4 Tips for Creating with Paper Scraps

Do you need help deciding what scraps to keep and when? Do you have an out of control scrap paper box-drawer-bag-tray-etc.? Our creative ambassador, Daniel West, is here with 4 tips for creating with scraps that will help you make more with less mess.

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Hey there! Daniel West, here with some great advice on how to use scraps to make more with less mess. Number four is gonna hurt, but in a good way!

TIP #1 — Plan for Scraps

When you design your primary project, keep in mind how your die cutting, heat embossing and stamping will create leftovers. I like to cut up my full sheets of card stock into quarter panels. When I die cut a panel, I leave windows for shaker cards! When I heat emboss a sentiment, I make several on the same panel and die cut them or trim them down into strips immediately, tucking them behind the stamp set they came from for future use.

When I created the shaker card in this post, I knew I wanted to use the eggs for my bear to hold in a second card. So I staggered them in such a way as to create the window panel for my shaker. If I had just die cut the eggs, willy-nilly out of a random piece of card stock, I would have had to die cut them all twice.

Also, when I am going to stamp multiple images, I will die cut the image in a way to create a template for stamping. I will also tuck this template into the back of my storage pouch for future use.

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TIP #2 — Make a Scraps Project Immediately!

Instead of tucking the scraps away into a drawer or pouch, make another card with them right away. You already have everything out on your workspace. Take advantage of this opportunity. You will avoid breaking a decluttering rule — avoid handling things more than once. You also won’t add to your scraps pile and you’ll be the proud owner of an extra card to give away.

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TIP #3 — Keep Scraps organized

This leads me to organization of scraps. I keep my scraps in a few ways. The extra die cuts, stamped images and sentiments go back in the storage pockets with their stamps/dies. When I want to use that item again, I check for scraps before re-doing the work.

Since I plan my die cutting and sentiments, I don’t have a lot of extra small pieces of scraps to organize. If I happen to have a quarter panel of card stock leftover with a die cut hole, I store it back with its color family. Each color family has a space in an ink pad organizer that hold the panels.

If I have to use a half or whole sheet of card stock for die cutting, I will trim the left over into a quarter panel sized piece and store it.

And don’t forget to shop this stash often as you create!

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TIP #4 — Don’t Keep Every Scrap

Scandalous, I know! But hear me out. So many feel super guilty about throwing scraps away. This actually comes from a scarcity mindset that can become toxic and limiting. Something I call organizational peace matters more to me than saving a scrap of paper and a few pennies.

The beauty and appeal of a clean and organized environment makes me happy. When I end up with small a piece of scrap paper, less than 1/2 of a quarter panel, I will chuck it to keep my peace. Set a limit on what you will keep. You know yourself and your space. My limit is basically a quarter panel and my die cuts, too.

For the shaker card, I die cut the egg shapes out using Essential Eggs, Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, and a quarter panel of white cardstock and glued a panel of acetate to the back of it. Then, I adhered the bears from the Bear Ware Grand Tour and coordinating dies peeking in at different angles. I grabbed some Catherine Pooler Sequins and poured them over a card base of Hero Arts Antique Ivory cardstock. Then, I popped up the window panel with a double dose of foam tape and added a stored sentiment strip from the Positive Vibes, Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps.

For the second project, I stamped some dots from the Elegant Eggs stamp set on the front of an Antique Ivory panel with Catherine Pooler’s Bellini Ink. Then, I deckled the edges with Tim Holtz’s Torn Edge Trimmer and popped everything up on the front of an A2-sized white card base.

I added foiled sentiment I already had created from the Way with Words, Essentials by Ellen Hot Foil Stamps. To finish it off, I add more sequins from the same mix as the shaker.

The cards are really very different setups, but they are tied together by common elements. You can see, I added very little color to the project, letting a splash of Bellini and some sequins do the work for me. I also love the bit of subtle contrast between the ivory and white cardstocks!

I hope you found these tips helpful and loved the cards, too! I had fun creating them for you. If you make a two-for project like this, I’d love for you to post it on the socials and tag me! You can find me on Instagram, here! Have a wonderful week.

Hugs!

Daniel