OK, anyone who knows me, knows I am really into being eco-friendly....so a lot of people ask me "How can you be eco-friendly and scrapbook at the same time?" Scrapbooking doesn't mean you have to waste tons of paper and products to create 1 layout. I have a huge scrap folder organized by color...I hardly throw anything away. You might eventually find use for that little bit of paper somewhere!
So I decided to let you all in on a few easy things I do to try to cut back on the trash! :)
1. Have an old Cricut mat that isn't sticky anymore? I have a Cricut mat that is only sticky enough to KINDA hold the plastic protector on top.....there is no way it is sticky enough to run through the machine and hold cardstock in place to cut. Since it's still a bit sticky, you can place die cuts on it and it will hold them in place as you color or stamp on them. I also keep the plastic protector on top and use it to mix paints on or stamp my distress inks on to mix them....it's easy to clean and works like the craft mat from Ranger!
2. I got a color printer for my birthday, but felt like I was wasting a lot of photo paper when I cut the photos out of the pages I printed. So I started saving the little bits. Then I saw a video online about using Ranger Alcohol inks on paper that looks JUST like photo paper. I smacked a few of the old leftovers on a cricut mat and cut out a few shapes and then used my alcohol inks and the felt dabber to color them in....worked just the same! :) PS. I used this technique to make the Alien Christmas card you can find on my blog. You get a custom colored die cut out of scraps! AWESOME!
3. Use the clear packaging that products come in and paint or stamp on them to create your own custom overlay to place over a photo....this looks really cool and keeps a lot of plastic out of the trash!
4. I use all my old bills to either cut out a sample image from my Cricut (since sizing can be difficult at times and I don't want to waste good cardstock) or use it to cover my craft table when I am using my mists, stamps, or paint on projects. Then when they get too gunked up I throw them in my shredder and then into my compost bin in the back yard!
5. If you punch an image out of cardstock, use the punch out on one project and use the negative as a mask on another! This gives a really cool effect as backgrounds on cards and layouts!
So there is a few tips for now....keep checking back for more, and if you have any I'd love to hear them! Of course Digital Scrapbooking is probably the MOST eco-friendly, but there's just nothing like creating something yourself with scissors, paper, ribbon, and photos!
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