Organize Your Distress Inks and Stains

 Hello, Scrap Your Scrappers! I am so excited to be sharing my first post with you today, all about organizing your Distress products.

If you're anything like me, your thoughts turn toward getting your stash whipped into shape about this time of year, and the task can be downright overwhelming. That's why I get so excited when I come across an idea that is simple to execute and eye-appealing as well.

I'm talking about this cute, fun, and functional jewelry organizer. You can find these almost anywhere. I've seen them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and also in department stores like Ross, Marshall's, and TJ Maxx. Of course, I was coupon-savvy and picked mine up at Michael's with a 40% off! :)

This pattern looks great with my pink scraproom walls!

This particular model has 30 square pockets - the perfect size for a regular size Distress Ink pad, with plenty of room for a foam pad in front or behind it.

 You can also store re-inkers and stains in the pockets...

 And the bottom 3 pockets, which are slightly larger, are perfect for storing your ink blending tools.

Some of my friends store their inks and foam pads secured together with a rubber band, which makes the jewelry organizer more portable for them and also prevents the problem of those pesky lids falling off.

See? Simple, cute, and functional! I hope you find this solution helpful. If so, you might be interested in something else I've created to help you avoid purchasing duplicates of your inks and stains (we want to use up what we've got, right?). It's a complete checklist of all the current Ranger Distress products. Just download and print it, check off all the products you currently own, and you're on your way to organizing your stash. It's totally FREE! Visit my blog for more information.

Till next time!

Using Up Your Ribbons, Brads, and Buttons

Hello everyone!  I think most of us can agree that as scrapbookers, we are chronic hoarders of supplies and papers and embellishments!  I know, I for one, can never get enough of all the cute stuff that is out there.  I have had a stash of little embellishments for years and years.  I wanted to share with you today a couple of thoughts on not only creating with ribbons, brads, and buttons, but also how I store these delectable scrapbooky tidbits!

First of all, I have about six large embroidery floss organizers in which I keep my ribbon and small embellishments organized.  The ribbon takes up three of the boxes and I keep each length on its on cardboard spool.  I sort the ribbon by color - one box houses reds, pinks, yellows, and oranges.  A second box is blues, greens, and purples and the third box is all my neutrals and metallics.

I also sort buttons and brads into color families as you can see from the small sample shown in the picture. Sorting these embellishments by color makes finding what I need, when I need it really fast and easy.

There are also brads, buttons, and ribbon embellishments that I keep in their original package until they are down to one or two.  I have quite a few chipboard sticker-backed embellishments that I classify as buttons because of their button-like appearance, such as these from My Mind's Eye.  Maggie Holmes has released two or three collections now with bow embellishments made from ribbon.  And brads can take all forms from simple little painted accents to these cute fabric covered numbers by Cosmo Cricket.

For the layout I'm sharing today, I decided to really challenge myself and stick to ONLY brads, buttons, and ribbon as my embellishments.  I started out by putting down several strips of paper and topped those with my title and my matted photos.

Next, came the fun part:  choosing amongst my embellishments for just the right ones!  Here's a sampling of what I pulled out of my stash.

Ultimately, I used my bits and pieces to create both a top and bottom border.  I confess, I did pull some twine into the mix to dress up the buttons a bit!

 

 

And just for a little variety, here is how I would use the same kinds of embelishments to create this cute little accent tag which could be later added to a card or a layout....

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  And I hope you are inspired to use up those little embellishments we all have floating about!


 
  Deedee Horton
   Creative Team Member of SCRAP YOUR SCRAPS 

Deedee's post really inspired me to pull out my buttons. I don't have a huge collection, and most of mine are pretty simple, but I do have quite a few of them and I don't use them much. I am really loving the rainbow trend and I have a thing for clouds, so I decided to make a card with a rainbow theme. I started pulling out patterned paper to make my rainbow, but I remembered Deedee's challenge to herself and put it all back, grabbing my rarely used ribbon instead.

I didn't take photos of the process because I was sneaking in a few minutes of crafting while my children miraculously slept at the same time! Instead I'll explain what I did and show you the finished card:

I used a scrap of pale blue cardstock as a card front and small pieces of redline tape to adhere the top of each of the ribbon strips down. Then I pulled them (mostly) straight and added another strip to the bottom. This means that the middles aren't adhered which adds a bit of movement and dimension to the card. Lastly I chose buttons to match and stuck them on with glue dots. A bit of Glossy Accents squirted underneath assures they won't be going anywhere. Two cloud diecuts, a bit of dimensional adhesive and a Lawn Fawn stamp finished off this super easy card. I put it on a white card base to help the colors pop.

I am definitely going to challenge myself to get more buttons and some of my decorative brads o to a layout soon too! Thanks, Deedee for such great inspiration!

  Tiffany O'Grady
   Creative Team Member of SCRAP YOUR SCRAPS 

How do you store your scraps?

Today, I would like to share with you my scraps organisation. Well, "organisation" is a big word for what I actually do, but it works great for me. The simpler the easier, right?
I think that I use this system since I started to scrapbook 6 years ago, so I never had to do a big scraps-cleaning.

