TIPsy Tuesday - Use It Up

The motto "Use it up" from the depression is so appropriate today. We are all looking for ways to save a little money. Saving money though usually means less shopping - the All American Therapy. And that is depressing. What about 'shopping' at home for free?

One of the many great things about card making and scrapbooking is that just about anything goes. Take a walk through your home, browse cabinets, rummage that junk drawer, old storage containers under the bed, in the closet or scan the basement with a fresh pair of eyes. Look for things you can use in your crafts.

Some ideas:

• buttons - bet you have a button stash where you keep all those extra buttons that come attached to your clothes. Chances are many of those buttons are from clothes that are long gone so why not use them on your cards.



• other craft supplies - did you knit, crochet, macrame, or bead at another time? Do you really need to keep all those other supplies just in case? Yarns make great additions to cards in place of ribbons. I found some old velcro that wasn't strong enough for any of my window treatment projects requiring velcro (I bought it long before I started my business) and now use it when I make paper boxes and bags for closures.



• embroidery thread - who among us didn't do crossstitch. If you still do, that's great. If not, embroidery thread can be used to handstitch on cards and pages or as decorative ties for buttons. Or do you have a crosstitch or needlepoint kit that you know you will never finish?



• fabric- fabric can be used so many ways on cards and scrapbook pages. Using leftover fabric is how I got started making cards.



• paint - a little acrylic paint goes a long way on paper crafts. Scrapbooking magazines often have ideas on how to incoporate paint on your projects. I'll try to do a blog post soon on this cheap and useful material. One idea: dry brush just a little paint on a piece of textured cardstock for a background page.



• office supplies - I found some linen resume envelopes - a #10 business envelope we sent out resumes in probably 20 years ago. Those envelopes still look and function just fine and a 4" x 9" card fits great and is a nice change from the usual sizes. Also, do you have some transparency film? Stamp on it; you'll love the results. Extra paper clips, binder clips - all can be put to use.


• silk flowers - an old arrangement gathering dust? Some flowers can be pulled apart and used for decorations on cards.

Even the bathroom cabinet has makeup sponges you can dip into your inks and apply to paper for a great look.

I'll bet you can find many more treasures just waiting to be put to good use. Cheaper than 'retail' therapy and just as valuable.