I am on the lookout for scrapbooking supplies everywhere I go. You can find scrapbooking supplies in many places outside of craft supply shops. That’s because some stores sell scrapbook charms and embellishments without even realizing. Once you start scrapbooking, you will realize how many different items can be used to decorate the pages of your album. That will throw open wide the possibilities and you’ll start seeing items in the most unlikely places that will be perfect for your next project. And because the items aren’t officially “scrapbook” items, they can probably be had for a very good price.

Another way to control your scrapbooking budget is to make sure you have a good organization system for the supplies that you already own. Before my supplies were organized, I was constantly buying charms, ribbons or eyelets for a project, only to realize later that I already had some of that item at home. Organization also keeps your supplies undamaged. Before everything had a place, I would frequently find paper, frames or embellishments that had been ruined by being stuffed in a drawer or crammed into a stack.

One of the best ways to lower your scrapbooking costs is to meet up with other scrappers. Anytime scrapbooking enthusiasts get together, you can count on plenty of trading and sharing going on. Actual meetings and conventions also draw supply vendors who offer excellent convention discounts. Finally, if you can get several like-minded scrappers together, you can order lots of things at once and get bulk discount deals.

One last word of advice, from someone (me) who found out the hard way. Don’t scrimp on scrapbooking tools. The tools you use to cut, crop, shape and style your memories need to work every time and work exactly as you expect them to. Remember, any good tools you buy will be working hard for you over many, many scrapbook projects. Budget tools will almost always let you down.