I first have to admit that it took me about 20 minutes to decide on a post title and then find out how to spell CONQUER. AND that is part of my problem. When I get stuck on something, I cant get passed it and I usually walk away from whatever it is. I am always in a battle to work through it and do the things I want to do or have to do or dream of doing. So in short, this blog post has been on my list of things to do for about 3 or 4 weeks and a stupid title was going to delay it for another however many days, months or years.
Ok, I am back. What you don't know or would not have known unless I am telling you now is . . . I didn't know exactly how I wanted to attack this post and I had to go and take a nap! Now about 3 hours later I am back and just going to forge through.
I was inspired by this thread on Two Peas in a Bucket to begin to attack a pile of supplies that I have been accumulating under my desk for almost 2 years. I belonged to two monthly kit clubs for all of 2008. I joined both Studio Calico and Scarlet Lime because they had beautiful kits and I really loved the idea galleries. Since I was no longer designing for Two Peas or KI, I would copy the layouts that I loved using the kits and occasionally create some of my own designs and then pile the leftover kit contents under my desk in a basket.
I would stash all the little embellishments in baskets on the top of my desk:
And some would be stashed in this basket that was behind my desk:
I had to quit both clubs in January 2009 but never went back into the piles of leftovers and only occasionally would look for embellishments in the many baskets. After reading that thread on Two Peas, I decided to create my own little challenge. I even took the time to write down my rules and sign it sort of like a contract with myself. They make not make sense to you but here they are:
* Use only embellishments from the top of the desk (and I moved that basket from behind my desk to my desk since everything in it is from these kits)
* Use as many tools as possible - like punches and electronic die-cutters
* Use photos on desk first
* Do not use any papers, stickers or embellishments that are behind you.
* Stay away from the spin rack (this beautiful piece of organization that I got when a local store closed)
You can see that I share my space with the Lego Master and his St. Patrick's Day hat.
*You may use letter stickers
* You may use journaling spots etc. from your left side
These too have been piling up for years!
* You may use stamps and inks ONLY if you put them away immediately after the completion of project
* Use only these supplies until they are used up or you are sick of them and you either put them away or give them away.
Here is my new pile of stuff to give away:
To be able to find a balance with this challenge and my Etsy store, CareFree Glimmer, I also wrote down that I can spend one day scrapping and then one day Etsy and so on and so on. Then I signed it to make it official.
So I set out on my journey to tackle my piles. And in doing so I thought that I would be able to be more creative and productive. I also am I firm believer in letting things go in order to let new things in and I might treat myself to some new supplies after I complete this challenge.
I also took an inventory of what I had in these piles and this is what I had:
4 12x12 card stock shapes and label sheets (This are from Sassafras Lass)
7 Die cut Shapes and Journaling Blocks (I had two each of these from October Afternoon: Journaling Blocks and Die Cut Shapes) and a rogue SEI sheet of sticker shapes and borders
47 Sheets of Card stock - various shades but mostly them seem to be Autumnal colors
8 Die cut or Lace 12 x 12 Papers - from KI Memories, Crate Paper, Pink Paislee and American Crafts
2 12x12 Patterned Papers with decorative border strips (Again from Sassafras Lass)
40 Full sheets of 12x12 Patterned Paper
Various large scraps from past projects created by using these kits
You can see a peek of my inventory list and my rules are written on that piece of paper two. I will get a photo of soon.
I knew that I would have a color challenge and I started right off with my first page being challenged!
I had these photos of my girl wearing a bright pink shirt and the colors I had were NOT pink! I went for a patterned paper that has some pink and blue color in it and then tried to find another pattern that would work with it. I choose the blue check and luckily enough I had some fabric strips on my desk that I purchased at Michael's like 4 years ago that were pink and bright.
I will post a photo of my complete project in my next blog post and also of each of my completed projects. I have completed 25 pages since I started and I am almost ready to purge these supplies and move onto something else but I feel like I am on a mission now to use up EVERYTHING!
