You may have an untouched source of scrapbooking supplies waiting at your fingertips… office supplies. In this post we will explore creative ways to put those office supplies to work… in your scrapbooks!

Hi! Welcome to the Make it Monday Blog Circle!

If you’ve arrived from My Kreative Pursuits you’ll have been inspired by Lisa’s sneak peek inside her practically perfect planner! I’ll share your next stop on the blog circle at the end of this post.

It’s easy to implement office supplies into your scrapbooks.

In this post you’ll see three different approaches to using office supplies and I’ll share a list of office supplies you should try.

Here’s a layout that uses office supplies:

1. Use Office Supplies Directly

You’ll probably notice a couple of things. The paper clip and the staples are easy to spot. This is a great example of using the office supplies in the way they are intended.

2. Use Office Supplies for Your Process

Office supplies are useful for the scrapbooking process too. This is all about using the tools of the office, without adding the products directly to the page. Think of supplies like Post-it Notes. They can be used to mark places you need to add details or to help sketch out a layout.

3. Use Office Supplies as Inspiration

Even when you don’t use the actual office supplies on your layout you can use ideas that are inspired by them. The file folder on this layout is a great example! It’s not a folder you would find in an office, but it was created to look and function like one on the layout.

Office supplies to scrapbook with:

• Grid/graph paper
• Envelopes
• Label stickers
• Date stamps
• Binder clips
• Hole punches
• Dividers
• Flags and Tabs
• Calendars
• Staples
• Paper Clips
• Post-It Notes
• File Folders

How have you used office supplies for your scrapbooking? Share your tips in the comments!

Your next stop on the Make it Monday Blog Circle will take you to Photos Kept Alive where Karen has a great organizing tip. She will show you how she tags her digi content in Artisan.

Let your creativity shine and let’s get scrapbooking!

Alice.

Happy Valentine’s Day! I’ll share a list of ‘love’ scrapping links at the bottom of this post!

I’m so thrilled to be the featured designer on LOAD215 again today!

(Did you miss the last layout that was featured on LOAD? It is an adorable page that uses journaling that rhymes. Visit this page: BUZZ BUZZ)

Today’s Prompt:

Little House on the Prairie: books that have had an impact on you.

Day 14

At first I was sad that I don’t have memories of Little House on the Prairie, I love to be ‘on prompt’. When I think of books that really had an impact on me as a child I just can’t get the image of sitting with my little record player out of my head. I can still hear the narrator’s voice and I know that my reading fluency, vocabulary and passion for reading were fueled by my read-along books. I created this page to look like the back cover of a read-along book. Let’s begin now…

Journaling reads: You can read along with me in your book. You will know it is time to turn the page when you hear the chime ring like this… Let’s begin now.

I can’t explain why I love reading so much – books just pull me into their world. One thing that supported my love of reading was listening to read-along books on my little record player. I had several stories and I can still remember the narrator’s voice reading to me. I’m sure this had a big effect on my vocabulary and reading ability, which led to reading bigger and better books!

I created this page to look like the back cover of a read-along book. I loved the bright colours and the diagonal design that showed a read-along record peeking out!

Fun fact: You can see the box for my little record player in the background of the photo on the layout!

Tip: To create the scratched record effect I rubbed a large grain sanding block around the black cardstock in a circular motion… TA DA! A perfectly scratched record!

This is the back cover of one of my original read-along books. I don’t have the record anymore, but I’m happy to have this book!

Let’s begin now… with scrapbooking about the book(s) that have made an impact on you! If you create a page about books that inspire you I’d love it if you’d share it in the Scrapbook Wonderland Facebook group!

Are you in the mood for a little LOVE? Love scrapbooking of course! Try these posts!

• Chocolate Love
• Heart Cards with Stephanie Ackerman
• Feel the Love Layout
• Scrapbooking on the Go! (features a love layout)
• How Do I Love Thee… Sneak Peek!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Let your creativity shine!

Alice.

It’s Friday! Let’s have some fun. 🙂

Money can’t buy happiness… but it can buy scrapbooking supplies!!!

Have an awesome weekend, and fit some scrapbooking into your life!

Did you miss last week’s Fun Friday post? THE SECRET OF A CLEAN HOUSE…

Alice.

