Saturday, August 11, 2018

Card Making/Scrapbooking Supplies

Susan, who makes some of the most beautiful cards I've ever seen, was asking about my card making supplies, the other day.  I am an occasional card maker, doing so only as and when I need a card for a birthday or a shower, etc.  For the most part, I use leftover scrapbooking material for my card making and, when I sit down to make a card, these are the two containers I take out, because they contain the majority of my card making supplies:


Containers of Card Making Supplies

The clear plastic box contains card stock, scrapbooking papers, stencils, some stickers, and the package of pens (some of which have dried up, I noticed, the other day).  The round box holds all the pairs of scissors, some embellishments, glue, etc.


Containers and their contents

The various pairs of scissors, including two pairs of daughter's safety scissors (blue as well as pink!).  Most of them are decorative edge scissors.  Sorry about the glare from the window (even with the drapes drawn); the plastic bags in the foreground contain assorted sequins, the card of rhinestones, and a bag of "gold" rings (bought years ago):



The Equipment and Embellishments

Everything fits into the box, but, I do have to dig around to find what I need:

Everything Back in the Box

Other embellishments, such as buttons and lace, are stored with my sewing supplies, and are pulled out as needed; fabric flowers are stored separately in a bag with wreath making supplies (I have an empty drawer in a stack of plastic drawers that I plan to put them in, one day).

The cardstock and scrapbooking papers, and the colored pens:


Papers and Pens


I try to keep the different things separated by type, so all the stencils are in a plastic sleeve:


Stencils

It does mean that I have to pull everything out, when I want to find a particular stencil, but that's fine with me. 

Most of the stickers are in a bag, too:

Stickers


I also keep some of my papers separated for ease of use.  All the Christmas themed paper are in one plastic sleeve:

Christmas Themed Papers

All the larger pieces of patterned papers are in their own sleeve:

Larger Pieces of Patterned Paper


All the bits and pieces of patterned paper leftovers are in one plastic sleeve (top sleeve in photo, below), all the bits and pieces of solid colored cardstock leftovers are in another (middle sleeve in photo, below), and there is also a bag of assorted bits of papers I had bought for $1 from a specialty paper store I had visited when I accompanied daughter on a field trip, when she was in high school (bottom bag in photo, below):

Smaller Pieces of Papers

Yes, all the papers fit into the box:

All Back in the Box

And the lid can be closed:


All Contained!

Everything is sorted and organized by type, but, everything gets pulled out of the sleeves when I need to find the items I want for a particular project, and then, the table gets messy!  Maybe, one day, I might organize things by color, but that's for later on, when I have more time to sit and really fine tune my organizing!  For now, I am just glad that things are somewhat sorted and contained.

I have some additional cardstock, scrapbooking papers, and stickers stored on a shelf in the spare bedroom:

Additional Supplies

They include some scrapbook pages from which daughter removed the pictures because she needed them for scrapbooks she needed to do as high school assignments for her AP Spanish and AP English classes.  It is my intention to do them over and put back into my scrapbook albums; yet another "when I am retired and have the time" project!  LOL!

I haven't scrapbooked sinced daughter turned sixteen.  We started taking pictures with our digital cameras and cell phones around that time; daughter wouldn't print out the pictures for me and I couldn't figure out how to do it, myself.  That's when I decided to make cards to use up the scrapbooking supplies.

I used to buy scrapbook papers and stickers, etc., when they went on sale, often for $.10 for the 8" x 11" and $.20 for the 12" x 12" papers.  Once I bought a 100 sheet packet of 12 x 12 paper for $3.00.    At those prices, it was hard to resist!  I have promised myself that I will not buy anymore scrapbooking/card making supplies till all this stock is used up!  Most probably, I will donate some of it, especially the stickers, one of these days (when I get around to really going through and organizing stuff).  Until then, they take up about one linear foot of space on that shelf.          

So, that is my stash of scrapbooking-turned-card making supplies!    What about you?  Do you scrapbook or make cards?  Do you have a big stash of supplies?  

8 comments:

  1. Your supplies look organized to me. Just as soon as you organize them by colors, you will wish that they were organize by pattern or some other way. I think it will always be a "messy" hobby. I have several hobbies like that. I like the creating, but not the cleaning up.

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    1. LOL, Live and Learn, I'm sure you are right! I don't want to have 100 bits of paper stored in 100 separate envelopes, either! That would be too much! That's how my button box is organized - all the different buttons sorted by color and design in their own little bags! I tend to be a bit OCD, that way!

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  2. I rarely make cards and am not into scrapbooking. I did have a stack of cardstock and stencils but I gave it away years ago.
    I have a big plastic box to store stickers, ribbons, fabric paint, pens and little decorative items, and like you I have to go through the entire box to find something. 😀

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    1. As long as things are contained in a box or two, I am fine. But, having to go through a box of stuff to find one particular item (almost always, the thing I want is at the very bottom) can get old very quickly!

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  3. I just entered my comment on this posting on Friday's comments, but I want to add that we have a new Dollar Store in town which I visited for the first time today. It has a wonderful selection of art/scrap-booking/office supplies and it was all I could do to keep from buying a whole bunch of great stuff! It is all laid out so beautifully. There is something about new notebooks and sketchbooks and pens and markers and so on that is so appealing! But I know that it will all be there when I need something, so I just bought a pair of extra large rubber gloves in the housewares section, as DH often needs some when he is using some paint or chemical stuff in the garage or workshop and then wants mine. If they fit him well I shall buy a couple more pairs of gloves to have handy. (is that a pun?)

    Well, I can see that with all your supplies you have more great possibilities for your retirement, along with piano playing and all the knitting and sewing, as well as social activities of course.

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    1. Oh, I have to walk quickly past the craft/office supplies sections when I go to the dollar stores! However, I might have to go to an office supplies store very soon because I want to buy myself a paper shredder!

      Ha, ha, yes, card making, sewing, knitting, piano playing, gardening (once it gets cooler) and, who knows, maybe even a bit of painting (it's been awhile since I last painted); I will have plenty to keep me occupied!

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  4. Bless, I wrote a great long reply and Blogger did not like it. That shows you just how long my reply was. So I shall try not to be so wordy this time.

    Firstly, thank you for the compliment. Secondly, you have organized your supplies extremely well by putting them in separate sleeves. You will want to pick out your pretty patterned paper first and then match it to your solid coloured card stock next. Those small scraps are perfect for card making. If you ever buy paper pads, I would keep all those paper pieces separate by placing them within the pages of the paper pad. Those papers are coordinated to make putting the patterns together easy. I hope you will continue to show us what you make.

    Then I went on to explain that I have been trimming out some of my supplies from past crafting projects. I no longer do stained glass, oil painting or wood burning/carving. I will continue to make a few jewellery pieces and macrame for gifting others, but my main passion is scrap booking and card making. I can continue "painting" with my inks (water based and alcohol) in some of my cards. So use this new leisure time to explore all those hobbies you like and slowly your real passions will dictate which areas you will want to continue.

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    1. Oh, I am sorry your first response got eaten up by Blogger, Susan! Don't you hate it when it does that? But thank you for the second response! Lots of good tips!

      I remember you cut down some of your scraps of paper into uniform sizes, and I thought of doing that, but, I am just going to keep the scraps as they are for the time being. Without a paper trimmer, cutting them down to size with a pair of scissors can be a bit of a chore.

      I would still like to sort things out by color, I think. But, that's for one of those days when I have caught up with all the other things that are more urgent (like cleaning!) :D

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