anniebeth24
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,782 
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Post by anniebeth24 on Jun 22, 2024 13:08:50 GMT
I love this from peasapie - dying with a stash means I'm creating til the end. My inlaws have become such minimalists that my MIL doesn't try new crafts or participate in ones she once enjoyed because she doesn't want the stuff around. She's highly influenced by my FIL who doesn't have any hobbies. I'm grateful that we won't have a hoard to sort through when she's gone, but her comments about missing crafting make me sad for her. |
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Post by lisae on Jun 22, 2024 13:24:15 GMT
I haven't had time to read this thread. I plan to; however, there is a new quilt shop opening TODAY in my area! So I must get ready and go. I've already spent part of the morning figuring out what project I can start, what I have and what I 'need' to buy. It's good to support local businesses.  |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jun 22, 2024 14:15:34 GMT
Anybody else dealing with this guilt? Anybody want to tell me that this is totally *not that bad* and I'm making myself upset over nothing? Haha... You are making yourself upset over nothing! There, does that help?   I have come to the point in life where I refuse to feel guilt over something that brings me, and others by extension, joy and happiness. In fact, I have come to resent the word 'guilt'. There has been way too much of it in my life from parents, church and now society as a whole (that's another thread for another day). So I refuse to feel bad for things I enjoy doing, especially at this point in my life! What I do feel when I have too much is overwhelm from choice & indecision. That's my own personal battle though. Passing supplies along to those who can use them helps with that and allows me to clear my head. Nothing wasteful about that. Sometimes I'm more productive than others and that's okay too. Does making a list of projects help you? I've found it helps over time, especially if I see a specific project keep getting pushed to the end of the list and never getting done. That's a sign it's time to either rethink how I use those supplies or get rid of it all together. There is nothing wrong with a stash of any size, it just needs to represent where you are creatively at that moment! Hobbies come and go, it's normal. It's a sign we are progressing, investigating and growing in our talents. Embrace that! Just don't feel guilt over any of it! I sure hope I die with a stash - that would mean I was creating til the end. Very wise words! |
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Post by whipea on Jun 22, 2024 14:22:10 GMT
Funny, I don't even think about this and not concerned about what happens to my things when I am gone. I guess it is because I do not have children or other family with the exception of D/H. Also, I have no guilt spending since I do not; Drink Smoke
Do drugs Rarely eat out or go out at all besides work Travel Buy clothes very often Buy jewelry Buy makeup very often Do manicures, spas and other things like that This leaves me with the money to indulge my hobbies, card making and video games. Looking forward to retirement in possibly less than 2 years when I can really spend time enjoying my stash. I am an introvert, like being alone even though D/H is now retired. We have enough space to do our own things and he respects my isolation preference. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jun 22, 2024 14:41:23 GMT
I have waaaaaaay too much paper crafting stash. I have more stamps and dies than I’ll ever need but you know what, I have zero guilt about it and it makes me happy. As I said in a thread the other day, my motto is "at least it's not drugs, alcohol or cigarettes".Ha ha ha! I say those exact words so often I should probably make a plaque or vinyl lettering for the walls in my studio. I could also add, I don’t spend a lot of money on clothes, shoes, purses, makeup, hair or nails so this is what makes me happy. I’ve never been a minimalist and I never will be. I have a huge stash, and I do mean huge. My basement studio is full, plus I keep most of my cookie decorating stuff in our big main floor laundry room. Having all that stuff gives me zero guilt and zero regret. My friend gave me a ton of crafting and decor stuff after her mom passed away and I happily brought home anything I liked or thought I might have a remote chance of wanting or needing someday. I definitely have multiple lifetimes worth of supplies for various crafts and hobbies and nothing makes me happier than to have that lightbulb moment of, “I want to make that!” and knowing I already have all the stuff I need to jump right in and strike while the motivation is hot. I was so happy during the pandemic shutdowns to have so much stuff already at the ready that I could jump in and make stuff with. When I stop to think about it, I actually do use a lot of my stuff. I just end up giving away a lot of the things I make. I really only buy something now if I need it to finish something and don’t already have it. I did make myself new planner inserts, a zippered bag for pens, new purses for both myself and DD, embellished shirts for DH, embroidered on a sweatshirt I already owned for myself, made decorated cookies for a friend’s kid’s graduation party and 3D printed cookie cutters for virtually every custom order I do. On my to do list, I want to make embellished shoes to wear to an upcoming convention, a bunch of beaded pens and custom buttons for trading at that convention, I want to make another new purse for myself and one for DD, and I’m really itching to use our new embroidery machine and sublimation printer for more projects. I do wish my stuff was a little more organized and I’m working on that. I have a pretty good idea of what I have and I have a pretty good idea of where things are when I need them but to anyone else looking in it looks like a chaotic dumpster fire. There are some categories I want to downsize some just because there are things I truly don’t love anymore and I don’t think I’ll use. I have no trouble parting with things I don’t need, it’s more of a time issue of sorting through the mountain of stuff to pick out the things I want to keep. I know too many people who decided prematurely to offload ALL of their crafty stuff only to decide later that was a mistake. |
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Post by alsomsknit on Jun 22, 2024 16:25:23 GMT
Well, yes, but mostly no guilt.
The scrapbooking stash is shameful. Only because I quit scrapbooking when my son was in high school. Got tired of the attitude when I wanted to take pictures. So, I quit taking pictures and there wasn’t much to scrapbook.
I’m pulling things out little by little with Bullet Journaling and creating my reading journal. Paper, stamps, tools. So, it’s not a total loss. Though, I did discover this week I need a long platform for my Revolution because I bought the dies and never got around to getting the platform.
