Ways To Save Money On Card Making Supplies

Regardless of where you are in your card making journey, you probably realize you could spend a fortune on craft supplies if you let yourself. Your budget may be small, moderate, or large, but in any case, you may still find yourself with a wish list that still remains. I’ve put together a list of ideas for how to save money, make your crafting dollar go further, and possibly even earn money if you’re interested. Let’s talk about it!

How Not To Save Money

First I’m going to mention how I don’t suggest saving money – by buying dirt cheap products from the dollar store or discount sites online. I’m an American and I want to support American causes…not foreign nations who are not our friends. Discount stores and sites are stealing designs and artwork from Stampin Up as well as other people and companies. These products are made in other countries, and the profits return there.

Speaking of cheaply made products, let’s talk about them for a moment longer. Many stamps on the market will turn yellow and get gummy over time. A lot of paper trimmers are terrible and are really hard to use and cause a lot of frustration. Many paper punches don’t punch well from the day they are new, and likely will not last more than a few years. I personally like to invest in products that are going to last a long time, and I won’t have to replace them after a year or several years of use.

Now that I’m off my soap box, let’s talk about how I DO suggest maximizing your crafting budget!

Video Tutorial – Ways To Save Money On Card Making Supplies

Watch along here as I discuss these ideas, or keep reading! 

Start Small

Kits

It is SO easy to jump in and buy all the things (or want to buy all the things), but you really only need a few supplies to get started making cards. Kits are an awesome way to get started inexpensively, because all the supplies you’ll need are included. One thing I love about kits is they come with a small stamp set and mini ink pad, so while you’re creating with kits, you’re making quick and easy projects AND building up the stamps and ink colors in your collection.

There are several types of kits that I recommend. All-inclusive kits are perfect, because they even include your adhesives and an acrylic block to mount the stamps to. Take a look at a huge assortment of card making and craft kits here.

In addition, a monthly kit subscription can be a great option. For a low cost each month, you can have a fun new craft kit delivered to your mailbox. You can choose a prepaid subscription for one or several months, or be billed monthly each time the kit ships. Get more details on a craft kit subscription here.

Basic Supplies Needed

When you’re ready to start adding additional products to your collection, make sure to take a look at this post, where I share my recommendations for what you actually need to get started stamping. I’ve even prioritized my lists of suggested products from the basics, all the way up to all the fun ‘toys’ that just make this craft more fun.

While it’s easy to get carried away with all the amazing options, remember you can get started with one acrylic block, one stamp set, one ink pad, and some cards and envelopes. It really can be that simple and inexpensive.

Get More For Your Money

Another way to extend your crafting budget is to look at ways to get more for the amount you’re spending. Here are a few ideas.

Assorted Cardstock

When starting out, I highly suggest getting assorted cardstock packs instead of individual colors, so you have a lot of color options to choose from. As you use up individual colors faster than the others, you may choose to order full packs of these colors, but assortments are a great way to get started.

Choose Versatile Products

When you’re getting started, it makes sense to choose products that are versatile. When looking at a particular stamp set or paper pack, think, “Can I use this for multiple occasions?”

For example, you might be trying to decide between a floral stamp set with a few cursive thinking of you greetings, and a set that includes patterns, textures, and assorted print greetings. You’ll be able to use the second set for women, men, children and assorted occasions, while the first one will only be useful for women going through difficult times. Which one is the better choice for getting started?

The same goes for paper packs. Choose assorted packs instead of a pack with all child prints or a baby theme.

Get Creative

Creativity is what we do right? Let’s get creative and see how we can save some money by substituting when we don’t have all the supplies we need.

Improvise

There are ways to improvise if you don’t have some of the basic supplies to make cards. Here are a few ideas of how to stamp without some of the basics.

Trimmer – A ruler, pencil, and scissors will allow you to cut (almost) straight edges, just like a paper trimmer does. It takes a bit longer, but it can work.

Punches and dies – I started scrapbooking with paper, stencils, and scissors. I cut out everything with my scissors. Did it take more time? Yes. But I was able to make neat things on a budget.

Embossing – I’ve seen people use embossing folders with a rolling pin to apply pressure, if they didn’t have a Cut & Emboss Machine to use with them.

Acrylic Block – Several times I’ve been traveling and I forgot to take an acrylic block to use with my stamps. I’ve mounted stamps to the bottom of a clear drinking glass (the bottom has to be flat) and had pretty good success getting them to work! I’ve also mounted stamps to an ink pad to use them, but this is a bit more difficult because you cannot see through the ink pad.

Bone Folder – Don’t have a bone folder? I’ve used an acrylic block, ink pad, round scissors handle, and my fingernails to crease cards.

How else can we save money? Let’s talk about how ‘going small’ can add up to savings.

Go Small

Where can you choose smaller products at a cost savings? Here are several ideas.

Die Cutting & Embossing Machine

One example of how to save money when purchasing supplies is to purchase a mini die cutting and embossing machine compared to a full size machine. While the small machines have a smaller working area, and you won’t be able to use full size embossing folders or dies, it’s a great option for getting started.

Ink Pads

Another way to ‘go small’ is to purchase mini ink pads instead of full-size pads. Here is an option that includes several basic colors, or another possibility is to get small uninked pads along with ink refills in the colors of your choice. With an ink refill bottle on hand, you’ll be able to stamp with the same pad for years and years to come.

More Ways To Save

Here are even more ideas for how to extend the dollars in your crafting budget!

Find A Crafting Friend

I know quite a few crafters who craft with a friend, and they share products. They coordinate who will purchase different supplies to make sure they don’t purchase the same stamps or dies, and then they share!

Thrifting

I don’t know about you, but I don’t mind finding craft supplies second-hand if it means I can save a bit of money. Check out garage sales and local thrift stores to see if you can find any good deals.

Shop Where You Get Rewards

If you’ve already been purchasing craft supplies, have you been getting rewards on your purchases? I have a rewards program, and you can get all the details here. I would love for you to start earning rewards through it.

Get A Discount

Did you know there are ways to get a discount on your craft supplies? Stampin Up offers the chance to sign up basically as a distributor to save 20% or more on your supplies. There’s no pressure to do business or sell to other people. You can just be a happy shopper and save on your own orders!

Start Earning

Another way to make your craft budget go further is to use your love of this hobby to earn a little (or a lot) of extra income. How can you do this? Here are a few ideas:

-Have a booth at a local craft fair to sell your creations
-Sell cards or other crafts at a local shop
-Offer classes at a local library, church, community center or your home
–Sign up as a demonstrator, and start sharing online with social media, videos, or a website

I’ll go into more detail on how to earn money with your love of crafting in a future post, so make sure to sign up for updates so you don’t miss it!

Shop Supplies Here

Are you interested in some of the items I shared today, or want to browse other supplies? Use these links to get started!

Product List

Learn To Make Cards
Shop Supplies
Rewards Program
Join My Amazing Team

I hope you can find a way to craft on the size of budget you have available to do so, and I hope these ideas for ways to save money on card making supplies will help you!