Art Journal: Copic Couple

I figured I'd post this to prove that I'm going to give the Copic Marker set I splurged on a good run for the money! I don't like the dude's hair, but am happy that my dude actually looks like a dude! I usually draw girls, so I'm stretching my artistic muscles by drawing this couple. I love the skin tone shading, too!

Buy Nothing Summer: I Cheated!

Okay, so I had no idea if I could stick it out when I started the Buy Nothing Summer on June 18th! The idea of buying no new art supplies for the whole summer was intense... but totally necessary if I was ever going to get my sprawling stash under control. Even though I've made a lot of progress in the past 5 weeks, my apartment is still a mess. I'm telling myself that I'm taking it slowly, but surely, but perhaps I'm moving just a touch too slow.

I have managed to make art every single day since I started the BNS, which is more important, really, and have successfully finished at least one art journal page every single day since at least June 28th. (Can't say for sure before that, because I just started dating my pages!). I've even managed to completely avoid buying any craft supplies for myself and have even been successful in adding stuff from my personal stash into my school bags for the art classes I've been teaching all summer. I've dropped off a few boxes every week or so to local thrift stores, too.

I have avoid shopping almost completely. No retail stores since late June when I bought a couple things I needed for classes. I've completely avoided flea markets, thrift stores, and yard sales, too. I have, however, looked at Etsy a couple of times, even placed a ridiculously low bid on some Copic markers on eBay (I was outbid within minutes); but I haven't actually laid out any cash... until now.

That's right: I cheated. I cheated hard with an $80 purchase. I should feel really bad about this purchase, but the honest truth is that I am elated! I don't regret it one bit!

Don't ask me why I was looking under the "arts and crafts" section of Craigslist yesterday afternoon. That should have been a strictly off-limits zone, but looking I was and what did I see but a listing that said "My art supplies! Cheap!" How could I resist clicking over?

Oh man!

This person was selling a set of 72 Copic markers for $80! I emailed her immediately, BNS be damned! I figured that with a price that good, they'd have been gone already. Or, that it was one of those scams designed to harvest my email address for nefarious purposes. No way could I score a decent set of Copics for that insanely low price tag.

Seriously, folks, I'm not trying to make excuses here, but wow! The cheapest price I'd managed to find before was $3.50 per marker for new Copic Ciao markers or used Sketch markers. I prefer the Sketch, but am happy with any. Since Copics are refillable, buying a used marker is usually a pretty good deal, even if it doesn't have much ink. I haven't been using Copics (or the starving artist favorite, ShinHan Touch Twin markers*) long enough to have to refill them, but I know that buying a refill ink costs about as much as buying a new Sketch marker, but will refill a marker about 5 - 7 times, maybe more. Before the BNS started, I'd been trying to buy a good selection of Copics on ebay for a good six months, getting outbid every single time as the auctions skyrocketed to prices way higher than I could afford.

[* If you can't afford Copics, I think it's great to start out with the ShinHan Touch Twin markers. They are $1.89 each from Jerry's Artarama. The nibs aren't as good as the Copic Sketch markers, but if you are just starting out, I doubt you'll even notice. The nibs also don't last as long as the Copics, either, and they aren't refillable. Still, they work nearly as well for shading at a fraction of the cost. My plan was to start with the ShinHan markers, see if I even liked using them, then add Copics to my stash as I could afford them. I have discovered that I love using the markers, and have slowly added new Copics to my stash by looking for used lots of them on Ebay. I use both markers together all the time with no problems, and the Copic blending pen works well with ShinHan markers.]

Now, I'm all set with Copics for a nice long time.  Here's what I got:

These markers have been used... a lot! Some of them have sticky ink on them, probably from being overfilled or not stored well. Some of them have writing on the sides, or paint, or fingerprints. The case has been broken and taped back together with green duct tape and a hunk of foam core. I am seriously in love!

Note that I already made a materials page for the markers. I did it as soon as I got home with them. All of the markers work just fine, though Warm Grey #9 is pretty low on ink. One of the blacks has a broad nib that is a little bit busted up, but the rest are all fine. I expected to have to replace at least a handful, but really, it's not necessary. I did discover that with the new ones, I now have 7 duplicates, which includes two blenders (I already had two E00's), but even with the duplicates, this was such a great score! $1.10 each marker! Amazing! There was no way I could resist this deal. No way!

