Ten Ways to Use Up Your Stash

Breathe new life into your most-loved, hoarded supplies! The teachers at Big Picture Classes are sharing ten inspiring ways to use up your stash. Whether you're wanting to finally put your favorites to use on a project or simply wanting to make more room in your craft space for new purchases, these ten tips are sure to help you accomplish your goals. Create your own kit of supplies to bust your stash with Natalie Elphinstone in Kit Building and Stash Busting. Reimagine older supplies in new ways with Magdalena Hanéll in Old & New. And use your supplies to create an art journal with Tricia Romo in Art Journal Your Stash. Try all ten ways to put a dent in your paper crafting stash! 

Build a kit to bust your stash.

Kit Building and Stash Busting, Natalie Elphinstone

I'm a HUGE believer in kit subscriptions—it keeps fresh supplies coming through the door every month, and it takes away all the hard choices when it comes to coordinating supplies. But no matter what I do, I find it hard to completely kill a kit, so I put aside what's left over and move on when the next kit comes. Pretty soon, I realize I've built up quite the stash of half-used (as well as untouched) sheets of paper and packets of embellishments. But I'm a little tired of seeing them alongside each other with the kit contents they came in. I want to use them in fresh and exciting new combinations so my projects don't all look the same! And that's where the concept of this class came from.

For even more inspiration from Natalie, be sure to check out Kit Building and Stash Busting 2. 

Mix your hoarded supplies with new supplies to create fun, fresh projects. 

Old & New, Magdalena Hanéll

After looking through Carson Riutta's Craft Room Rehab classes here at BPC, I was inspired to go through my stash to purge and organize it better. I'm really frugal with what I buy these days, but it wasn't always so! At the beginning of my scrapbooking career, I bought everything I liked and then some. I hadn't yet figured out my style or even what all the products were for, but if the scrapbooking celebs needed them, so did I. Of course, I didn't have the time to use it all and so my original stash built up. I've purged several times since then, but I'm always finding those old favorites that I can't bring myself to throw out. I'm here to inspire you to dust off your old favorites and crank out some stellar projects with them instead.

Smash your stash by categories.

Smash Your Stash series, Aly Dosdall

As scrapbookers, we all know how excited we get about adding new supplies to our stash. We love to collect pretty paper craft products, but we sometimes struggle with how to use them. Whatever the size of your craft space, I think most scrapbookers are searching for solutions to get their stash out and put it to good use. Enter Smash Your Stash! This quarterly series of classes gives you permission to get out your supplies, play around, and create something beautiful with them. Plus, you’ll get the inspiration you need to tell meaningful stories in the process.

Create art with your stash. 

Art Journal Your Stash, Tricia Romo

Art journaling has no rules. It's just you and your journal and can be anything you want it to be. Sometimes, I want to paint, and sometimes, I don't. I let my mood dictate the way the page will go. If you've never art journaled before, don't stress. This class will be a lighthearted journey into the world of art journaling. We're going to be doing some major stash busting too, so make sure you're ready. Dig through your stash, and grab it all. Nothing is off limits!

Create your own one-of-a-kind cards with your stash. 

Pocket Cards from Your Stash, Margareta Carlsson

Why make pocket cards from your stash? You'll make unique pocket cards from your favorite scraps. Enjoy your all-time favorite patterns and designs from your stash, refreshed on unique, handmade cards. Learn how to mix different materials for your pocket cards, such as specialty paper, textiles, etc. Use your stamps, paints, and mists to add flair the cards. It's much faster to scrap with ready-made and already embellished cards sorted by color so you can easily match the colors to your photos. And your handmade pocket cards are perfect for gifting to fellow scrappers.

Back your cutouts with paper scraps from your stash.

Paige's Pages | 06, Paige Evans

I’ve seen the “cut and fold” technique done with Christmas trees, hearts, X’s and O’s, even the entire alphabet! There are so many fun possibilities, and I’m looking forward to trying out this design idea again in the near future.

Use your stash to make it work when you don't have themed products. 

Make It Work series, Patricia Roebuck 

I love celebrating the holidays and special events, and I especially love to scrapbook them. When I first started scrapbooking, I found that those events sometimes could be the hardest to document. After lots of practice and many layouts later, I learned that I didn’t need to use special products to create those layouts. I could be creative and use what I had to create a “themed” layout! To create a themed layout in an “unthemed” way, we’ll pull patterns, colors, and embellishments from your stash that have no specific theme to them. I was amazed at how combining products from different collections and seasons made a beautiful Halloween layout. By using non-themed products, you can still have stylish, themed layouts. In this class series, we'll do just that—we'll "make it work" with what we have and create some themed layouts using products that aren't traditionally themed in any way.

Take the guesswork out of creating by building a kit from your stash. 

Kits from Your Stash, Margaretta Carlsson

I love my goodies, but every time I wanted to make a scrapbook layout, it took hours just to find the right items. So, I started putting together smaller scrap kits from my stash to make scrapbooking faster, easier, and more fun.Let's make some kits from our scrapbooking supplies! It’s a great way to use your stash.

Put your scraps to good use to use up your stash.

Bits & Pieces, Lisa Andrews

I've been scrapbooking for over 16 years and truly love documenting my family's stories. I hope to inspire you to have fun with your memory keeping while we put to use all those paper scraps you have laying around. We're going to explore several ways to stretch your scraps on your scrapbook pages. Every layout in this class will teach a new technique for incorporating paper scraps into your projects.

Use your scraps to create quick and fun layouts!

Techniques for Quick Layouts, Lisa Andrews

I'll be sharing some of my favorite techniques for creating interesting layouts in a minimal amount of time. Each of the pages will focus on one technique you can use to create a scrapbook layout in about 30 minutes. Over my 15 years of scrapbooking, teaching online classes, and running a kit club, I've learned how to quickly tell stories while keeping my pages focused photo-focused and mixing in some fun and creative ideas along the way. One of my favorite scrapbooking techniques is thinking of fun ways to use my paper scraps on a layout. I'll share a quick and simple way to create a colorful and playful page background with just a few pieces of patterned paper.

Are you feeling inspired to pull out your scraps and use up your stash? Join these BPC teachers in the classroom and start today! Remember, as a member of Big Picture Classes, you get access to our entire library of classes. Sign up now and start exploring!