I'm on a Craft Spending Diet

I love crafting. I go from one craft to another and back again. Here's a list of my crafting interests, in no particular order:

Sewing

Quilting

Scrapbooking

Quilling

Bead Weaving

Cake Decorating

Card Making

Machine Embroidery

Bead Making

Crocheting

Soap Making

I have all the supplies and all the tools to do all of these crafts. Here's a list of some of the tools and supplies I have:

Stacks and stacks of paper

Stacks and stacks of fabric

Die cutting machines (1 very large, 1 medium sized, 1 small)

Dies to go with the die cut machines -- dozens of them in all sizes

A digital cutting machine (I love my Silhouette SD!)

Sewing thread

Machine embroidery thread -- maybe as many as 100 spools

Machine quilting thread

Decorative thread -- a dozen or more spools

Serger thread (four spools of each color, a dozen or more colors)

Pre-wound bobbins (hundreds of them -- purchased by the gross on eBay)

Beads -- lots and lots of beads, in all sizes and colors

Scissors -- at least a dozen pair

Rotary cutters -- at least 5

Yarn -- not a lot of yarn

Books on every craft mentioned above

Embossing tools (the big Shape Boss and a bunch of accessories for it)

Embossing folders for the die cut machines

Xyron machines - in 4 sizes

Long Reach Pro machine for setting rivets, nail heads, eyelets, metal corners and buttons

All the setting heads for the Long Reach Pro

Corner rounder machine (can't remember the name, does 100 sheets at a time)

Three sewing machines

Serger

Binding machine and hundreds of coils for it

Punches (haven't invested in a whole lot of these, but have a few good ones)

Padding machine

The list goes on and on. Consequently, I have a craft room that is overflowing with stuff. The stuff flows out of the craft room into hall closets and laundry room cupboards. When I go from one craft to the next, I have to move things around to have better access to the things I need.

I can't even begin to imagine how much money I've spent on all these things -- no doubt thousands and thousands of dollars. I didn't buy it all at once, of course. I do not regret buying any of it. I use all of it. All of it has added value to my life.

But....I have decided to go on a craft buying diet. I am not going to buy any more tools or supplies until I have used up some of what I already have. No more paper. No more fabric. No more tools. No more books (everything I need to know about all of my crafts are somewhere in the books I already have). No more thread. No more stickers. No more embellishments. No more dies. I have everything I need to create several quilts, dozens of outfits, hundreds of scrapbook pages, hundreds of cards.

So that is what I am going to do -- create several quilts, dozens of outfits, hundreds of scrapbook pages, hundreds of cards -- before I purchase any more tools or supplies. I might have to buy sewing thread, because I don't have matching thread for all of the fabric I have.

So wish me luck in this endeavor. The pictures here are of three scrapbook pages I made after making my decision not to buy more paper. Don't I have beautiful granddaughters? Most of the paper I have was purchased before my grandbabies were born, so I don't have a lot of "kid" or "baby" paper. I am still going to make do with what I have.

Until next time.....