So why am I even telling you that I bought these markers? Couldn't I have just pretended I was sticking to the plan, man, and not even mentioned the slide? Sure, I guess, but I'm human. I'm not going to pretend that I'm perfect, and, really, I don't think that these $80 purchase has completely derailed my whole BNS summer challenge. I did go 35 days without buying a single art supply, after all, so it's not a total fail. Also, I have decided my "punishment" for this purchase is an extra week added to the BNS challenge. I'm now not allowed to buy anything until September 7th. (No biggie... this markers will be keeping me busy! Haha!)

{The other option was to not allow myself to use the markers until the BNS was over, but I decided that was tantamount to presenting a really hungry chocoholic with the most delicious cake ever and making them swear not to eat it. Ain't happening. There was no way I could resist them that long!}

Also, for anyone else struggling with the BNS challenge or with the 30 Day Craft Cleanse, you should know that no one is perfect, not even me. (Hard to believe, ain't it? Har dee har har!) If you do cave and buy something, admit it, then don't do it again.

It'd be really easy to go on a shopping binge right now, (Perhaps a run to Borders for 40% off everything?) but I'm not going to do it. I chose to splurge on something that I felt was just way too good to pass up, but I'm not going to use one purchase as an excuse to make twenty more and write it off as one bad day.

The lesson, perhaps, is that avoiding temptation really is important. If I hadn't been browsing a "forbidden" zone on Craigslist yesterday, I would have never known about this awesome deal and would never have known that I missed out on it. If you don't go browsing your favorite craft haunts clearance aisle, the same thing applies.

So... take what you will from this! I'm going to take my markers and go play!

Art Journal: Free Online Class

Inspired by my Buy Nothing Summer, I'm doing a free art journaling course that starts on July 15 and runs through August 15, though you can pick up and start at any time. Here's the introduction to the course. Maybe you'd like to stop by the 30 Day Craft Cleanse and check it out?

If it's true that it takes 30 days to make or break a habit, we've got the next 4 weeks to kick those greedy craft demons living inside us to the curb. Hello, my name is Moira, and I am a crafty packrat. There, I've admitted it. Yes, if you were to come to my house, you would find it packed to the gills with crafty wonder. And do I mean packed!

I recently moved from a three bedroom apartment that I share with my boyfriend, Nick, into a one-bedroom place. The reasons for this move were threefold: location, location, location. Also, the price was so very right. Plus, my fabulous crafty diva friend lives right across the street. Things are good.

The problem, as I'm sure you've already surmised, is all the stuff that had accumulated in the two years we'd been in our last place. We were spoiled rotten, all right? He had his studio; I had mine. The living room in our last place started out with good intentions but soon became my crafty storage area. Couch? What couch? Doh!

Where did all the crafty wonder come from? Well, naturally, a lot of it came from arts and craft stores over the years. Super sale? Awesome, I'll take three. Clearance rack? Great, load up my cart. 40% coupons, you are my nemesis.

In addition to a serious craft store habit, I have a tendency to acquire all sorts of things for free. I have found objects on the side of the road, from Craigslist curb alerts, and, I'll admit, I have climbed into many a dumpster in my day. [If you aren't already aware of this, you'd be surprised at the sheer volume of stuff being thrown away by your favorite craft stores. One dumpster hot spot in my old neighborhood was Joann's.]

People who know my crafty ways often present me with gifts of craftiness: stacks of magazines, bags of yarn, beads, you name it.

Oh, and I’m an art teacher. (Insert groans of super organized people everywhere.) I am a freelance artist-educator who provides programming for middle school youth and, occasionally, older teens and adults. I teach classes all around the state of Rhode Island, and all of the many, many supplies that I use for my classes live in my house.

Often I feel like conquering my crafty demons is a never ending battle, one I will never win. So for ages, I have succumb to the demons and allowed my crafty wonder to grow and grow and grow. While I’ve never had a problem getting rid of clothes, furniture, or books, I hold on to craft supplies for years, even if I never use them. No longer!

