For the past few weeks I have had this crazy idea rattling around in my head. Really crazy!
What if I tried to go for the whole year without buying a single (non-essential) scrapbooking supply?
Gasp!
Here's my reasoning: 1) Money is extremely tight for me right now. I was left a handsome inheritance that ALL came to me as soon as I turned 19 (our age of majority here in BC). I used that money to live comfortably, buy a car, go to University, move to Scotland to "discover myself", travel and generally have a fabulous 20's experience. Then once I was married (oh yeah, we had an awesome wedding!) Greg and I used it to buy a townhouse, buy a new family friendly car, stay at home with my girls, buy a new, bigger house, buy a minivan, buy a new roof for the new house and all the while staying at home with the girls. The market crash of 2008 was pretty devastating for me too. The long and the short of it is that I am now back at work because we need that second income now. So .... I need to cut my personal spending and since scrapbooking supplies are quite expensive, and since I have a lot of them, this seems like a great place to start my new budget conscious life. 2) As I mentioned, I have a LOT of supplies! So, like money in the bank, I'm going to "spend" them instead of adding to them. Okay, that analogy doesn't totally make sense but I think you get my gist! 3) I'm curious to see if how long I can go without buying new pretty paper! Simple as that. I know it's a weakness and I think in order to quit my paper addiction I need to go cold turkey for a while.
Quick, someone start a PPA near me!! (Patterned Paper Anonymous!!)
Still think I'm crazy? Want to join me yet?
In preparation, I am doing an inventory of sorts. I've sorted my card stock by colour and am in the process of counting it. Next is my patterned paper. That could take a week! Good thing I don't have any shifts until Saturday!! I have typically kept most of my patterned paper in my paper racks but there have been stashes of random papers in drawers here and there so my goal is to get it ALL on the paper racks. I'm also amalgamating my Stampin' Up papers with my regular papers. I've made the decision to give up my Stampin' Up Demonstrator-ship as it really wasn't a good fit for me. (I have other reasons too which I'll talk about in a bit.)
Last but not least on my preparation list is to sort out and reorganize my crafting room. It's no longer really working for me so it's time to re-jig it. I also made the purchase of a Silhouette Cameo during all the Black Friday sales so need to make room for it in here. That's actually another reason I think I can get away with this crazy scheme. With my Cameo I should be able to cut any title or embellishment I need rather than buying pack of Thickers and ending up with a drawer full of half used packs!
Now that I've shared the crazy, let me share my musings.
My OLW (One Little Word) for 2012 was FOCUS. It turned out to be a great word for me. Towards the end of 2011 I was feeling pulled in several directions and wanted a word that would pull me back. Back into focus so to speak. I had intended on picking an area which I felt could use some attention and focusing on it for a month at a time. What ended up happening was that I started focusing on my scrapbooking and really started seeing results. I haven't counted exactly how many layouts I did this year but I'd hazard a guess at close to 200. Seeing as my goal was 144 (for my Twelve class at BPC) I think I can call that a win! I was also successful at getting onto two different Design Teams. The first was with Practical Scrappers and the second with Let's Get Sketchy. I am pleased to say I will be continuing with both in 2013!
I was also published! My ScrapHappy group got together and published an e-book called Your Story Matters - 25 Memories to Capture Now. Right now it is only being offered to new ScrapHappy members but in mid-January it is going to be for sale to the general public. I am SO excited! I contributed 2 layouts to it and it was a ton of fun to do. I will keep you apprised of when it goes on sale so you can be sure to snatch up a copy for yourself!! :)
To say that FOCUS was a good word for me in 2012 is quite the understatement! SO ... the question is, what to choose for a new word to guide me in 2013. I have really struggled to find a word. I've toyed with words like "fun", and "family" and "lighten" but nothing is ringing true to me. Until today that is. It came to me out of the blue. My word should be REFOCUS. Focus worked so well I was loathe to give it up but at the same time I did feel I needed a change. Choosing the word Refocus may seem like a cop out but that is truly how I have been feeling lately. 2012 was good to me personally and professionally (I went out to get a job and ended up with 2!!) and now I need to refocus my energies for a new year of challenges and experiences. As part of my resolution not to spend money on non-essential scrapbook supplies, I will also not be spending money on classes this year. So I will not be joining in Ali's OLW journey through BPC or Cathy's Move More Eat Well 2.0 or even Shimelle's classes (sob!) but I will be continuing these journey's in my own way. Seeing as I really didn't participate in the MMEW class last year all the material in new to me so I may just work through it "for the first time" on my own!
As I wrap this up, I wanted to say thank you for sticking with me on this journey of mine. I appreciate every single person who takes the time to read and comment on what I have to say or what I have created. My creative projects will continue to be posted here but I will be refocusing (LOL!) on my blog with the intent to include more family updates and more regular features. I intend to grow my blog this year as well as my presence in the creative world. I hope you will continue to follow me as I do this.
Have a safe and happy New Year's celebration and may 2013 bring you joy, love and success in your endeavors.
**All images courtesy of Pinterest. Click on each image for more information. Thanks**
Well, just want to say that I have totally noticed a difference in you this past year! You've been blogging more, creating more, and really going out on a limb creatively! And two design teams - INCREDIBLE!!! Not only that, but I've noticed your posts were a lot happier this year, too - you seem more content. That said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and if FOCUS worked, then REFOCUS should be even better. Actually, I could use some focus in my life right now! I feel very frazzled after this move, as if I wasn't frazzled enough to start. Anyhoo, enough of my sob story, but money's tight here too, so I'm going to think on joining you in this challenge. I definitely should have enough to keep me going. What about selling some stuff to make money for new stash, would that be allowed? Or trading - that could be fun, especially with stamps. Think about it! OK, thum's throbbing, signing off!
ReplyDeletelove it! and yes, we're totally in this together. i think it's awesome to have a support group. we can even call ourselves PPA if you want :) can't wait to see what you create with your stash this year!
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