“If I knew then what I know now”…..
Sept 1, 2022 17:51:17 GMT
scrapperal, Linda, and 5 more like this
Post by scrapaddict702 on Sept 1, 2022 17:51:17 GMT
In reading all of the replies, a few issues didn't plague me like it did some, but I still got hit with some of those 'quick to market, let's not bother to test durability, lifespan or quality' items.
I learned real fast that epoxy yellows (older doodlebug stuff was hitting TM when it was becoming all the rage again and it was all yellowed) so while I might have a bit mostly from kits and such, I am glad I never bought much of it...even the Tim Holtz glaze stuff (can't remember the name right now...I feel ashamed of it, too, lol) also yellows because it's essentially an epoxy like substance.
BUT, I wouldn't have spent $500+ on a washi tape stash. While I am not doing huge purges right now (and feel less inclined to do so every day as craft supplies become harder and harder to find without needing to be a millionaire), I do go through things like pens and washi tape regularly because they go bad so quickly. I've tossed out or donated without testing probably 200 or more rolls of washi tape. Granted, some was in small lots purchased on marketplace where I had to take it all, but most of it was stuff I bought.
I wouldn't have purchased anything rubber (it reacts to some adhesives and even some plastics...I had some kept loose in acrylic drawers and it burned or etched into the acrylic) and probably would have sold the acrylic pieces off as I got them in kits because I still don't like them. I don't know that there is enough activity in resale groups to get anything for them anymore. I also wouldn't have gone so crazy with wood veneer. I gave a bunch of that away, too, and still have way too much. None of that stuff is archival as far as I can tell. Certainly not wood since it has, you know...lignin.
I wouldn't have bought paints that I knew were being replaced due to them drying out, hoping that they'd survive a good while if I didn't open them...wrong. Most of those paints are dried up and haven't been used or only used once or twice.
I wouldn't have bought everything that was a deal. So much of the paper that I've purged (donated, because paper doesn't sell) is stuff that I probably didn't even like when I bought it, but when I first joined the hobby I felt like a good deal meant I should buy it because I didn't have anything. Now, I have more stuff than space for it.
I probably would have invested more in solid cardstock. It's not something I use all the time when I'm actively scrapbooking, but it's useful for ALL SORTS of things and won't go out of style...there are very few colors I've ever run across that feel outdated even if they're 20+ years old. The marketplace buy I just made didn't include much cardstock because after we agreed on the price, the lady suddenly didn't want to include the tower of cardstock (still bitter about it) but I still got a foot stack of letter SU cardstock from back in the day and it is beautiful heavyweight stuff. When there are things I DIY for the kids, cardstock is what I grab. The 'newer' stuff is all lighter weight and textured. I find that I much prefer the heavy weight smooth stock.
I wouldn't have bought up all of the PL kits because I gave most of them away. I kept a 3-4 cards from most kits and purged the rest...then went through a second time and paired down even further, giving away almost everything from kits that I never should have purchased...like Cinnamon. I hate rounded corners. My favorite kits are the squared ones and I will probably never get rid of any of those now.
I would have asked my husband to use more vacation time to go to the AC Warehouse sales.
I would have spent a bit more at those sales on WRMK 12x12 older colored albums and not the metallic ones that you can look at the wrong way and they'll scratch, dent or shed color from. If I run out of anything in the near future short of adhesive (which will always be around in some form or another), it will be albums.
On the flip side, these are things I'm glad I did when I did them, which I feel offsets some of my splurging a bit and makes me feel relief instead of guilt:
I have a 3 drawer MALM dresser from Ikea that is just for Thickers (and a few thickers like alphas from other companies, but 99.5% Thickers):
and it makes me happy. So very happy. I don't regret it at all. Maybe I regret a few of the tile sets that fall off of the backer and fall to the bottom of the package, but this dresser brings me SO MUCH JOY.
I'm glad I never purged just for the sake of purging and thus getting rid of things because I felt like I had too much as opposed to getting rid of stuff because I knew I'd never use it. I purged things like buttons that I had sorted in rainbow order that I really enjoyed looking at, but I knew I'd never use them. I'm glad I geared my space less with decorative space in mind and more to maximize its functionality. I'm glad I bargain hunted most of my stash...I know I'll most likely forever struggle to touch my Cocoa Vanilla stuff that I paid full price for because it's stuff that I can't replace and cost me more than any other paper collection I've ever purchased.
I am glad that I have 2 kallax cubes with drona bins FULL of almost nothing but my go to Design A (but not the PL version, those yellow and suck) WRMK/Echo Park branded pocket page protectors, though I wish I had purchased more of the full 12x12, too, because I do want to get back into scrapbooking...I'm getting that itch...and my plan is to do some larger layouts with my pocket ones along the way.
I'm glad that I made TM a regular part of my schedule to the point that the store manager at my closest one knew my name and that other staff still there from the crafting days recognize me when I go in and ask where I've been. It means I got the best deals I could before they all vanished.
I'm glad that I have a HUGE stash of products that I mostly love now that papercrafting seems to be dying out. Prices are too high and the aisles are shrinking. I don't know that there is a coming back from this to be able to bring in new crafty people. Shipping prices are making it hard to buy stuff online, too, making it even harder to get things like 12x12 paper.
