Thursday, August 21, 2008

Green Scrapbooking? Say what?

Hi everyone!! And Happy Birthday WIP Blog!!Don't forget to leave a comment in Trish's post right below this one so that you can be included in the drawing! She picks a winner at midnight tonight and the winner receives a September kit!! YAY!

Ok, green scrapbooking. Yeah, I know. How can we be green when we scrapbook and constantly hoard...er, um...buy new supplies all the time? Well, it's actually easier than you thought!

A few companies are actually starting to produce green scrapbooking supplies. Piggy Tales is one of them, and I hear more are on their way to providing greener options in their lines. But you can do it yourself everyday just by being creative!

How, you ask?

I'll talk more about green scrapbooking in the next couple of months, but the easiest option by far is to send a handmade card instead of buying one. Last New Year's Eve, I pledged to make every card that I send from now on, and so far so good (and yes, I'm doing Christmas cards too).
I made this one over the weekend using some white cardstock and a pop up tag from the WIP August project kit (which would also be great for hidden journaling on a layout, by the way). Here's a couple more that I've made using the WIP August Kits:
And a few that I've made this year with scraps from my stash:
They don't take long to make, and they don't have to be that detailed either. The object is to make what you can buy. Use those supplies, especially those scraps, that you already have.

You can even take it a step further by recycling an envelope that you have at home. Junk mail is filled with return envelopes that can be altered with a little mailing label to hide the return address...or put those unrecyclable return envelopes with the thin plastic sheet over the return address window to good use (a tip I learned recently from a friend of mine...hi Amy SKP!)

Trust me...your friends and family will appreciate a handmade card so much more than a purchased one. I know I do!

Happy Card Making!
~Colleen

ETA: I see in the comments section that Paper Trunk also scraps green. If you guys know of any more, please share them!

17 comments:

ashlee said...

paper trunk also has beautiful "GREEN" products!!!

Janelle said...

great cards----also paper trunk-- is VERY green-- everything the make is from recycled paper and they even use vegetable based oils for printing! great ideas too! tfs!

Anonymous said...

wow gorgeous cards.

kat

Rita said...

What a great idea for a New Year's Resolution!!! Those are lovely cards, too!

Jana Eubank said...

Cute, cute cards, Colleen!!! I especially love that Happy 4th one! So clever!

BrittanyLane said...

I'm inspired. Awesome.

Anonymous said...

green. . .so sad that it has to be a trend. we should have been doing lots of this all along. have been making my own cards for a long time; people are so appreciative! and for me it's so relaxing!

happy birthday Trish and company. love the site

Shaina Longstreet said...

wonderful.... :)

Ryzmomplus2 said...

these are wonderful and what a great idea for a New Years resolution!

pickmepam said...

love the cards! scrap lift here i come!

Sonda T said...

wooohooo GO GREEEEEEEEN, Colleen!! Love it!! Just one of the many reasons I work for Piggy Tales, b/c of their earth friendly/recycle produced products. So so awesome! Love your cards btw! Truly inspiring me! There are many more mfg's who are now producing products GREEN FRIENDLY but I can't think of who they are at the moment. I'll search around for ya.

Anonymous said...

Love this whole idea of going green. I am actually proud to say I recycle all of my paper scraps from my projects... right along with the newspaper! What a great feeling. And I'll definitely make note to buy more green products. And I've never been a card maker - but you sure have given me an excuse now... thanks!

Darlene said...

Happy Birthday to You....(crooning loudly and slightly off key) Lovely cards and thanks for reminding us to make our supplies stretch as far as we can. Count me in for the drawing...nothing like beautifully co-ordianted papers and embellishments to get a scrapper excited!
Thanks, Darlene

Melaniestan said...

I did a challenge once for going green. It was fun to to recycle stuff.

I use packing all the time. Some of it is so pretty.

avidreader said...

Happy Birthday! Love your cards!
Sandy

Places to Go and Things to Eat said...

I can't wait to get my Christmas card in the mail from you. ;)

Anonymous said...

Love the cards. I alwasy to try to use scraps to make cards. Love your results though. Awesome!

AmandaE