Maybe you are just starting out in scrapbooking and don't have much money to invest in supplies. Or maybe you have been scrapbooking for years and are looking for ways to cut costs.

Either way, the experts say: Think simple to save money.

Sueann Harnden has taught scrapbooking classes throughout Utah County, and she has sold her kits on eBay. She just started teaching at Robert's Crafts in Provo. (And "Reflections Through Scrapbooking" will be selling some of her kits at Scrapbooking USA at the South Towne Expo Center this weekend.) Harnden says keeping costs down is her main goal.

Her classes cost $15, and her clients come away with two 2-page layouts at the end of the evening. "You don't want the cost to be so much that people won't take the class." On the other hand, she notes, "It has to look good, too."

Her tips include: Try to use as much space on the page as possible. "I like to get my whole vacation in five layouts." She also is careful not to waste paper.

You can get 6 photo mats from one sheet of scrapbook paper, without wasting a jot, if you cut the mats 4 x 6 inches. So why cut 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch mats for your photos, as so many scrapbookers do, she wonders. Just crop your 4 x 6 photos down a bit, she says. Then they fit nicely on a 4 x 6 mat.

If you visit her home in Springville, Harnden will take you downstairs to her scrapbooking room. It is arranged so that her supplies are in easy reach. She can see what she has and use it and not buy more of something she already has. (She bought her storage boxes and hardware at a discount from a store that was going out of business.)

Harnden offers more tips: Buy ribbon you can use in multiple ways. Those cute little seasonal patterns might be nice, but how many inches will you use this season?

Harnden prefers a simpler ribbon. The distressed look is popular right now in scrapbooking, she says, and she finds herself drawn to fibrous ribbons in solid colors.

When she watches people make scrapbooks, she sees a lot of waste. You don't need a whole strip of adhesive on the back of a photo, she says. You just need a dab at each corner.

And save your scraps of paper, Harnden says. "I have one basket for garbage and one for scraps." When she is finished for the evening, she sorts her scraps back into her paper drawers. She keeps scraps of ribbon and fiber in old Kleenex boxes. She loves to staple odds and ends of color onto her pages. "You can use a short piece of ribbon to tie a spiral binding, or for any number of accents," she says.

Becky Morris, who is a scrapbook department head for Provo Craft and Novelty, offers yet another money-saving tip. "Scrapbooking has a high turnover rate," she says. If you see paper you love at 25 cents a sheet, you can wait a few weeks and count on there being some still in stock when it goes to 13 cents a sheet.

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E-mail: susan@desnews.com