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I just made a very scrap - intensive card - Neverending Quilt, but it feels like I made more scraps than I used, now that I'm cleaning up the mess. And it was so fun to piece together, that I am reluctant to throw away all those little bits. But they make me crazy! Do you have rules of thumb for keep vs. toss?
I keep any scrap large enough to punch a flower, corner die cut. tag, etc.
To keep things organized I have a zip lock bag for "each" color of my cardstock. I put the scraps in with the full size sheets so I remember to use them for small things . When I started I put the scraps in a little box and forgot to use them . The Hefty 2 & 1/2 gallons size plastic bags hold 12" x 12" CS or paper
I keep my 8 1/2 " x 11" CS in a file cabinet and the 12" x 12" in a portable file cart like this . There is a lid on this cart so the light won't fade my paper
I keep any scrap large enough to punch a flower, corner die cut. tag, etc.
To keep things organized I have a zip lock bag for "each" color of my cardstock. I put the scraps in with the full size sheets so I remember to use them for small things . When I started I put the scraps in a little box and forgot to use them . The Hefty 2 & 1/2 gallons size plastic bags hold 12" x 12" CS or paper
I keep my 8 1/2 " x 11" CS in a file cabinet and the 12" x 12" in a portable file cart like this . There is a lid on this cart so the light won't fade my paper
Barbara you are a hoot...lol.
I keep really small pieces if i know I will use them. Other than that I pitch them. It really doesnt take long to become over run with small scraps.
blessings.
I keep anything I can get a punch out of. I am getting a little over run, so I think its time to make some "homemade" paper to use them up. I go to my scraps before I cut into a new piece of paper. It was a hard habbit to form, but I'm glad I force myself to do it.
I may have to try the baggies. Last week I volunteered to organize a craft to make ribbon book marks for a craft project for 14 moms and daughters at our book club. Lots of fun and the girls are very creative, but I have lots of full sheets with one punch out of the middle right now. Next time I will take pre-cut squares for them to punch.
I used to keep all but the tiniest pieces. Then, I sorted my scraps and organized them, so I's use them more. Only, I don't use them any more. I still save pieces, like Deb wrote, that about the size of a card front, but I still have way more scraps then I will ever remember to use up.
__________________ *Alice* All science is either physics or stamp collecting. -Lord Kelvin
I keep all my scraps together with my cardstock and check those before I cut. I really don't have a lot of scraps but about 2x2 is the smallest I keep.
That's a fabulous idea for a never-ending card, I always find it hard to come up with ideas for them.
On the scraps - I used to keep more, just like I used to keep spare punched pieces, but I got realistic and realised I never used a lot of the smaller ones, so now I ditch them.
Larger scraps of plain cardstock I keep in bags sorted by colour. Patterned paper goes in a pizza box, and I try to remember to look there first when I need small coloured scraps.
I keep all my scraps in a binder. I use those clear plastic page protectors so I use one for each color and keep them in the binder. So I check there first if I need a smaller piece before cutting up my large piece of cardstock.
I'll punch small shapes out of the little scraps and store them. anytime I want a little something for a card, I just go to my little box and get what I want. Just last week I made a card where I wove a 4x4 square from scraps. I do go through scraps...which are sorted by color.....and toss every now and then.
I don't keep anything smaller than an ATC card size. Actually if I have slightly bigger scraps, I'll cut them to 2.5 x 3.5 rectangles, and keep them in a small basket on my desk. They make for a quick grab when I need a little accent on my cards.
I do too. I have a file folder for each color of cardstock in my lateral file. With the cardstock in each file, I have a small ziplock with that color of cardstock. When I take out a specific color to use, I take out the ziplock of scraps too, and choose from the scraps when punching, etc. This really works well, I use up my scraps and use less cardstock this way. :-) LM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdeyes9
I do keep really tiny scraps..If In can punch a flower I keep it!
I keep all my scraps in a binder. I use those clear plastic page protectors so I use one for each color and keep them in the binder. So I check there first if I need a smaller piece before cutting up my large piece of cardstock.
I love this suggestion! I am going to have to steal this. With the kids getting out of school I'll have lots of binders to steal!
It's funny I saw this post, because today I put up a tutorial for the Serendipity technique on my blog. It's so much fun to make and I get to recycle all those scraps from pretty papers.
I save those scraps in a pretty box and I got them out today. It was such fun! I dumped them on the floor, sorted out some that caught my eye and went to work creating.
Like Barbara Jay, I store my 8 1/2 by 11 cardstock in hanging files. I put cardstock scraps in the front of each color 2 by 2ish is about the smallest I keep. I check the small pieces first and use them often.
What a great question and I really love that card number 2.
I have all my paper in sterlite stackable drawers divided by color. Inside each drawer is a ziplock baggie that I keep scraps that are at least 3x3 inches. Anything smaller is considered trash (to me that is). (Did I just hear a bunch of gasps? lol). I know, how dare me!!
With black and Blush Blossom I save almost every piece since I use them for punch art-faces, eyes, etc-and Blush Blossom is retired, I only use it with punches now. With other colors I keep anything I can punch a shape from, usually at least a 3 inch square. I go thru them every year to keep them under control.
It's funny I saw this post, because today I put up a tutorial for the Serendipity technique on my blog. It's so much fun to make and I get to recycle all those scraps from pretty papers.
I save those scraps in a pretty box and I got them out today. It was such fun! I dumped them on the floor, sorted out some that caught my eye and went to work creating.
Like Barbara Jay, I store my 8 1/2 by 11 cardstock in hanging files. I put cardstock scraps in the front of each color 2 by 2ish is about the smallest I keep. I check the small pieces first and use them often.
