Frugal Fun: Prudent Paper Pruning and Artsy Alphabets

Hi. Hope you're having fun with your kits!  Since I have shared with you from my interview with Tammy my joy in finding ways to maximize the use of my kits, I thought I might share a couple ideas with you today.  If you have been scrapbooking as long as I have, these tips probably won't be very new to you.  However, if your anything like me, a reminder never hurts.

When I layer my patterned papers, I almost always cut out the inside of the bottom layers so that I can use the paper for additional projects.  The beautiful blue dotted paper above provides an example.  I strategically cut out the inside of the paper with my rotary trimmer.  I have found that if I leave about an inch extra of paper to attach to the layering piece above, there is enough support to hold the base of the page together well.  The images below show the cut of the blue dot paper, and the backside of this layout before the stitching.

Some of the flowers from my patterned paper scrap were then cut for a future page.

My second tip, today, refers to the alphabets that I use.  What do I do when I have used all my E's in an alphabet sticker collection?  Use a backwards, upside down 3.  In fact, I'm often reconstructing my numbers and letters from my alphabets to fit my scrapbooking title ideas.

In the layout above, not only did my 3's become E's but my P became an R; and, my D was made out of a zero and an I.

Do you have a favorite frugal tip or alphabet cheat?