paper: Getting the most from free digital scrapbooking kits | pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

I am not ashamed to repeat time and time again free is my favourite price. Because it really, really is. I have been a bargain girl for years and years, and if you offer me something for free, I will probably say yes before I actually realise what it is. Which is perhaps slightly dangerous, but so far I haven’t been offered hard drugs for free so I’ve been okay. Brilliant!

So yes, I am all about the freebies to be found in the world of digital scrapbooking, even though I am going to choose paper over pixels almost every time. I might just be amassing quite the collection of these freebies here on my computer. Seems to me I should be doing something with them in order for the freeness to be a bargain, right? A little challenge for myself today then: can I get three proper projects by starting with this free digital kit?

Idea #1: Put the freebies together
An all-digital page made entirely from free kits…and hopefully it doesn’t scream ‘I made this for free!’ too loudly. The majority of the layout is all from the All U Need kit, but I’ve also added bits and pieces from other free kits. The spotty orange paper is from Indie Pops Celebrate, the shape in the middle and the date strip both come from this kit, the faded scrolly frame behind the photo comes from Color my World and the stitched ribbon is part of Spring Fever. So somehow yes, I do seem to have a big folder full of freebies. Of course they don’t all match at first…but replace colour is my friend and eventually it all matches!

Idea #2: Mix freebies with investment pieces
You know that theory that magazines tell you will make your wardrobe absolute perfection—how you should have a few investment pieces that last years and years that represent the bulk of your spending, then inexpensive items for trends that will come and go in a season or two? I think this is pretty sound advice for digital scrapbooking too: buy the kits you would use over and over again without them ever going out of style, then dress them up with freebies that are in style right this second. Definitely Dotty is my little black dress. It will go with everything and always look appropriate…dress it up, dress it down, that sort of thing. I’ve also used the Bada Bing Overlays so many times that I must be into pennies per use, so that seems like a good investment to me! And well, there is so much packed into Made in France that is just pops up on my pages pretty often—here it’s the round stitching. Everything else on this page? Totally free.

Idea #3: Print them out
Hello hybrid! Made a new document that was A4 sized, covered it in the free kit papers and printed it out to make a page. And I’ve even got a bit leftover to make a card. But if I don’t finish this blog post I am going to be in trouble for both not finishing all of today’s work and being late to dinner, so perhaps I should go now!

Hurrah for free!

xlovesx

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26 March 2009

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