s/o Where do you spend the most $

I used to buy a lot from both Stampin’ Up and CTMH, but CTMH changed their style to one that appealed far less to me. The Stampin’ Up rep that I found online didn’t bother to respond to my last email (I had a question which remains unanswered), and has made zero effort other than get her commission if I order. I looked through the latest catalogue and saw nothing of interest, anyway. So neither of those companies are getting my money anymore, although I loved them in the past.

I have a huge collection of stamps, anyway, so I’ve gotten much pickier about what I buy. My stamps are well organized, so I can easily find what I want very, very quickly. I buy very few stamps these days, even though I am a stamper. Don’t ask me how many I have. I’m not willing to tell, but if it were a “Who has the most stamps” contest, I’d probably win it. I do use my stamps. Since organizing them well, it’s so much easier and faster to find the perfect stamp for my project. Organizing all those stamps last January pretty much killed my desire or need for more stamps.

Since I really don’t need more stamps, I tend to spend my money on dies, particularly stitched dies. Queen & Co. is more affordable, and the gal who designs their dies has very cute designs, so they get most of my spending money these days.

I used to spend a lot of money at conventions and at Tuesday Morning pre-COVID shutdowns. I found Queen & Co. at a convention. During COVID, I started looking up companies I’d found at convention and started buying from them online.

I had a Spellbinders Monthly Small Die membership for a short time, and have bought some of their dies on sale.

I would love to get back to going to conventions again. I went to the one in June and spent a chunk of change on dies at the Tall Mouse booth. I was sick and missed the September convention. If I get a chance to go to a convention where Paper Wizard is, I would spend a bunch on their goodies. They have such high quality laser cut designs.

And $12/month goes to my Silhouette subscription, which gives me $150 in designs of my choice each month. As much as I love the look of a die cut that you get from an actual die, you can get some really nice and detailed designs from a cutter, too, and the dies that are super detailed are usually super pricey. My cutter keeps me happy, especially since I am adept at making my own designs, both from clip art and from scratch. The subscription, however, saves me design time. If someone else has done something that I like and works for what I want, and I am getting it for an average of 8 or 9 cents per design, why take the time to create it?  I used clip art to make the vinyl designs for our Disney shirts.

I'd say most of my spending is on virtual events.  I did the Spring and Fall Crop & Creates in 2022.

Next would be AliExpress and then I'd say stamp companies like The Greetery, My Favorite Things, Hero Arts.  My problem is that I try to hit the minimum for free shipping and those have increased significantly in 2023.

AliExpress, no contest.
Nearly 100% of this year's crafty spending was there. I got a few tools but mostly dies. I seem to go in cycles where I'll buy things, get exasperated with purchases - searching, price checking, hitting free shipping or discount thresholds, waiting for delivery, contesting anything less than perfect - eventually puts me off shopping. Which is honestly a good thing!

Scrapbook dot com mostly, probably next is Honey Bee stamps, a few small/local shops like Trinity Stamps.

I still have a local scrapbook store (Ladybug Scrapbook in Lloydminster, Alberta) and I try to spend most of my money there. I also spend quite a bit online at Kindred Stamps.

I'm reentering the hobby after a decade (or so) long hiatus. I needed to replace many things, but there are also so many things I don't remember seeing commonly before.

So I've spent A LOT this year. I would say Altenew might be at the top of my spend list because I fell in love with their alcohol markers, buying them only on sale, but often throwing other items into the cart. I now have 8 of their 9 sets.

A fair amount at Michael's, Joann, and Scrapbook.com -- probably a tie for second.

And also some at the maddeningly slow Simon Says Stamp, as well as Stampin' Up and Club Scrap.

For papers and general supplies, I spend the most at our LSS. She brings in the new lines I like, and will even pre-order or hold something for me to pick up when I am in town. When I see something new, I always check with them before ordering from somewhere else.

This past year, my other crafting dollars have gone mostly to Spellbinders (for their glimmer foil system plus plates), and to Jaded Blossom (for the gnomes and add-on sets.) Also paid Karen Burniston for a class and supplies. Gnomes again: those little guys will be the death of my savings!