Wednesday Sponsor Giveaways : Paper Relics, Shabby Chic Crafts, & Scrap Etc. Events

I subscribe to a kit club. I get the latest new products and tons of inspiration from their design team and message boards. I can get about 8 layouts out of my kit every month. It has really helped me cut back on impulse buys at my local scrapbook store.

the only thing frugal i can think of is to save scraps for future use and to find treasures in unsuspecting places...dollar stores, antique stores, garage sales, flea markets, junk mail etc. and shop the sales!

I agree what a nice idea on so many levels.

I love using paper for all my embellishment and color on my pages. And can be very reasonable especially if you can stock up when it's on sale!

My frugal scrapbooking tip is create your own journaling tags on the computer. I love making custom text boxes in the perfect color AND you never run out!!
I'm very close to Atlanta and would love to go to Scrap Etc!!

I've become a better scrapbook shopper....I shop sales at my LSS, I look for dollar finds, I check peachycheap, I shop sales on line, and I find that my pages are more creative and fun to put together with all my "finds."
Can't do Atlanta though....

My frugal tip is to use your scraps to make gift tags, ribbons for presents, use your scraps to make your gifts pretty!
I would like to be included in the separate giveaway for the scrap etc. event in GA, i've been trying to get to that event for a few years now, it's definitely a lot cheaper having it in GA...thanks Ali for the awesome giveaways you do! -angela

My frugal scrapbooking tip is kind of a no-brainer, but digital elements are awesome. You can use them on or with photos before you print the photo, or print the elements out and use them over and over. Or scrap digitally, which is what I've been doing lately.
I would love to go to the Scrap Etc event (and have entered just about every contest for it I can find). I am less than 30 minutes north of Atlanta, so I can easily get there. :)

Oh good, I've been wanting to share this tip...i have a couple of acrylic blocks for my stamps but if you want to have several different sizes, i find that they can be a little pricey...so instead, i have purchased several different sizes of those thin, cheap acrylic magnetic fridge frames (usually at the craft store starting around $1.99 or maybe even less) and use those - it's really the same thing and you can get small squares up to 8x10 if you really wanted. I hope someone can use that tip! ;)

Incorporating junk mail into a few layouts, is always a favorite of mine. Also mail that my kids bring home from school works too. Magazines have a ton of great fonts, pictures, and inspiration. Thanks for the chance to win. Take care, Kim

The giveaways on your blog are always awesome. My frugal scrapping tips are to use my self taught calligraphy skills, decorative lettering and handwriting because I love how your journaling is always such a beautiful as well as meaningful embellishment on your layouts. I also started using my punches and catalogs such as PaperSource to create simple yet pretty embellishments. I usually use my scallop punch and small circle punch to mix and match colors and patterns for pretty flowers. Thanks for the chance to win something beautiful.

My tip is to go through my stash and see if I have older paper or buttons or stickers, etc that I've saved and never used and use with newer paper now. Saves me money on buying new things and uses up my stash! I also use an external hard drive to back up my pictures bc I've had several computers crash and lost pictures of my kids in the past.

using stamping or punching more since these are "reuseable"; delving into my creative reserve by doing more with the scraps in my scrap box

I had thrown away the packaging from Basic Grey's glazed brads, when I thought of cutting out the clear, flat top that covers the brads. That will now become an 'acrylic' page in a mini album! I am also attaching clear letters onto either old newspaper or pages from an old dictionary that I picked up at a second-hand store. I cut around the letters, and use! I always keep cool tags from clothing, and recently reused a nice, big heart attached as a tag on a pair of jeans. It even had an eyelet ready to attach to a layout with twine. All I did was cover it with brown bag paper, sand the edges, and added a short word ribbon. It seems that I can't do a layout or project without using some of my scraps. It is so satisfying to recycle or repurpose 'garbage' and turn it into something beautiful.

I have realized over time that the most expensive ongoing expense I have with scrapbooking is the adhesive. I have switched to the ATG gun dispenser and buy tape from the Tape Depot. I have gotten it down to under $2 a roll for 36 YARDS of adhesive which goes a very much longer way than buying any brand of roller adhesive that is 28 FEET long!
I would find a way to get to Atlanta Georgia if I won the prize for that event.

Frugal these days is trying to just use what I already have, which is way more than I need...but it's so hard trying NOT to buy all the new and fabulous stuff out there. Thanks for the chance to win prizes (I cannot go to Atlanta, the budget won't allow, and neither will the job). Thanks, Ali and all.

I use odd pieces of chip board as masks, they work great and I can use the pieces of chipboard later :-) Another frugal tip is glassine envelopes used by the postoffice when I buy stamps... I reuse them in my scrapbook cause they are so cool.

Hey Ali - I live in Nashville and would love to go to the Scrap Etc. event! :) My frugal scrapbooking tip is using what I have. I have probably spent only $40 on scrapbooking supplies in the past 6 months by concentrating on using my stash. I still have a lot more to use to make a serious dent.

I stock-up on "essentials" like tape and solid color paper when it's on sale at Hobby Lobby (and, using their 40% off coupon from their website helps too!)

After my baby shower I was left with a truck load of gift bags, all with the cutest patterns and graphics. Some of them even had pretty ribbon for handles, etc. Normally I would have just thrown them in the recycle bin, but I realized they would be perfect for scrapbooking. Not to mention I didn't have to pay a dime for them!