Earlier in my scrapbooking career, I would see gorgeous new paper lines and lose my mind purchasing 2-3 sheets of each sheet within a line if the paper was double-sided. If there were tags, quotes or sayings on one side I definitely had to get multiples so that I had “enough” to use the tags, journal cards, etc. and still be able to use the pattern on the back. As you can imagine this was quite expensive.
Fast forward to today. I have a lot of “retired” paper lines, untouched. I have more flowers and embellishments than a small craft store. Between your scrapbook stash and those of your closest friends and scrapbook pals, could you open a small craft store? 🙂 Now there are 3 scrapbook supplies I never buy at full price.
Paper
If you abandon the idea that you have to have the latest paper lines as soon as they hit the stores, you can actually find shockingly cheap inexpensive paper at garage sales. I’ve seen paper as low as 20 sheets for 10 cents. Most craft stores have 1 or 2 garage sales a year. As an added bonus, sign up to sell some of your stash and then you can use your profit to purchase additional supplies at a discount to double your benefit.
Paper pads are always on sale at your local Michael’s or Jo-Ann’s but I caution you to refer back to my post about buying paper pads or packs that contain a lot of paper that you may not need. I would use the 90/10 rule here, not 80/20 because 20% is too much paper leftover that you won’t use. I do have some ideas about using paper you don’t particularly care for in this scrap use post.
Tools
In particular, I don’t buy punches and other hand-held tools, binding tools, embossing tools, or even some of the machines at full price because they always go on sale when a new color comes out.
Because there are those who have to have the latest version of everything , it is actually to your benefit because they’ll be selling their old one at the next garage sale. Honestly, I don’t have any problem “cinching” my albums with my turquoise Cinch just because they have a pink or yellow one, or because they came out with a Heidi Swapp version. 😉
This is not a knock on buying latest gadget, but rather an option for savings. I sold my first Cricut to buy the latest die cutting machine at that time. I get it. We like our toys.
So if do need like to have the latest toys, but you want to save also, sell your old machine and offset the cost the new one. Cricut does have a trade-up program. <—-You can click the affiliate link, which means I may get a small commission for referring you to their site if you make a purchase.
Another option is to get with a group of friends and share major tools, but if you are buying a particular item to share, you still don’t need to pay full price. and hopefully I have given you some options to think about.
Sometimes I check E-bay before I buy certain craft tools. I have also seen a few tools in Goodwill over the years.
Albums
Aside from the fact that I make most of my albums now, I always see plenty of albums at garages sales. I have seen albums in the “free or giveaway box” at garage sales. No, they were not “ugly ducklings” that no one wanted. In fact, I picked up a few that were still in their original packaging.
I also see albums on E-bay and Amazon at pretty good prices.
What about you? What craft items do you save on and what tips do you have? Leave it in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.
(Note: I am an affiliate of Share-a-Sale. This means I may receive a small commission for referring you to their program if you join.)