Thinking outside the box

Hi Crafters

Today I thought I would share an idea to save money on your paper crafting.

I am starting to make Christmas items as mentioned in previous posts. There will  be lots of cards, decorations and paper crafts made,  so I have sorted out my basic card stock and Christmas card stock to see what I have and what I need to buy. 

I then looked on Ebay to see what card stock and card kits were available and the prices. I had purchased a large Create and Craft kit that I had re-purposed for my Christmas Workshop and now I was looking for card making resources. 

When looking for large amounts of basic stock to make for Craft Fayres, try thinking outside the box, to get the very best buy. This does not mean buying what you think you might be able to use but rather seeing something that is a bargain and knowing how you can re-purpose it. 
For instance the Create and Craft kit I purchased and am using for my workshop was a kit with 30 cards 7" x 5" and with metallic finish plus 40 pieces of A4 metallic card stock and embellishments.

The cards were not necessarily a print  I would normally use, but there was a good selection of classic green and red cards amongst the kit for me to be able to use for the workshop. This left me with a lot of metallic card in various colours and as the writing and prints went down the A4 sheet, it could  only be used on cards for mat and layering, or "eureka" I can use the lovely Christmas colours and cut out multiple  snowflakes, poinsettia, and stars to decorate cards or parcels or even to make decorations with. As metallic card is usually 40p a sheet, and I paid less than £10 for the whole kit, you can see what a great buy these items can be.

Do not forget to factor in postage on purchases, although you would probably have to do this if you were buying from a store on-line, or consider petrol costs. 

Having sold some Christmas cards already I recently purchased another kit of Christmas cards from EBay.
This time the cards were lovely subtle gold & silver flourishes with 3D Baubles, there were 30 cards and envelopes and the sheets of 3D baubles all cut ready to pop out, plus a few bits of pearls and very tiny bits of bling. I liked the cards enough to use them as blanks if I did not like the baubles, so sent for the set. As the price including p&p was just under £7, it worked out less than 24p a card.
The set arrived on Saturday and I was really pleased with it. I have put together 22 of the cards already. Saving the other 8 to make up differently. 
Tip: when making up a lot of 3D sheets, use a glue gun as this give a slim dimension without having to peel lots of backing papers off, and saves an enormous amount of time. Pop out the items first in sets and then glue together in one go. 

I was very pleased with the result as they look classic and professional, while offering a hand-crafted product. So pleased in fact I have sent for another kit. This time I will probably use the lovely cards in a  different way and sell on the baubles and embellishments, but either way I will  be getting a great buy.

The bits and pieces left over from making the first kit can  be used to decorate other projects

So why not think outside the box and try your own designs using a bargain kit, its also a good step between using a kit as it is sold and making the kit your own. Or if you are having trouble getting started on your Christmas projects, this may help to inspire you.

Happy Crafting

Dee