Jessica Witty
Have you ever seen that TV show called Hoarders?
I haven’t.
And let me say, for the record, that I’m not like that.
But I can appreciate the urge.
The desire to keep.
And keep.
And keep.
Until you think to yourself, “Now, Self, why exactly was I keeping this?”
In an effort to ensure that I never start meandering down the little path to Hoarderdom, I’ve challenged myself as of late to use up the various scraps that I can’t bear to part with. Use it or lose it, I keep repeating to myself.
I also tend to approach products from a “What else can I do with this?” kind of perspective. I gravitate towards items with multiple uses, whether that be stamp sets with themes I can use endlessly, products in colors I always gravitate to or tools that really give me a bang for my buck and lots of function for the space they take up.
I also make living against veritable Craft Hoarderdom a sort of way of life. My cozy little dining room/craft area will soon be moved to a house a few miles away and relocated in…yup…the dining room. Some customized storage plans will make the space work just fine for me and my commitment to keeping things pared back. {As soon as there are pictures of that little life-changing project, I’ll share, I swear.}
But…even after all that…there are some things that still confound me with this whole use it or lose it idea.
Maybe it’s because I’m really a stamper at heart.
Therefore, scrapbook supplies like letter stickers can still trip me up a bit.
I mean, how do you ever use them all? Has anyone ever actually used up an entire sheet? Down to the q’s and z’s?
Just how in the world am I ever going to be able to throw the sheet away if I can never use them all up?
And, therefore, I attempted the impossible: the use of an entire sheet of letter stickers.
I present to you, Exhibit A:
This card would be the sort of entry example into using letter stickers, right? Pick a phrase, design a card and stick ‘em on. {Obviously, I should have picked a longer phrase…something like “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways?”} Ah, but wait…I did get a bit creative on the scalloped borders. Those little cuties came courtesy of all of those 3’s, 8’s, B’s, p’s, q’s, etc. Just lay them all down in a nice little line and cover up the edges with another layer. {Yeah, I’m totally on my way to using the whole sheet.}
And now, for Exhibit B:
Now we’re getting somewhere. A little town called Letterific, if I do say so myself. This one is sort of a modern take on using up those stickers…white on white, simple design, nothing fancy. I did use my noggin just a bit and tried to take the letters from just one section of the letter sheet, because I already had Exhibit C in mind…
Ah, the piece de resistance of using up those letter sheets. Obviously, I was using a letter sheet where the negative image is still left on the backing that the letters come on. I just peeled the backing up, stuck it down onto the card base and trimmed off the overhanging edges. {I will admit to going with a smaller 3 ½” x 5” card base because I was not sure how this little experiment was going to turn out and I figured smaller might = easier.} I colored the “hi” in using a marker and yes, I am digging that little brain wave.
I’m pretty happy with the little results of my experiment. One small letter sheet gave me three cards and three very different paths to using them. However…after all that…I still have something like 1/3 of the darned sheet left. {Oops.}
Apparently this little Letter Sheet That Could is the sheet that is going to live on in my craft room for all of eternity.
Any brilliant ideas on how to use them all up?!
I’d love to hear what all of you do to make the most out of your products…stamps, ribbon, stickers…whatever! Leave me a little message with your brilliant double-duty ideas and I’ll pick one person to win this entire set of American Crafts Thickers. All comments must be received by midnight (MST) on Thursday, Feb. 18.
One lucky winner will take home this whole sticker set!
Me and my letter stickers, signing off…
Jessica
P.S. A little birdie told me that my cards above will be featured as a free make ‘n take at this year’s Creating Keepsakes Conventions! Click HERE to find out if a CKC is coming to a city near you!
I discovered a new way to use the old stickers that I didn’t want anymore… outdated, partially torn, use them to cover cardstock completely. Overlap the stickers and don’t leave any of the cardstock showing. Then use your die cut to make letters out the newly designed cardstock. It is just a conglomerate of designs and colors and really makes interesting letters to use on cards or layouts.
I also was in need of some checkmarks to use on a layout the other day … used the V and W to cut and make the marks I needed!
Hope someone can use my ideas!
I’ve seen a back-to-school layout where the background was made up of odd letter stickers. Very cute. You could also use the surround as a template for sponging your own phrase.
making cards with the recipients name on it uses up a lot of leftover stickers- especially if they have a really different name ! LOL! Little sections of the alphabet on a toddler’s card is a nice touch, too. And a monogram works. I really like your scalloped border idea!!!
You are a genius Jessica! LOVE the idea for using the empty sheets…never thought to use it that way but I have cut out the letters and used the negative….just not as a sheet….which is FABULOUS!
