Nope, I’m not going on Wheel of Fortune (wouldn’t that be crazy?) I was just reminded of that when I received this from Carrie.
“My daughter in Germany told me about your website. She wanted me to be sure and tell her dad that I am not the only magazine addict! We also like to scrapbook and she is an organizing fiend! Your site is her new “guilty
pleasure.”
I have a question about scrapbooking. I usually buy sheets of the alphabet stickers. I have lots of different colors and fonts, but I always run out “e”s. I hate to keep buying whole sheets just for the “e”. Is there an economical alternative? I have seen paper punches with a little swirl design that could double as an “e” in a pinch, but I thought I would see if you had another idea.
Thanks for your help,
Carrie”
This is what I sent Carrie.
“Hi Carrie,
Thank you so much for your email. I’m so glad your daughter is enjoying the site (and that I have partners-in-crime in my magazine addiction!)
As far as the letter e goes … that’s a bit of a tricky one. Do you like to mix alphabets? If so … one thing you could do is invest in a basic alphabet stamp set. And then you could mix stamped letters and sticker letters for an eclectic look.
Do you ever use your computer for journaling? You could use a letter sticker for the first letter of the word … and then journal the rest with the computer.
There used to be (and I haven’t looked in a while) alphabet punches, too. EK Success made them … So you could buy an ‘e’ punch and use it as you suggested for the swirl punch.
Let me post this on my blog and see if anyone else out there has any creative ideas.
Thanks for your email!
Aby”
OK fellow scrapbookers … I know you’ve got some great ideas out there … can we help Carrie with her “e” dilemma?
When I run out of a letter I use the outline of the letter from the sticker sheet to create a “negative” effect. I cut the outline out into a square shape and use that directly on the page. OR you can take the outline or negative shape from the sticker sheet and paint or stamp in the letter shape. I may not using the correct terms, I hope that makes sense. Doodlebug makes some letter stickers called double takes and they purposely have the positive/negative effect for alphabet stickers. You could visit their website to see examples. You can also see page ideas using the alpha stickers that might give some inspiration.
Sometimes I have that problem too. You could cut other less used letters and put it together to make a lower or upper case E. For example take an F and add a straight piece cut from a T or H,L,I to make the bottom line on the F. Does that make sense? For a lower case e you could take apart a lower case o,p,u and put the pieces together to make the e. Its not something that I would always do, but for those midnight sessions where you just have to get that page done it works. Other times I just do what Aby suggested if you like to mix it up a bit. There are also dies (sizzix & others)that you could use, but they are a more expensive option initially. I hopes this idea helps you.
This may seem way too simple, but I have learned to count the key letters I run out of all the time and then only buy the sheet if it has as many as I need for a word plus one. Does that make sense? I’ve learned (from Aby, my organizing guru) to purchase stuff like alpha. stickers with the specific project in mind, so I usually know what I want to spell in advance. Then, I keep the rest of the letters in my stash to see if they fit future projects or to mix them with other alphabets. I do have a QuicKutz, which I love, so I don’t buy a lot of alpha stickers anymore —- though I understand and struggle with the temptation!!
For a lower case E I use a lower case c and then cut a part from another letter to make the cross bar.
Hope this helps!
I run out of e’s frequently, as well. Many times, I will mix and match upper and lower case letters in a word, so that the letter I am missing in lowercase would be replaced by an uppercase. I do it for several letters of a title, so that it does not look as awkward. English teachers may shudder, but I just call it whimsical.
What a LOT of work this all sounds like when you could simply use a STAMP! Alphabet stamps are SIMPLY wonderful! And they never run out! I love the clear acrylic ones that you can see exactly where you’re placing it. Perfect every time!