Crafty organizing and decluttering

I'm baaaaaaaaack! Shakti's Weird Decluttering Organizing Question of the Day™:

If I buy a new adhesive runner or paintbrush, a new tool, it does not go in "new" holding area. It's a tool and it goes where that tool should be. Stamps, dies, stencils -- design elements, if you will -- go in the new bin and when that gets full, things that have been languishing there get the hairy eyeball. Perhaps they'll be bumped up in priority to be tried, maybe they'll be destashed forthwith.

Is a basic shape die set a tool or a design element? My feeling is that it's closer to a tool. But maybe it's just that my "new" bin is getting full and I'd rather not put this infinity die set there....

If it is a tool you use a lot and would run across it more often due to it being in a drawer that you open frequently or a shelf you often look through, it goes there. If it is something that you want to make sure you use once or twice before it goes to its normal spot, keep it in the basket. Maybe make a layout in the next few weeks that you know you can use that die.

It's funny. The other thing in the order was a water brush, which I immediately put away with the other water brushes, which is what got me thinkin'....

I have been carrying good old-fashioned stationery, like fancy letter writing paper, since high school. Moved it from Massachusetts to California and back. Don't think I've used it since high school. The paper must be about 6x8 because the envelopes are 6x4. Nice quality writing paper, but not card stock. I think I should recycle all of that. I have a TON of pale gray and pale peach 4x6 envelopes. That's a size that can definitely be used in crafting, but those colors seem...difficult.

I think this is one of those "paper recycling works" situations, right?

Thanks, Linda. On a similar note, I’ve been pondering recycling the paper and donating the envelopes to the crafty thrift store.

Shakti, you have inspired me to use the fine Italian stationery that my sister gave me. I'm going to use it in my art journaling. Thanks so much for the inspiration!

joblackford I’m skipping as well, I get enough motivation from the free content that I feel I don’t need paid content. It’s also been a while since I’ve heard a new idea I’ve found profound…

Finished seven (yes that’s right, SEVEN!!) citrus twist tn albums for our trip last year, packed away all the bits and bobs, forced myself to use all the little bits of ephemera in the album and cleaned off my desk - that’s to lasteve1 for the push to finish half done projects to have a clean slate for dd season!!!

Ready to start albums for the trip coming up in a month and dd 🤣🤣🤣

joblackford Living in the land down under means our access to actual theme parks is very limited (as you would well know from your previous stint living in nz 😁) and on this trip we went to Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo disneysea and universal studios in Osaka so I’m proud I kept it to seven… especially as it was dd, ds and dh first trip to Disney and our first trip to universal studios anywhere! The kids were also mad Harry Potter and super Mario/Nintendo fans so we took a LOT of photos
Add in being in Japan…. Note that the last album was half full with the tn of notes I took on the trip including all the receipts etc 😂

I'm skipping all summits. I find they cause me anxiety because I have only 24 hours in which to watch each session, and I get disappointed when I can't watch them when I want/need to. I did pay for one so that I would have "all access." Although I found some of the presentations useful, I didn't think the instructors were that great.

Ah, I totally understand! I also lived in Japan and 20 years later I still have ephemera and bits and bobs floating around that are just too cool! And we did a very brief trip to DisneySea and HP/US a few years back - many many photos, even with a non-theme-park-fan family. 

I am actually tempted by the upcoming Stressfree Cardmaking one. You'd think I'd learn by now. But it's cardmaking, so not relevant here.

I decluttered by not cluttering again this week -- go me! I had a warehouse sale cart all loaded up at Spellbinders and talked myself back out of every single item!

I'm still going through paper trying to rethink how I might use it. If I hate both sides, it is in my donation bag. Otherwise, I am looking at the B side and filing wood grain, solids, plaids, etc with those papers.

I also am using some for the pages of a junk journal I am making. I'll paint or gesso over part of the papers to mute them.

I'm also going through partial sticker sheets and being brutal about tossing elements I won't use. I'm cutting them apart and placing individual stickers with other themes, like fruit in with my cooking/kitchen collection or in my bins by color. I'm partway through re-evaluating the bins by color and tossing stuff I won't use. I've also decided I'm not using epoxy elements, so those are getting tossed.

I got my photos in order, started laying out a tonne of pocket pages, and was able to condense some items to the point where I got two empty 12x12 iris containers and an empty 8x11” tote I’m currently repurposing for items that need shredding. I’m exhausted!
Really hoping to start getting some of my long half done projects completed and condense supplies even more, I’m trying to use all the things.
I even threw away a few 1x12” paper strips - you would think i use them on every page as a border or embellishment but I don’t think I ever have so why am I keeping them 😂
Also almost at a place where I can start recycling the ugly papers.
Almost.

My scrap supply de-cluttering has been on hold for the past coupla months. I've been going through papers (insurance, retirement, keepsakes, old utility statements, etc) trying to really be strict about what I'm keeping. It's something I hate doing and it's taking longer than it should. Plus my shredder is so tempermental.
I hope to get back to doing some sb related projects next month.