For the love of using things up...

Not that I was ever matchy matchy, but I used to be like you about how I used products and that they needed to go with my photos, but that didn't really work because a lot of what I love in product doesn't really go with my photos, so I had to get over it. I started "getting over it" with Ali Edwards' book "Designing with Patterned Paper," but it was Shimelle who really got me passed that attitude. Now, I can happily cut up pretty much anything and make it work as long as I love the papers I'm working with and they match the mood of the story that I want to tell.

I enjoy crops at my LSS, but it is over an hour away, so I do most of my scrapping at home. While I do scrap just about anytime, sometimes I get a lot of my scrapping done by actually scheduling a day and committing to scrapbooking for the entire day. I don't wait until the mood strikes me, until all my house is sparkling or anything like that. I pick a day and put it on my calendar. Then in the weeks before, I choose photos and get them printed and I usually have an idea of what supplies I will be using, so when my scrapping day rolls around, I'm ready to scrap.

As to inspiration about using your stash - you could pick a paper/collection you want to work with, pull anything that will work with that paper and just commit to using it. By commit, I mean cut it up! LOL It will be fun. You'll make it work and you'll love how it turns out.

I agree that scheduling a day for scrapping is the way to go. My major issue is that I don't have a dedicated scrap space so I have to haul out my supplies, scrap with my family distracting me, and then put it all away when I'm done. It takes the fun out of it and it's definitely not 'me time' like it used to be. However, setting up that time and letting my family know what I'll be doing does help.
As far as using up stash goes, I don't have a problem with that. I don't have the need to buy something new in order to scrap anymore. Before I start scrapping I match several sets of pictures with paper and go from there. You could also search Pinterest and Google Images for the collections you have for inspiration.

I agree about scheduling some time - a few weekends or days other than your crops. One thing that helps me decide what to use and use things up is to get a little kit of supplies together that I can use for a couple of layouts or spreads. The other thing I saw today which I thought could be good is s challenge to take 5 different things from your stash (different things and not from the same collection) and use them on the same layout.

Have you taken a look at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge? It's a great way to use up papers, embellies, etc. and it gives you already prepped kits (from your own stuff) to take on your crops. If you're at home, a kit can help you get layouts done with small amounts of time: there's nothing to think about, just create with what you've already assembled in advance. When you're nearly done with one of the counterfeited kits, use the rest of the leftovers to make greeting cards, decorative tags, and journaling cards, etc. Organizing and cleaning up the scrap stuff is almost like shopping your own stash. When you see what you actually own, you might be shopping less and using things up.

As far as getting things done at home, try a scrapping challenge like Calvinball or check out the Challenge Central on message boards like Studio Calico. At home, it's hard to get things done if you don't have a dedicated scrap area or you have lots of interruptions that cuts into your scrap time. For some scrappers, going on crops is the only answer to getting any scrapping done. What do you think is your biggest challenge to scrapping at home: organization, time management, inspiration, supplies? 

And remember, when it comes to videos on the internet, youtubers let you see what they want you to see. You're not seeing the endless times they were unable to kill a kit, had no mojo whatsoever, or ignored household chores to scrap just one more page, etc. If you are a simple scrapper, you will not be using things up as quickly as if you are someone who embellishes in a big old cluster of stuff.

"And remember, when it comes to videos on the internet, youtubers let you see what they want you to see. You're not seeing the endless times they were unable to kill a kit, had no mojo whatsoever, or ignored household chores to scrap just one more page, etc. If you are a simple scrapper, you will not be using things up as quickly as if you are someone who embellishes in a big old cluster of stuff."

^^^^^ Yes-- this is very important, for sure! thanks for posting that!!!

as far as the 'fear' of 'using things up' I think maybe you need to sit and think a little bit about how you scrap, how your stuff is organized, and why you're feeling this way... by that, I mean what is your perceived issue with NOT using things up?

--Are you feeling guilty about the money you've spent on supplies??
--Do you feel like you can't buy new supplies till you 'get rid of' the old ones??
--Are you worried that if you use something up you'll never find anything like it again?? (i.e., is it too 'precious' for you to use the last one?)
--Do you have this same feeling about other parts of your life? (i.e., do you eat leftovers for a week because you have to use them all up; did your mom train you to eat your vegetables before you got to have dessert, etc.?)

I personally don't think there's anything intrinsically 'wrong' with NOT using things up... there are plenty of reasons why you wouldn't. If you don't like everything in the package; if you've used part of it and you're sick of the colors, the patterns, etc. or if you've found something 'new and exciting' and are no longer excited by your 'old' stuff... those are all perfectly valid reasons, in my book.

For instance: with a package of decorated brads or a collection pack of paper + embellishments, I KNOW that there is NO WAY I am ever going to use EVERY LAST BIT of it. It always happens that I just don't LIKE all of the designs, nor would I ever have a way to use ALL of them in my scrapping. There are always one or two pieces of paper with a strange funky design or color, or one or two brads that I know I will NOT be able to make work on my pages (for whatever reason- color, design, size, etc.), and I'm okay with that.

I look critically at my new stuff right when I bring it home and if I decide I absolutely do NOT like some part of it, I put in in my donate box right away as I'm organizing the new supplies into my existing stuff... that way, they're not mixed in with my other supplies, staring me in the face, making me feel like I 'should' use them, or 'have to' use them, if you know what I mean.

