So today I thought we could talk about scrapbooking on a budget. Maybe you have a limited budget. Or you are just starting and cannot buy everything (though I know you secretly want to). Or you just hate waste.
Anyway, whatever the reason, I have a few tips that might help you stretch your scrapbook supplies a bit (or use up some older supplies). And that is always a good thing!
So first thing. BUY WHITE.
Huh?
What I mean is when you go to buy embellishments and you see them offered in 7 different colors and you cannot buy them all - buy them in white. Why? Well because white can be altered to any color you want. This doesn't apply to all embellishments but look at these.
Titles are a big supply eater. And alphas can be expensive. Of course we all know you can alter chipboard letters but stickers can be altered too. Plus they are usually much cheaper. And if you buy them in white they are easy to alter!
How do you alter them?
Have you thought of acrylic paint? You know that super cheap stuff you can buy at your local craft store? Comes in a million colors and you can mix them to make a million more? Yup, just ordinary acrylic paint will work.
Want to see? You know you do!
A drop of paint on the package that my stickers came in and I am ready.
Leave the stickers on the sheet to paint (you can cut them out if they are too close). Thin coats of paint work best. You don't want to seal the letter to sheet.
Depending on the color it sometimes need two thin coats to get even coverage.
Once the paint is dry (it dries pretty quickly) just peal it off and use as normal. Now some trouble shooting.
Sometimes when you peel the letters you get a jagged edge where the paint has lifted along one edge. You can either run the tip of a craft knife along the seams before you pull it up or even faster - just run your finger along any jagged edges after you peel it up. The paint breaks off really easily and your letter will be ready to use.
Now you can use your painted letters on a page just as if they were already red when you bought them. Almost instantly you have red letters for the title you need while the other white letters remain, ready to be used on another page (as is or altered to another color).
*Side note - Do you know how to make a title perfectly straight? Line up your letters along a ruler - just adhering them lightly to the edge. Find your placement on your page and then press the tops of the letters down. Gently pull out the ruler and stick down the bottoms. Presto - a perfectly staright title!
So here is the finished page.