We all want to use up our "stash," whether it's to clean out our craft space because we just don't have anymore room, or it's to make room for all the new stuff we want to get. My purpose here was a little bit of both. I've had this stuff for so long that I just wanted to use it and not have to look at it anymore. As you'll see, by jazzing it up a little bit, and by adding a few new elements, I was able to make good use out of old materials. Here's the layout, and below it is an explanation of what I did to my stash to make the old products new again.
Cardstock: I used what I had on hand. I have a lot of cardstock. To make it a little more interesting, I drew lines with a ruler, using my gel pens to make a border around the pages.
Patterned Paper: The circles are from a pack of 4 that I bought for $1 in JoAnn's several years ago. They're made by Colorbok. I sliced each one in half and made a zig-zag edge with my pinking-edged scissors from Fiskars. The circle paper is from a K and Co. 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 pack that I also bought several years ago.
Embellishments: The circle embellishments and tab are from a sheet of punch-outs that coordinate with the circle paper, also made by Colorbok, and also purchased for $1 at JoAnn's. I glued the circles onto chipboard circles and sanded the edges even. I added a decorative eyelet to the tab and used it as part of my title. I've had that green ric-rac for a few years, and the transparent ribbon is from Hiedi Swapp - found in the clearance section of one of the big craft stores last year. Layering them added interest and dimension. I bought the spider brads at a craft show last year, and I they are from Eyelet Outlet. Those are probably the most expensive products on this layout! :) The ribbon sticker words are so old that I'm not sure who made them. I cut one of them apart to adapt it to my layout.
Title and Journaling Block: The words in my title are from a sheet of cardstock stickers that I found in my holiday stash. The journaling block is relatively new, and I think it's from Basic Grey. Although I usually hand-write my journaling, I had too much to say, and it didn't fit. So I typed it on my computer, printed it onto regular printer paper, cut it out, and adhered it to the block.
Border: Finally, we come to the border on the bottom of my pages. I created this in Cricut Design Studio and cut it out of some very old Basic Grey paper. I'm not a big fan of BG paper; but when I bought it, I thought it would look very good on a Halloween layout.
It felt great to use all of these products from my stash, and it was a quick and easy layout to complete. I hope I've inspired to you to put some of your older products to good use and to make some old stuff new again. Happy crafting!
