So, there I was, trying to pick out a photo for another color challenge, when I started thinking over the question I posed in Monday’s post… The one asking if any of you bought papercrafting items that just sit there and are never used? It seems like there are a LOT of us who buy things like that! :)
Anyhow, I want to issue a little challenge for us all. It’s a Use it or Lose it Challenge! Not so much a formal challenge where you all leave links and such, but just a calling out… We need to use our “Scrap crap!”
So, all my lovely papercrafting friends, go find something in your stash that’s been collecting dust and make something with it! Here are some ideas to get you thinking:
You’re obviously not being inspired by it the way it is now, right? Change it into something else. If it’s a consumable item (like paper or ribbon, etc), how can you alter it’s appearance? Can you draw or stamp or paint on it? If it’s a tool, ask yourself, “What can I do with this tool that it’s not meant to do? How can I use it differently?”
Get it out on your desk, on a counter, or just somewhere you will see it more often. Live with it for a period of time. Look at it. See it. Really think about how you can use it. Who knows?! Maybe it will be on your bathroom counter so long you’ll need to make it into a new décor item. ;)
Perhaps you’ve never touched it because you couldn’t figure out how to coordinate it with other items you own. Get it out now and compare it to newer items you’ve bought since. Maybe something newer will coordinate better.
Look for other projects on the internet that have used your poor, neglected papercrafting item. Try to see how others have used it. Look especially on manufacturers’ blogs and websites because most likely their design teams have made something with your item.
Ask yourself the question, “Why am I not using _____ ?” Is it because it’s too small (the case with my Martha punch that started this whole thing)? Try repeating it. Is it too big? Try using only a portion of it, or using it repeated over and over as a pattern. If it’s a tool, it is because you aren’t sure how to use it? Try figuring it out on your own first (you might discover a new technique that will become the next papercrafting hit), and then research it on the internet. Try YouTube. There are a lot of smart papercrafters wielding fancy tools on the Tube. :)
And remember this…
Generally our gut instincts about purchases are spot on–if you once found the item interesting enough to buy, you can once again find it interesting enough to use. :)
Whadda say? Leave a comment telling me about what you’ve bought and never used and finally broke out to play with. I want to see what you’re creating! :)
{ 54 comments }
Yes!
I needed this post!
I buy things that I love and feel like I’ll always come up with a better idea for it & I need to save it.
Now I have a FULL closet full of stuff I love, yet never want to use!
Thank you, Kristina!
Have you ever noticed that so many of us have a retail looking craft room, all the stuff is in the original packaging… my niece called my craft closet a store. I just hosted a baby shower and realized I should open that stuff up and use it — and did. The favors turned out great! Earlier in the year I had a frugal February… no new purchases, no lures of 40% off coupons, no ebay gotta haves. I made do … and did. Thanks for the post.
That’s my problem. I see 40% or 50% off and I gotta have it. And EBAY is my worst enemy. I do sell stuff just to make up half the difference of what I buy. Once I get my stuff in the mail {how exciting isn’t it?} I tend to put it away and only remember that day why I wanted it, specifically stamps. I guess I figure if I wanna sell cards in the future or become a SU demo I wanna have a lot of options.
Thanks for this post! I am definitely guilty of stashing everything and not using it. I’m already in the middle of challenging myself to 1. not purchase anymore stuff until I use some of what I have and 2. figure out what I can do with the stuff I have.
This post has definitely been an encouragement! I’m not the only one!
Kristina! Thank you so much for this post. We have a huge box of scraps that we rarely use. Is there a contest for us to enter our “old” creation in or are you just inspiring and encouraging us? Well…whatever it is, thanks for the idea and your website is amazing!
Baked with Love,
The Gourmet Scrappers
Kristina what a great idea! I have to say that I have a million emblishments that I am going to have to use up. These were bought prior to me getting my die cutting machines.
This is a good reminder to use it or lose it! I have this past year purged all of the things that no longer inspired me, but I have so many more left that do. I used some Stampin’ Up paper that I hadn’t touched yet, and also some felt flowers and gems that had been living in my stash. I don’t have a problem using ribbon. ;-) Anyway, here are my creations:
http://dzinesbymeg.typepad.com/dzines_by_meg/2009/07/a-different-kind-of-kwerner-challenge.html
Kristina, It is so true! There are things that just stuck there and gather dust, thanks for the suggestions.
