As a scrapbooker and paper crafter I love paper. I love the colors and textures and weights. I love to look at it and touch it and stroke it. I’ve even been know to use it – occasionally, lol! OK, I use it a lot. But the question arises, what to do with all those scraps of paper left over at the end of a project? I can’t bear to throw any of it away.
I was forever gathering and collecting and saving and, yes, hoarding even the smallest scraps of paper, … just in case. I had been doing it for a long time and had tons. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. But I’ve been in therapy (paper craft therapy, of course!) and can now deal with it, yay!
I’ve tried various things over the years and they would work for a while, but what to do to win all the time was the question.
One of the first things to help was to realize what kind of scrapper I am. I’m very visual, so when I realized I was inspired by seeing my papers, embellishments, ribbons, etc., things began to come together. It meant the scraps hidden in the card files had to come out, as did my beautiful papers and everything else.
OK, I can’t have everything out at the same time, but rotating the supplies I have on view helps a lot. I also like to have everything to hand and not have to get up every two minutes to search for what I need.
Finding what works has been enormously freeing, and I’ve become much more productive. So here’s what I did.
How to deal with the scraps of paper Tip 1:
I was challenged to think back over the last few months and count the number of times I really had used those 1/16 inch shavings I’d kept. Guess what I discovered? I hadn’t used them! Was that a surprise?
So rule one, don’t keep anything less than about 2 inches by 2 inches – just big enough to stamp an image on, or be a mat for a small photograph.
Tip 2:
To make it easier to throw out scraps of paper and cardstock, I keep a tub close at hand and drop all those little, fiddly bits of paper into it for recycling – by the paper recycling professionals, not me! Knowing they will be re-used and not thrown on a dump somewhere makes it easier to let them go. And who knows, they could come back as eco art board and the likes.
Tip 3:
Gather a bundle of strong, clear, plastic bags – ziplock bags work a treat! Separate your scraps by individual colors, color groups or designer, whatever works best for you. Keep the system you use for storing your papers if that works well.
With everything in see-through bags it’s very quick to find what I’m looking for.
Tip 4:
But the next best tip was to keep these in an easily accessible container on my desk, or at least within arms reach.
I use a large, food storage box, about 4 inches deep, and the bags stand upright in it. This is shallow enough for me to see in, yet high enough to keep papers upright. Well, ok, it’s probably the quantity of bags in there that keep themselves upright!
Being so close at hand it’s very easy to reach for scraps, as well as to drop papers into the bags immediately so my desk is less cluttered – another bonus.
Of course, this will only work so long as I use my scraps of paper. If I don’t, they’ll overflow and spill. But I can honestly say I use them all the time now, which I didn’t do when they were hidden in boxes or folders. Mind you, I’m still tempted to put every minute scrap into the bags, but one thing at a time, lol!
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