Another round of WHAT do do you do with SCRAPS?

I keep all the scraps from a collection until I "kill it" so to speak.
 

If it's page using random items from my stash, I have to love the paper to keep the scraps. I don't keep them if they are too small. Ideally they will be either 12" to use as a border or large enough to mat a 3x4 photo. I have 2 12x12x1 scraponizer boxes that I keep them in - one for cardstock and one for patterned paper (although I would like to get that down to one box). But they hold a lot but the size prevents me from letting it get out of hand.

I don't have a deadline for using them but I tend to cull them a bit when I go looking through the box.

I recycle the scraps I don't want to keep.

Any strips that I save will get sorted into like colors, and then I'll adhere them to each other. Short strips make striped borders, and larger strips make bigger areas that I can die cut.

I don't concern myself with my bigger scraps because I always seem to use them with ease. I dig through them anytime I want to back a photo or just add a second or third color to my background.

But right now, I have too many small scraps for my storage (two 12x12 Sterilite drawers), so I'll need to sit down and use them to prep some embellishments and maybe even some background papers. It's just tough for me to make myself create for future pages I don't have photos for yet when I really want to spend my time working on my actual current layouts.

I used to keep EVERY tiny scrap-- even something as small 1x2 inches, because I thought 'hey, I could use that with a punch.' But I never used any of them, mostly because I realized I like to repeat colors across my layouts-  so ONE punch from a particular pattern isn't going to do me any good.  Now, my scraps (from 12x12 papers) have to be at least  3x5, or 4x4, or thereabouts- large enough to be used as some kind of layering piece.  Anything smaller gets tossed in the recycle right away.

Anything that's a bona fide 12 inch long 'border' (like a cutapart border strip) goes in a plastic bag where I keep all my border strips. I typically do NOT save branding strips; I used to, but I never actually used them on my pages, so now they go right into the trash as well.

I keep my 6x6 papers all together in one small plastic bin, and most scraps from those papers go back into that same bin-- since I typically use those patterns / sizes for cards, those scraps can be smaller for me to keep-- probably at least 2x2.   (not sorted by color or pattern; just all kept together-- I am a 'rummager' when I scrap, so not having them sorted by color/pattern is okay with me.)

All my scraps from 12x12 patterned paper get put into one 12x12 Iris container so I can shuffle through it for colors / patterns when I need a small bit of something. A couple times a year I'll go through it and cull out any pieces I think I probably won't use- either the color, pattern, or size/shape of the scrap doesn't 'speak' to me any longer.   (not sorted by color or pattern in any way; just all tossed together, ready to rummage through.)

All my scraps of cardstock are kept together in another 12x12 Iris container, all together-  again, the size of scraps I keep is typically at least 3x5 or 4x4; large enough to use with either my Sizzix or my Cameo.  

When my 12x12 scrap containers are getting really full and it's hard to shuffle through the paper inside the container, I know it's time to thin them out. 


ETA:  I never make embellishments, borders, etc. ahead of time.  I tried a couple times to cut tags, etc. ahead of time but I never used any of them.
I need to do all my creating 'in the moment' for the page to be successful.  

I keep my solid cardstock scraps in a 3 drawer plastic Iris type container.

I keep my patterned paper with the collection, if there is one. Otherwise it's in another Iris case.

I don't keep anything smaller than 4-1/4" x 6-1/4" so I can at least use it for a mat. I recycle what I don't use.

What I have done in the past is cut the scraps into squares, rectangles, ovals, circles, tags, or other die cuts that can be used to make quick cards. I store them in stacks of same shapes and sizes in a small box. I haven't cut the scraps in awhile. I guess I need to do it again.

I tend to use certain colors a lot, so having photo mats already cut of those colors can potentially speed up a page.

I'm a scrap hoarder And user! I'm really good about searching for a scrap before cutting a new piece.

I have big baggies with scraps according to colours - those are from years ago, and are getting down in size as I do use them. My biggest challenge here tho was the double sided paper with different colours... And my "multicolour" bag is the biggest and least used.


