Craft Your Stash: Using the Supplies You Have at Hand

Do you feel like all you ever do is buy MORE craft supplies? Do you have AT LEAST ten craft supplies you have yet to use? Are you accumulating debt because of your DESIRE to buy the latest and greatest craft supplies? Welcome to the life of most crafters I know!

Within the past year, a lot of things have changed for me. I left my career as a veterinary technician and a teacher. I moved into my first home and relocated to a new part of New Jersey. I birthed my first and only daughter and became a stay-at-home Mom. Because of these things, I went on a shopping freeze for about a year. I also lost the inspiration to craft mainly due to being ill from my pregnancy... but also because I didn't have the money to buy new supplies, my craft room was in boxes for a good while, and I really hadn't had the time to craft with a new baby.

Somehow, a few months after I had my baby, my creativity sparked again, and I was ready to be back in the craft room making handmade cards: the craft I've loved most for about the past ten years. With this new inspiration, of course, came the need and desire to buy new craft supplies to fuel my creativity. However, being a stay-at-home Mom, I don't have a regular paycheck coming to me to allow me to buy new goodies. Does that mean I can't craft anymore? Not at all!

What I realized as I began to create cards again is that I DON'T need to have new supplies to make NEW cards. I already have a craft room FULL of card making supplies! So why haven't I been using them? Sometimes I feel like the desire to have new things puts a damper on being creative. The whole idea of being creative is using what you have to CREATE new projects; not buying the newest supplies to copy exactly what has already been created. The true challenge is creating with the supplies you already have -- not the supplies you wish you had. You could have all the supplies in the world, but does having MORE supplies mean you will be MORE creative? I feel like we all get lost in the bulk of supplies we have in our craft rooms -- it's actually overwhelming at times, which can be stressful and make you lose the joy of creating because you have TOO many supplies. Sometimes we don't even know what we have anymore!

One of my biggest realizations when I began crafting again is that I truly DIDN'T KNOW what I had anymore. A few months after moving into my home, I finally unpacked all my craft supplies and set up my craft room. I didn't get a chance to "know" my craft room as it sat for months not being used until just recently. When I did begin crafting and making cards again, I found myself needing to reacquaint myself with my craft room and the supplies that I have. There were many new things I found that were unopened/unused and thought, "When did I even buy this?" There inlays a BIG problem.

My craft room is full of supplies that I have bought and have not opened/used yet, so why do I feel the need to buy new supplies if my craft room is FULL of them? It's an addiction; shopping is an addiction. I have decided this is one habit I need to break.

I'm through with buying new supplies; I want to use the supplies that I ALREADY have! This is where "craft your stash" comes into play. I'm challenging myself (and YOU) to USE the supplies we already have to recreate new crafty ideas. Use and reuse the supplies in which we've bought and invested. Open those new products that are dying to be used. When you see a new product or new idea that you'd love to recreate - RECREATE it with what you HAVE at hand. Don't feel the urge to buy more. Resist that feeling and spend less time buying and reorganizing new supplies and MORE time CREATING - craft YOUR stash! Are you ready for the challenge?

Thanks for stopping by! Happy crafting :)

Pam