Scraps are taking over!

Scraps of paper, scraps of fabric, scraps of ribbon, bits of this, bits of that... all sorted out in drawers, boxes and bins - some scraps are from projects I have made, others are scraps that I have actually BOUGHT! I used to love the scrap bin at The Country Quilter (I'm so glad I built up my stash before they closed!). Buying scraps gave me the ability to add hundreds of fabrics to my stash for very little cost. I'm also hooked on the scrap bags from Laura Murray - she overdyes vintage kimono fabric and her scrap bags are just delicious, and inexpensive.

As a collage artist, I also save endless scraps of paper. It has to be a pretty tiny piece of paper for me to throw it away! I've given up separating them by color and have resorted to just keeping them in the boxes that a case of soda comes in. That makes them easy to store, dig through, and makes for quick clean-up.

I've come to realize that I could make ten scrap projects a day for the rest of my life and never consume the scraps I already have! I came across the book "Fabric Leftovers" by D'Arcy-Jean Milne (C&T Publishing) and am going to play with my scraps today and make a project from this book.

Plush-O-Rama is another book I came across while cleaning up (by Linda Kopp, Lark Books). I love the sub-title "Curious Creatures for Immature Adults'. I'm going to see my granddaughter in Tennessee this week so I'm going to make something silly for her, based on the Plush-O-Rama spirit of kooky critters.

Finally, while putting things away, I found the book from last week's project in my scanner. I had scanned the cover but never posted it, so here it is. The book is "Layers" by Shari Carroll, North Light Books. There are a lot of projects in the book that would make great gifts and the techniques are clearly spelled out and inexpensive to make. Everyone loves collage gifts that include photos of family and friends and this book is full of ideas.

I better get busy! After doing these two projects I'll be almost back on schedule... I never imagined that it would be so hard to do just one project a week! I know, it doesn't really matter if I fall behind and, believe me, I'm not stressing over it. I would just like to stay on schedule so I am in the habit of making a project and blogging about it. Otherwise, it may wind up sort of like a gym membership - start out going every other day... then twice a week, then once a week, then once a month, then the gym bag rides around in the car gathering dust...