On June 18 I made a vow. A vow to keep my wallet in my pocket and to keep on walking when the craft sales are talking. I called it my Buy Nothing Summer and started a series of blog posts about the adventure. I decided that if I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of all my crafty wonder, I would do my best to use it up. I am determined to bust my crafty stash this summer. I’m three weeks in and going strong.

What does all this have to do with you?

Well, here’s the thing. when I issued the challenge to myself, I invited other people to join me, and I did have a few brave takers, but the response by far has been, “Gee, that’s great & I should do it, but I could never keep that promise.”

And I totally get that! 

The past three weeks haven’t been easy. I won’t deny that I haven’t thought on more than a few occasions that I should just stop at Michaels while I was driving by, maybe just look around a little, maybe buy something small, no one would ever have to know... But I have successfully resisted temptation for these last three weeks, and you know what, if I, Moira, queen of the crafty packrats, can do this thing, so can you. For sure. I know it.

So why not try it? You’ll be in good company here. This is a safe place.  And if you fail? So what? Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, put away your credit card, and try not to do it again for the rest of the 30 days. Your wallet will thank you.

I challenge you to make a vow to not purchase any new arts and craft supplies for the next 30 days. Feel free to add a couple of rules to the process like I did, but try not to go overboard. Art isn’t about the stuff; it’s about the creative process. Let’s see just how true that is during our 30 Day Craft Cleanse.

Buy Nothing Summer: Conquer the Want

Let me tell you: my bank account balance is LOVING this Buy Nothing Summer challenge that I have issued for myself! Since most of my purchases are generally art or craft supplies, I've hardly touched my ATM card since the challenge started. I even paid off half of my credit card balance, since I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be tempted to go on a craft binge.

That being said, it's not all easy. The hardest part of buying nothing, I think, is conquering the want. Every day I get all these emails about new products being used in new ways. Sharpie just released a line of fabric markers called Stained. Julie Balzer did a blog feature about sun printing with fabric paints. Somebody else used fabulous images from Frankie magazine in their art journal. I want it all!

But, no! I am determined to bust my stash, and the only way I'm going to make a dent is if I don't keep bringing home new supplies. So I deleted the email from Sharpie, bookmarked the sun printing blog entry for future reference, and ordered a free catalog from Peruvian Connection, which might not have images quite as cute as Frankie's, but still great. (In compliance with the Buy Nothing Summer rules, I added another magazine from my stash to the recycling bin.)

If you are battling your own greedy craft demons, you might want to check out artist Leslie Herger's series of blog posts called "The Cult of Stuff." Here's an excerpt:

It’s so easy to pick up a rubber stamp that fit my needs. So much easier than carving a wine cork or an eraser. Or what about some of that premade ephemera? It’s ACID FREE and ARCHIVAL! Why cut my own stencil when I can buy one? Look at all the rolls of shiny tape! I could make my own with plain white or colored but it’s so much easier to just buy a roll.

This is how we end up with totes and drawers full of stuff we don’t really use, stuff we bought on a whim like those really cool looking sandals that ended up being fabulous to look at but were hell on the toes.

Visit Comfortable Shoes Studio to read the whole series (plus a bunch of great art journal ideas, videos, pages, and inspiration!) Also, my interview with Leslie is here.

See all of the Buy Nothing Summer posts here.

For those of you playing along, how are you avoiding shopping overload this summer?

Buy Nothing Summer: Week One

I keep feeling like I'm doing a lot of work, but I'm not seeing the results. I decided to take a picture of the state of my studio and compare it to the picture I posted a week ago to see if I could discern any noticeable improvements. It still needs a lot of work, but things are definitely progressing! Considering that I fill three boxes with thrift store donations today, I am making progress, slowly but surely. What do you think?

I can't wait 'til I get to share the "after" shots!!!

Buy Nothing Summer: Day Six

It's Day Six of my Buy Nothing Summer, and I have to admit, so far, it hasn't been that big of a deal. I haven't caved and gone on a crafty shopping binge. Shocker!  I did get an email from Sharpie about their new fabric markers, and felt a bit of a pang, but quickly deleted it. So far there hasn't been anything that I wanted to buy, which has made it easy. Just wait until I need something though... yikes!

