Seven Creative Ways To Use Your Scrapping Supplies

We all have a stash of unused scrapping supplies, right?
Maybe yours is a hard drive full of files, somewhat forgotten. Or maybe you have shelves of physical product, just begging for some attention!
No sense in wasting perfectly good products you spent your hard earned money on when you could turn them into gorgeous creative works of art, right? Right! Let's try these 7 creative ways to tackle your backlog of scrapping supplies...

1. Take The Challenge

Find a scrapping challenge that inspires you. The whole point of a challenge is to challenge yourself, so take it just one step further and use it as a way to use some older product! Check out these inspiring challenges to get your creative juices flowing! Be sure to check out how other people are fulfilling the challenge, sometimes their ideas and layouts are just as inspiring as the challenge itself! Below you will see a desktop challenge I participated in...

2. The Old & The New

Try combining older element packs, alphas, or paper packs with new products or vice versa. Take a gorgeous new kit you've just purchased and add in some older brushes or clipping masks you have yet to use. This is especially helpful when using really old products that are no longer the latest trend.

Here’s a recent layout I did with an older product...

And here is one where I combined new elements with an older kit:



3. Hit The Shops and Forums

Look for inspiration in others’ layouts that have already used the products you have just sitting around. Seeing the product in action could give you the added boost of inspiration you have been needing. Oftentimes, a product page in a shop will show several CT layouts. If there aren't any there, check out the gallery to see how other people are using the same kit you have but haven't used yet. 

Sometimes you will see a layout you love that doesn't use the same kit, but you can use it as inspiration, like sort of a template, to get yourself a very similar look (be sure to give credit to the person whose ideas you are using.)

4. Broaden Your Horizons

Create something besides a layout. Make yourself a new signature for the forums, a new timeline cover for Facebook, or a new background for your computer. For paper scrapping try a new quote for your desk, a frame make-over for a favorite photo, or a card for a friend/relative.

I made this forum siggy with a kit I've had for ages but have never scrapped with. I made myself a signature that I knew would inspire me, and it has become my most favorite siggy!


5. Go Hybrid

Use your backlog of products to create a hybrid item. Find an inspiring quote in a kit and make a poster for your wall. Print out a card to tell someone you are thinking about them. Print out your favorite paper and make a banner, pinwheel, or tag. Who doesn't love seeing gorgeous digital products printed out and in use?For paper scrapping, try printing out your favorite quote onto your scrapbooking paper, or type up your journaling and print it out for use on a layout, or print out a few sentiments you can use later for card making! 

6. Cover It Up

Whenever I am ready to print a new scrapbook album, I find an unused kit to make the cover. I find that it’s a great way to use up those fabulous products for which I haven't found the right layout yet. The kits that I have just sitting around are usually products I loved, but had no layouts in mind yet, so, using it on a cover is a great way to feature a kit you really loved.Sometimes, if I love the paper too much to cut it up, I will frame it and hang it up so I can smile each time I walk by it. :)


                             photo courtesy of endlesscrafting


7. Make A List & Check It TwiceKeep a list of what you haven't used yet! I am a natural list maker, and I just love checking an item off my list. There’s something satisfying about crossing off an item knowing the product is no longer sitting there, unused. Hopefully, I've inspired you with a few ideas on how to use that backlog of product! If you use any of these ideas, I’d love to see what you create. Feel free to post a link in the comments.Article idea by M.F. with edits and revisions and photos by ABCreations.