just my thoughts on hoarding...
 

I know this has been discussed before, but I thought I would share a story about one of my cards I created this week as a birthday gift.

My friend was especially drawn to the vintage bird brad and said, "I've seen these in stores, but could not bring myself to buy them because I couldn't bare to use it". I thought that's too sad...I am not going to hold on to something again and not share!

So today, it was the same thought process with my fun velvet brads...but I used 'em anyway!

What do you think?

Cute pop-up card and really cute bird brad!

I am the same way, I hoard stuff. I use it now and again, but I pretty much just look at it all!
I have to force myself to use what I have!

Another hoarder here. Although I am working on it. I tend not to buy the things that I know I would not use (perfect example... Hodge Podge Hardware, I've loved it forever especially when it was on sale, but I knew I would not be able to force myself to use it so I never ordered it). I remember hearing someone say to "use your fine china everyday, because the extra special days are few are far in between!" I haven't quite worked up to the fine china, but I do plan on getting a more user friendly pattern (my current set is too foo foo, lol! What was I thinking back in 1984?) then they will be used when ever I want!

Dina

Ha ha...I am so in the same hoarding boat! I have a ton of embellishments that I can't bare to use for fear someone won't appreciate them as much as me! (I guess I gotta start making more stuff for myself!)Every once in a while, I like to take everything out of my drawers and just look at it all! Ahhhh.....

I have been on that wagon too, but I am slowly learning to let go and have fun with what I have.

I was just like that. But recently, I've given myself permission to use whatever I want, when I want to. Why else have all this cool stuff???

But I think it's a tad easier since I'm primarily a scrapper, not a card maker (although I'm getting into that too) so even if I use my cool stuff, it staying in my books to see again and again.

This is why I don't buy SU Designer Paper. I have two packs that retired a year ago still in their shrink wrap. I cannot bare the thought of using it up.

I'm so the same way when it comes to patterened scrapbook paper and embellishments. They are just too pretty to use! How can you possible cover up the nice patterns on the paper???

I used to have scrapping and stamping supply hoarder right in my siggy line. No doubt about it, I hoard it all. I love to buy the stuff that appeals to me but when it comes to actually designing something, I have to use the ideas and patterns of others and that means I have to get the stuff they used cuz I can never quite make it my own with stuff I already have.

I do not hoard. I love to buy new stuff so I have to use up the old stuff. I'm about to order my 6th box of pretties. Besides, I only hear griping from dh if I don't use what I have and buy more.

You can give them to me, I'll use them! :D j/k
I'm a horrible hoarder also. I've save some things for so long that they aren't even in style any more!

I used to be a hoarder but now I am a user. I just can't seem to use enough to keep up with what I buy. I seem to use the newer stuff first. I love embellishments and love the freedom I have to use them now. I decided you can't take it with you!
Lori

I used to be a hoarder, but multiple moves broke me of that habit and now I find myself reaching for my most favourite papers and embellishments often because I get to admire it and gaze at it so much while I work with it, must moreso than when I have it in a giant stack in my stash. :D

Plus, after the first few times of using my favourite things I found out the sky did not in fact fall I not once lamented the consumption of this or that piece of paper. The stuff I use up and find myself wanting more of to use, I go and buy more of. :)

I broke myself of hoarding by taking a picture of every card I make. I can review on computer my cards and see where I have grown AND I actually always have a used copy of the paper I loved so much but went ahead and shared the joy!

I have changed my attitude about this after being a hoarder for a couple of years! ;)

I hoard and hoard, and seasons change, and new lines come out and new companies are born and my old papers/embellies start to look dated. then i want those new papers/brads etc etc and i say to myself "i'll FOR SURE love this paper forever" and then seasons change etc etc..

the moral of my story?? There will ALWAYS be new papers that you will want. there will ALWAYS be new ribbons/brads/stickers that you will have to have, so use what you have NOW, before it goes out of style.

the end.

I hoard too! I am very limited on supply of scraps because since I don't want to use up the whole papers I reach for the scraps often!

haha I am the same way I have drawers of embellishments I don't want to use cause then i won't have then any more LOL

I struggle to make myself use lots of stuff!! Special brads, paper, you name it and I like to hoard it!! I bought some of the velvet flowers from Maya Road and I think I've only parted with 4 of them (and 2 were on cards for my husband so they get to stay in my own house at least!!) I sure hope those other 2 people know how much they should love those cards LOL

Congrats on using your brad -- your card is stunning!! Great job.

Just scrolling through the new posts and this caught my eye because I m not a hoarder. I sometimes wish I was but I boldly and brazenly use the things I love and I buy more...I can so relate to the 1984 china pattern thing. When I was about 14 (old yeller was still a pup) my grandma told me to choose a china pattern and she would add to it for my birthdays and christmas. Well, being 14 and not much into anything but glitz, I chose Old Country Roses...you've all seen that one right...enough gold to change the economy of a small third world country and big honkin' roses everywhere. Now more than 40 years later, when I set my table it is VERY festive but I always use that china and I always remember grandma. Just my two cents worth.

I am getting over my hoarding habit. The majority of the cards I make go to the troops so they can send a special card back home. This has stopped by hoarding practice because I know those cards will be cherished forever by family members. Who more deserves that special embellishment, paper, etc?

Well said Diane!
I have been trying to use all that I buy! It is really hard, but I am trying.

My experience and thoughts exactly!

Great card! I am definitely a hoarder. I've just started getting better recently... I was at Michaels yesterday and saw the cutest brads and couldn't bring myself to buying them because I knew they would just sit in my stash for a few years because they were way too cute to use!

I mainly buy my supplies with scrapbooking in mind. I know I'll use these things in my girls books. In the beginning, I had a huge problem using some of this on cards because I thought what if they just throw this away and that thought was too much to bare. LOL I've loosened up on that though but will only use those special brads, ribbons, etc. on people that I know save my cards. I guess I'm a work in progress.