Other things I like to do is use the opposite side of cut scallops….makes a cool choppy wave look; Use the packaging of supplies…some of them are really cool and make nice punched flowers/shapes; use scraps of rubber (from stamps) to create new stamps–like bricks, etc.
Great ideas! Keep em coming girl!
I love your ideas! I need to try that letter “background” white on white for something!
La-
Super cute cards! I always try to find use for my leftover scraps of paper.
I am forever cutting chipboard & sticker alphas to create other letters. A q makes a great “a.”
Love all the card ideas in this post!
o00o0o0 what great ideas! thanks so much for sharing!
hugs,
sarah.
These cards are too adorabe for words!!! I am the biggest hoarder around. I have been using more and more of the stash, but I could create cards for years and never run out. I really don’t have any fabulous ideas, but I will say ribbon is my little engine that could LOL!
It’s a good life!
Terri E.
Great ideas we can all use! Before my diecutting machine, I was a letter sticker fanatic, so I still have tons in my stash. Now I’m just a Thickers fanatic.
Love their fonts and different textures.
So ’bout that stash…I use the negatives of stickers and chipboard letter sheets all the time for titles – tracing the letter shape using the chipboard negative works well. I also cut pieces of letters to make new letters.
And about that diecut machine (and punches too)…I don’t throw away scraps of cardstock, because they become useful to cut shapes or other letters to match a page or card, instead of *gasp* cutting into a new sheet of cs.
Love these cards and ideas for using up letters. I have been known to save every last bit of a product. I love to say the negative pieces from chipboard letters or stickers to use as masks for misting. I also save all my little bits of paper and use them to make paper flowers, punched embellishments or ATC and card background.
For Valentine’s day I made a bunch of kid Valentines. I used my letter stickers to do my little sayings. Because I didnt want to go out and buy more I used several different styles, colors, lower case, and upper case so that my letters went a lot further. And because it was for kids I felt it was more fun and kid like to use upper and lower case letters in the same word.
what a great idea=especially for those of us who HATE to throw supplies away.
I’ve been know to use lowercase p’s for d’s, u’s for n’s, l’s for i’s using the j dot. I also can’t throw things away, even my four year old grandsons don’t want those letter’s that are left over, because they want to spell their names….
I just discovered the world of thickers and I am totally in love! They are just perfect for almost any project! I even inked mine to give a subtle change of color. Now I am thinking about my empty sheets too!
I love Thickers……I love the idea on the cards that you did, they are awesome, I am a freak and dont throw anything away!
Lovely projects!!
I will be attending the CKC convention in St. Louis, Mo. I will be looking forward to making your make-n-take card.
Jess, Love the cards (as usual). Cute idea using the sheet. Might have to try it sometime with my 1/2 used letter sheets! You know, extra letters are great for the kids! They love using them to “spell” words! Good luck! =)
I am now trying to make do with what I have and only buying something if I can find anytihing in my stash that works. I am only buying things for specific projects. Works well with the budget.
I just use up the scraps of cardstock so we get as much use from them as possible. We have a couple of accordian folders with a slot for each color. It works fine.
Wow! Cute way to use your leftover alphabets!!! THanks for sharing:-)
I actually use my leftover odd letter Thickers to pop up elements on my cards. I stick the Thicker to the card, add a little adhesive to the top and put the element I want popped on top. Who needs foam tape when you have an extra Q or two!
Oh, I wish I had some true gems for, but alas, nothing earth shattering here! I do tie up my daughter’s hair with my precious ribbon. I can generally match the ribbon to her outfit and she is totally worth it. Also my scrap paper is like treasure to her. I just grab a handful of it, a pair of kid scissors, a glue stick and an old sketch (printed on computer paper) and she is entertained for an hour. This is especially true if I get out my butterfly punches!
You are so right about it being hard to use these sheets up! None the less, I’d love to win all those alphabets to have a chance to try out some of your ideas – love them!
Sometimes I cut letters into other letters. Or you can make shapes out of them. For rubber stamps, I cut them sometimes so they can better suit my purposes.
I love all of your ideas here! I keep a bucket for all of my scraps…a fun idea is to make a pen to match the cards you make. All you need is a pen with a clear barrel. Take a strip of paper (long, but not too wide) about the length of the pen barrel and roll it up reallt tightly. Unscrew the pen, and slide the paper in. There ya go! A nice, pretty extra touch. It’s a good way to use up scraps from a project.
