The Backstory
I’ve been scrapbooking since 2001. I was a scrapbooking consultant for several years so I have “product.” And I’m a bargain shopper and a coupon queen so I’ve accumulated a LOT of scrapbooking stuff over the years. While shopping is super fun – I ain’t gonna’ lie – the sheer amount of supplies I have can get a little crazy.
It gets to the point where I’m so busy putting things away or moving this pile over there that not much scrapbooking gets done. Or I sit down to scrapbook an event KNOWING that I bought specific supplies for it but not being able to locate them. Blerg :P
I know this is a problem a lot of us have and when I was trying to think of ideas for what classes I could offer you, this was the first thing that came to mind. Not only do we need to ORGANIZE our supplies but we need to (oh my gosh, is she really going to say it!??!) (YES) pare down our supplies a bit.
I’m one of those scrapbookers who hears about others “purging” their supplies and I just cringe. “But I LOVE my supplies! How am I supposed to get rid of anything?” And that’s where I was stuck for years. I’d put things away, clear my desktop again, maybe implement a new organizational system like this one for my washi tape.
Then you know what happened, right? Two months, three shopping hauls, and a busy life later, I was right back where I started: trying to find new places to put things away and new ways to organize my supplies so I’ll actually use them and know where everything is. But it got to feeling kind of futile. Sigh.
Keepin’ It Real
This is how my scrapbook space looked as of November 2015. ‘Nother sigh.
I looked at this and just felt so . . . TIRED. Almost like a rock bottom, since this IS kind of an addiction. {If being a scrapbooking addict is wrong, I don’t wanna’ be right! ha ha}
The Turning Point
For me, it was reading that book everyone was talking about, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing“.
Admittedly, author Marie Kondo says some wacky stuff in this book. But the overall message surely spoke to me: Only keep those things that SPARK JOY.
For me, this meant:
– Don’t keep things that you bought because they were on sale.
– Don’t keep things just because someone gave them to you.
– Don’t keep things for projects that you might do “someday” (but know you never really will)
– Don’t keep things because they’re worth money but you don’t have time to sell them
The common thread I see in my reasoning: GUILT. And isn’t that a shame? I’m keeping myself surrounded by too much stuff because I feel GUILTY. Is that bringing me joy? Is that allowing me to spend time doing the one activity I love the most, scrapbooking? Nope.
The Solution
So in November 2015, I decided to not only go through my scrapbook space using the KonMari method (the method described in the book above) but I documented my actions and created an online class from it. With the new year and all, it seems like the perfect time to share this with you.
Here’s a page with all the class information – please do yourself a favor and check it out:
Simplify Your Scrapbook Space: Declutter and Organize So You Can Scrapbook Stress-Free
Since I “KonMari’d” my scrapbook space, everything has been so much better. I got rid of a lot of things that, as much as I wanted to, I just wasn’t going to use. They were taking up storage space that became freed up for storing things I WILL use and DO use. I was able to remove things from my work desk that, no matter how “organized” I was before, didn’t have a good place.
How Does It Feel?
I can’t tell you what a relief it was to just LET GO. Let go of old supplies, things that were no longer my taste, projects I’d never do (photo cube anyone?), and all that guilt-inducing STUFF that was weighing me down. Now the supplies I have BRING ME JOY. I look forward to going into my scrapbook space instead of dreading it. I can find the exact supply I’m looking for and the guilt is gone.
I want all of this for you, too <3
If you’re tired of fighting against your scrapbook supplies and just want a clear, peaceful place to create, THIS may be just the thing you need. I hope so because I want to be of service to you and I hope this is something we can have fun doing together :)