I have LOTS of goodies, but if I need to use them I don't hesitate! Does that make me a semi-hoarder...LOL!!

I am a hoarder but trying not to be one - for one very good reason: trends change too fast in this hobby. I hoarded the SU paper from last year because I loved it so and now am not even interested in it.

I am wayyyy too fickle to hoard.

I've heard this theory time and time again "IF I use it, I won't have it to use." And I've been there! I will be there again too I'm sure. And I don't know quite how to avoid that feeling.

Erin

LOVE your take on this issue and I hardily agree!

Only two? :rolleyes: (giggle)

I hoard, but for a different reason.. not because I can't bear to use the stuff, it's because I can't think of anything to do with it. I had all these high hopes for chipboard and those die cut tags on kraft paper from an old catalog. and they just sit there.

so Now I am starting to use that as my PIF stuff. That way I get rid of it, and somebody else can use it.

With HodgePodge, my biggest problem was I used all of some pieces,and none of others so I never bought more than the first set knowing I would eventually end up with too much of some stuff and not enough of the other.

Wow! I thought I was the only one who did this - LOL

I need to learn how to share :)

I used to be the Gift Registry Consultant of a major national department store. OCR got a LOT of comments in the not so polite range....customers and employees alike. it's my MIL's pattern..and she has a setting for 16 (large family). she keeps threatening to dump it cuz it cannot go in the dishwasher....

went simple on my china, but went crazy on my glassware. it's purty, from Romania and runs about $25 a GLASS. after keeping it hidden for years cuz it's too fancy for every day, I said the heck with it..and dumped my everyday glasses and now use these. unfortunately, I learned the hard way that using the door ice dispenser on cut crystal is not the smartest idea in the universe.. Already down 2 of the Iced tea glasses and I need to go out and buy a set a tall drinking glasses for when the Mids invade. DH and I have adopted two Plebes from the USNA and like all poor starving college students,they eat and drink..a LOT.

Definitely not a hoarder! I love using things up, and that goes for everything, not just craft supplies! I'll go weeks without grocery shopping just to "use it all up". Same with paper crafting. I like to get new things at the new catty releases for SU and CTMH, plus there's a local stamp store I visit once a year along with a big scrapbook store. In order to buy new stuff, though, I have to use up what I have. And I use up plenty...between sending cards to people on our church's prayer list, teacher gifts for both school and Sunday School, Christmas gifts, scrapbooks, silent auctions, and my own personal card sending I'm always making something!

Good for you Susan! I know you've mentioned to me about the hoarding battle.. I am happy that you used those brads.. and when it feels so hard to part with some of your favorite things, just remember that there is ALWAYS going to be something even better out there the next time you go shopping. I find if I hoard it and don't use it, eventually I forget I even had it in the first place... after a while, I don't even remember why I **loved** it so much in the first place...
...ahh.. the freedom to share is so much more rewarding than keeping it to yourself!

..baby steps tho, baby steps..

This is such a funny thread! I have hoarded since I starting scrapping 10 years ago, but as anng97 mentioned I bought alot of my dp for this, so at least it was going in my albums. Over the last couple of years, didn't have much time for that and started doing cards as I could make them faster than I could do a layout. But I still didn't want to use my 'pretty papers' on my cards. Well, 10 years later I probably have several feet of paper, so I decided this year I would just start using it all. And I do look back at some of that early paper and ask 'what was I thinking?' but it was the 'in' thing 10 years ago, lol!!
By the way, oldshortgrandma, I love the Old Country Roses china, my grandmother used that pattern, unfortunately it was sold before I could ask for it from her estate. I know some would think it too loud, but whenever I see if it reminds me of all the wonderful meals at my grandmothers as a child.

Rachael

So for those of you who DON'T hoard
 

So for those of you who DON'T hoard I have a question. How do you let go of something that you have every reason to believe will be thrown away? I can use my hodgepodge for a couple of people I know save my cards. But let's face it, the average person I send a card to is going to open it and think what a lovely card and THROW IT IN THE TRASH! I'm ok with the paper and even the ribbon, but for some reason I can't stand the idea of metal being thrown away!!

Erma Bombeck wrote an amazing column shortly before she died (google it, I'm sure you will find it). One of the saddest things was about the fancy candles given to her by friends, that she let melt in the garage because she was ''saving them'' - when she should have burned them and enjoyed their scent as a lovely reminder of friendship.

This pretty much cured me of hoarding. Some things stay in my stash a bit longer than I intended, but when it retires I drag it out and distrubite freely on cards and at workshops.

If they throw it away, oh well! It was going to waste in storage, anyway.

I've actually gotten much better since finding SCS. This website has given me the incentive to "try" different thing. Not to mention enabling me to buy more. LOL.

Seriously though, thanks to all of the wonderful people here I'm learning to "share" my creativity.

Well, I don't hoard Hodgepodge or even cheapy hardware from HL...I just have a hard time integrating it into my style. When I do successfully use a piece of it, I'm just thrilled to give it to anyone!

But as for dealing with the certain knowledge that cards end up in the trash, I have a thought. How do you feel when you get a piece of mail that isn't junk or a bill? Something with real handwriting for the address? Something with a return address of a friend or family member? Isn't it exciting? Isn't it a thrill? Doesn't it brighten your whole day? Don't you feel loved?

Giving another person that moment of pleasure is worth a few bucks of embellishments. Doesn't matter what happens to the card after that (though I've been surprised at the people who keep cards). The card has done its job and can go to the landfill or a box in the attic knowing it served its purpose.

HTH!

I think you've got it! The key to not hoarding your supplies is to always give your cards to people who hoard everything! :-D