I almost forgot...I'm also glad that I bought enamel dots like they were going out of style. I have SO MANY and only the clears have discolored, and I don't have much of those at all. I wouldn't be surprised if the style veered back towards rhinestones and while I don't dislike them the way I did when I began papercrafting, enamel dots will always be my bling of choice.
I learned real fast that epoxy yellows (older doodlebug stuff was hitting TM when it was becoming all the rage again and it was all yellowed) so while I might have a bit mostly from kits and such, I am glad I never bought much of it...even the Tim Holtz glaze stuff (can't remember the name right now...I feel ashamed of it, too, lol) also yellows because it's essentially an epoxy like substance.
BUT, I wouldn't have spent $500+ on a washi tape stash. While I am not doing huge purges right now (and feel less inclined to do so every day as craft supplies become harder and harder to find without needing to be a millionaire), I do go through things like pens and washi tape regularly because they go bad so quickly. I've tossed out or donated without testing probably 200 or more rolls of washi tape. Granted, some was in small lots purchased on marketplace where I had to take it all, but most of it was stuff I bought.
I wouldn't have purchased anything rubber (it reacts to some adhesives and even some plastics...I had some kept loose in acrylic drawers and it burned or etched into the acrylic) and probably would have sold the acrylic pieces off as I got them in kits because I still don't like them. I don't know that there is enough activity in resale groups to get anything for them anymore. I also wouldn't have gone so crazy with wood veneer. I gave a bunch of that away, too, and still have way too much. None of that stuff is archival as far as I can tell. Certainly not wood since it has, you know...lignin.
I wouldn't have bought paints that I knew were being replaced due to them drying out, hoping that they'd survive a good while if I didn't open them...wrong. Most of those paints are dried up and haven't been used or only used once or twice.
I wouldn't have bought everything that was a deal. So much of the paper that I've purged (donated, because paper doesn't sell) is stuff that I probably didn't even like when I bought it, but when I first joined the hobby I felt like a good deal meant I should buy it because I didn't have anything. Now, I have more stuff than space for it.
I probably would have invested more in solid cardstock. It's not something I use all the time when I'm actively scrapbooking, but it's useful for ALL SORTS of things and won't go out of style...there are very few colors I've ever run across that feel outdated even if they're 20+ years old. The marketplace buy I just made didn't include much cardstock because after we agreed on the price, the lady suddenly didn't want to include the tower of cardstock (still bitter about it) but I still got a foot stack of letter SU cardstock from back in the day and it is beautiful heavyweight stuff. When there are things I DIY for the kids, cardstock is what I grab. The 'newer' stuff is all lighter weight and textured. I find that I much prefer the heavy weight smooth stock.
I wouldn't have bought up all of the PL kits because I gave most of them away. I kept a 3-4 cards from most kits and purged the rest...then went through a second time and paired down even further, giving away almost everything from kits that I never should have purchased...like Cinnamon. I hate rounded corners. My favorite kits are the squared ones and I will probably never get rid of any of those now.
I would have asked my husband to use more vacation time to go to the AC Warehouse sales.
I would have spent a bit more at those sales on WRMK 12x12 older colored albums and not the metallic ones that you can look at the wrong way and they'll scratch, dent or shed color from. If I run out of anything in the near future short of adhesive (which will always be around in some form or another), it will be albums.
On the flip side, these are things I'm glad I did when I did them, which I feel offsets some of my splurging a bit and makes me feel relief instead of guilt:
I have a 3 drawer MALM dresser from Ikea that is just for Thickers (and a few thickers like alphas from other companies, but 99.5% Thickers):
http://instagr.am/p/CY9z7zFPYkn
and it makes me happy. So very happy. I don't regret it at all. Maybe I regret a few of the tile sets that fall off of the backer and fall to the bottom of the package, but this dresser brings me SO MUCH JOY.
I'm glad I never purged just for the sake of purging and thus getting rid of things because I felt like I had too much as opposed to getting rid of stuff because I knew I'd never use it. I purged things like buttons that I had sorted in rainbow order that I really enjoyed looking at, but I knew I'd never use them. I'm glad I geared my space less with decorative space in mind and more to maximize its functionality. I'm glad I bargain hunted most of my stash...I know I'll most likely forever struggle to touch my Cocoa Vanilla stuff that I paid full price for because it's stuff that I can't replace and cost me more than any other paper collection I've ever purchased.
I am glad that I have 2 kallax cubes with drona bins FULL of almost nothing but my go to Design A (but not the PL version, those yellow and suck) WRMK/Echo Park branded pocket page protectors, though I wish I had purchased more of the full 12x12, too, because I do want to get back into scrapbooking...I'm getting that itch...and my plan is to do some larger layouts with my pocket ones along the way.
I'm glad that I made TM a regular part of my schedule to the point that the store manager at my closest one knew my name and that other staff still there from the crafting days recognize me when I go in and ask where I've been. It means I got the best deals I could before they all vanished.
I'm glad that I have a HUGE stash of products that I mostly love now that papercrafting seems to be dying out. Prices are too high and the aisles are shrinking. I don't know that there is a coming back from this to be able to bring in new crafty people. Shipping prices are making it hard to buy stuff online, too, making it even harder to get things like 12x12 paper.
I almost forgot...I'm also glad that I bought enamel dots like they were going out of style. I have SO MANY and only the clears have discolored, and I don't have much of those at all. I wouldn't be surprised if the style veered back towards rhinestones and while I don't dislike them the way I did when I began papercrafting, enamel dots will always be my bling of choice.
