This morning I was talking to my friend Melba and we were talking about supplies, well let’s be honest here I was talking about my abundance of supplies! I am currently drawing up plans to add more cabinets to my work space. It has only been three years since our remodel and the creation of my work space but I have sadly out grown it. I have supplies spilling out every where…when my boxes of supplies started taking up my husband’s garage space he took notice.
The new cabinets will help house my stash in a more organized fashion, but I still need to stop buying beyond my storage capacity. One of my biggest weaknesses is paper, well whose isn’t right. I buy what I like in hopes of finding a project for it. This concept if fine within limits, however when you have pounds and pounds of paper I think you begin to get counterproductive in the sense that now I have an overwhelming supply. Which in turn makes my creating harder, as in it takes more time to search for that perfect paper for a project.
The new cabinets will help house my stash in a more organized fashion, but I still need to stop buying beyond my storage capacity. One of my biggest weaknesses is paper, well whose isn’t right. I buy what I like in hopes of finding a project for it. This concept if fine within limits, however when you have pounds and pounds of paper I think you begin to get counterproductive in the sense that now I have an overwhelming supply. Which in turn makes my creating harder, as in it takes more time to search for that perfect paper for a project.
In talking to Melba I decided to take two approaches to my dilemma. First I need to go on another stash diet. A stash diet is a great way to use what you have on hand in order to slim down your supplies, sounds wrong doesn’t it, why have fewer supplies? Well if you are anything like me, you may have piles of supplies not being used essentially money down the drain.
My goal is simple; to cut down my paper supply by 20%, my embellishments by 10% and my alterable items by 20%. After all my alterable items are taking up the most space. I have boxes of blank tins, paper mache boxes etc that are taking up unnecessary space. Do not get me wrong, for me it is essential to have these items on hand for when the creative mood strikes me, however do I really need a dozen or more of each…no. Keeping a balance is important, organization is key; if you do not know what you have it is easy to buy duplicates. This all plays into my goal.
Second, if I do buy new supplies it will be only what I NEED for a current project, and only if I searched my supplies first. I will be challenging myself to create fun new projects using what I have on hand.
Join me in my challenge, use what you have, reduce your stockpile and become a more efficient crafter. Stay tuned for updates on my progress.
