2. File away

Use A4 files boxes, available from most stores, to store sitckers, papers, embellishments (bits of lace, ribbons etc), punched shapes (which in turn are stored in small zip-lock bags) and anything else you can think of. These boxes can then be labelled for ease of identification. While scrapping, if you are looking for stickers for example, you can pull out the relevantly labelled A4 file, search for the needed item, close up the box and you won’t end up with loose stickers all over the place making your workspace messy! This can be especially helpful if your table space is limited.

Mary Rub, via email

I found a great way to store all of my loose alphabet letters.  I got some cheap CD sleeves from The Reject Shop and used rub-ons to put a letter of the alphabet (A-Z) in the top left hand corner of each one.  I also did numbers 0-9 and punctuation.  I then went through my stash and was amazed at how many different sets of alphabets I had.  I put all of the A's in one sleeve, all the B's in another etc.  I have stored the sleeves in a set of plastic drawers designed for CD's.  It is fantastic.  Now when I need letters for a layout I know exactly where to look and what I have.  It's amazing how many letters you can fit into each sleeve.

Kelly McCormack, via email

4. Paper storage

Use the cardboard boxes that are designed to hold 6 lever arch files to store your paper. Simply turn them on their sides and store away! - Cheap and easy!

Rhonda Harvey, via email

 5. Templates for cheats!

Like many of us I don't actually like my writing, so have been printing off the scripted fonts, and using these as templates. You are able to trace over them onto vellum and paper to get the nice writing you want.  I still think it looks a lot better and it’s a lot easier to read than my boring handwriting.

Suzanne Eyles, via email

6. Like bling and gloss?

Try nail polish on chipboard, metal, plastic and other embellishments. It’s a great     way to use out-dated colours and achieve very glossy looks on embellishments. Just paint it on with the brush supplied and wait to dry. Some polishes with sparkles and texture effects look fantastic!

Sue Larsen, via email

7. Burning braids

To prevent ribbons or braids from fraying and unravelling after attaching to a page, light a match or use a cigarette lighter and very lightly touch the end of the braid or ribbon to the flame before attaching.  This seals the ends and keeps your pages neat forever. I used this tip for the ribbons on baby booties and jackets many years ago.

Wendy Lovatt, via email

8. Share your love

I’m a nurse and a few years ago I was looking after a child who had been in a car accident that killed her mother and brother. During their stay the father bought in a scrapbook that his wife had made about their son. This scrapbook was a great comfort to him and allowed us to talk with the dad about the events depicted and enable us to share his grief and offer some comfort. Since that day I encourage anyone that scraps to create pages for each of their children. It can be tempting to concentrate on one child at a time to get an album "finished" but as morbid as it sounds circumstance may prevent us from finishing and I want each of my children to know how much I enjoy their lives by scrapping each of their memories.

Wendy Stout, via email

9. Mini mail

I always seem to have leftover photos, cardstock, papers and embellishments when I finish a layout.  The bits and pieces aren’t always suitable for other projects, so to minimise leftovers I have now started to make 6x6 inch layouts for my mum and mother in law in the same theme.  Once finished, I can post the mini layouts to them so that they can fill the mini albums I gave them.  That way they can still see what our photo albums look like and watch our family grow, without me having to take the real ones along when we visit.

Kim Howson, via email

10. Sticky scissors solution

Being a mad scrapper I am always going through miles and miles of double sided tape. With this kind of mileage my scissors started slowing down on the up and down motion, getting very sticky, very quickly. So instead of fighting with them to do their job, I found that a small drop of un-do adhesive remover on the tip of a cotton bud rubbed over the blades does the trick. The adhesive remover leaves no stains on paper or photos and dries immediately. My scissors came up like brand new again and were back in action.

Vanessa Collins, via email