More Crafting on a Budget!

Recently I did a post about Crafting on a budget. If you missed it, you can see it here. The post included some tips on how to save money and stretch your crafting budget. Making the most of your paper, and especially your scraps is a great way to stretch your supplies and get the most value you can from them. I had a post recently that started out looking like a mess, but was using scraps of cardstock and Designer Series Paper (DSP) to create fantastic backdrops for quick cards. You can read all the details here. 
Storing your paper so that it is easy to access when you are crafting is also a great way to make sure you use up your smaller pieces of cardstock. I store my cardstock in a file cabinet with a hanging file for each colour. I put a file folder in front of the cardstock package, and any scraps I have while crafting go in the file folder. The next time I need that colour, I can check the file folder first to see if there is a piece of cardstock that is less than a full 8 1/2 x 11, but big enough for my current project.
I also save the strips that I trim off of my layers. We end up with a lot of 1/2 inch strips, when we cut 1/4 inch borders for card layers!! I keep these sorted by colour family, and use them to make backgrounds for future projects. 

I make these on 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inch cardstock, and then trim them to the layer size I need when I make my card. These are fantastic for quick cards, I usually just add a greeting, and let the beautiful background do the rest of the work!!

Here is a finished card - quick, easy, uses up scraps to stretch my crafting dollars, and beautiful. It does it all!!!!

Why not make some backgrounds for yourself today, and be ready to make a quick card the next time you are in a rush.

Happy Stamping Hugs,
Connie