Bruce the Chef

By: Tom Ambrozewicz

Scrapbooking stores and online sites are popping up around the world,
and these are places scrapbookers can visit to take classes and buy
endless amounts of paper, stickers, adhesives, embellishments, and
tools. Unfortunately, not everyone has an unlimited scrapbook budget
for these products. Working with a small bank account to create a
beautiful album can be a challenge, but with a little effort and
creativity, you can scrapbook frugally and no one will know the
difference.

Starting an album is always going to be the most expensive part of the
scrapbooking process, because you have to purchase the empty album. One
way you can side step this expense is to create a digital album
instead. However, for those of you who want the traditional bound
album, my best advice is to watch the sales fliers at your local craft
stores. Don’t skimp on quality-you want to be sure you’re getting an
album that is well made and safe for your pages, but you can often find
albums at up to 50% off during annual scrapbooking sales. Stock up if
you are an avid scrapbooker; you’re sure to need another album before
sale season comes around again.

This is a good time to buy other supplies as well, but if finding store
sales is not convenient, another good way to save money during start-up
is to buy online. Many discount companies offer scrapbooking kits for
beginners that include an album, paper, and embellishments. Beware of
poor quality since you cannot physically touch the items you are
buying, but you shouldn’t have problems if you buy from reputable
companies or make sure the company has a good return policy. Television
channels such as QVC or catalogue companies such as Oriental Trading
also periodically offer scrapbooking specials, so keep your eyes peeled.

Once you have some starting supplies, use them frugally. Save your
scraps-my personal policy is to keep any piece of paper larger than a
credit card. Many times, I’ve used these scraps to create mosaic-like
pages, and I’ve been very happy with the results. Also save papers
which are slightly damaged. You may be able to create a page at a later
time to cover the mistake, or at least you can use the white back for a
simple page. If you have friends who also scrapbook, you may want to
organize a scrapbooking party. That way, everyone can use one another’s
tools and you might be able to trade some of your unneeded supplies for
things your friends no longer need but that you can use.

Lastly, stay organized and clean. Look at your supplies and albums as
an investment; all of the papers, tool, and other supplies you purchase
cost a lot of money, so they need to be protected from things like
water spills and over-excited pets or children. Acid-free boxes placed
on high shelves or in drawers work well for this. Clean your tools and
your space when you are finished for the day to keep everything in good
working order. By doing this, you can stay an active scrapbooker even
if your budget is small.

About the Author:

Tom Ambrozewicz is one of the pioneers in using breakthrough audio technology on his web sites. You can read, you can listen to professional narrator reading to you or having MP3 files ready to download if you hate to keep printed files. You can check all scrapbooking tips at Ask-How.info now.

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