Patterned Paper Scraps Storage -

Whoopsie! I promised you a couple of weeks ago that I would show you how I store patterned paper scraps, and then last Monday, I went a completely different direction and talked about cutting mats instead. And double oops for me getting my Monday post out on Tuesday! My daughter came and surprise-kidnapped me for a day of fun yesterday!

So, two weeks ago I showed you how I store my solid cardstock scraps in this post. I’m pretty sure I could do something similar for patterned paper too, and I’ve seen a lot of people who file theirs away according to color. This has never worked for me though, because I get thrown off when there’s a bunch of different colors on one page. So here’s an idea I saw a really long time ago (and I’m SO sorry, but I don’t remember where I saw it…if anyone recognizes it, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due) where someone had used this system for their 6 x 6 paper pads. I’m thinking…why not do this for all of my 12 x 12 paper pads too?

I found some packages of mailing envelopes at my local dollar store. I bought both sizes, 9 x 12 and 6 x 9 inches.

I cut the tops off of them and then, with strong adhesive, I attached a 9 x 12 envelope to the back of one of my 12 x 12 paper pads, making sure to glue the clasp-side down so that it wouldn’t catch on anything.

I now have a pocket on the back of my paper pad, to store any scraps that came out of that particular pad. I do the same thing with my 6 x 6 and 8 x 8 pads. I just use a 6 x 9 inch envelope, and cut it down to 8 inches tall for an 8 x 8 in pad, and 6 inches tall for a 6 x 6 inch pad. That way, I can keep all of my patterned papers with their coordinating brethren!

And just an FYI, when I’m using a sheet of paper that didn’t originally come in a paper pad, I still store the scraps the old fashioned way…in a plastic drawer. I find that the drawer stays neat and tidy though, with the majority of my scraps going back with their paper pads.