craftymom101
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,789 
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Post by craftymom101 on Nov 28, 2023 21:09:07 GMT
My fiancé and I moved in together three years ago and our blended family required me to give up my craft studio. I have zero regrets (we love each other and our big, blended family!), but I do miss my studio. I took over the big hall closet and keep all my newest product, a few boxes of tools, my newest {Not} Just For Boys kits, and other random things in there, but most of my supplies are in a storage shelving system he built in the garage. I also stash some things in our closet, a few things in the table at the end of our bed (the top opens), and some things in our tv console. I've turned into a squirrel, hiding my scrapbooking supplies all over the house!
Of course, this system of chaos will be short lived. Our kids will be grown and gone in a few years, and we both agreed the first priority is to turn one of the bedrooms into a craft room for me (yay!).
Until then, I am completely overwhelmed with my stash! I also don't have a system for storing my albums (they, too, are stashed all over my house), or printing/organizing my photos. I'm sure once I have a craft room again, I can get myself organized, but until then, I have a love/hate relationship with my supplies!
I try not to worry too much about my hobby and I know once I have a craft room again, I will get myself organized, but until then.... ahhhhhhh!
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,605
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Post by kitbop on Nov 28, 2023 22:01:14 GMT
That does sound a little chaotic for how our hobby operates craftymom101! You are doing a good thing in putting family first knowing that you will get your space back in a few years, but it would be so hard to hold onto the joy of creating when you are scattered about like that. My overwhelm comes from photos. It's my own fault. I am not a person who can print a photo straight from the camera. Maybe I'm not a good enough photographer, or maybe I'm too picky that I like my colours "right" and good contrast and sharpness in my prints, but I find it really hard to keep up. My other struggle is being in a windowless basement. I don't scrap as much as I could because I feel isolated and removed from reality when I'm down there. I can't wait to have a space where I can see the outside, and keep an ear on the comings/goings in the house! |
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Post by mom on Nov 28, 2023 22:01:15 GMT
My biggest issue is dealing with (older) photos that are all printed. I have piles and piles of them. I also inherited my mom's photos so those overwhelm me as well. I am in trying to get them all scanned in and then I can toss the originals, but that is taking forever.
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Post by Linda on Nov 28, 2023 22:44:00 GMT
The sheer number of photos is overwhelming.
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ComplicatedLady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,083
Location: Valley of the Sun
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Post by ComplicatedLady on Nov 28, 2023 23:01:00 GMT
The amount of stuff I have is overwhelming.
I have a good sized office/craft room and it is still busting at the seams with stuff stacked on shelves and drawers full.
I need to realistically go through and figure out what I will truly use vs what I’m simply keeping because it’s in good shape and a waste to toss it.
I want to donate a bunch of stuff but I just can’t get around to really prioritizing what to get rid of.
Until then, I am overwhelmed by stuff.
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Ryann
Pearl Clutcher
Love is Inclusive
Posts: 2,624
Location: PNW
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Post by Ryann on Nov 28, 2023 23:03:35 GMT
I have supplies for hobbies I don't do anymore. I have lots of stuff to make mini albums/junk journals. I was really into making them during the pandemic, but my interest for them is gone.
Once I'm done with xmas crafting I have some re-organizing to do in my craft room. I could see getting rid of the junk journaling supplies then.
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Post by honeypea on Nov 28, 2023 23:15:40 GMT
The process of getting photos to an actual Print is not one I enjoy. Getting an epson picturemate has made it easier - less steps, direct from phone, can avoid the computer part - but I still dislike this aspect of scrapbooking the most.
I have so many pics in old hard drives I need printed and I can’t bear to deal with it. 😫
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pinklady
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,977
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Post by pinklady on Nov 28, 2023 23:17:42 GMT
The sheer number of photos is overwhelming.  I stepped away from scrapbooking mostly because it was just too overwhelming that I had SO MUCH TO SCRAP. Most of my pictures are digital (that I need to print) but still the the events/trips just kept adding up and it seemed like I'd never get "caught up". I really hope to scrap again some day. |
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,460
Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on Nov 29, 2023 0:00:20 GMT
Photos. Organizing them, downloading them, ordering them. I have a photo printer (Selphy) but DH didn't install it on this computer last summer (when he fixed it) so I haven't been using it...
The other thing is small embellishment organization. I want to put them in categories but then can't find them because did I file it under "red", "strawberry," "fruit" "circle," "--company who made it--," "garden" etc. But if I leave the categories too vague, then I have to dig through a large container of stuff and I don't want to bother. Then later I find the embellishment I couldn't find but I've made the page with some random scrap that was on my desk instead.
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blemon
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,503
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Post by blemon on Nov 29, 2023 0:18:11 GMT
Photos for me too.
