Hoarding Episode

I am. I have SO much stuff, but I always want what I see people use in the youtube videos. I am pretty much addicted to watching crafting videos on youtube, as well.

These episodes get me into major trouble with my husband!! I defend myself vehemently because I DO use my supplies! Of course now we have mountains of completed albums....I'm trying to figure out a way to display them without looking like a hoarders house. I recently pulled several boxes out of my stash and sold them on eBay. It felt good to get rid of some stuff I knew I was never going to use v

I don't know if hoarder is the word. I'm overwhelmed and I keep throwing things in our unfinished basement. I try to keep the main living areas free of clutter, but I'm married. I want to get rid of things, but I'm usually tired. My husband is a hoarder of paper (bills and receipts). As much as I'd love to be one of those people who have a place for everything and everything in its place, I'm not going to get there.

I honestly inspire to be a semi hoarder of craft supplies. I have a son with special needs and to go away from home is extremely difficult. I might as well surround myself with things that make me happy. My current scrap space/office/guest bedroom is a giant wreck. I'm ready to make room for more stuff now that the kids are back in school.

I don’t hoard too much, except scrapbook supplies. I do create regularly, but no way in my lifetime can I use up all of my paper yet every time New collections come around I am tempted. I do work on controlling myself and I buy less than I used to but still the bottom line is that I need nothing.

I kind of think of craft hoarders as the ones you see on youtube that go out and buy a ton of semi-ugly stuff just because it was on clearance. Or buy 2-3 of the same item in different colors. Like two of the pink, two of the yellow, two of the green, two of the blue.

Why do they need so much? Because they are hoarding. Their channels are one after another, after another, haul video. And everything is always so "gorgeous".

My Grandma quilted and knitted and besides the quilt she was working on, I don't remember piles of fabric everywhere (I remember one drawer of scraps).

My mom on the other hand makes art journals and scours stores all the time has a room full of things she's collected (and it overflows to the rest of her house) that she is always trying to pare down usually by bringing it to my kids or to me...

I think I'm somewhere in the middle, I do keep it to one room though.

Interesting that it could be genetic.

I might have a slight hoarding tendency when it comes to scrap supplies ( I have a medium sized stash) but that’s it. I think it can be easy to become a scrap hoarder since items aren’t all that expensive, they tend to be small, and they’re so lovely/fun/cute. I agree with FurryP. Those YouTubers with overflowing unorganized bins and scrap stuff piled against every visible wall are the what comes to mind when I hear hoarder.

I’m sort of a hoarder of craft supplies in that I haven’t managed to purge enough of what I need to unload. I have way, way, way more than I could use in two lifetimes. However, I do use my stuff, it hasn’t bankrupted me (yet), and I have more than enough space to store it without having 2’ wide paths winding through it or having to physically climb over it. I no longer buy stuff just because it’s cute, I have to have a specific purpose for it before it comes home with me these days. I definitely need to scrap more though and use some of the things I had a reason to buy.

I need to get rid of a whole bunch of older, ugly wood mounted stamps that I don’t think I’ll ever use and it will be a real chore to go through them. I mostly use clear cling stamps now because they’re easier and take up less space. FWIW, I just made a dozen thank you cards between yesterday and today, and I’ve been sewing a whole lot lately too so at least that’s something! I even used some scraps of my 20+ year old stash of wool felt on some little projects for Christmas and it was so fun having all that stuff right here waiting for that perfect project!   So sometimes hoarding has its benefits!

I consider myself a holder, not a hoarder. LOL!! I have plenty of stuff but I use it and enjoy it, more importantly, it has not trickled out to other rooms!!! So I am holding space for my obsession!!

Watching the clip, I couldn't help but think how much happier she'd be if she actually used her stuff to scrapbook...Miss having an LSS too. I keep a medium size stash. I clean out when I feel whenever I feel overwhelmed. I keep a "sell by date" philosophy when I'm purging. If it's been in my stash for ages & feels "stale", I go ahead and let it go to a new home where hopefully someone will use it up.

I worked at a friend’s stamp store decades ago and remember there was one lady that came in and just went NUTS buying hundreds of dollars worth of stuff. I remember thinking my friend was going to be so excited because she’d had such a great sales day. The lady was soooo happy! Her husband come back a few days later with a big bag of the stuff she bought along with the receipt saying he needed to return it. Apparently she was bipolar and off her meds, and when she was having a manic episode she shopped. A LOT.   He kept the things she had opened or used, but wanted to return around 2/3 of what she bought. My friend was very understanding and took the stuff back. Not a very happy sales day that day!   Very sad all the way around.

That makes me sad. From every angle.

Let me just say, I am bipolar. I do understand that some, while manic, choose to overspend. I choose to redecorate. So I am generally able to reign in my impulsiveness with a fresh can of wall paint.

I do believe hoarding is a spectrum. While I don't expect all scrapbookers to have my minimalist approach, I also think there are some who truly are hoarders. Even in my heyday of scrapbooking where I did have a room, I would guess I had less than $700 worth of scrapbooking supplies.

For me, stuff is clutter. And I have a limited budget, as well. But I have actually found with my minimalist approach I am scrapping a lot more. I have let go of perfectionist tendencies. I am just all about having fun now. I have gotten back to basics. Paper, stickers, black pen. I love pretty paper, ribbons, and buttons. But I don't have a lot. Most of the time the only thing I use is my kit from the Scraproom each month. I have to really like something to buy outside of my monthly kit. A warehouse box sometimes.

And I'm coming up on a crop end of January. I've been back to paper since July. I have done nearly all of my 2016 & 2017 photos. I'm hoping to finish up on my crop weekend. I am getting more done than I ever have.

I might not have the perfect paper or the perfect embellishments, but I am creating and getting my memories saved. And thats what is important to me. I would be completely overwhelmed with product if I had some of the scraprooms I have seen on YouTube.