Making the most of your supplies

0124fmnsscrp.JPGTHE PAPER FLOWERS and “good fairy” die cuts on this page were embossed using Cuttlebug’s Swiss Dots and D’vine swirl folders, which can be found at


By Heidi Anne Giebel
Contributing writer

In today’s tight economic times, we are all looking for ways to save money. I am always on a mission to find creative ways to use my supplies to their fullest. Here are some ways to give old products a new lift with some slight alterations.

 Using every scrap: This one seems like a no-brainer but I cannot tell you how many scraps of paper I’ve just tossed away and consequently, wasted money. I have found that if I take all the coordinating scraps of paper and piece them together onto one base page, I can create a beautiful background for any photo. Tip: use all the scraps from a single company’s line of paper, it will be easier to piece the papers together and create continuity on your page.

Embossing folders: These little folders can really jazz up a tired looking page. Give your old paper flowers new life by popping them into one of these embossing folders. Take ink or chalk and swipe it over the top of the flowers to enhance the embossed look and create dimension. Emboss it to add texture and give it a new look. Emboss the title of your page or the journaling tags and enhance them further by doodling with an opaque gel pen.

 Alter photos: Instead of buying new patterned papers and embellishments to match photos, turn them to black and white or sepia tone. This will allow you to use these photos with almost any color scheme you already have.

 Ink and glitter: To create the illusion of continuity, ink and glitter the edges of papers and embellishments using the same color.