In terms of organizing, I managed to sort through two boxes of papers on Tuesday. I condensed my keep pile into a way smaller stack, about 1/5 the size of what I started with. This was a huge pile of student papers and assignments, and I've been meaning to go through them for months. I decided to keep a small selection of my favorite student papers (about a dozen, out of dozens), plus some blank worksheets that I know I'll use for future classes. I had about 3 dozen folders that I considered keeping, but then I decided that if I used folders again in the future, I'd just buy more when/if I needed them. I don't usually like to toss something useable (obviously!), but after watching two seasons of Hoarders on Netflix this past week or so, I'm definitely inspired to get stuff outta my house! All of the unwanted papers went to the curb to be recycled and are now out of my life.

I do keep using supplies from my stash, but the problem is that I keep using little things, which hardly makes a dent in the pile! In order for me to get this place organized, I need to start tacking some of the bigger projects. When I think about what takes up the most space of my consumable stash, it's zippers, papers, fabric, and blank canvases. Although the zippers are currently tucked away neatly, I do have a cool idea in mind for those that I'd like to try this weekend. To do so, I'll need to access my sewing supplies.... yikes! Wish me luck on that one!

Next, my goal is to tackle one box a day (at least!) of unpacked craft items. When I come to an item that doesn't have a "home" just yet, I'm going to have to find a use for it pronto! I do have an empty storage drawer under my desk, so I'm going to work on figuring out what I'll be using it for. For the last few days, I have managed to meet my goal of unpacking one box a day. Here's hoping I can keep it up!

Finally, someone mentioned that they keep daily supplies separate from occasional supplies. I thought that was a great idea! I have quite a few supplies for metalworking jewelry, but I haven't done anything with them for a year. I know I should get rid of them, but I do have hopes that I'll eventually be able to experiment more in that area. I managed to condense those supplies into a small plastic shoebox plus my soldering iron. This will be packed away into the 4 feet of currently unused space in my linen closet. It's really inconvenient space, so I figure it's perfect for occasional projects. Perhaps if I never miss these supplies, I will get rid of them later.

I have a tall storage unit with 4 small drawers and 3 large drawers that I think I am going to use for my art journal and collage supplies. The top drawers will be for my current journal-in-progress, markers, pens, pencils, washi tape -- all the smallish stuff that tends to clutter my desk. The bottom three drawers will be for vintage photographs, printed collage sheets, magazines, and other paper ephemera. The goal, and I don't know if I can really do this, is to get rid of whatever paper doesn't fit in this unit, preferably without it being crammed to the point of being difficult to use.

I just spend half an hour arranging space under my desk so that I can store my two show suitcases (a pair of Mary Kay suitcases that I snagged for $7 at a yard sale last year). I am storing my tent, tables, and tent weights in my friend's massive basement storage unit across the street, but I don't want to store inventory down there because there was a huge mold problem two years ago that ruined a lot of my stuff that I'd stored there when I was out of town for two months. (Ugh, that sucked!) I figure if the suitcases are under my desk, they are safe, secure, and convenient, if I need something from inside. Considering that I just dropped off tons of inventory at two of the places where I sell my work, I shouldn't need to access them until September, but if I do, it won't be a huge pain.

My goal for today is to finishing packing away the rest of my inventory, mail out my etsy orders for the week, mail out my zipper giveaway prizes (I'm seriously delinquent on those!) and move furniture a bit so I can have the storage unit for art journal stuff right next to my desk where I work.  After that, I want to unpack my sewing machine so I can get started on my zipper project. Hurray!

See all of the Buy Nothing Summer posts here.

Buy Nothing Summer: Day Two

The Before Shot

Just to give you (and myself!) a sense of scale for how much crafty stuff we're talking about here in my major summer-long destash and shopping moratorium, I decided to use my fancy new camera to take a panorama shot of the pure chaos that is my art space. I took the shot by standing in the kitchen. The door on the left in the picture is the front door to our apartment. The sheer magnitude is staggering, right? It's a little embarrassing to put this out there in cyberspace for the whole world to see, but in order for anyone to understand why I'm being so crazy as to pledge not to buy any new supplies for eleven weeks, I need to share.

