Scrapbooking on a Budget

10 ideas for scrapbooking on a budget

  

Scrapbooking on a Budget - There are a lot of ways to scrapbook without spending tons of money. I've been scrapping for a long time so I have a few ideas and ways that I keep my hobby from taking over my finances. : ) I try really hard not to be a scrap supply hoarder and instead to actually use my stash. It's something you'll hear about a good bit if you listen to podcasts and read blogs about scrapping. I think we all like "pretty things" and so we buy them even if we don't use them. And some of that is inevitable. So, I'm giving you at least 10 ways to have fun with this great hobby - frugally!

  

Scrapbooking on a Budget 1 - Pinterest Board Free Printable Scrapbook Stuff

Print your own embellishments and journaling cards. This is something I've only recently become more aware of. I don't do it a lot but I need to do it more. Printing things in color can be expensive but if you use black as an accent color on your layouts, you can just print in black and save a lot that way. One of the layouts in my December 2012 e-zine uses a free scrapbook printable...it's a library card. Here's how you can see what I'm talking about:

- subscribe to my e-zine

- click on the back issues link in your welcome email

- click on December 2012

I did print that one with color ink but there are so many printables out there that will work great with just black ink. This is a great way to keep your scrapbooking on a budget.

Find more free scrapbook printables! 

Even more free printable scrapbook stuff! 

Scrapbooking on a Budget 2 - Use coupons at Big Box Stores

This is one of the big things I do to keep my scrapbooking on a budget. It makes for cheap scrapbook stuff most of the time. I shop at Michaels and Hobby Lobby and use their 40% and 50% off coupons. I usually use those for larger ticket items like paper packs, stamps, albums, tools and such. And, I look at their sale fliers and stock up on whatever is on sale - things like punches, embossing powders, stickers, page protectors, single sheet scrapbook paper and card stock.

Scrapbooking on a Budget 3 - Penny prints at Snapfish

I sign up for emails at photo developing websites like Snapfish and Shutterfly. I very often print my photo prints at Walmart.com but it isn't the cheapest. My best luck for cheap has come from Snapfish when they offer Penny Prints...even with paying the shipping, I still come out the best so far. That doesn't happen super often but when it does I get 100 prints to work with on my scrapbook projects. I've also had good luck at Walgreens. They have coupon codes for photo developing every so often. You can just log on to their site or sign up for email and text alerts. It's another helpful idea for keeping your scrapbooking on a budget. 

Scrapbooking on a Budget 4 - Use Stuff You Already Have

I listened to a great episode of the Paperclipping Roundtable recently where they talked all about seeing "normal" things with "new eyes" and using stuff you already have to keep your scrapbooking on a budget.

- items around your home

- office supplies

- art supplies you already have

This episode was really good! I've just been reading the comments (you'll find them in the comments section of the episode link I gave you above) and there are some really great ideas and inspiration. I love reading "real people" comments about what they do and what they use. I listen to a lot of Paperclipping podcasts but I don't always read the comments (only so much time) but they are an amazing resource. I listen to Paperclipping when I'm on the treadmill. It is often my "scrapbook baby step of the day."

Scrapbooking on a Budget 5 - Tools You "Need"

- a paper cutter

- card stock or patterned paper or both

- adhesive

- pen

- scissors

You don't really "need" a lot of stuff to get your memories recorded. You can do a lot with basic supplies and also keep your scrapbooking on a budget. As you continue scrapbooking and learning, you'll probably just "want" to expand your tools and supplies but what you really "need" isn't that much.

Scrapbooking on a Budget 6 - Share with Friends

I don't really do this...don't have any close friends that scrapbook, but something I used to do that worked really well is to scrapbook at an actual scrapbook store. They would let me keep a list of papers and supplies I used as I went along and then pay for it at the end. Then I didn't have to guess what I would need/want to use on a particular layout - possibly "wasting" money on supplies I bought thinking I would use and then didn't. This really helped me keep my scrapbooking on a budget when I first started. 

You could do this same thing by scrapbooking with a friend at a crop or just splitting packages of things. I've seen "yard sales" of scrapbooking stuff at my local scrapbook store.

These are just some ideas to get you thinking....

Scrapbooking on a Budget 7 - Pinterest Board DIY Scrapbook Embellishments

This gets me really excited! Store bought scrapbook embellishments can be really expensive...which doesn't mean I don't buy them ever...but not very often. These are some great ideas and really get my creative inspiration flowing. Lord willing, I'll be adding to this board a lot as time goes on 'cause this is one of the things I've been thinking about a lot for a long time. I already rely a lot on my stamps to create visual interest on my pages without spending a lot on store bought details but I want to keep exploring this more.

Another thing you can do to keep your scrapbooking on a budget and I've done this a lot in the past is actually "study" scrapbook layouts I see in magazines (the way I used to do it) and on Pinterest and in galleries. Instead of just looking at the layout as a whole and not seeing what really makes it work/the details, I STUDY each little detail and how it was done. It has really helped my creativity and DIY abilities. Try it...you'll see! : )

Scrapbooking on a Budget 8 - Choose an accent color for "all" your layouts

What does that mean? lol...well...if you look through my e-zine layouts, you'll see that most/many of them have titles, hand journaling and stamping/embellishing done with black...ink/pen/stamping. I really stretch my supplies/dollars this way. I don't need a lot of different colors of letter stickers, stamping ink, pens and store bought embellishments to make everything coordinate. I like variety and I do get things in other colors sometimes but I've found that I can come up with all kinds of color schemes and lots of variety but still make my accent color black and really keep my scrapbooking on a budget. You can see what I mean by looking through my back issues of The Real Life Scrapbooker's Resource! Here's how:

- subscribe to my e-zine

- click on the back issues link in your welcome email

Scrapbooking on a Budget 9 - Use Stamps with Non-Themed Patterns

What am I talking about here? Well...instead of getting stamps that go with certain holidays or themes like birthday, baby or things like that, get stamps like flourishes and swirls and geometric shapes or flowers. They can go on almost any layout with any content/journaling/story and you can use them over and over again. I especially love flourish stamps.

Scrapbooking on a Budget 10 - Doodle on Your Scrapbook Layouts

I'm not super great at this but I've thought about "working" on it and learning more about it. I know there are some scrapbookers out there that really do well with this approach and doodle most of their embellishments. Hmmm...I've been aware of this for a long time but once again there are only so many hours in the day and I've not really gotten into trying it much. I've done a tiny bit of doodling on my layouts but not a lot. Elsie Flanagan is the first scrapbooker I remember doing cool doodling. I saw her in Creating Keepsakes back in the day. I just Googled her and really can't find much current stuff...not sure where she went?

You can see what I'm talking about with doodling on your scrapbook pages by heading over to Scrapbook.com and clicking on the Gallery tab and then using the search term "doodling" - make sure you search "inside" the gallery and not the whole Scrapbook.com site or you'll pull up a lot of products and not examples of layouts with doodling.

Or...do a search on Pinterest for "scrapbook doodling" and you'll get lots of examples...many of them are digital products you can buy but you can also just get inspiration for doodling you can do yourself...another fun way to keep your scrapbooking on a budget!

Find more ideas from time to time for scrapbooking on a budget

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