Are you ready to fall in love with your scrapbooking again? Get the tips, tricks and techniques you need! (It’s free to sign up… and totally spam free… I hate spam as much as you!)

Scrapbooking on the go, it’s possible and works great… when you know what to pack.

I’ve been scrapbooking since 1999, so by now I have a few tricks up my sleeve and I’d love to share them with you!

I recently spent a few days away from home and packed my scrapbooking supplies to go. I knew I’d have a bit of time for scrapbooking. The only problem was I had nearly no space to pack supplies.

WHAT SHOULD I PACK?

Let me show you!

In my early days  of scrapbooking I didn’t know how to pack for a crop so I literally packed everything I owned.

Here’s proof: (2002)

Scrapbook supplies, food and clothing are included… what you don’t see… the multi-drawer Generations rolling drawers that I also brought – YIKES! DON’T PACK LIKE THIS!!

This is only part of the supplies I brought to a TWO DAY crop in 2002. What was I thinking?

Actually, I know exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking the same thing that every scrapper who packs way too many supplies.

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT I’LL NEED?

and

WHAT IF I NEED SOMETHING I FORGOT?

Let me show you.

It’s possible to pack everything you’ll need to make gorgeous layouts into a small shoulder tote.

Here’s a peek into the bag.

The essential supplies for a ‘scrapbooking on the go’ trip.

What’s in the bag?

• Paper Trimmer
• Scissors (I bring 2 pairs, my Tim Holtz and a pair of micro tip)
• Adhesive tape runner
• Adhesive refill
• Liquid glass – to add shine and to use as adhesive
• Black stamp pad
• Mini Alpha Stamps
• Stamp cleaner (you can use wipes instead)
• Black Journaling pen
• White Journaling pen
• Paper pack of co-ordinating patterns
• Pocket cards that co-ordinate
• White and black cardstock (or cardstock that co-ordinates with the patterned paper)
• Alpha title letters
• Washi tape
• Sparkle tape
• Co-ordinating embellishments
• PHOTOS!!

What are the pocket cards for if you aren’t pocket scrapping?

I love to use pocket cards as a great way to add co-ordinating elements to my layouts. They have words and images that I cut apart and use to embellish my layouts. You can check out this post about Using Pocket Cards Outside the Pocket.

What I forgot:

• Glue dots
• Foam tape
• Glitter glue
• My ruler

Is that enough to scrapbook with? Can you make beautiful or creative layouts?

Absolutely!

Here’s two layouts I created using ONLY items in the kit above!

RULES:

1. Make sure everything works together. You can use a pre-made kit or put together your own co-ordinating kit with patterned paper, cardstock, title alphas, and all embellishments.
2. Bring only basic tools, unless you need a specialty item.
3. Be sure to bring a variety of adhesives.
4. Embellishments: be harsh! What do you really NEED to bring? For me that would mean washi tape and sparkly things but you need to make sure that they are the essentials that you can’t scrap without.
5. A smaller bag is better. If you have more space chances are that you will fill it. By using a smaller bag you have to be ruthless and only pack the necessities.

Oh No! I forgot…

What do you do when you realize you’ve forgotten something you need?

Now is the time to be creative!

In the ‘Love You’ layout above I made a huge mistake on the journaling… which was inconveniently directly on the background paper! Now what?

I decided to cover the journaling with new paper. Then when I didn’t like how that looked I crumpled the paper softly. Then I added more pieces of crumpled paper around the edges of the background paper.

Now is the time to make do!

In the second layout, “Jonas and the …” I really wanted some foam tape to pop up the arrow and the little circle with the heart.

I could have waited until I was home again but instead I decided that I would attach them to the page… without popping them up. Is it as good? Maybe not. Does it work? Of course.

This is not rocket science… it’s scrapbooking. If you are telling your stories and including your photos that’s all you really need.

Wait until you get home.

You can always wait until you get back home to add any extra things you didn’t pack with you. Make sure you leave yourself an easy way to add the extra embellishment and keep going!

Okay… it’s your turn! What do you consider to be an essential for scrapbooking on the go? Let me know in the comments.

If you are heading to a scrapbook crop you should check out this post: What to Pack to a Crop: The Essentials.

Let your creativity shine, and get scrapping!

Alice.