I also find, for ME, that I am much more apt to use my supplies if I take them out of the packaging as soon as possible and mix them in with my other supplies. I have all my supplies sorted in Iris boxes by type, taken OUT Of their original packaging for the most part. For instance: all my bling / wood veneers / sequins / rhinestones, etc. are in small containers or zipper baggies that are then stored in a 12x12 Iris box. I find it much easier to look through my stuff this way, and much easier to actually use the items on my projects. In addition, since the stuff is out of its original package, I have no idea whether those two wood veneers are the last two from a package, nor do I care.

Just a few things to think about that may help you! (or may not, lol!)



ETA: I used to be kind of like this-- thinking I needed to use every last sticker letter on a sheet, even though all I had left was Q, U, V, and a couple K's, or other random letters. I finally let myself just THROW THEM AWAY because they were just cluttering up my stuff and I finally realized I never would use them. Nor do I need to; there's always more letter stickers to buy, and what did those five or six letters actually cost, anyway?? probably only 5 or 10 cents worth out of the package. Did I get enough 'enjoyment' and 'use' out of the letters I already had used to make it worth buying them? Yes. So in the trash they went. 

make your workspace at home inviting for crafting. make is comfortable, accessible, and organized. my craft room is small but I love it. everything is there---desk, computer, t.v., and best of all, my supplies and tool. ALL of them. I am not one to pack up, haul, unpack then pack up again just to work on projects at crops. I like having all of my stuff where and when I need it.

as far as using you stuff, just use it. I had tons of stuff that I hesitated to use because it was too cute, expensive, irreplaceable to use. when I finally cracked into the packages and cut into the paper, the joy went from hoarding it, to using it. I had to realize that new stuff is always coming along so I might as well use the good stuff before it wasn't that great anymore.

okay, so now that I'm reading this again, I realize that I kind of mis-read- and mis-answered- your question, lol!

as far as inspiration for scrapping at home, I have some of the same issues-- it's a lot more fun to scrap with a group of people at a store or retreat-- and it's easier for me, since there's no distractions. One of my goals for 2015 is to scrap more, and one way to do that is to attend an all-day crop my LSS has once a month. I've gone twice so far, and want to go at least four more times during the year. In between, I don't have large blocks of time to work on SB pages (life, laundry, and work get in the way of my scrapping!) but participating in scrapping challenges has made it more fun to scrap, even at home.

This month I'm participated in the Calvinball Challenge at the Get It Scrapped website, which has made it fun to scrap more, and find ways to get points. (You get points for finishing pages, as well as getting points for doing all different types of scrappy things, like: using 3+ pics on a page, journaling in your own handwriting, using your stamps, using memorabilia on your page, using a PL card on a layout, etc.) I may just do it on my own for a while after the month is over, just to keep motivated by giving myself points, lol! Or try one of the other challenge sites out there, like the Counterfeit Kit Club, CSI, or any number of other color and/or sketch challenge sites.

I've never subscribed to a kit club, so I don't know if I would be able to get into the 'kill-a-kit' mindset that some people have; my photos dictate the papers and embellishments I use, too.

One thing that I have started doing in order to scrap at home is to do it in smaller chunks of time as I have them--

1) I might only have 10-15 minutes of time, so I find a few pictures I want to scrap and pull papers that I might want to use with them. (I usually pull quite a few; any papers that I think might work.)

2) Next time I have a few minutes free, I might try to find a sketch or work out a page layout; if I do, I'll write myself notes on a post-it note and put that with the papers + photos.

3) Another time, I might dig through my embellishments to find tags, labels, or stickers that will match the photos and papers I have so far. (Again, I usually pull extra; things that might work.)

I might do this process for two-four layouts at a time, depending on what I feel like doing.

As I do this process, everything I pick gets put into a large zipper bag to keep it together (and away from my cats). Then when I have a little more time, I can take one of those 'page kits' that I've made, and start actually 'making' the layout. As I actually make the layout, I'll make my final decisions about what supplies to use / not use on the layout; anything I decide not to use gets set aside in an Iris container I have marked as 'to be re-filed.'

fyi, since my memory is horrible, I also use my phone to take pictures of layouts partly done in case there's something in particular I want to remember for later, like how I'm going to arrange the photos, for example.

I've got a few videos along this line, including how to make your own kits from your stash to help you use it up in a "kit fashion", on my YouTube: here

When I'm not making kits out of my papers, I usually scrap along paper or collection lines. If I truly want to use something up I'll take it out, put it on my desk, and work with it until its dead. No putting it away, it just has to be used until it's gone in whatever capacity. I'll make as many layouts as I can, then as many cards, and then as many embellishments until the whole thing is done. I get very fickle with paper, getting sick of it sometimes for no reason, so I like to make sure that the papers in my stash are rotating well enough so I don't keep seeing (and bypassing) the same papers over and over again. Then I know it's time to have a Use it Up challenge and get rid of it. And then I film me using it, lol!

I am in the same boat...so this thread is great, thanks!

I used to have a dedicated (and amazing!) craft room, but then we had kids, and it became the toy room. We have a strange old house basement, and I have a room down there. We are going to be renovating it soon, and I am so excited. I used to crop at Archivers once or twice a month, and I really miss that creative time. Now I get to crop 2-3 times a year....and I have waaaaay too much stuff.

Thanks for all of the great ideas!