some 'new-school' and some 'old-school'

[First for the New School part of the post: Mists and Spray Inks are trendy in scrapbooking right now.]

Still in an organizing and purging sort of vein, here's a crafty bit of organization that was inspired by a post on another scrapper's blog (Sue Althouse's Life & Memories) which was inspired originally by someone on the October Afternoon design team, if I remember correctly. (I love how the internet works that way, don't you?!?) This is the first 'crafty-ness' I've actually done since before Christmas... it's about time, I think! (I can tell when I haven't been creating anything for a while; I get that 'itch' to do something again, but have to work myself back into the creative mindset. This was a good way to start: a small, easy-to-complete project.)

Tag book showing spray mist / ink colors

I have a few bottles of spray ink and color mists, but I haven't really used them much on my SB pages. I've mostly used my spray inks and mists on journal page backgrounds such as these, but I've only used them on a couple SB pages (these Street Art SB pages are about the only ones I can remember). I'd like to use them more often, but I don't really think about them, and from just looking at the bottles, it's difficult to figure out exactly what the colors look like after they're sprayed. That's where the organizing part of this comes in! I'll keep this tag book of color swatches somewhere handy so I can see which, if any, colors match the project I'm doing.    

The cover- a manila shipping tag

The cover was made very simply using my Tiny Attacher stapler (I love that thing!), some graph paper, and a couple different alphabet stickers. Funny thing: the green alphabet letters were a Big Lots discount store purchase... they're American Crafts brand stickers, and they smell like green apple!! lol!! They also had some stickers that smelled like fruit, I think-- very funny! I remember scratch & sniff stuff from when I was growing up, so I had to get them! (plus, I really like the font.)

my favorite Dylusions spray ink colors... yummy!

I typed the names out with my typewriter (thank goodness it still works after all these months of sitting idly in my craft room!) and stapled them to each tag with the Tiny Attacher. Now if I want to see whether a particular color works with a project or not, I can just hold the tag up to it.

Mist and spray ink collection January 2013

Mist collection April 2012

As you can see from the pictures above, my collection hasn't grown too much; they still all fit in the same container! But, I really would like to use them on my SB pages sometimes. Hopefully this tag book will help do the trick!

[Now for the 'Old School' part of the post: stickers.]

Remember how scrapbooking stores used to have an entire wall full of rolls of stickers?? Stickers of every color, shape, and theme you could think of. Need stickers for Easter? got 'em. Need stickers for moving into a new house? got them, too. Need stickers with pizza or popcorn on? yup, they had those, too! 

'old-school' stickers... 

In my purging and organizing, I've tried to be pretty honest with myself about what supplies I think I will or won't use. I have a decent-sized stash of stickers here, some of which have got to be at least 10- maybe closer to 15- years old! I kept organizing and storing them, thinking 'I might use them someday, so I should keep them.' Well, not any more. I know this kind of sticker is not my style any longer, so they're headed to the scrapbook store's garage sale where they'll hopefully be bought by someone who will use them, instead of just 'storing' them for years.

A collection of Susan Branch stickers. They're pretty,
but they're not my style any longer, at all.

Most of these stickers are 5-10 years old at least, if not older. And I can't remember the last time I used one of them; it had to be at least a year or two ago! They are pretty, though... I've had to stop myself a couple times from taking things back out of my 'garage sale' pile-- doing it makes me think a bit of the people they showcase on the television program Hoarders, though- you know, those people who are so obsessed with their stuff that they won't let any of it be thrown or given away- so I usually put the item right back. (except for one or two pieces of paper, I think... but that's all!)

Brands like Mrs. Grossman, Frances Meyer, and Deluxe Cuts...
that wall of stickers at the scrapbooking store was so much fun!

Of course, if I kept them long enough, maybe they'll come back into 'scrapping fashion' since that seems to have already happened with vellum and some other scrapping trends. (I still have my vellum, too- I'm keeping that! lol!)