We did a christmas adventure and I want to make it story 1 in december daily. I had a lot of pics so I had to put them on my computer and go through them all in photoshop. Then I just stopped because now I have to figure out how to make the layout with 7-8 photos.
I guess I'm not ready to actually do DD.
Some of them need some adjusting or they'll print too dark. And I'm tired.
So too many photos.
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Post by stormsts on Nov 29, 2023 1:14:19 GMT
Photos for me as well. Which ones to print, what size to print. I don’t even want to discuss all the ones I have been given. I have some really neat photos from my grandparents. My grandfather was a photographer. I wish I was into this hobby when he was still alive.
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angel97701
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,509
Jun 26, 2014 2:04:25 GMT
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Post by angel97701 on Nov 29, 2023 1:31:04 GMT
Feeling like I am so behind, and having the energy because of the move. I'm closer to creating again as my craft room is mostly unpacked and put away in my Create Room furniture. I need to do some labeling, as everything is re-organized when I had my larger craft room. At least I have "my space". It is not in the main part of the house, one of the bedrooms that must double as the guest room. Not everything is moved either . . .  |
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Post by joblackford on Nov 29, 2023 2:22:37 GMT
I have supplies for hobbies I don't do anymore. I have lots of stuff to make mini albums/junk journals. I was really into making them during the pandemic, but my interest for them is gone. Once I'm done with xmas crafting I have some re-organizing to do in my craft room. I could see getting rid of the junk journaling supplies then. You could take advantage of the almost universal after-Christmas desire to declutter and reorganize  Almost everyone is minimizing in January so there’s lot of encouragement at that time of year. Supplies for crafts you used to love are tough. |
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Post by scrappyrabbit on Nov 29, 2023 2:23:49 GMT
I have 3 months of photos worth since my daughter was born in September, and no time to scrap them. I wish I could hire a babysitter (guilt-free) for a day and just scrap.
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Post by joblackford on Nov 29, 2023 2:26:24 GMT
craftymom101 you do fabulous pages, especially considering your less than optimal conditions. It sounds frustrating but as you said, it won’t be for long.
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Post by 950nancy on Nov 29, 2023 3:08:08 GMT
I have a lot of extra paper that I had intended for kits. Like boxes and boxes. I need to find a home for it all or just find somewhere that will take it. It fills up two closets. Yikes! My stash that I use is all stored well, so that part is good.
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Post by cmpeter on Nov 29, 2023 3:24:06 GMT
Organizing pocket scrapping supplies and kits.
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Post by ScrapbookMyLife on Nov 29, 2023 3:32:30 GMT
Uploading photos for printing. It takes a long time for photos to upload, then I edited them.
I am way behind.
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Elsabelle
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,682
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Post by Elsabelle on Nov 29, 2023 5:24:41 GMT
Everything involved in getting a printed picture in my hands. It's such an ordeal with so many steps.
Also, I think it might be time for a longer than usual freeze. I'm not doing well with digging into new supplies. I buy them and put them away so fast that it's easy to forget them. I've gotten to the point where I'm accidentally buying things I already have. All that to say I'm a little overwhelmed with my stash.
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Post by AussieMeg on Nov 29, 2023 9:20:48 GMT
craftymom101 you do fabulous pages, especially considering your less than optimal conditions. That's what I was thinking! How on earth do you create such amazing pages in the conditions you described craftymom101 ? My other struggle is being in a windowless basement. I don't scrap as much as I could because I feel isolated and removed from reality when I'm down there. I can't wait to have a space where I can see the outside, and keep an ear on the comings/goings in the house! That's why I bought a MacBook to scrap on, instead of using my PC. I was spending far too much time locked away in my office / scrap room, and the rest of the family were commenting (negatively) on how much time I spent in there. Now I can sit in the lounge room, in the backyard, anywhere I want to scrap, which is wherever everyone else is. |
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Post by jeremysgirl on Nov 29, 2023 11:19:09 GMT
The only thing that overwhelms me is keeping current. I started scrapbooking when I was pregnant with my first child. So all my books are current. I like to keep it that way because the most important thing to me is the journaling. And if I can't remember the journaling then I feel like all I'm doing is playing with paper, not memory keeping. Right now outside of my October daily, my album for this year is up until June. So I need to get those month caught up.
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Post by breakfastattiffanys on Nov 29, 2023 13:24:15 GMT
Album storage, completed ones. The 12x12 are huge and I haven’t found anything that they’ll fit on. And I have a lot of smaller albums that I take out seasonally, but there are some that never see the light of day, they just stay in bins, like trip albums.
I’d love to find a shelving unit that would fit my need.