I keep all of my scraps in a small basket and then dig through them first when making a new card. A punched shape from a scrap of glitter paper often adds just the right amount of punch.
Bwaahahahaha! Surely you jest!
I own the sum total of 2 alpha sticker-sheets.
Neither is younger than 2 months old.
I’m probably not the queen of “how to use these” … not even close!
*wink*
What fabulous ideas…. I know exactly what you mean about throwing those extras away!
Love these ideas! I’ve used a combo of letters and outlines (of used stickers) in the same set when I run out of e or a. I just use a marker to follow the negative space and then color it in on the layout.
I love using itty bitty pieces of great paper to add to the layers on a card.
I love to use single letter stickers as the first letter of the word, with the rest of the word handwritten. Almost like the start of a new chapter in a novel. I get so much use out of an alphabet that way!
I just hope Hoarders never shows up at my house. I don’t think there are any dead animals in my scrapbook room (spiders do not count), but there sure could be……I am a total hoarder, and hate to waste, so I’ll hang on to the tinest bits and pieces. I do keep a small papertray next to my desktop, and put all the stuff too small to file back in there. Then I try to use that first, before pulling out a new supply when I’m creating.
Bits and pieces of things go to my kids to play with. I have a couple of boxes of my “not the best” stuff that they have free access to for doing arts and crafts. Anything else they have to ask before they use. I also will sometimes put out bags of scraps at a card party and let people take what they want. People tend to take the bigger pieces but that gives me permission to recycle the tiny scraps.
I too used to feel the urge to hoard my supplies but I have to use them to justify buying new ones…right? Anyway, that’s why I like to share my stash. When my best scrappy friend (who has very similar taste in products) needs an “a” I tell her to take it from my stash. And while I’m at it, I tell her to take an “e”, “i”, “o” and “u” too!
One supply that I usually end up with a lot of scraps is ribbon. I have little pieces that are too short to tie into a knot or bow. I like to use them as tabs or little tails that just get stapled on. No more loose ribbon scraps lying around here! Thanks for a chance to win a great prize.
I’ve been challenging myself to use scraps lately, too, as I feel a bit “hordish” lately! I find paper scraps to be the easiest to use – usually make a mosaic out of them or use them with small punches for embellishments galore! I love your use of the alphabet sheet as the card background. Awesome!!
Hey jess, what great cards! Thanks for the chance to win. I too have the same problem with letter stickers and tend to use alphabet stamps instead. xx
You Clever, Clever, Girl! I love them all and I will have to give that a try! I like to tie my ribbon on m card while still attached to the spool, so I don’t waste any beacuse I LOVE ribbon too much!
Wow! How clever are you Jessica! Love these great ideas!
I must admit, I am a bit of a hoarder!!! But I seem to always use up every last scrap of patterned paper by making gift cards and tags, paper-piecing stamped images, punching and die-cutting embellishments, and covering chipboard alphas. Very rarely is a scrap ever wasted!
Now to get good at doing just that with all my other supplies! LOL!
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Hoarders of the world unite!
Oh me, I am probably one of the worst of hoarders, but I am generous with what I have. Smile! I save everything! One of my favorite things lately has been junk mail. Do you realize all the fun things that you can find in those advertisements? Beautiful papers to emboss over, Cute stickers that come with those free labels that companies send out looking for support, and what fun postcards from advertisers can be for scraps of color here or there.
I think another one of my favorite things to try is that when any ink products,(whether they be pads, pens or markers,)before throwing them out, check to see if soaking them in anykind of inks to see if you can rejuvenate them. (Have you thought about mixing different colors because you don’t have the color you need to refill the marker?)
There you go, just a few thoughts, outsied the box!
Love the idea of the stickers uses, Am I really obsessed though if I use those backgrounds of stickers, to adhere a scrap temporarily in place while I work on it?
those are some really great ideas, thank you so much for the examples, i think i’ll have to dig into some alpha stickers and “case” your cards now!
I read a bunch of these ideas trying not to duplicate, but I’ll have to devote more time to it. You and your followers really do have some great ideas that I had never thought of.
Here is yet one more idea for using up letter/number sheets. Don’t. There are charities that you can donate stuff to that go and craft with children in the hospital or at orphanages. I know “Gilda’s Club” (as in Gilda Radner) takes any craft stuff that anyone wants to donate, and has craft days with children who are battling cancer. I think it’s a beautiful idea, and I have donated many old, partially used letter sticker sheets (plus lots of other things that I was “done” with) to them. You could also call local children’s hospitals to see if they would like some for their “bigger kids” social areas.
A great way to clean out the craft room, and do something nice!