Haven’t touched the knitting in years. I intend to pick it back up. It helps with the pain in my hands. Too busy with other things.
I did in fact order another journal this morning. A travel journal. But, I already have plans for it. Unlike the 5 journals I ordered from a Summer release a couple of weeks ago. LOL!
Off to open a pkg from Amazon. Washi tape. Was that a thing when scrapbooking was at its heyday? I wonder if there is any in the stash. And, will it be useable.
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Post by jeremysgirl on Jun 22, 2024 23:19:07 GMT
anniebeth24 that is so sad about your MIL. I just spent the day with Jeremy's best friend and his newish girlfriend. She loves to crochet. But she's very particular about clutter. She does one project at a time and only buys yarn for that one project. So keeping it low clutter is totally doable. I hope your MIL comes around..
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Post by lg on Jun 22, 2024 23:38:38 GMT
I’m an extreme minimalist for everything except my craft stash where I am the maximum maximalist that ever maximised.
And I have no shame. It makes me happy, it’s all I spend my spare cash on, it’s how I show love to my family by documenting their stories, and if I die and they put it all in a dumpster I’m okay with that too as it’s the only room that would take more than five mins to empty.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Nov 27, 2024 16:31:38 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2024 23:53:31 GMT
My stash will outlive me despite its size because I scrap so slowly. I get overwhelmed because I lose interest and start new projects before finishing the ones I’m working on. I guess from this perspective, I’m overwhelmed with my stash of unfinished projects.
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Post by lisae on Jun 22, 2024 23:56:45 GMT
I finally got to read this thread. It's very interesting to read everyone's take on the shopping part of hobbies or shopping as a hobby, however you look at it.
I have a stash for some hobbies and not for others. When I got back into knitting almost 8 years ago, I was surprised to find that so many knitters and crocheters had stashes. When I was young and crocheted, I could not afford to have yarn I didn't use. But I am a sweater knitter primarily. I have to know what project I'm going to make before buying to know how much to buy. Having extra is just wasted for me. I quit knitting cold at the first of this year. I didn't really intend to. I just got bored with it and realized I wasn't wearing half the things I'd made. And all those sweaters, scarves and ponchos took up room. I may take it back up or not but fortunately I don't have a lot of yarn - just a couple of projects I didn't get around to. I have saved a bunch of leftover bits that could easily be tossed.
Scrapbooking and quilting are a whole other thing. I have stashes for both. In the last 4 years or so the only scrapbooking materials I have bought are some stamping up 12x12 papers because a friend is a demonstrator. When I scrap, which is sporadic, I'm using old stuff. I was never big on whole collections. I favored papers and more generic embellishments - brads and wood veneer are my weakness - so supplies are still useable for me. A few months ago I browsed some online inventory and I swear those collections didn't look much different from what was available 5 years ago. Another weakness is ribbon. Stampin' Up! marks their ribbons down so much on clearance and I get tempted every time.
I took up watercolor so I could get rid of stamps and still make cards. I thought it would save money. Ha! Well, it may now that I finally have the watercolor brushes and colors I want but it certainly didn't early on. It does save space though. Watercolor supplies take up a fraction of the space stamp sets did.
During the last 4 years or so, I have been back into quilting and buying quilt fabric. Last year, I committed to only buying fabric to work with things I had to make specific projects. No buying fabric just because it was pretty! I stuck with that until fall when one of our quilt guild members was downsizing and sold out her huge stash. And I do mean huge! I have no idea how she thought she would ever have used all those fabrics. It's all relative. You may think you have a lot of stuff but there is someone out there with a lot more than you have.
This year, I've been back on the wagon. Even today when I visited the brand new store opened by two of our guild members, I bought things for specific projects. That doesn't mean I'll get them done any time soon.
My biggest limiting factor is space. I work out of a guest bedroom and another room in our house we are going to remodel. Even when we redo that room, there will still only be so much room. I like using things from my stash. It makes me feel good. Almost as good as buying something new. Ha!
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Post by chaosisapony on Jun 23, 2024 0:01:30 GMT
I don't really get the feeling of being overwhelmed as long as I can keep the supplies organized. This past winter I completely redid my craft room and bought the biggest Ikea Kallax unit and a bunch of inserts. Paying that much money sucked, but the room is so usable now! I do, however, often have the feeling of guilt over how much money I have spent on supplies over the years. When I think if I had just stuck it in savings instead I would be so much better off. But at the same time, what's the point if you can't enjoy life?
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,762
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Post by mich5481 on Jun 23, 2024 0:52:36 GMT
When I first started crocheting I thought I 'had' to have a stash and bought tons of yarn mostly just for the sake of it, I found that owning that much made me anxious and I gave most of it away to the charity shop. This will make me sound like a right weirdo but my brain doesn't cope well with excess, it makes me uncomfortable and I'm constantly thinking of how I can use it. Obviously (as you know) I do buy yarn and fabric but both stashes fit into one Kallax cube box each, anything over that and the overwhelm kicks in.
I'm on a mission atm to use up as much of both as I can, my yarn stash is down to part balls and scraps and I've donated some that I knew I'd never use. The same with my fabric, I've put together some fat quarters and I'm making project bags and zipper pouches (which kind of creates it's own problem though, what on earth do I do with them all?!).
Some organizations fill pouches with feminine products for homeless women or teen girls at school. When I worked at the processing center for Operation Christmas Child shoebox, some people included pouches with reusable pads in the boxes for older girls. There are still some countries where girls have to miss school every month because of their periods. |
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