++ Keep your scraps organized so you will know what you have and where to find them.

++ Before going shopping see if you have a color of paper in your stash that would work for your layout. It might be that a shopping trip is unnecessary.

++ Save your scraps of acid free lignin free paper and use them for punches.

++ This one is tricky! Buy supplies on sale. The key is to be picky. If you buy 5 pieces of paper and only ever use 3, you just turned you asset into a liability. Choose your papers carefully and be sure that you will use them when you buy them.

++ Companies constantly are changing the styles and colors of their papers. When you go to your local scrapbooking store, always first look in the reduced bin. Old paper to others may be new to you and means money in your pocket. Using this trick you can sometimes save up to 75% of the money.

++ Buy in bulk and split the product with a friend. Look around online, sometimes you can find supplies that are cheaper in bulk, don't just buy them and have them sit on a shelf waiting to be used SOMEDAY. Split the items with a friend or friends and split the cost.

++ Get together with friends and share scraps. Make it open door policy when you scrap with your friends that your scrap pile is open. What were scraps for your friend is new stuff to you.

++ Sometimes you can buy acid-free lignin-free cardstock at your local stationery store or business supply discount chain for a FRACTION of the price a scrapbooking store charges for it.

++ Minimize waste: If you make a mistake on a page do not throw it away. Instead re-do the page- cover the mistake with colored paper or use Zig Opaque white pen as a safe white out.

++ You can get 6 photo mats from one sheet without a tad of waste. To accomplish this, you cut your 4x6 photos down a tad and bobs your uncle, you have six new mats for one low price of a sheet of card stock. It you do not NEED six mats, not to fret, put these in a stash for later use as matte, or they work nicely to turn catty cornered behind photos.

++ Use your scanner to create a unique patterned paper, perfect for your layout. Scan items of clothing, for example, that match the clothing in your photographs. Print the paper and use as part of your background or as a tag or other embellishment.

++ Save and organize your scraps. It's amazing when a small scrap is perfectly suited for a card or scrapbook page. And you can always use the backside of white-core cardstock or patterned paper when you need white.

How to Save Paper by using Scrap Papers on your Layout

Supplies:
Card Stock
Glue
Layout

In the first example, I was almost completely finished with my layout when I realized I had a quote I really wanted to use. What I didn't want to do it to introduce another patterned paper. Therefore, I simplified my layout, as I simplified my budget, but not using additional supplies. I turned the page over and snipped a piece of the Rebecca Sower pattern paper that was hidden by the Basic Grey overlay.

In this layout, I used a small portion of a pink gingham paper to frame and highlight my copied song. I put the extra paper right into my stash for later use on frames, poems or the like.

On this layout, I used LOTS of those scraps to highlight, frame and provide background. It is busy, but isn't that was the first day of school is all about?

Another thing that you can do with bits and pieces of paper is make serendipity squares. These are very fun and whimsical and can really add a flair to your creations. These can be made into a border or put as a corner piece or even a center piece, your imagination is the only limit.

And then an example of using the squares to soften a sympathy card.

There are so many uses for scraps or left over pieces of paper. I encourage you to resolve to choose a method for yourself to store the remnants and get creative while making the most of every $$$ you put into purchasing those beautiful papers.

See more of Janell's work in our gallery.