Use Your Scraps

Every time a new Close To My Heart catalog comes out I start my wish list and plan what I'm going to do with all the cool paper packs and accessories. Unfortunately, the paper and accessories featured in the older catalogs are "stashed" and I end up with a bit of odd shaped, big and small pieces.

I vow every 6 months to use my scraps. I keep envisioning an organized scrap room where I use up every single bit of the old stuff.  I never seem to get there.

I have one scrapbook friend who, dare I say it, is a scrapbook hoarder! Her home is spotless, laundry caught up, and there is not a cobweb in her house. But one look in her scrap room tells a different story. It's organized, however, even the tiniest bit of paper is saved. And she has at least one of everything that was featured in every catalog - we're talking YEARS!!!!

A few weeks ago, I started to do something with my older stuff, using scraps of paper and the remaining embellishments that were featured with that paper pack. I can't tell you how cathartic the process was. I got a true sense of "completeness" and was amazed at what I got done in a very short time.

Below I have photos of some items I made from 5 retired paper packs and matching accessories. For the Mischief layout I used Jeanette Lyntons "Imagine" book. The Mischief cards (10 of them) took me about 30 minutes. When I got my Hooligans paper pack out, I had very little left. I made 10 cards in 20 minutes just putting pieces of paper on top of one another and slapping on the Hooligan Level 2 assortment. Ditto with the Sweetheart paper pack! The best thing about this is that my bags of 5 paper packs are all used up (with the exception of Wings) and I have room for 4 new ones!!!! Now that's what I call recycling!


Layout using Mischief (Fall/Winter 2011)

Two cards using Sweetheart (Spring/Summer 2010)

Five cards using Hooligans(Fall/Winter 2010)

Five cards using Mischief (Fall/Winter 2011)

Five MORE cards using Hooligans (Fall/Winter 2010)

Five cards using Sophia (Fall/Winter 2011)



Four cards using Wings (January 2011 special paper pack)

Five more cards using Mischief and matching Midnight Felt Shapes (Fall/Winter 2011)

Sweetleaf background and texture paper from the Wings assortment and the parenthesis is from the package of epoxy stickers of the Sweetheart Level 2 collection.

During this process I also found that mixing some of the background and texture paper packs with other ones is another way of using them all up. The Sweet Leaf B & T that is featured in the above card is one of those that can be mixed easily with another paper pack. I will feature some things that I made mixing and matching to use it all up in a future post. Stay tuned!