I'm drowning in paper!

I'm sick in the head. I bought more paper yesterday at Michael's. I couldn't resist because #1. it's so pretty and #2. it was on sale. I bought two sets. One is French country-looking and the other is Modern/Contemporary.

The De-Stash-a-long...

So, people on the de-stash-a-long want to have monthly THEMES. For example, they want to do a color. Which is ridiculous because there's a Color-a-long already so why don't they join that instead?

Anyway, at first, I thought "UGH! That will actually PREVENT me from using up my stash because it's too restrictive." I even posted that I'm not so big on the theme focus and that I will probably do my own thing and post pictures as I de-stash.

However, this morning, I came up with a brilliant idea: if we're going to do themes, then why not do multiple themes each month: colors, textures, seasons, holidays, textures, trends, techniques, etc. That way it gives people plenty of opportunity to be creative, but not for just a single idea. I came up with a list:

January: winter, blue, argyle, owls/birds (which is trendy right now), crochet, etc.
February: Valentine's Day, quotes, red, winter (again), flowers, knitting, etc.
March: St. Patrick's Day, green, quilting
April: rain, birthdays, pink, stamping
May: Mother's Day, girls, spring, purple, sewing
June: Father's Day, boys, sports, ATCs, technique?, color?
July: summer, vacation, 4th of July, yellow, technique?
August: ocean/sea, Grandparent's Day (I think that's in August), green, technique?
September: Labor Day, back to school, totes/bags, color?
October: Halloween, fall, orange and black, other stuff?
November: Thanksgiving, leaves, brown, other stuff?
December: Holidays, snowflakes, color?, other stuff?

I left off beading and painting as techniques to do, and pets and weddings as other themes. No responses so far so I wonder what everybody will think? I let them know it won't hurt my feelings if they think all this is stupid, but I really think it's a good idea. The person who started the thread, "psyche," hasn't responded in a couple of days. I wonder what he/she thinks about themes?

First De-stashing project: mini cards

Yesterday, I worked some on de-stashing my scrap paper. This is what I came up with:



I made mini cards! Very, very cute. My goal was to use as little new cardstock as possible and not create any more scraps. The "many thanks" cards above are different sizes because I used up an entire 12x12 sheet of cardstock to make all 5 cards. If I'd been smart, I would have measured better so they were a consistent size! The good part is, though, that I had no waste at all! I need these cards for all the beautiful gifts we've received from our friends.

The mini cards below are just random scraps I had. Again, I didn't make any new scraps when I made those cards! Good for me!

Okay... okay...

Well... I posted the photo of the garage, but I also have a photo of my stack of scrap cardstock. I'm embarassed to post it, but here it is (again, I hope that in sharing I'll prompt myself to DO something with all of this):

I keep it all stored in the cardboard trays that cases of canned dog and cat food come in. Shown above are two dog food trays and one cat food tray (the big pieces of cardstock that are definitely worth saving are in the dog food ones and the little scraps I should probably throw away are in the cat food tray). I use those trays for everything (as shown in the upper right of the photo!); they're VERY handy!

Garage Shop

I've joined a "De-stash-a-long 2009" craft-a-long on Craftster! I hope that sharing my paper crafting addiction will prompt me to use up more of my stash of cardstock, patterned paper, vellum, transparency film, handmade paper, rhinestones, ribbon, eyelets, brads, beads, rubber stamps, glitter, buttons, punches, stickers, wire, flowers, embellishments, paint, etc., etc!

My first goal is to make a huge dent in the amount of scrap cardstock that I keep accumulating. I just can't throw away any scrap cardstock, no matter how small a piece it is. I keep telling myself: "I might be able to use that on someting else" and so I save every little scrap! Not good!

Second goal is to figure out how to use up all that patterened paper I have. I'm just not good at using that, but I keep buying and hoardng it (along with all the other supplies I have). The good news about hoarding is that I don't buy ANYTHING unless it's on sale, and then I buy it even if I don't need it (thus the addiction!).

Anyway, here's a photo of my garage shop that's LOADED with paper crafting stuff. I'm totally cringing as I post this!