Monday, April 29, 2013

Confessions of a Scrap-a-holic

Hi, my name is Lisa, and I'm addicted to buying scrapbooking supplies.  I have found over the years that I have developed quite the stash of scrapbooking supplies and I have been more of a collector of patterned paper and sticker than I could ever get the chance to use up in a lifetime.  I guess my rock bottom hasn't really been hit yet, but I am starting to feel really guilty about spending more money on products when I haven't even opened the brand new paper pack that I bought from my last haul.  I'm starting to feel like I've spent a small fortune on these supplies and not a lot to show for it.

So while I was watching one of my favorite YouTube girls, who is NicoleJones911, she had mentioned that she joined a Facebook group.  It's called 50 Projects.  As she explained in her video, she was having the same issues as I was.  She was a buyer and not a maker.  She joined the group so she could challenge herself to use up her supplies instead of keep on buying new stuff all the time. 

I debated on this for a while.  I'm not going to lie.  I probably thought about it for 2 - 3 weeks.  It just seemed like a huge commitment to make 50 layouts before buying anything.  All I could think about was all of these new collections that are coming out this season and how pretty they are.  But then again, they always seem to come out with these new collections that are too hard to pass up.  I guess the last straw for me was when I ordered $50 of stuff just to justify buying one bottle of MR. Huey's Opaque white mist.  (Which in an afterthought, I could have made my own with white paint that I already have on hand.)  Is this what it's like for alcoholics and drug users?  Not that I'm comparing myself to a substance abuser, because one is a very serious disease and scrapbooking is a much more fun and happy problem to have.  But I could see how the addictive nature of buying scrapbooking products has taken over.  For example, I have become a Tim Holtz collector.  I have collected his products for years and every time he comes out with new products I want to jump out and buy them all.  I won't count his distress inks too much into this category though, because I do use them all the time.  OK, most of the time.  But that's the only product of his that I use on a regular basis.  I have his distress stains (almost the whole collection), his alteration dies (too many and not used enough), his ideology line (I have packages that I haven't even opened), and I've started buying his distress paint.  This madness had to end.  I needed to admit I have a problem.  So what's the next step.  I guess as anyone with an addiction they find help.  That's when I remembered the Facebook page NicoleJones911 talked about.  50 Projects.  I needed to join.  So today was that day.  I clicked on the join group and waited for the reply.  They let me join and today is the day I start to make a difference in my scrapbook supplies and save some money on my pocket book.   Here is the link to the Facebook page if you would like to take the challenge as well.  50 Projects

I do have a bit of a guilty confession though.  I do subscribe to the Studio Calico scrapbook and project life "Kit-of-the-Month."  I am going to keep those coming in, however, I was typically buying extra kits or supplies when I would buy these kits.  I decided I'm only going to get the main kits and the project life kit and nothing else.  I hate to give these up yet.   Maybe perhaps if I'm not finding I'm putting a big enough dint into my supplies then I think I'm going to put them on hold for a few months and see how that goes.  But for now I'm going to keep them coming.   

So what are your thoughts?  Do you fall into the same category as me?  Are you a buyer and not a maker?  How do you make sure you use of your supplies?  I would love to hear what you have to say.

2 comments:

  1. Well Lisa, you are not alone. I'm a buyer, YouTube watcher and not a maker. My husband fusses at me all the time. I get on kicks where I will scrap quite a few pages (I have about 15 pages that need to be in put in books that I have made over the past 3-4 weeks) then I will got 3-4 weeks no pages at all!!!! Im addicted to YouTube process videos and spend most of my free time watching videos. I need to stop and just scrap. Lord help us. LOL I have not committed to the 50 projects yet. Im still thinking. I really hate to commit to not buying ANYTHING until I make 50 pages. OMG that's a lot of pages with NO new products. I also subscribe to the SC monthly kits. IF... I decide to commit to the 50 projects, I will keep my monthly SC kit. I think I would just die without my monthly kit. The excitement I feel when I get the email that it has shipped... I just can't give it up. Soooo, you are not alone. LOL

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    1. Sorry Terry for not replying back so soon. I must have missed your comment. First of all thank you for commenting. I love hearing feedback. Secondly, I just thought I would mention that I also subscribe to the monthly kit from Studio Calico, but then I don't buy any of the add ons. I get the main kit and the PL kit and that's it. I'm on layout 29/50, so I'm over the half way mark. At first I didn't think I could do it. 50 layouts seems like a lot. But they don't have to be layouts. Some people make cards, mini albums, clean their scrapbook rooms, organzie paper. It just has to be 50 projects before you buy. The girls are so awesome, it's been so much fun. I feel like I have been more productive making pages than spending my time online shopping. I hope you join if your interested....let me know if you do...I'll be there to cheer you on.

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