2022 Frozen/Chilly Peas

The algorithm recommended this video to me earlier tonight and I thought it would make a good share for this thread:

I did a marathon photo printing session and managed to use up all my 4x6 photo paper and printer ink! I placed the $50 order on Amazon to replenish; and then promptly canceled the order. I have plenty of printed photos to scrap so I don’t need the supplies right now. I’ll wait until I’m actually ready to print again before placing that order!

Yesterday I spent $2 on two sheets of stickers that I wasn't looking for, but needed to have when I saw them.

Both are photo realistic. One is zoo animals. The other is farm animals. The farm animals sheet has four or five goats on it!! (For my mountain of petting zoo pics)

I broke down yesterday and ordered a few pieces of the VB Fernwood collection. I have some pics of my grandson when we’re we’re out in the woods on an adventure that it will work perfectly with. Not bad, I made it till Feb 16th to buy anything!

I think someone mentioned on this thread that they shop when they don't feel like creating as a way of staying connected to the hobby and I have to say after the last couple of weeks I completely agree. I haven't been creating as much lately, both a combination of lack of time and lack of motivation when I have the time, but I have been driving myself crazy thinking about things I want to buy. Thankfully I've stayed frozen although there have been a couple of moments I was ready to throw it all in and go shopping. It's been a challenging couple of weeks!

I also love this! I too have plenty and more than plenty of prints to scrap.

You know it really does help to unsubscribe from promotional emails when you are trying to save money. The temptation and FOMO just go away. After a while you begin to stop checking websites and wondering what you might be missing out on too. It feels so good to not be spending money on crap I didn't need in the 1st place. Although I'm sure my UPS driver and mailman are wondering what's going on LOL.

I feel the same way.  It would need to be local since postage would be expensive.

Or maybe since we're all friends here "Hey does anyone have xxx stamp and dies that would be willing to stamp and cut some out and send to me?" Something to think about.

I started saving all the plastic packaging a year or two ago with the intention to reuse. It’s ridiculous how much I’ve accumulated through scrappy purchases. I switched to buying single sheet rather than collections thinking the same as you - and the online store places all the singles into a plastic bag. SMH

That's so true, isn't it? I am lucky in that i have access to at least 2 in person scrappy stores, not counting big box and tons of thrift stores/online marketplaces for local meet ups where I feel like I could control that, maybe. I feel like there was one online store that did paper bags--but I can't remember who. I know when I bought the recycled Bazzill last year sometime, I was wondering how much of an impact buying it could really have with the shipping and plastic I got in the order and I'm sure it was sent to the place I bought it in plastic.  But I also try to remind myself that any little bit is progress! Just think, if we'd bought full collection packs of even 2 collections that we bought single sheets from, we'd have all that extra plastic, extra coverpage paper, and paper we don't love that was manufactured and shipped and stuffing our spaces, and buying single sheet still avoids that!  (Trying to convince myself, too, here!) <3 All we can do is our best.

I’m glad they pack paper in a plastic bag - it keeps the paper I paid good money for from getting wet or damaged when the package is left out in the weather. Which has happened many times, and I’ve always been thankful for that plastic. Plus, I always reuse those bags.

The thing that gets me is all the plastic associated with clear stamps - it’s surrounded by two sheets, slipped in a plastic baggie, then people buy a separate plastic pouch to store them in. Plus the paper card that comes in the stamp packaging.

I re-use some of my plastic bags when I give small things away on my local Buy Nothing group. And Prairie Paper and Ink re-uses the plastic packaging to make edge to edge flat shaker cards playlist link which both re-uses the plastic for something fun and prevents buying specialized flat shaker pouches which are now available to buy (probably shipped in a plastic bag.



Definitely true. I keep and ship my handmade cards in plastic to protect them and there's really no better option (there is debate about whether using compostable plastics made from food crops and that will end up in landfill is actually worse than normal plastic). And to save plastic from open stock paper purchases online we'd be better off only buying in bulk which is what most people here are trying to avoid. But as you said, protecting plastic sheets of stamps is very unnecessary and is more about being able to hang them on display in a retail environment.



It was almost certainly wrapped and shipped in plastic at some point. Almost everything we buy is. I used to work at a high end department store and spent a few terrible afternoons stripping dry cleaning-style plastic off a few hundred pairs of pants that had arrived that way from the manufacturer. Each pant encased individually. But given the number of times we dropped stock on the back room floor you probably wouldn't want it any other way - much worse, I think, to have to toss pants that got dirty and stained that no one will buy (but in truth aren't there enough pants to clad every human in the world already?). It's all a series of trade-offs and much of the worst of the waste happens much higher up the supply chain than we see.

Congrats on reaching three months frozen Elsabelle.

I've been using some different (for me) strategies to dig into my stash lately:
* I'm making a conscious effort to reach for manufacturers that no longer exist or product that has been in my stash for a long time. If I'm trying to decide between using BG and AC papers, I'll choose the BG. I'm also trying to reach for them when I do techniques that weren't a thing when they were around, like using cut files.
* I made page kits using my scraps for photos that are already printed.

I saw a post from Jen Schow saying she was going to do some stash busting content soon (maybe March - I think it was mentioned on an insta story), so perhaps she'll be able to provide some inspiration.

I believe all of the Victoria Marie crops this year are focused on using your stash. If I'm not mistaken she has a different focus category each month.