Select Artwork for Larger View and Item List
"Ctrl P" to Print
Trash to Treasure
by Becky ChabotScrapping Deck Crewmember
Mention "Trash to Treasure" to any crafter and they will think about salvage: saving a piece of furniture with a face-lift or updating a home décor item with new finish or some pizzazz. For a scrapbooker, it’s about using smaller items that would normally get tossed out or reusing basic materials for a new purpose.
One of the hottest products on today’s scrapbooking market is chipboard. Chipboard is available in finished, dimensional embellishments as well as “naked” brown chipboard in alphas and shapes that you can custom decorate for your layouts with paint, ink or paper. Most chipboard is sold in kits or themed sets of multiple pieces. I find that I don’t always need the entire set and sometimes it goes unused. I save lots of money by creating my own custom chipboard embellishments by reusing thin cardboard collected from packaged clothing, paper packs or cereal boxes. Create custom monograms by printing a large letter in the selected font to use as a pattern and hand cut the letter from 2-3 layers of thin cardboard glued together. Shaped chipboard can also be cut from dingbat fonts or layered die cuts.
Clothing and apparel tags have become their own works of art; save the really cute ones for page embellishments. The graphic design on this background was fashioned entirely from clothing tags removed from “Back to School” shopping.
Companies pay professional graphic designers to create advertisements that are attractive, balanced, artful and decorative. Sometimes you can find a postcard or magazine ad that can be recycled. If you are concerned about the acid content, spray the ads with an archival substance or scan and reprint them. The umbrellas in the first layout were a 5½ x 8½ inch Making Memories postcard ad announcing their new spring line. The umbrellas in this layout were a 5½ x 8½ inch Making Memories postcard ad announcing their new spring line and the fabric flowers were plucked from a bouquet I keep in my studio.
Those are my favorites, but there are many more materials and items that can be reused to create custom elements for your layouts. Metal lids from soup and frozen juice cans. Thin metal from a can of soda can be cut with die cutting machines and colored with alcohol inks. The little packets of decorative beads that are attached to a new beaded garment are very handy. Recycle old cross-stitch pieces. Buttons, junk jewelry or charms can add pretty details. Consider food packaging and labels.
The next time you are tempted to throw something out, give it another look to see if it has any design elements that might jazz up your next scrapbook layout.
If you have questions or comments about this article or any of the layouts, please feel free to email me. beckychabot@ssreflections.com
Becky Chabot
beckychabot@ssreflections.com
Scrapping Deck Crewmember
Reflections Publishing Group, LLC
This entire web site © Copyright Reflections Publishing Group, LLC Legal Statement
***Disclaimers - While individual techniques may vary, always follow product manufacturers' directions and cautions for safety and best results.
LINK TO NEXT PAGE•Read our Current Newsletter•