YOur advice and input are so helpful!! I love each point that you’ve gone through and i will definitely get it out and have it around!! And my other fav idea is to pair it up with something i use lots!! WOW! Thanks Kristina!
Look forward to the next challenge too!
Smiles SHarnee :0)
Ah! What timing! I just finished making a card with some little heart chipboard pieces that have been in my cabinet for over a year. I couldn’t think outside the Valentine’s Day box…until tonight. I paired it with a stamp that had a turtle with a wagon full of hearts and the sentiment “very thankful”. Maybe I’ll make it a Convention swap and use up all those hearts….
So cool Kristina! Will have to put my thinking cap for this project. Will have to do this on the weekend thou…..busy work schedule :o(
Hey by the way…..can u show me how to put a link in the message posting like Marisa G did above. I was wondering how some crafters do that.
Thanks!
Just copy an paste the link. My smarty-pants blog software will do the rest. :)
Love this! I’ve been going through all my old papers (I’ve had some for almost 10 years) and rediscovering them as accents and more. I think a lot of times I feel like I have to use the whole sheet for a project when just a piece for an accent goes a long way! It’s really fun finding ways to use up my scrap crap! LOL!
great tip kris gonna go look at my scrap crap and see what i got and need to use thanks girl!!!!
yes I needed to read this ….. thanks
Guilty, as charged. Only I do not have just a drawer or a box or a closet…I have a ROOM filled with STUFF.
I give myself challenges. In March/April I challenged myself to us ONLY card stock and papers from my scrap heap, and I successfully whittled it down by about half, and made 150+ cards in four weeks. REALLY!
I am also a collector of all things SU, and they live in an overflow area in my Living Room. I actually pulled out my bulk-buy chipboard owls the other day and USED THEM! I KNOW!
I think you have some wonderful ideas to use stuff we already have. I find if I take it out and look at it long enough (while I work around it, of course) I will eventually use it, and remember why I loved it in the first place!
WOW 150 cards in 4 wks?? Geez, I thought I was the bomb doing 2 cards every four days!! hahaha
I LOVE this challenge…I’ve been working ALL year on sorting and purging and re-sorting stuff in my craft/scrappin’ room…it’s amazing the stuff I just had to have and haven’t used…yikes!! Great challenge…I will be participating and posting how I do later in the week…thanks so much for providing such a great BLOG week after week!!
Hey Kristina,
This is too funny that this post comes this week. I bought chip board letters 1 1 /2 years ago becasue you always use them on your cards. Well they really aren’t me (or weren’t) so they sat in their package next to the whisper white paper for all that time. They saw me pull the white paper out every day and they were ALWAYS left behind. Well, this week I received the new Kaliedoscope paper from SU and had to play with it. WOW I love that stuff. I ended up cutting out an image and the card was much more modern simple than I am used to and needed some BAM! SO I pulled my chip board letters out and played with them! It was just what the card needed and I could actually see those little gray letters come to life! So, that’s my story and I am stickin’ to it. You can see the card by clicking my name! Have a good one, and thanks for all your good tips!
Very nice card!
This is a something that I’m constantly dealing with! I have SO MANY purchases that I’ve made only to leave them unused and forgotten. Last night I pulled out the SEI Dill Blossoms collection that I purchase so long ago that I’d forgotten I had it. I plan on using it for a set of cards that I’m giving to a few friends.
Thanks for the challenge, I needed it :-)
I love this idea and how you’ve summarize the ways we can jumpstart our creativity. I have been focusing on this very challenge for over a year now and it is a recurring theme on my blog – “look at what I’ve done with this old thing…” It is not so much tools that I have bought and not used, mostly just supplies pilling up. I find that it is usually stuff I receive in swaps or as gifts or prizes that might not be to my usual tastes.