To be fair, we've only been living in our new place for three weeks now. It's not that I've been living with this mess for months and months. (That would drive me completely insane, I'm sure. I'm already a little insane.) The boxes aren't unpacked because I haven't figured out quite where to put everything. In addition, I am combining what was three separate areas in my old apartment into one: school supplies, art sale supplies, and my own personal stash. Keep in mind, too, that we recently went from living in a three bedroom apartment, where we each had our own studio and a gigantic living room to a combined living area / dual studio. [If you are wondering why we made such a drastic switch, let's just say the price is right, the location is stellar, and the place is beautiful.]

School supplies are supplies that are kept separate from my own stuff (at least in theory) and are used exclusively with my tween students. The supplies are currently being stored under my large craft table and have not been well organized since classes ended on June 2nd. [Supplies get crazy during classes, so I reorganize everything in between sessions. I'm behind because of the move!] I definitely need to destash some of the school supplies, because what has happened in the past is that stuff gets destashed from personal to school, but that's lower on my list right now since I have until September before I need most of this stuff. Oh, and I'm deciding right now that if I add from my personal stash to school, I need to get rid of something from the school stuff in order to accommodate it!

Art Sale supplies includes both display items that I use in my booth and finished inventory. This stuff was previously stored in its own closet, but will now all be stored under my desk. Since I am taking items into two different consignment shops this week, I haven't put it away yet. I'm hoping to have this stuff stored by the weekend. I won't need most of it again until September 10, unless I sell a lot of items on etsy between now and then.

Personal Stash is a little bit of everything and seriously out of hand. This is the bulk of what I'll be tackling this summer during my Buy Nothing Summer challenge. I want to have it both culled in size and better organized by the end of the summer. Wish me luck, because I sure need it!!!

If that wasn't bad enough, I do have crafty stuff in two other locations in our apartment. (Please bear in mind we have a one-bedroom apartment... yikes!)

I currently have all of my fabric, yarn, and sewing supplies stored on top of the cabinets in the kitchen. There's four feet of space up there, and I want to make use of it. Eventually, I'll like to have well organized school supplies up there instead of boxes of sewing stuff. I put the sewing stuff up there because even though it's still in boxes, it is actually somewhat organized, and I figured I don't have a place to sew yet anyway so why have it in the way. I destashed a lot of sewing stuff before the move so this is the creme de la creme. Haha!

In addition, and I don't have a picture of this, I have 14 plastic tubs full of zippers, organized by color family, currently stored in the bedroom closet. Like the kitchen, there's a lot of space on the top shelf so I'm trying to use it wisely (or, perhaps, unwisely). I did recently develop a cool technique for those zippers, so expect to see more about that here in the coming weeks! (Sorry to keep you in suspense, but I want to be able to show you pictures when I reveal my cool idea!)

Now that I've shown you the complete chaos that is my crafty life at the moment... have any tips for me? If this was your stuff, how would you start addressing it? I've tried starting in one corner and working my way around, but I keep getting overwhelmed and/or inspired to start creating. I've made art every day since I've moved in (which is amazing!), but I haven't made much progress in getting organized. Help!

See all of the Buy Nothing Summer posts here.

Make your own Buy Nothing Summer pledge! Feel free to grab this button for your blog:

Make up your own rules for yourself, addressing whatever your problem area is, and comment here with a link to your blog. I'll be posting a list of participants in a few days. We need the support!

Buy Nothing Summer: End of Day One

I would have preferred for my first day of the challenge to be one where I completely avoided temptation, but I needed to go to Michaels to pick up wooden spools for a project I'm doing with my students this summer. [You may remember that one of my exceptions to the Buy Nothing Summer challenge I've set for myself is that I can still buy supplies for the arts classes I teach for teens.] Luckily, even though Michaels is packed full of crafty goodness, I knew I could resist buying anything, especially if I stayed away from the clearance aisle. I do shop at Michaels, but generally it's for class supplies, not as much for myself. I buy most of the supplies I use online, in thrift stores, at yard sales, or at Jerry's Artarama. Michaels I can handle.

I walked in and headed straight to the wood crafts section. I didn't look around, I didn't meander, I didn't check out the clearance area. I found the packages of wooden spools. I grabbed what I needed and beelined right to the register. Nick didn't say anything at the time, but later he told me he was impressed at how quickly I was in and out. I was, too!

