{Inter-}National Scrapbooking Day 2012

Welcome to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Master Forgers' blog hop to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day - though as I'm in the UK that should really be "Inter-national" shouldn't it?!

I'm hoping you've travelled via Crystal to reach me, but if not you can catch up with the start of the hop right here.

We've put together some challenges to help you use your stash and I'm looking at my pile of half-used alphabets today.  In this house, half-used alphabets often stay that way, gathering dust and I end up cutting my titles with alphabet dies.  Why?  Because the title I have in mind contains the letter "e" ... or "s" ... or "o"  and those letters are among the first to get used up - no matter how many elextra vowsletter repeats there are, it is never enough!
What can be done about it?  Here are five ways to reduce that pile of half-used alphabets:

1. Adapt
   It all depends on the alphabet of course but a number of letters can be made to look like others:
   Cut the tail off a "Q" to make "O", turn a "W" upside down to make "M", try a "p" or "q" on their heads for "d" or "b" (and vice versa) or try "Z" on its side for "N"!
   
   
   
   
   
   How about cutting off the bottom of a "j" for "i", the top of a "g" for a "y" or snip the tail from a "p" to make a serviceable "a".  "R" can look like "P" with a bit of a trim, and "h" can become "n" or even "u"!  The letter "B" is easily transformed to make "E".
   Then of course there are the numbers that can do double duties: "3" could be turned into a curly "E" as can "8" and we all know that "0" is fine as "O". A flipped "6" or a "9"  might fill in for "g" or even "y" {see above}.  Take a look at your alphabets, I'm sure they are just as versatile as my examples.


2. Mix Up
   Not enough lower case letters?  Or too many?  Mix them up and choose letters from different fonts to increase the variety.  If they are different colours you can always use paint, ink or pens to add some uniformity.





Pineapple Carving

3. Be Thrifty
   I have plenty of half-used chipboard and die-cut alphas and often use the outline of a letter that has been used elsewhere - ink or paint it to match the rest of your letters and everyone will be admiring your style rather than thinking that you are a cheapskate!





Inked Scenic Route Chipboard alphas



Luxe Designs Classic Black die-cuts



BG White Chocolate Chip alphas

4. Cover Up
   Ever bought an alphabet because it was a bargain and then, in the cold light of day, been left wondering when you will ever find a use for letters which are lilac* or primrose* or pink*? {*replace with hated colour of your choice}
   I have!
   Nowadays I buy bare chipboard or white alphabets because I know how easy it is to colour them to suit.  For my older alphabets I find that black ink or paint covers up a multitude of awful colours.  Even those teeny tiny alphabets that are so great for sub-titles can be coloured: here I've transformed butter yellow into a pretty green with a little turquoise ink - just leave it to dry before using!
   
   

   

   This Little Piggy

5. Feature
   OK, these ideas are all very well, but I still have sheets that are missing everything except an almost unusable combination of consonants with a few "u"s and "y"s, some punctuation and the odd digit! So why not use them as a background - just stick them to a tag, the back of a journalling card you'll never use or a scrap of cardstock.  Then paint them with emulsion, acrylic or gesso before adding some colour if required.  They'll make a great textural addition to a page!!
   
   
   
   I even went one further with some giant letters from an old sheet of BG Color Me Silly monograms which I covered in tissue paper before inking up!
   
   
   

My challenge to you is to use up some neglected alphabets in one of the ways I've listed or share one of your own!  You can join in by posting a link to today's CKCB blog hop post.

If you also leave me a comment before May 31st linking your take on my challenge to this post you'll be in the running for a small prize from me (a link back to my blog from yours will double your chances of winning), and, it being {Inter-}National Scrapbooking Day I'm happy to send out that prize anywhere in the world!

In the meantime, please carry on to Jen to see what {I-}NSD challenge is waiting for you there.