a musing for long-time scrappers

[MaryAnne]

I have been contemplating the chaos of my room (well, I can't really help but do so, as I sit in the midst of it ) and my mind wandered back to when I began, with my single small box of goodies that sat on my looooong kitchen counter, when I scrapped standing up, snatching moments when I could, and tidying it all away if I had to walk away even for a MINUTE (all those sharps, and little hands with along reach) and how simple it was then. But that took me down another path, to consider how I used to hoard supplies, to use them only if they were PERFECT and resent every one I stuck down. I was just SURE that I would be making a layout the next day that would NEED that thing to make it perfect and I dreaded running out of it.

Now, I seem to be exactly the opposite. I throw stuff on the page with abandon. Don't get me wrong, I still want it all to go together, but my ideas of "go together" have expanded to allow me to use up some of my stuff.

So I wonder how you feel about your stash? Do you add more than you used to on your layouts? Is your craft room the perfect example of a cautionary tale for newbies just starting to collect? Do you find it hard to incorporate old stuff with new? (if so you should be following Simple Recipes - Leo has some great ideas for that) Do you feel that you NEEDED to go thru the shop till you drop phase in order to have enough options on hand? I have to admit I am sort of like this. I love my stash and it isn't often that I have to actually go shopping for something specific. But I shudder to think and the dip in my productivity if I had to go shopping every time I wanted to scrap!


Discuss.

[jackinthebox]

Agree with everything (!) you say!!!!

[whoopidoo]

Absolutely used to be a hoarder. Having moved to a house with much less space and expanded on my crafty endeavours which means more varied stash... not so much a hoarder now. Can't be. Just this month I placed my tin of paper flowers on the table and just let the kids go mad. Have hoarded them since I first started scrapping (when pregnant with my now 5yr old!) I have now come to the acceptance that I am not and never will be a flower user. So they are now adorning my childrens scrapbooks and journals. They had so much fun and couldn't believe I let them have them. And I have an empty tin

[fruitysuet]

Agree wholeheartedly (apart from I have always had a scrap room and never done the tidy up thing). However nowadays I throw scraps away rather than hoarding the smallest piece and I allow my kids a much freer reign over using my supplies for their own projects.

I have become a lot let precious about stuff especially since I have started to digital scrapping as well as paper scrapping.

I've finally realised my children could live until they were 100 and still there would be piles left!

[kimmie_35]

I thought it was just me....

[Fizzydrink]

In the 'old days' if I bought a pack of embellies I was fine about using them, but just the one and then away into the stash box they'd go! Nowadays I'll sling the whole pack on a single LO if I like the look of it!

But I do miss the days when I actually knew what I had in my stash - now I have to tidy up every couple of weeks to remind myself what I have that I should be using!

[Mrs Cheshire]

MaryAnne, I couldn't have put it better myself! I'm literally drowning under a sea of stash! I can't sit at my desk as it's piled high with boxes of stuff that doesn't have a home yet! Trouble is that every CHA there is loads of must have stash, only trouble for me is I can't scrap 12 hours a day to use up what I already have!

[craftypinpin]

When I first started scrapping I kinda bought all things pretty without much thought to if I would actually use them. However finance wise times have changed and there is not much spare for stash buying. Also I am much more confident in my style now - I know what I do and don't like and what I want to put on a page. I am also more relaxed and after a recent major sort out have realised that if I scrapped every day until I was a hundred I probably woudn't run out!

[YorkshireLass]

When I started I didn't really know what to buy, so ended up with loads of random bits that I didn't really use. Now I'm far more comfortable with what my style is, so I only buy what I know I will use. I had a big clear out when we moved last year, so I haven't got much left that I don't use, apart from coloured cardstock - I've got enough to stock my LSS and I know I'll never use it, but I can't bring myself to part with it, just in case

[serenitysgirl]

Well said all! I have been thinking recently and have come to the conclusion that one of the reasons I haven't been creative for sooo long is... 1. The mess 2. Not knowing where to start with said mess and 3. Keeping stuff I don't need eg freebie mag papers. I have decided that I don't care how old a design is or whether it is in fashion as long as I like it and that I need to think outside the box so to speak! So that being said I'm going to chuck out what I don't want and play around a little. Most of try lol to get organised xxxx

[MaryAnne]

It does sound like a few of us are on the same page Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my stash, I am just not so precious about using it up. I do have a lot of very old stuff, but the funny thing is I find some of it is coming around again. There is stuff that I have had for 10 years the I pull out and think "That looks current" - which is why I don't regret buying it. There is actually very little that I look at and think "I hate that, I'll never use it" I can always find a use for it. What I DO regret is buying some tools that were current for a moment or that just had not been out long enough to have reviews to consider. That stupid wire thingie for making wire words, etc. What a waste. And so many paper trimmers that all turned out to cut wonky or circle cutters that were impossible to use effectively (Shape boss anyone?) I promise myself to not get swept away by one person raving about a new tool. Wait a month and see what a few more people say.

and now, when looking at layouts I admire I try to strip them back to the basic ideas (text paper, bold floral, stripe) and go looking for similar to see if I can use up my stash to make room for the truly special new collections that I know I really want. Cause ya gotta shop, dontcha? at least a little....

[gwyneth 123]

I've finally realised my children could live until they were 100 and still there would be piles left!

I quite often have a look round this room and wonder what and how my DD's are going to deal with it all when I'm gone Neither of them have any interest in it and they certainly have no idea how much it's all worth. So I'll just have to cross my fingers that I don't get run over by a bus tomorrow

I used to be a prolific hoarder but I'm getting better. I do now use what I want on a page rather than keep things for that special page/photo which never seems to materialize somehow. I've also had a clear out a few months ago and sorted things that I knew that I was never going to use, things that I bought when I first started.
I do still shop but not as much as I used to. Having said that though I could never be one of these scrappers that shopped for the supplies that they need for the next page they do. I'm one of these that want it now and if I decide to start a page I need to be able to turn round and delve into the boxes to get what I need for that next step as I'm doing it. I need a "stock" to choose from as I'm not that well organized to think in advance.

[Cassia]

I agree with everything you siad Mary Anne! In fact, only this morning I was thinking about the little box of stuff that was all I had for ages, and how much I struggled with each page because my choices were so limited. Now I have so much stuff that I could probably go the rest of my life not buying anything other than cardstock and glue!

[grannyscrap]

I so used to be like MaryAnne. I had so much 'stuff' I didn't know where to turn. I once did a 100 paper swap - (3 times!!!) with some peeps on here. In the end I did a huge turn out. Out went houndred of pounds worth of 'stuff' (if it hadn't been looked at out it went)
All went to a lady on here who does things for charity. All I was left with was the basics and most of my tools with a few fav. papers etc. You have no idea how liberating it was. I now scrap far more but I do try to only shop for project specific and I make most of my embelies. I've gone from someone who didn't scrap much to someone who scraps most days.

[Nerlly]

Yes to all of that! My biggest weaknesses are stamps and patterned paper. I try not to be precious about the paper - layer it up, cut into it, and use the new stuff first so that it doesn't turn into more old stuff! It's still difficult to resist saving it for the perfect page, though.

I've got a display book full of sheets of stickers and other embellies, and I try to use something out of it on every page I make. It's become a habit now to pull them out, and I'm slowly getting through them.

There's still that problem, though, of forgetting what I have, and needing a clear-out to refresh my memory. I'm thinking of making one of those dice-rolling/lolly stick drawing things where I pull out an item from a list of supplies and make myself use it on a page. Fabric, buttons, ribbons, brads, paint, stitching, metal embellies, rub-ons...you name it, it's lurking in a drawer somewhere!