I store my patterned paper scraps by manufacturer (and if possible by collections, but I often put together several collections from the same manufacturer).
I use two cheap albums, and I labeled each pocket with the brand (using a tab punch). Honestly, I didn't really need to label them because I remember each paper's brand very easily... But it looks prettier!

And I store my cardstock scraps by... size. I know this is unusual, but this is what I felt the most natural.

I have 4 flat boxes: one for the tiny scraps, one for the small scraps, one for the medium scraps and one for the large scraps. I also have another box for the neutral scraps (except the large ones), as they are the ones I use the most.
When I need to make a card, I check the large box to see if I can find a card base.
When I need journaling strips, I check my neutral box.
When I want to die-cut something, I check my small box.
When I want to stamp a sentiment for a card, I check my tiny box.
When I want a mat for a photo, I check my medium box, and so on.

Of course, that means that then, I have to find the right color, but it works for me. It also helps me to use my smaller scraps more, and not only the bigger ones, because I usually don't use a large scrap if I only need a small one.

I use recycled boxes (probably chocolate boxes!) that I covered with paper and then with punched circles (great way to use your smaller scraps!).

And the most important: I cut all mys scraps with my trimmer, so that I have rectangles with clean edges, even the tiniest ones! When I was keeping my scraps like they were shaped, I often bent them accidentally or I damaged their edges, and I usually wasn't really inspired by them. Now, they look "cleaner", they are also easier to store, and I love to use them!

I also tried the 6 by 6 scraps storage (inspired by this great idea by Betsy Veldman), but it didn't work for me, as I usually struggle to use this size... So I donated all of them to a friend who started papercrafting: she was delighted and so I was!


To finish this post, I would say that the best way to store your scraps is probably to know how you think when you scrapbook: are you looking for color, for size, for pattern, for manufacturer, for theme (Christmas, Halloween...)?

But once our scraps are stored...  What could we do with them? I found the very best ideas about using your scraps on Melissa Stinson's blog, with her brilliant "Use your scraps" weeks.

I love this quote from her:
"It would seem that my best tip for using up big scraps would be to not think of them as scraps at all." (Melissa Stinson)
This is also how I see my scraps, and not only my bigger ones: they are really part of my stash and I use them all the time, because they are within reach.

And you, how do you store your scraps? Please, share your tips in the comments below!

Isbaha
Creative Team Member of SCRAP YOUR SCRAPS 

And now, help me to welcome our first guest contributor: Janet-CherryPicker! Janet as always the most wonderful ideas, and I'm so glad that she accepted to share this one on Scrap Your Scraps blog!


Here is a GREAT way to organize/repurpose scraps and also a great way to corral/see/use
all those PL/SS/FP pocket-page cards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UWhpLzTv23U

So, today I did just that. I got out some scraps and made mini-books.
Not only did it help clean out my scrap bin, but I now have lots of scraps easily accessible when I just need a bit of paper.
Following the video instructions (and make sure you do use binder clips), here are my finished 'pads' and some little tips that helped me.

I cut my scraps into 3 sizes: 2.5 inches wide, 3 inches wide and 4 inches wide.
I used smaller-ish scraps. Anything that was 12 inches long I left in my scrap bin.
I sorted all my white and cream scraps separate since that is what I go-to most when using scraps.
I used duct tape for my 'books'. It is strong and it is something we all have.

When duct tape is on, use a bone folder to help really secure the pads to the tape

by 'burnishing' the pad edge with bond folder. Do this a few times. It helps grab all the papers into the seam.

After I had all the duct tape on, I wanted to cover it up with something a little more attractive since these books will live on my desk/shelf.
Tip: Don't use washi- it will NOT hold. But it was worth a try, right? LOL.

I just used patterned paper that matches my room decor. Cut to same width as paper.
Position paper to seam and fold to create creases. This helps when gluing.

I adhered paper end using Scotch Quick Dry glue. You will want to use a liquid adhesive in case you need to adjust paper to seam. Be sure to have enough adhesive in the creased end area and very tips to get a tight fit. Use bone folder to really get a tight fit and sharp creases. Wipe away any excess glue.

Super easy. Here are my white and cream scrap 'books'.

Tip: Don't worry about color families and such. Just pay attention to width and when I gathered papers, I used the waterfall method-sorting from the shortest to the longest. I even left on the branding strip on some scraps in order to get the width I needed.

See how pretty and organized they look!

___________________________________________________

Now, you know I couldn't stop there- we never do, right?
So I did the same thing but organized my Simple Stories Snap card sets.
They are much easier (and more fun) to use when in a book form.

I used the packaging for the FRONT and the BACK of these books because you need to made a cover and back because the duct tape will 'ruin' your top and bottom cards. So if you are doing these for your journaling cards, use packaging or other scraps as your cover and back.
I used the packaging so I could see at a glance what was inside.

I did the 4x6 and the 3x4 size cards.

I REALLY like how these turned out. So easy to do and they are definitely more organized.

  Janet-CherryPicker
   Guest contributor for SCRAP YOUR SCRAPS