Tips for Using Your Scrapbook Stash

Scrapbookers and papercraftersare notorious for buying the latest products and never completely using up their old products. Here are some tips to help you use up your stash. After you see how much you've used up, you can treat yourself to some of the newest products with a little less guilt.

1. Alphabets are great if you don't have a die cut machine, but often there isn't enough on one sheet left to make a complete title. Mix and match different colors and fonts to make a fun title for a children's page.
2. Often we are missing more common letters and are left with the uncommon ones. Turn an f into a t. Turn an R into a P. Make an e out of a c and what you cut off the R (or use a marker to make the line).
3. By organizing your scraps of patterned scrapbook paper you can easily see what you have available to use.
4. When you need a piece of white paper turn over a not so cute sheet from a kit or scrap and use it for white.
5. When you need a sheet of patterned paper that you don't have try to make it. Use bleach and stamps, ink and stamps, chalk, or whatever you have to create the perfect sheet.
6. Stay organized with an accordian style organizer for your stickers and quotes. Keep them separate by theme, season or occassion.
7. Store your Christmas papers, stickers, and embellishments together and separately. They won't be cluttering up your day to day scrapbook supplies and when you need them they are all together.
8. Learn to make something new instead of buying it. Use clear embossing powder to color brads you haven't used up. Print your own quotes and sayings with digital stamps rather than having a drawer full of wooden stamps.
9. Store the perfect quote or sticker with a picture so you have it when you're ready to scrap that page.
10. Go through your stash every so often to familiarize yourself with what you have and purge what you haven't used in a year. Trade with a friend or sell on eBay what you don't use.

Forcing ourselves to use up what we have requires a lot of creativity but you just might come up with the best pages you've ever made.