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Matboard Scraps

Lauren Rosenthal

Lauren Rosenthal

Well-known member
Messages
76
Loc
Lambertville, NJ
Company
Ampersand Projects
How do you store small pieces of matboard? And, if you don't store them, what do you do with them? I'm thinking about making standard sizes for sale and/or donating to a local arts group. It's getting out of control...Thanks!
 
Ah, the bane of framers' existence.

1) Cut into pre-cut mats
2) Donate to schools
3) Use for frame putty mixing
4) Scratch paper
5) Put out for sale in a box as random sizes
6) Cut to standard sizes and put them out on display for sale
7) Tape together and use as "undermats" for trimming down mounts

Andrew
 
I have two categories - Category 1 is PPFA level 1 mat scraps of mats I inventory; Category 2 is everything else.

Category 1: Solid Cotton Rag that I inventory and are part of my Collector Series Package.

Any piece less than 2 inches wide - I toss.
Any piece wider than 2 inches up to 10 inches and 12 or more inches long I put in a file drawer and use as strips for spacers, etc.
Any piece between wider than 10 inches and at least 12 inches wide & up I store for future use.
[Note: If I start getting lots of smaller pieces, I cut up to 10 x 12's]
Any small fallouts - I put in a give away box.


Category 2: Any thing else

Any piece less than 2 inches wide - I toss.
Any piece between 2 to 8 inches wide, I put in a give away box.
Any piece wider than 8 inches [and at least 12 inches long] I put in a scrap slot for backing mats when cutting, or for hopefully future use.


Give Away Box:

I used to give to schools, but it is harder to give to art teachers / schools anymore, so I give them to customers that have young kids.
 
I would contact my local art teachers and donate some of the items I did not want to them. Some I would cut to standard sizes and sell. Others I would "Play" with my Wizard and cut designs, or names then either put in standard frames or use shorts to make a frame and sell. I found the School Mascot names and designs went well. Also these made nice Donations without a lot of expense, I could not donate to one school and not another just did not feel right.
 
Les Martin. MCPF said:
A number of small pieces make great disposable "paper plates" for lunch to keep from feeding the ants.
Click to expand...

Yes! I often refer to the scraps as "framers' lunch plates".:thumb:
We get rid of most scraps that are smaller than about 20" x 24".
We try to donate what we can and the rest is put into a paper recycle bin that we have and it's taken away for recycling.
 
What sizes of matboard scrap to keep is dependent on how your business works. If you do a lot of small things, pieces as small as 8x10 are worth keeping. But if you don't have much small work, anything smaller than 16x20 is probably wasting valuable space. The same goes for glass and foam board.

I keep a box by my mat cutter that I dump smaller pieces into. I sometimes reach into it when I do have something small or need a small piece for mixing paint or stain, to hold glue or putty, or to make temporary notes. Once a month or so, an art teacher comes for the scrap. I usually keep about 5% of it in the box because it is a law of the universe that you will have an order for a bunch of small pieces as soon as the scrap is picked up.:shocked:
 
Take those long skinnys and Make the Name Mats, use them for generic ones like Baseball, Football, Soccer, Dance, School Names (Mascot), anything like this you can premake, put up in the window, then they make great donations to the schools festivals when the time comes! Once people see them they will order custom ones. Make these a package price and use the skinny pieces of glass or plexi you have laying around and use the moulding that is not selling or that you got for a great deal. I selected a set size and figured out how many letters you could fit the just adjusted the letter size as needed.
 
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