More recently, I've been keeping scraps with the collection they belong to, because that's how I scrap most of the time. And they get super used, even tiny scraps.

I also have a collection of border/branding strips (that get used), and a bin of "small" scraps for journaling or punching from.

I use all my scraps, I can't bear to waste!

my system is super simple but not super effective. i have 2 drawers in a 12x12 sterilite 3-drawer thingie dedicated to scraps. one for cs, one for pp. the cs one barely has anything in it because i rarely use cs. what it does mostly contain are the 3.5x12 strips i have leftover from cutting down my bkgd to 8.5x11. i pretty much never open that drawer. any cs i buy now is in the 8.5x11 size.

the pp one is overflowing, again because the majority of pieces are the 3.5" offcuts from 12x12s. some are larger and for sure i have lots and lots of smaller bits too. i pretty much never ever use these either.

when i first started scrapping i would never save scraps because i would never use a paper more than once. now if i love it, i'll use it til there is nothing but shreddies left and then probably go buy more of it. if i don't think i'll realistically use it again, no matter what size it is, i just chuck it.

I keep my scraps, after squaring them up, in file folders according to color. ( pp is by dominant color.) I use these a lot for my Cricut.

Sandy Allnock Has a great video call the Scrap Wrangler. She only saves scraps that are large enough to be used as card fronts.

I keep anything about 4x4 or larger if I like the paper enough to use it again, anything else gets put into the bin. If it's a single sided pattern (like from a paper pad) I'll often use the back to print journaling strips.

I store all my scraps in two drawers - one for patterns and one for solids. I keep border strips I am likely to use in with my washi and border stickers. If I don't like the border strip it just goes straight to the bin.

I use my scraps very regularly, it's the first place I look if I want to add an extra paper layer or to die cut, and I'll often make pages using just my scraps. When my drawers get full I'll go through and purge things I no longer love.

I am an English teacher, so I make them into bookmarks. I cut double-sided card stock I know I won’t use again into 2 x 6 strips. I then type up their reading schedule for that particular novel and cut them a little smaller than 2 x 6. The kids then pick a piece of card stock and glue the reading schedule to it.

It makes me feel a lot less guilty about not reusing scraps in my own scrapbooking.

I do exactly what Patin does up above. In each color folder, I keep a 8 X 11.5 page protector to keep the little scraps all together. I use my scraps all the time.

I have three clear 2.5 gallon sized zippy bags.

One for cardstock.

One for themed/holiday patterned paper.

One for all other patterned paper.



I use scraps a lot.

I have a few acrylic journaling stamps that I use with light colored paper to make journaling spots. I will watch a show and stamp 100 journaling spots, then cut them out and keep the in a small bag on my desk.

I also punch circles and butterflies and keep them in a small embellishments drawer that I reach for all the time to add to embellishment clusters.

I do what Patin does also - hanging files sorted by color with patterns kept in a separate file (unless it's monochromatic, then it goes with its color). I tend to keep any size scrap because I use them and my 5 yo digs through them to use on her art projects. It saves her from wanting to cut whole sheets apart.

I've changed to collections/kit styled scrapping, so all my scraps go with that kit/collection until that kit is killed.

For non-kit/collection pages,
Anything 1/2 sheet or larger goes in the same place that I keep the full sheets.

Jetmax Cube by Lisa Davolt, on Flickr

Smaller, whether it's cardstock or pattern it gets separated into a color and stored in one drawer of a Jetmax cube (pic above). I usually go to this drawer first when needing another piece of something for a project. I keep border strips, and anything I think I is large enough to layer in or punch something from. Little itty bitty pieces usually get tossed unless it's white cardstock. I'll save 1x2's of that because I often use the scraps for testing things or to prewrite journaling and such other silliness.


When my drawer gets really full, I take it out and see if I can create layouts, cards, or embellishments just with scraps until it's more manageable.

Also, we have a monthly use your scraps challenge.