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Post by judyc on Nov 29, 2023 14:10:05 GMT
I frequently get overwhelmed by all of the photos I want to turn into scrapbook pages. I am an extremely slow scrapper-- on a good week I can get 2 pages done and I have tons of photos I would like to scrap -- about 1300 pages worth ( all my photos are printed and organized and I've estimated the number of pages I would like to make). I wish I could speed up my process so that I could complete a page in a couple of hours rather than days.
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Post by teacherlisa on Nov 29, 2023 14:51:51 GMT
Organizing in general. I feel like organizing is a whole separate hobby from scrapbooking, lol! For me mostly organizing photos is where I really feel the overwhelm.
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Post by mbanda on Nov 29, 2023 16:42:10 GMT
Photos - I've got boxes and boxes of them. Some have been scrapped, some have not. They aren't really organized although I tried and made a small dent a few years ago. I also have photos left over that I did not scrap for a particular trip or event and I end up just throwing them back in the boxes. I should probably just toss them.
Journaling - I have 3 Iris containers full of layouts that need journaling. I had 2 weeks off in September (I was between jobs) and I thought I'd get it done then but nope....I didn't do any of it.
Completed albums - I bought a new shelving unit last year and it's already full and I still have more albums...ugh
I'm not "caught up" and I don't scrap chronologically so sometimes I just feel like I'm all over the place. But I still love doing it!
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jediannie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,066
Jun 30, 2014 3:19:06 GMT
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Post by jediannie on Nov 29, 2023 16:59:37 GMT
Another printing photos person here! I've been getting better but when I look at photos from the past I get so overwhelmed I stop looking. I also get decision fatigue trying to decide what to use on a page. I have tried making page kits and only using what's in the kit but then I think, "oh, I have the perfect stamp/embellishment/paper/etc for this, let me go look" and then I get derailed doing the layout.  |
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Post by boymom5 on Nov 29, 2023 17:07:45 GMT
I’m thankful I do have a craft space since it was hard when I didn’t! The most difficult for me is pictures- the amount, the editing and editing he amount of pre printed old one so have!
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Post by infochick on Nov 29, 2023 17:09:17 GMT
The amount of stuff I have is overwhelming. I love it all though, and am not really wanting to purge yet. Next year I want to slow way down on the amount of supplies that I purchase and focus on enjoying the abundance that I have. Earlier this month I cracked into some Dear Lizzy Documentary from 2015. The paper was perfect for my photos and I still really like it. I need to keep familiar with my supplies and make better use of what I have.
I have two projects that are a tiny bit overwhelming, but I need to just sit down and finish them. I took a month long trip to Europe and was very dedicated at scrapping chronologically and then I started to use the photos for some design team work and made a lot of random layouts. I need to print all my journaling and sort the layouts (which are in several different places) so I know what I still need to do. I also need to finish November and December of my 2021 PL. I didn't do PL in 2022 or 2023 and I want to go back to it for next year, but need to finish 2021 first. I can handle making my random layouts from the last two years while I work on PL, but I don't want to be worrying about two years of PL at once.
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,427
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Post by scrapnnana on Nov 29, 2023 17:14:27 GMT
craftymom101, I was in a similar situation to yours for many years. I hated storing like a squirrel, but I made it work, in spite of everything. I got a lot of scrapbooking done during those squirrel days. Now that my kids are grown and gone, and we moved to a new home, I have a craft room that is the equivalent of a small store. I am not overwhelmed by having too much. I am overwhelmed because we have had a ton of family challenges ever since we moved. When the challenges eased up, we started traveling and doing things again, so I have more photos than before, but I have done very little scrapbooking since we moved. As a result of time constraints, I have done mostly card making. I want to get back to scrapbooking, but I feel overwhelmed by the ton of photos I need to scrapbook now. Seven years means I have a lot of layouts to do. I need to make a sign for my craft room: “It’s the job never started that takes longest to finish.” (A quote from “Lord of the Rings”) Maybe that will help get me get going on my scrapbooking again. No guarantees, but it might be worth a try.
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Post by janamke on Nov 29, 2023 19:33:51 GMT
Chronological documentation. I want to scrap what I want, when I want. I’ve done PL for years and might finally be done with it. The joy is gone. I hate having to keep up.
The expectation of documenting events like birthdays, Christmas, Easter, etc. I find those super boring and tedious.
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I stepped away from scrapbooking mostly because it was just too overwhelming that I had SO MUCH TO SCRAP. Most of my pictures are digital (that I need to print) but still the the events/trips just kept adding up and it seemed like I'd never get "caught up". I really hope to scrap again some day.
Almost everyone is minimizing in January so there’s lot of encouragement at that time of year. Supplies for crafts you used to love are tough.
