their store.
Hopefully these tips will help you feel a bit more in control the next time you venture out to a scrapbook store.