Focus: Office Supplies

I’m a scrapper on a budget. It’s just not an option for me to purchase all the cutest embellishments, or the latest coordinating products. This issue influences my scrapping in many ways, and one of those ways is that I randomly wander around my house looking for things I can use on my layouts. :) I get creative and I’m always looking for a good deal. This week I used a chunky black paperclip on my card. I found a set of these paperclips on clearance at a large office supply store (they must have been $2 or less or I wouldn’t have bought them) and when I say ‘set,’ I mean a set of 8. If they had been in a scrapping aisle you know they would have been $2 for 4 clips at best.

So office supplies are an important part of our stash, and this week our designers give us lots of inspiration for using them creatively. First of all, here’s a crazy idea: use your staples to create a pattern!! I know!! Who knew?! ;) Well, for starters Meg and Katie knew. And Christine and Samantha both used staples to create a fun effect with their ribbon. Then there’s paperclips. Jessica does something cute with a pattern of them and lots of designers found special shaped paperclips that matched their layout’s theme. Good call. Enfys (another new designer!) found an extra-creative way to use hers when she made paint rollers with them!! And if you haven’t already, you have to check out Christine’s video tutorial about altering paperclips – homemade embellishments, custom made to match your pages perfectly.

I want to highlight Joni. She’s new to our team and we’re thrilled she’s joined us. The layout up top is from her and here are 2 more layouts, in addition to her super-cute, and useful, Best Work folder featured on Monday. For these layouts, she shared with us that she “grabbed the closest priority box” from a recent shipment of scrapping supplies and used the cardboard. I think that counts. And it looks fantastic! She altered it with ink and with stamps and that’s probably just scratching the surface of possiblities.

Ok, just one more. Erin, also a recent, fabulous addition to our team, went over and above. Check out how she used reinforcement stickers, cd sleeves, and even white-out, just to name a few – all in one layout!

This was a fun challenge and really a great set of projects from our designers. One last note: don’t forget about making your page safe for your photos. If you want your photos to last, the materials that are touching them need to be acid and lignin free. Usually we can get away with using elements that aren’t as safe, as long as they aren’t in direct contact with the page. Keep this in mind when you’re creating layouts that will be treasured long after today. And enjoy your supplies!!