Thanks for the link to your blog. This is an interesting thing to do with all those little scraps. I am adding your blog to my fav's. and I love your quotes too.
Thanks for the link to your blog. This is an interesting thing to do with all those little scraps. I am adding your blog to my fav's. and I love your quotes too.
I have mine in those white bins from Walmart. I punch flowers and butterflies, dragonflies etc from the smaller pieces. As I do cards with dolls on the front those smaller pieces can cut out hair, shoes etc. Some of the clothes for the 2x2 dolls ( Quickkutz) take tiny pieces so I utilize most of my scraps in one way or another. Don't throw many out.
I always forget to go to my scraps first. I have four plastic medium size bins that I put my scraps in by color. They are almost full. I then have a cardboard box that I keep right by my desk to put scraps in. I need to reorganize the way I store them. I like the idea of the large Ziplock bags. I didn't know they made them that big..I gotta get me some of them.. Thanks for all the good tips ladies.
I think people go nuts about scraps because of their odd shapes/rough edges. I picked several sizes that I keep, i.e. 1x3, 2x2, 3x3, 3x5, 4x6, etc. When I'm finished with a scrap project, I cut my scraps into those shapes/sizes. Anything that doesn't fit that criteria, gets dumped. As a result, I'm able to keep my scraps neat, separated by size, and I find I'm much more apt to use them.
I have a hanging file box for my scraps. I have 2 folders for each color; one for CS and the other for PP. I used to keep everything, but I too, had a wake up call when I was overrun with scraps. 1x3 is the smallest I keep now. It was hard to train myself to go to my scraps, but it has become second nature.
It kinda depends on how many of them I generate. If I am trimming lots of 1/4" strips off my Chirstmas card stock, I will save those for borders, etc. When I have a bunch of the same size, it makes for quick cards with minimal designing. Otherwise, I'll save scraps that will work with my punches and nothing smaller. I use a 13 pocket coupon keeper for each Stampin' Up! color family. Easy to find what I need when I need it.
I keep my scraps (of all sizes) in the same package with the card stock, then they are right there. Now this can get too full and I did have a large basket where I kept the scraps according to Stampin' Up! color families (Brights, Subtles, etc.) in the extra plastic bags that I ordered. I need to go through that and take out old colors, but mostly I like having scraps right with my new paper so I can use it up more easily.
I do basically the same as Barbara Jay does. A file cabinet for 81/2x11 and I use the Cropper Hopper for my 12x12. I keep my ziplock bags of scraps with my 12x12. I never keep dp unless it is larger than a 4x6. I only use dp on scrapbook pages. I have my folders of cs by colour. My dp is by colour family...reds, blues, greens etc. or by season...ex...Xmas, Valentines etc...
I usually punch out flowers for irregular shaped paper before I throw it out. Depending on the design of the paper, I keep them in an envelop for future use or let my preschooler do her pasting on her lil art book. Sometimes I let her punch out the flowers. It helps with her fine motor skills. I usually check for scraps before I cut out a paper.
i save anything that's not a tiny sliver or really tiny bit - but i keep my scraps with the original pad in a polypocket (the ones you put in ringbinders) to keep them all together. that way, when i am looking for a piece of paper i know if i've got a scrap i can use rather than cutting into a new piece. i know i'd never look thru a box of scraps for a matching piece!
Love the idea of keeping the scraps by color in a zip-lock bag and then putting them with the full size CS of the same color...really great idea...I too keep my 81/2 x 11 in a file cabinet and NOW I will be keeping by scraps there also...thanks so much for such a good idea!!!
How much patterned paper or even Cardstock I save depends on a few things. How much do I like it and how much is left and what do i use it for and how hard/expensive is it to buy more?!
For example, I keep every tiny scrap of my favourite papers especially if they are retired. I can often use bits for paper piecing. As I use up the pack, I will finally let go of those tiny bits as I won't have enough large pieces to coordinate with on the card. But I've used long skinny tone-on-tone pieces as borders, sometimes punching or die cutting them if they are wide enough, to help accent and separate two larger scale prints.
I find them easy to store, save and use as I keep them tucked in the front of the paper pack which I then store upside down in a CD storage box. I write the name of the pack on the front cover so I can read it when the pad is stored upside down but I can usually recognize the pack from the patterns on the cover. 12x12 gets stored in the plastic bag the paper is sold in. I fold over the sticky part of the bag so I don't have to deal with it anymore and store them flat or upside down too but I just flip the paper right side up within the bag.
If I only have a single sheet of paper from way, way back before I bought only paper packs, I'd be willing to sacrifice larger pieces as I probably won't use them and it was likely a miracle that it even got used at all! Tho sacrifice often means chopping it and including it in packages I send for swapping as a little bonus. I just can't seem to find an efficient way to store these scraps where I see and use them often.
My space is too small to use some of the clever ideas I've seen and single papers with no coordinating patterns usually take me ages to coordinate with anything else and I often use more than one paper per card. Betsy's Make It monday video for PTI on matching unrelated papers was great but I just don't have as many patterned papers to go through to look for matches.
As for Cardstock, I keep smaller pieces of white and ivory as I use them for punching flowers and for sentiment panels, tags and banners. I too save tiny bits of retired colours I like such as sage, blush and pale plum. And again, especially if they are good colours for die cutting flowers and leaves. Even basic colours, I save anything 1.5x3 or 2x2 ish. Or long skinny strips as I plan on weaving them or doing that cool chevron technique one day. I store them in an old tall skinny jam jar with a neat vintage label!
__________________ RebeccaEdnie Mixed Media Artist, Paper Crafter, Jewelry Designer SCSDirtyDozenAlumni Www.Boxofchocolatescrafts.Com YouNeverKnowWhatI’mGoingtoMake
What is the smallest scrap you keep?