After Michaels, we headed to Target, since Nick needed headphones. He suggested I check out the sports tops, since I've been saying for weeks I need to buy new ones. Luckily sports top are not remotely close to craft supplies, so I didn't feel all that bad about spending $3.74 (Yes!!!) on a cute tank top with a built-in bra. I'll be wearing it to the Zumba class I'm taking with my friend Jen on Wednesday. [In addition to losing lots of crafty supplies, I need to lose some serious weight!]

I think there's a definite danger in swapping buying crafts supplies with buying something else, but I gotta say that I don't feel like spending money is my problem. I am a cheap ol' miser girl if ever you met one. I rarely go out to eat since I am a good cook and enjoy preparing my own food. I hardly ever drink, and you will never find me in a bar unless I have been coerced with the promise of free drinks and no pressuring of oneself to sing karaoke. (Why do I fall for it?) I have a bad habit of wearing clothes until they literally fall apart, and I probably look like a bag lady half the time because all of my shirts are splattered with paint and dried up gel medium. Likewise, I wear shoes until it is physically unsafe to do so, and I swear I felt like a big spender when I paid $25 for a pair of clearance brand-name sneakers last summer. I haven't paid for a haircut in at least five years. (No wonder my hair reaches halfway down my back, eh?)

My problem is sheer accumulation of stuff: I went for a spell when Nick and I were searching for curb alerts every weekend. I came home with all sorts of wonderful, weird items, some of which actually got repurposed as planned, the rest of which is now in boxes in my apartment or, more likely, returned to whence it came. {One of my favorite finds from last summer is a vintage photograph of an older woman under a curved dome of glass in a gold frame. Josephina is now my crafty muse. I'll post a picture as soon as she's settled into her new home!}  Like most people, I cannot resist a good deal, particularly when said good deal is a lifetime supply of beautiful hemp for $4 or scores of pretty zippers in all shades of the rainbow for $16. I have the hardest time resisting a seriously good deal.

While I might not have purchased any crafty supplies for myself today, I didn't exactly make any progress on using up what I've already got either. Part of this is because we spent the afternoon with Nick's Memere, who was initiated into Moira's Sweat Shop. Together, the three of us bound over 50 handmade journals for use in my summer classes! Wow! Oh, wait, I guess I did use some of the beautiful hemp for that purpose! Hurray for me; I destashed, what, 1/10000th of my stash? Well... it's a start!

Tomorrow, I start my new job and will be teaching 16 kids how to make fabulous buttons in the evening. Before that, my goal is to set some sort of crafty schedule, as suggested by Laila, and to choose 5 specific items that I want to work on destashing this week. In addition, I have decided that you, yes you!, out in the blogosphere can help me with my task! I am going to start a collection of items that I will put up for grabs in a giveaway at the end of Week One of the Eleven Week challenge I have set for myself. Stay tuned soon for details on what you can win and how you can win it. (Hint: you will definitely get hemp and zippers!)

See all of the Buy Nothing Summer posts here.

Buy Nothing Summer: Day One

It's day one of my Buy Nothing Summer. How do I feel: fine. It's going to be wicked easy in the beginning, because I know I don't need anything in order to continue making what I like to make. I suspect it will be harder sometime in August, because, ideally, by then I'll be starting to run low of some items. In a comment on yesterday's post about Buy Nothing Summer, Laila said that she has set aside one day a week for sewing projects. I like this idea because it definitely seems that there are projects that I'd like to do and just never get around to doing. Sewing is definitely one of those projects. I have lots of really gorgeous fabrics that I've been saving over the years, but, really, what's the point of pretty fabric if it's just sitting in a box somewhere? I'm going to think about this concept today and decide if a crafty schedule will work for me this summer. 

I decided to make a page in my art journal about the challenge I set for myself. I used the dog image from a takeout bag from Spike's Junkyard Dogs. It was in our recycling pile, but I just had to snag it for art making. Instead of putting it away in a drawer somewhere to promptly forget all about it, I used it immediately. The button in the lower left corner was a button that Nick gave me the day before. I looked at it, decided to punch two holes in it using my Cropadile Big Bite, and last night I sewed it into my journal using bright blue hemp. I don't usually add 3-D embellishments to my journal, so this was something new. I also used lots of washi tape, graph paper, Sharpie Poster-Paint markers, and a blue Decocolor marker.

