Thursday, February 7, 2013

I'm Still Alive....

......but still trying to dig my way through 7+ years of  paper crafting accumulation.

Yes, that means the Toad is correct.  I did not have a craft room. I had a crap room.  Seriously.

Downsizing from an entire room to mostly a desk and corner of my bedroom has not been easy.  I have given two rather large boxes of "stuff" to a couple of teachers at the Kiddo's school.  I figure they can decide what to do with the stuff they don't think they'll use.  Although, I did mention that any of the stamping stuff that they didn't want, I'd take back to offer as blog candy.  But, don't hold your breath on that.  That could be weeks, months down the road before they decide what they want.  I sent another box to a friend.

You'd think I'd see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Not really.  I still have piles in my room to go through.  I still have piles in the hall way to go through.  And the Newest Kiddo isn't going to have use of the closet in his room.  The Toad had built shelves in it for me  it to store all my SU stamps, family photo albums, the kiddo's mementos from each school year.

I bought the Newest Kiddo a self supporting hanging closet thingamajig to hang his dress clothes in. This girl can only handle so much at one time!! LOL!

While I've been going through things, I've had many conversations with myself.  Such as:

**You are NOT TO BUY ANOTHER PAD OF PAPER FOR THE NEXT 5+ YEARS.  OMG.  You have enough paper to last FOREVER.  Doesn't matter how cute it is...the answer is NOOOOO!

**Your art was changing.  Now, how the heck are you suppose to know if you'll use this stuff on your emerging art that you haven't used over the last 7 years?????

**Why do I still have all these Mrs. Grossman's stickers????

**Just how many paper cutters does one person need???? (My answer:  two.  The rest were given to the teachers)

**Really should get rid of all my SU ink pads/refills.  BUT.  I still use some of them.  Sometimes. They are great for classroom projects.  sigh....

**WHEN was the last time I even opened up one of these OLD SU catalogs for inspiration?

**OMG.  I still have Creative Memory idea books.  I have not done any scrapping in 12 years.  Ewwww.  Now I know why I had so many stickers.....

**REALLY.  Brads, grommets.  Why are you still keeping them???? WHY???

**Just trash it.  Don't over think it.  If you have to struggle to think of the last time you used it (or, in more instances than I'd like to admit...have NEVER used it) just get rid of it.

**You realize that once you go through everything, you should go through it again and pitch some more.

**If this takes much longer to go through, I'm just going to pitch everything.  Seriously.  Okay...maybe not.  But I'm starting to like that idea more and more.

**And the biggest, yet still unanswered question:  what do I do with the dimensional art that I have made?  The altered frames, metal projects, the canvases?  

Cards, easy.  Give them to others.  Art.  Not so easy.  It is more personal.  You can gift it, but ONLY if a person asks for it.  Otherwise, it is most likely junk to them.  Yet, I can't make myself toss it.  It has a part of me in it.  And while me, myself and I don't always like each other, we all put a little bit into each project.  That is hard to trash.  sigh.....

Suggestions and comments welcomed on that sticky point.  I'd love input.

This weekend, I figure I'll take some pictures and share how I'm organizing what I am keeping.  Who knows, maybe you'll gleam an idea that will work for you too.  And maybe you'll be able to share some ideas with me too. I'm open to suggestions!!

Till then....is creating a mess creating????  sigh.....