Excessive?

[beaucoup]

While searching the internet for scraproom ideas, I've been watching YouTube videos & looking at blogs. I just can not get over the amount of product some of these ladies have. To the point of being excessive for some. And the amount of money spent on the product and money spent to just store it.

I wonder if they will even ever use what they've bought?

WOW. Good reminder to me to not buy it just because its cute or pretty. Buy it because I need it or I'm ready to use it.

Like clothing, I'll bet a lot of their stock goes "out of style" and they never end up using it.

Such a waste of money.

 

[maslex]

While searching the internet for scraproom ideas, I've been watching YouTube videos & looking at blogs. I just can not get over the amount of product some of these ladies have. To the point of being excessive for some. And the amount of money spent on the product and money spent to just store it.

I wonder if they will even ever use what they've bought?

WOW. Good reminder to me to not buy it just because its cute or pretty. Buy it because I need it or I'm ready to use it.

Like clothing, I'll bet a lot of their stock goes "out of style" and they never end up using it.

Such a waste of money.

I haven't seen anything on youtube or looked at blogs (I might start though lol) but I came to this conclusion about my own stuff (and I'm sure it's not nearly as much as some people. But I went through my stuff and got a nice big pile put aside to give to my mom and SIL. I too, bought stuff just because it was cute or just because it was Disney, only to find out I will never use it. So I've made a decision that I am NOT buying anything unless I need something for a particular layout. I will start using what I already have. I'm not saying that I won't buy anything LOL, I mean I have a Disney cruise coming up next year and a Carnival cruise coming up this summer but I don't have but a couple "cruise" scrapbooking items. So I will basically make a list of pages that I want to do and buy the stuff specifically for those pages!!!!

But yeah, I kind of agree with you. Some people have WAY too much stuff that they probably won't even use, but then again I know how hard it is to get rid of it even if you know you're not going to use it.

 

[hffmnheidi]

But on the other hand, solid color cardstock never goes out of style, no matter how long you have it. I know I have excessive amounts of paper, but I have been 'shopping' at home and using what I have and staying out of the stores.

 

[pjlla]

I'm SO guilty of having excess "stuff" here. I think it stems back to when I first started we we think of as today's scrapping. It was nearly impossible to find real scrapbook stuff.... so you bough WHATEVER you could find! I think I still get the feeling of "I'll never find this again!" and I buy, buy, buy.... especially if it is on sale or in a discount store.

That said, I am super cheap and I've only ever paid full price for adhesive (when I'm desperate and forgot a coupon). I have tons and tons and tons of patterned paper.... but most of it came from places like Big Lots, where you they price it by the pack, not by the piece. And I've gotten AMAZING deals there! I figure if I am paying $1 or $2 for an entire PACK of name brand paper (sometimes double-sided, sometimes embossed, sometimes flocked even!), it is worth it. BUT.... I forget that I need a place to put it!! What I SHOULD do in those cases is pull out 4 pieces to keep and either sell or trade or give away the rest!!

I'm getting better about my paper buying/hoarding lately. I walked around Joanns recently with two big DCWV Christmas packs in my hand.... they were on clearance!! But you know what.... I didn't really need them, so I put them back. And I haven't regretted that decision.

Yup.... that is part of this "disease" or "addiction" known as scrapbooking... the overconsumption of "stuff" related to the craft. If you can keep yourself in control (or go digital), you are doing better than most of us!!..................P

 

[rlovew]

I agree many people have way too much stuff- I know I need to go through my things and get rid of the stuff I don't need/won't use.

I remember my first time walking into SDV (a weekend crop) and seeing the stuff some people brought. So many had brought more for the weekend than I even owned.

Rebecca

 

[MazdaUK]

Because stuff is not easy to get here - most of it I get over the internet, sometimes direct from the US - I am really bad about moving stuff on Take baby boy paper, my youngest is 11 years old but I can't part with it "just in case" I need it for something Or even worse, I "save" stuff for a "special" layout in case I can't find just the right paper if I "waste" this on this paper I find doing swaps is the easiest way to prise "stock" out of my stash - I HAVE to make these pieces because I'm signed up and therefore the paper will be used!

Most things do get used sooner or later - not soon enough for DH of course - or I let my boys or DNeice use them for crafts.

 

[mommy2mrb]

I'm guilty of buying stuff too because its pretty! so I now only buy pattern paper for specific LO's, cardstock I know I'll always use so if I see a good deal/coupon I will buy it.
I tend to hold onto embellishments/stickers too, so I purged a bunch of those to give to Jennifer's HARC group last week....Disney stuff is another story, its so cute and if I see something new I usually get it, I know it will get used.
Doing the Surprise Swap cleared a bunch of my stash too and working on swap in general I try to shop my stash now.
I've seen some of those scraprooms and either they have way too much disposable $$ or live their lives in excess!

 

[disney-akj]

I am trying really hard to limit myself in buying craft supplies this year. I am only buying needed materials, like adhesives, cricut mats, solid colors that I may run out of, etc. I am going to shop my stash and swap items. That is my goal. I also got rid of a lot of items that I would never use last September. So far so good. I went to M's yesterday and only bought solid color cardstock and glue dots that I was out of. Have to get packed for my three day girl scrap weekend next weekend! Yeah! I walked by all the clearance items without even looking. That is a big step for me.

 

[jacksmomma]

It is hard sometimes, but no buying forces you to use up your stock thereby reducing the clutter as well.

 

[beaucoup]

I'm having a yardsale this spring, and cleaning out lots around the house. Its sure making me think about all the stuff I've bought that never got used like I intended. Waste of money. Then you end up buying storage units to store the stuff in because we don't have much closet space. More wasted money. We didn't have all this stuff when we moved in. And don't need it all now.