I have found, though, that if you hold on to things long enough, you will eventually find a use for them! I had received those “brads” that had a slit in them to wind ribbon or fibers through and they were those candy pastel colours that did not really match anything I have. I *finally* found a way to use them four years later on this project here:
http://cindymajor.typepad.com/encre_papier_ciseaux/2008/10/sur-demande-by-request.html
Cindy
I am completely guilty of buying scrapbooking paper just because it’s pretty and I like it. Then I get it home and wonder what I’m going to do with it. So, I guess it’s time to get motivated and creative! Should be interesting! Thanks for the challenge, Kristina!
hey i just love your blog I have an award for you on my blog if you get some time please stop by and get it!
http://qweendavia.blogspot.com/
This post is so timely! I just pulled out some stamps that I had not used -ever- and made a few cards. Then yesterday I put on my blog that I had a use it challenge to myself! I plan on making a card everyday with a stamp I have never used!! So funny you were on the same page! Best of luck using all of your goodies!
well… you might call it cheating, but I’m letting others use my unused stash! i’m hosting this month’s Spouses Coffee (for the wives in my husband’s Army company) and my theme is “Crafting” so I’m teaching the others how to make cards and such… so I’m putting together my stash that I haven’t used in forever and let them use it, see what they come up with!
But to expand on that… you could totally have a Stash Swap or Blog Candy or something if it’s stuff you really don’t know if you’ll ever use… might as well let someone else get crafty with it so it’s no longer neglected!!! ;)
Great ideas!!
I heard in a forum about a lady that hosted crops at her house for her friends too.
Thanks for the nudge!
http://stampinwithstacey.blogspot.com/2009/07/thinking-of-you-fleurettes.html
Hey Kristina! Great post. Since you enabled me to buy some cork sheets(back in April), I thought I would finally use them today. I love the effect and I have 5 1/2 sheets left to use. Here’s my card:
http://danasdabblingstudio.blogspot.com/2009/07/cork-butterflies.html
Thanks, Dana
Gorgeous card!! I never heard of corksheets?? I gotta look into that.. great now I’ll have more scrap crap to work on!!
hey! i love this post and have a lot of ideas to put these sugestions on practice!
thanks!
but I have a hard time to use not only the things i bougth and dont find interesting anymore, but also those things I receive as gifts.. its not that they are ugly, they are actually cute, but just dont suite my style…
I think i’lll try to change its looks, see what happens…
thanks for all those tips! they made my head spin with new ideas, and thats why I love your blog so much!
Thank you for posting this! For the past 2 months I have purging & repurging my scrap area getting rid of stuff that I no longer use. Good thing is I have a friend & my mom just started w/ scrapbooking, so they’re getting pretty much all my stuff. They love it!
I can’t wait to go home & purge some more! :D
“”go find something in your stash that’s been collecting dust and make something with it! “” Something??
I knew about this hobby back in 1998, when I was in the USA for the first time, and I still have tons of stuff from back then, along with tons more I’ve bought since then…
I really haven’t scrapbooked too much lately but I’ve been thinking about “your challenge” a lot, even before you posted it :o)
I hope I reorganize my schedule and make a good use of my time in general, and of my stash in particular!!!
Thanks!!
thanks for the encouragement! I made this card with my darn old puzzle punch!
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1408271?cat=500&ppuser=225947
You totally inspired me for this week’s card! Thanks to you I didn’t realize how much cute stuff I already had!!! :) This is the card I came up with, the only thing new is the “Stamp” but everything else I had already had for a loooonng
time! Thanks again!!!
Emma u are gorgeous!
oops, I forgot to include my link so you can see my card! http://mycreativetime.typepad.com/
hope you like my card!
http://sophiannadesign.blogspot.com/2009/07/hi-ya-so-i-decided-to-participate-on.html
i have been doing a 100 pages challenge:)
NO buying except adhesive until i make 100 pages and 100 cards with the stash.
you can see the pages here:
http://simplescrapandstamp.blogspot.com/search/label/100%20pages
and the sad part is i haven’t even made a DENT in the stash:)
This is just what I needed! Thank you so much for the little push-
This is a good challenge for us all, Kristina! I’m going to make an effort to reach for older, unused items in my studio. Here’s my first effort:
http://chavezdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/07/happy-birthday-travelers-inspiration.html
I used some stamps that have never been inked up.
