Using Up Your Leftovers

When you scrapbook, what do you do with your leftovers? Do you put them away? Do you slide them to the side of your desk to think about later? Do you add them to a pile? Or even better, do you actually use those little bits and pieces? If you were to see my desk, you would know that I am an infrequent scrap cleaner. I tend to push my leftovers into a pile and stack them up until I can't stand it anymore and decide to do something with them. Often, this means that I will compile these pieces into layouts and combinations I never would have planned for if I had thought ahead. So what do I do? I go to Scraphappy, pick up 2 or 3 pieces of patterned paper, some letter stickers (especially Thickers...I am on a serious Thickers kick lately), and combine that with what's on my desk to make some layouts. And the Bonus? My desk gets cleaned off without any effort!

For my first layout, I used Studio Calico and Lilly Bee papers that I already had, combined with the teal thickers and butterflies that I got at Scraphappy. The leftovers? The Amy Tangerine stickers and teal woodgrain washi tape.

This next layout uses some new Shoreline papers as a background, combined with leftover Amy Tangerine stickers, an Amy Tangerine pocket, Shoreline sunburst scraps, and Heidi Swapp banner pieces cut off from a previous project. The hexagons are from a Studio Calico stamp set and are attached with some brads I found in my drawer.

The only new item on this final layout is the background paper and the teal letter 'P.' Everything else on this page was leftover. The light blue strip of Shoreline with the hot pink splatters? Leftover from the Baby Turtles layout. The My Mind's Eye transparency? Scavenged from my Valentine's Day memo board. The Heidi Swapp disco heart? The last of a package from this past spring.

So what have we learned today? Use your stash! Use those bits and pieces of scraps. Use pieces from different manufacturers and product lines to make your own combos. Need some patterned papers, letters, or cardstock to pull it all together? Head on in to Scraphappy and buy what you need! It's all there!

End of Summer with Shoreline

Hello World!

How was your summer? Any days at the beach? Any fun travel? Any good family time? Any time to play? And now the important question...Any time to scrap? The last time I was in the store, Christy gave me some of American Crafts' Shoreline papers to play with, and WOW, they are perfect for bright, happy summer events (or anything else bright and happy you may want to use them for). The colors are uber-saturated reds, blues, and yellows with some dark hot pinks and pool blues to accent. I have had the most fun scrapping with these papers, hoarding every little bit and piece to tuck here and there as color bursts on other projects.

I was blessed this summer with the opportunity to go with my father on a medical mission trip to Peru. At the end of the trip, we spent a day touring Machu Picchu. The Shoreline bright yellow sunburst pattern screamed 'Incas' to me, so I used it as the background for this layout about how much we climbed that day. I used some old kokopelli stamps I had in my stash to stamp on some canvas in teal, then stamped the words in black over the person kokopelli. I added some Mini Market letters from October Afternoon and some brads to finish off the page.

This next layout is about a shopping excursion I took with my daughter last month. We were separately scavenging a clothing store for clothes to try on. When we met up in the dressing room, we had both picked the same dress! Obviously, as a scrapbooking mom, this had to be documented on my cell phone so a layout could be made. If you look at the layout, and think about my typical style, you'll notice that I am a B-side scrapper. I prefer the backsides to most patterned papers. They tend to be more subtle, less busy patterns that recede into the background more than their typical trendier, bolder A-sides. This shopping layout uses almost all B-sides.

And then we come to my last layout for today. I made the background of this layout by spraying various colors of yellow and green spray mist onto shiny white cardstock then blending them with a paper towel. The sunshine embellishments were cut out from a separate sheet of Shoreline paper, as was the strip at the bottom and the 'sunshine' label.

I hope you've been inspired to pull out your summer pictures and spend some time creating. If you want any of the Shoreline papers, go see ScrapHappy and stock up! I think I might be needing some more for my own stash...Maybe I'll see you there?

Supplies:
- American Crafts - patterned paper, Thickers
- letter stickers - October Afternoon, Lily Bee Studios
- spray mists - Studio Calico, October Afternoon, Tattered Angels
- disco starts - Heidi Swapp
- wood veneer stars and camera - Studio Calico
- chipboard stars, brads, teal stamping ink, canvas fabric