 

[jacksmomma]

I'm having a yardsale this spring, and cleaning out lots around the house. Its sure making me think about all the stuff I've bought that never got used like I intended. Waste of money. Then you end up buying storage units to store the stuff in because we don't have much closet space. More wasted money. We didn't have all this stuff when we moved in. And don't need it all now.

I really need to have a yard sale. I am going to see if I can get a few families together to have a bigger sale. I also need to go through DS's stuff and get rid of a lot of it.

 

[mommy2mrb]

we spent a couple hours going through Megans stuff, reorganized her games onto a new cubby in the closet and rejunked her drawers, that girl inherited her daddy's pat rat gene...everything is put in its place, cleaned up, let's hope she can keep it this way for awhile!

 

[Reddy]

i did this thing once - someone starts with x amount of paper then mail it to the next person on the list they have 1 week to go thur pick what they want but they have to add paper from there supply that they want to get rid of then mail to the next person - I was close to the end so big assortment & it was over x to choose from at the end it went back to the first lady she picked out a few added more to it & took it to the special needs class in her town

 

[PinballFamily]

While searching the internet for scraproom ideas, I've been watching YouTube videos & looking at blogs.

EEK! I don't dare do this kind of search...it would only give us MORE ideas for stuff to buy and organize!

 

[jacksmomma]

i did this thing once - someone starts with x amount of paper then mail it to the next person on the list they have 1 week to go thur pick what they want but they have to add paper from there supply that they want to get rid of then mail to the next person - I was close to the end so big assortment & it was over x to choose from at the end it went back to the first lady she picked out a few added more to it & took it to the special needs class in her town

I love this idea!

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

I like Reddy's idea also!!!! Maybe we can do that on here?? Draw names out of a hat for order of participation?? Hmmmm....mods...any thoughts?

As far as the too much scrap stuff....I am 100% guilty, but I like it!! LOL

 

[disney-akj]

I have participated in a paper swap like that as well. They are fun. A hostess would open a swap. We just had a list of interested swappers in order that they signed up on the swap thread. Everyone was responsible for PMing the hostess their personal information (address, phone, email, etc.) by a certain date. If PMs were not received prior to the start date then that person was not allowed to participate. The hostess then listed the order on the swap thread of mailing, and PMed each participant who they were supposed to mail to and gave them that person's personal info only. Everyone was responsible for checking in regularly, giving D C # when shipping, and to update when they receive the package. We gave everyone a five day limit. We also found it less expensive to not use the flat rate priority box because a lot of 12 x 12 paper would not fit well in the medium box and the large priority boxes were a lot higher to ship. Of course the hostess has to be someone with a lot of extra paper to start the box. Then everyone takes out the same amount of paper that they put in (or put in extra if you don't want it too)

 

[rlovew]

i did this thing once - someone starts with x amount of paper then mail it to the next person on the list they have 1 week to go thur pick what they want but they have to add paper from there supply that they want to get rid of then mail to the next person - I was close to the end so big assortment & it was over x to choose from at the end it went back to the first lady she picked out a few added more to it & took it to the special needs class in her town

We started a box around (we used addresses to order everyone by area so the shipping wasn't as far) but someone in the middle dropped out after recieving the boix without sending it so Buffy started another and the same things happened again. Some of the ladies never got to the box becuase someone never passed it on. I actually think 2 boxes were started in opposite order- 1 just for paper and the other just for embellishments(they each went in opposite directions) but about 10-15 people down the list the boxes stopped. We did ask that each person pm the next person before mailing to make sure they were ready(or we would skip them) but even that didn't keep everything going. I got one of the paper boxes that was sent but never anything else. I have used some of that paper and some of it is still in my paper supplies.

Rebecca

 

[disney-akj]

We started a box around (we used addresses to order everyone by area so the shipping wasn't as far) but someone in the middle dropped out after recieving the boix without sending it so Buffy started another and the same things happened again. Some of the ladies never got to the box becuase someone never passed it on. I actually think 2 boxes were started in opposite order- 1 just for paper and the other just for embellishments(they each went in opposite directions) but about 10-15 people down the list the boxes stopped. We did ask that each person pm the next person before mailing to make sure they were ready(or we would skip them) but even that didn't keep everything going. I got one of the paper boxes that was sent but never anything else. I have used some of that paper and some of it is still in my paper supplies.

Rebecca

Well that is no fun! I guess that is the fear with swaps, especially ones like that. It is a shame

 

[pjlla]

We started a box around (we used addresses to order everyone by area so the shipping wasn't as far) but someone in the middle dropped out after recieving the boix without sending it so Buffy started another and the same things happened again. Some of the ladies never got to the box becuase someone never passed it on. I actually think 2 boxes were started in opposite order- 1 just for paper and the other just for embellishments(they each went in opposite directions) but about 10-15 people down the list the boxes stopped. We did ask that each person pm the next person before mailing to make sure they were ready(or we would skip them) but even that didn't keep everything going. I got one of the paper boxes that was sent but never anything else. I have used some of that paper and some of it is still in my paper supplies.

Rebecca

I was going to say the same thing. I was part of that same swap. I got the embellishment box, but never rec'd the paper box. Oh well. I was really more disappointed because I had already sorted and put aside a bunch of paper to include in the box. I think if we were going to do this again, it would have to be limited to a smaller group of people (like maybe just 10). I think part of the problem was that it was a HUGE group last time. Think like this.... if it is just 10 people and each person has 5 days to turn it around, if you think about shipping time, this will be over 50 days to go all the way around.

I love the idea though!........P