WOW, that card is one of a kind! Great job! TFS
This challenge came at a great time, I am having a no spend craft month in July as all of a sudden I realized I have bought all this great stash but never end up using it because before I do I go out and buy more stash. So for the month of July nothing but diffent adhesives if I run out. I know exactly which paper I want to try and use I bought some animal print paper to use on a specific page but when it came the colors where wrong for my pictures. I am so not an animal print person and would not have ever bought it if I did not think it would highlight a certain set of photos now my challenge is to find out what to do with it.
Hi there-
I have been repurposing like crazy lately.. I Love it.. It is so inspiring to me. I have a ton of stuff, so for me I set the goal of not buying another thing till some of what I have is used up. I am really liking what I have been putting together..
Happy Friday!
Thanks for the challenge Kristina. Earlier this year I sold most of my craft and stamp goodies because I wasn’t making anything. However yesterday I dug out some of the little I have left and made a small 3*3 card. Now I cant stop and made another card this morning. Thanks for getting me back into crafting. Your videos are great inspiration! Thanks so much, have a great weekend =) x N
I dug out some old, but very nice and fat rickrack that was given to me by an interior decorator about 10 years ago and I have been saving ’cause it was too nice to waste… wake-up girlfriend you have about 20 metres of the stuff!! Then on a similar card I cut into some paper that I have had to the side for a special scrapbooking adventure that has never eventuated… I have totally cleaned out my creative space recently and have a new motto of just touch it and use it!
Hi, I totally agree with this. It seems that my hobby {for the past year} has been shopping more than crafting.
I have completely transformed my office into a scraproom/office and I love looking at it. I love buying everything, but then when I get home and put it away either I forget, or I don’t want to use it because it is so darn cute! What is wrong with me?? I have grown attached to my stuff and don’t wanna let go..
haha
HELP!
BTW, here the footage of my room in 2 parts..
part 1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BGDNkN9E-U
part 2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azKBpWBnLQg
Hi Damaris,
Just love your craft room it’s wonderful. And like you I buy everything I see and sadly alot of it ends in boxes all over the place. I too have a craft room and I’m thinking of starting a closet in my house to put all my craft crap, as Kristina puts it. At least it will be out of the way…
Cheers Lynn :}
Thanks Lynn. Glad you liked the room. I have to create a new video once I’m done with the future upgrades (minor, but it makes a diff to me).
I gotta figure out how to store my rubber stamps now, I want to be able to see them out but not have the room look so cluttered. Maybe I should stamp each one on a page, color it and keep that in a laminated book. But that will take FOREVER to do!.. ugh!
Hi Kristina, well I finally found some use for that box on the cupboard, you know the one that houses all the craft crap, as you kindly put it. The chipboard stubs as I call them, are now a welcome addition and I will use them again, as well as some ribbon (didn’t like the colors) also. Perhaps the wooden stars may get a starring appearance in another project, who knows. Anyway care to have a look..here’s my link :) http://lynnsdesignercreations.blogspot.com/2009/07/kwerner-use-it-sister-challenge.html
I had so much fun with this! I’m such a newbie that I don’t yet have a bunch of “crap” collecting yet. . . though I confess I’m not much of a collector. (I know. This makes me a little unique in the papercrafting world.) But I definitely had some stuff around my house that could be repurposed. This is what I came up with; take a look. :)
http://ohpleasework.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-first-challenge-repurposing.html
I’ve thought about this a lot over the past few months. I finally decided that I would face facts and get rid of any paper and tools I knew I would not use. Some of it was so old that it just didn’t really fit my style anymore. If I used it, it would irritate me because I wouldn’t be satisfied with my project. So, I gave it to a new scrapper and friend who just loved it. That felt good.
After that, I made myself an agreement. If I can make at least 5 projects (pages, cards, altered items, anything) with just items from my old stuff, I am allowed to buy something that I’m dying for. I’m always dying for something.
Here are two pages I made this week with just old items from my stash.
http://shells-space.blogspot.com/2009/07/catching-up.html
Well I have had the Cricut design studio for over a year and have never used it!!! Thanks to you–watching your videos, I think I may actually break it out. I also have read about SCAL and think I may get that also. I have a new grandson who I scrapbook about and have recently retired, so money is tight but now I have the time to experiment. Thanks for the push.