Making embellishments

They're awesome! And exactly what you needed And the best part is you will always remember the satisfaction of making them when you look at the page.

I think most of us have gotten used to buying things because we can, and because they're "perfect" (supposedly) and beautiful and all that, whereas in the past we would have flexed our crafty muscles to make something. Of course that was usually because we couldn't get the thing we wanted, and I don't fault anyone for buying stuff they love. But I want to get back to doing it myself when I can, and retrain myself to see the DIY stuff as better than the bought stuff.

All I've done so far is glue together a bunch of Christmas scraps and bits to make my own embellishment clusters which I hope will find their way onto cards and pages by the end of the year. My goal was to turn unusable little bits into something more than the sum of its parts. And it was pretty fun too.

joblackford I agree that we should be more DIY. I see the DD sneaks and most of that stuff I CAN MAKE MYSELF! Plus it will be my handwriting not some woman I don’t really know.

When I first returned to scrapbooking in 2011-12 Studio Calico had cork embellishments in retail stores. Basically cork circles with an icon or word stamped in the middle. I bought a roll of adhesive cork, punched out circles of various diameters and stamped inside. I posted online and people thought I was a genius. WE CAN DO THIS!!!

I had much more fun when I made my own. But what about the hoard in my room? Donate some? Clean it out?Treat it like I spent it on shoes and tennis and don't regret the time and dollars spent shopping?

I think you summed it up for me, but I am stuck in the guilt again. Or the fear I'll toss the perfect little piece. 

I need a self help group.

I make a lot of my own. The thing about purchasing is that there are generally more in a package than I will use.

Not an embellishment, but I cut out the shape of Mickey Mouse's head/ears with a plate and a cup on black cardstock and backed it with patterned paper for a Mickey Mouse layout. Traced around them and then cut it out with a kraft knife. I'll have to post a picture when it's done.

We can make a lot of stuff! KelleeM, those tassles are cute!

Pity you didn’t keep that skirt to wear when you are in the nursing home....with a crop top,red tights and over the knee suede boots!!!🤪🤪🤪

KelleeM Your tassels are so cute. I love them.

I love, love, love to make embellishments. I think it is more fun than setting down an doing an actual project, lol. My whole art studio is set up for embellishment making. I think I love it so much because I also love to make miniatures. It feels like an extension to me.

I know this is so terrible. I really don't like to buy embellishments from other companies. I will buy die cut ephemera to make embellishments with. I won't buy Prima flowers, for example. I do love them. I love to recreate them more. Sorry, Prima. You can side eye me. I deserve it.

I make a little bit of everything. I make my own project life cards, I make my own resin embellishments. I love to make flowers, die cuts, 3d embellishments, etc.... If I see an embellishment I write down the idea and will recreate it.

No, this is not frugal hobby, lol. I know people are like "I make my own embellishments to save money." I laugh so hard. I use to think that too until I bought all the little things to make embellishments with and then the tools. I get so much happiness from it. Girls who buy their embellishments you have no worries. Us girls who make our own are probably spending more. No more guilt when Shimelle's new embellishment line comes out and you scoop it all up.

I don’t do it often enough but I love making my own as well. One of my favs is taking different size circles, distress edges, crumple and add brad in the center for super cute flowers, or you can also use fabric scraps.

It really depends on what it is as to whether it’s cheaper, LOL. While the supplies might be inexpensive or already owned, I also consider how much of my TIME it’s going to take to make that thing. Would I rather spend what time I have getting my photos onto pages the way I’d like or would I rather spend my time making some putzy (but perfect for my page!) little thing? Sometimes it’s the former and sometimes it’s the latter, it all just depends on how proficient I am with what I want to do and how enjoyable the process is to me. If it’s going to take me an hour to make one thing that normally costs about $5, then it probably isn’t saving me any money to make it. Some friends of mine have no problem spending literally ten hours on one layout, making everything on it painstakingly by hand. Their pages are beautiful, so whatever floats their boat. Personally I don’t have that much time to scrap in the first place to spend it all working on a single layout.

Now if I could just find a way to get my photos EDITED the way I want without my having to do it... hmmm. That’s something I could get behind outsourcing, LOL. 

KelleeM your tassels are fabulous!

for me, it's not worth the hassle to make my own stuff. i'd do it for a challenge, otherwise i'm premade all the way. i'm too awkward, like i'd never get that tape wrapped around the tassels in a decent way. i end up getting frustrated and then pissed, and then i'm just done crafting. much easier to grab the pack of premade stuff!

I am including the cost of the tools, not just the materials when I say that making my own isn't usually cheaper. For example, when I was making rosettes, I bought the Tim Holtz die. Maybe they were cheaper in the long run, but it's hard to say when factoring in the cost of the die, too. I got tired of the rosettes rather quickly, so I'm not sure I made enough to justify the cost of the die.

I got into stamping and making my own cards about 10 years before I started scrapbooking. I thought it would be less expensive to make my own cards. It probably would have been if I had not kept buying stamps, and then dies, and more tools and supplies. It was the same thing with scrapbooking.

I do make a lot of my embellishments with my stamps and my cutters. Have they paid for themselves? Hard to say. Overall, though, when considering the cost of tools, I don't think it's cheaper. If I consider only the cost of materials, then yes, it can be less expensive.

Using what I have instead of buying embellishments takes a bit more time, but I get a custom look. I'm retired, though, and my kids are grown, so I have more time to play than when I was younger. It doesn't work for everyone.

I also no longer live near an LSS. I sometimes find embellishments at the hobby stores or Tuesday Morning, but I basically have to shop from my stash for most of my scrapping, and I just find it easier to make my own than try to find an embellishment that suits the layout and goes well with the colors of it. I have been working on Disney pages. I am using a mix of purchased and hand made embellishments. What I have been working on today had to do with the need to bring in more of a certain color to pull the layout together. I did not have what I needed among the Disney themed embellishments that I had bought when I had an opportunity to go to an LSS while on travel. I ended up making my own.

In the retreat thread, someone mentioned that they could buy a Scan n Cut and a Gemini for the cost of the retreat. That is how I tend to think, too. I am very practical in that I do not pay for crops, or retreats, or scrapbook cruises. I'd rather spend my money on tools and supplies, but some gals love the chance to get away to scrapbook and feel it is totally worth the cost.

It's whatever works for you. There is no right or wrong way to scrapbook. Likewise, no one can tell you how to spend your money or your time.

I enjoy seeing what embellishments other people make. It was one of the reasons I loved Glitter Girl. She sometimes made her own embellishments with stamps.

i made a rosette today and just did some very wonky accordion folding by hand.  i was silently cursing the fact that i don't have that die!

then again, that's the first rosette i've made since like 2011.  pretty sure that die would have gone to waste