Scrappin on a budget

I've been thinking a lot lately on how I can minimize my spending without cutting on the "fun" stuff that comes with my favorite hobby. I mean the fact that this is a 2 billion industry in 07 says a lot, don't you think? But with high gas prices and an unstable housing market, this hobby has taken a big hit for some crafters.
Plus some of my friends and family who I'm slowly trying to convert into scrapbooking had been turned off by all the STUFF that they THINK they have to purchase to preserve their memories. That's just so sad if somebody thinks they have to have the latest gadget in order for them to start building their scrapbooks.
So I came up with my own little way to scrapbook on a budget. I figured out some ways to continue doing what we all love to do without hurting our pockets.
So here's my tips on how you can save and still scrap! the Grace Tolman way. *smile*

PHOTOS
Try to crop your photos before printing them out. You can fit 2 3x4" pictures in a 4x6 photo paper which right now is just 19 cents at Walmart. This method you are actually hitting two birds with one stone. (a) you eliminate the cropping you usually do with pictures that will go on a multiphoto layout and (b) you save half the price you would normally spend on photo printing. Instead of paying .38 on two, you only pay .19 on two. Sounds good doesn't it? Now you're probably thinking "Well that's sounds good but where do I crop them?" I'm sure you have a photo editing software in your computer (adobe photoshop, picassa, paintpro) Utilize those softwares, some of them you can even try out for free if you check them trial versions on the company websites.


ALPHABET LETTERS
Buy a lot of alphabet letters in WHITE. You can always color them in to fit your theme. I do this ALL the time especially with stickers. If you wanna play with chipboard, buy the naked/raw ones. That's the same concept.


ORGANIZATION
Use those USPS priority boxed as vertical paper storage. Alter them to fit your space. I got this idea from Robin Redd. She brought one to a crop and after seeing how creatively she altered them, I was hooked.

You can also recycle glass jars to store embellishments. Basically think twice before throwing anything into trash can, you can never know what a little soap and water plus some fun papers can turn something unusable to the cutest storage ever!

COMPUTER
another item that we tend to overlook is our dear computer and our word documents. There's lot of fonts and dingbats (images) that we can play with in there of which we can incorporate in our layouts/projects. Let your inner designer come out by combining these things on your next page. I'm sure your page will rock plus since you made your own designs, you layout will stand out from the rest.

DOUBLE SIDED PATTERN PAPERS
I love purchasing these cause I feel like I'm getting more bang for my buck. But I'm sure you're wondering how I can incorporate big parts of each design on a layout without having to purchase two of each design. Well meet my best friend when it comes to this------

I just cut them out, flip on of the pieces and put them back together with the tape. Of course I cut them in a part where it will be covered with pictures and other elements so I can hide my little trick!

So there, just a few of my ideas on how you can maintain a small scrapbook budget without hurting the "fun" of the process.

If you have any other ideas, feel free to post it on the comments box. I would love to hear what other's are doing to stay within a budget.

Have a great day,
Grace