I guess at this point that the only thing I am worried about in this challenge is the possibility of thinking, "Oh if only I had item X, I could do this with Y, Z, and beyond." If that happens, I will just have to figure out another way to do whatever it is I was thinking of doing! I'm an artist; I'm supposed to be creative and inventive. Let's just see how true that is.

See all of the Buy Nothing Summer posts here. 

Busting that Stash: Buy Nothing Summer

Okay, I've been thinking a lot about the abundance of crafty stuff in our home, and not just because I've recently started watching Hoarders on Netflix. Nick and I moved from a three-bedroom apartment to a one-bedroom place, so there's considerably less room for all of my supplies. I did downsize quite a bit before we moved, I swear; I even gave away several giant boxes of mixed media items to an artist in Connecticut and sold most of my yarn at a huge discount to a woman who teaches disadvantaged teens who to knit. We made many, many thrift store runs before our move... and yet the boxes are still piled up.

The problem is that everything has a potential use. I'm definitely not a hoarder holding on to completely useless things, but I do, admittedly, have many more things than I am likely to find time to use. I think the problem with letting crafty things go is that a use always turns up... eventually. And frequently after I've given said item away. Sigh...

The issue is that limited space really limits my options. Not only to I need to be super organized, which ain't my strong suit, let's be honest, but I need to get rid of more stuff. If I can't part with it by making donations, then the only logical thing is to part with it by USING it. I have already make a window privacy screen and a Swiffer cover without having to buy anything, so those have been small steps to busting my stash... but I completely countered that, I suspect, by giving in to my desires and buying a bunch of washi tape. (To be fair: I have used said washi tape every day since I've bought it, so I think it's a completely justified purchase.)

So, here's the plan: I'm going to buy nothing for my art from now until September 1st. No new markers, pens, or pencils. No giant dictionaries (ask Nick & he'll tell you that me + dictionaries = obsession). No more washi tape from Pretty Tape or Happy Tape.* No pretty yarns from Darn Good Yarns. [I have been coveting this one for weeks!] No boxes full of recycled wonders from the local recycling center. {This one might be impossible, but I'll do my best!} No yard sale treasures brought home to add to the clutter.

*Full disclosure: I ordered a huge stash of washi tape just this morning. Mwuahaha!

The only exceptions I'm going to make this are:

1) I'll definitely need to buy supplies for the classes I'm teaching. These items are strictly for student use and a required for my work, so these won't count in my Buy Nothing plan. I am, however, going to work on busting my stash by using as much of my own stuff (specifically: scrapbook papers, magazines, & other collage materials) as possible.

2) I might need to make an exception to this rule for business purposes, if I sell out of lockets or something in my etsy shop. This is pretty unlikely though since I think I'm well stocked on most items right now. Still, since I have a huge art sale on September 10th, it's possible that I might need to buy supplies for prepping inventory. Generally, this includes glue dots, zinc washers, and E6000. Maybe some 20 gauge wire or necklace chain. Possibly a spool of thread. Probably I have everything I need on hand or can make do without it if I don't. I am almost out of business cards though, which aren't a craft supply anyway. Just wanted to remind myself!

3) Um, yeah, so if I find something on the side of the road and I gotta have it; it's okay to bring it home. If I do bring something home; however, I must donate or trash something from my stash immediately to make up for it. I am, however, going to avoid my favorite "curb alerts" most of the time... I will be too busy making art anyway!

That's it! Eleven weeks (!!!) of buying nothing for my art. Can I do it? To be honest: I'm not sure! But I'm sure going to do my best! I'm pretty sure I have enough crafty goodies around me that I could craft all day every day for eleven weeks without running out of potential projects! I definitely have enough supplies to make:

• a dozen or so art journals, especially if I make a journal using recycled cardboard and whatever random paper I find in my stash. It's totally possible that with a little ingenuity, I could double this number.
• several full-size quilts or a bunch of smaller art quilts. (unlikely, but possible)
• two decorative styrofoam head sculptures (hey, I gave away two!)
• 20 or so embroidery hoop wall hangings
• 10 mixed media paintings on canvas
• about a billion hemp bracelets
• 300 or so optical lens pendants (seriously)
• umpteen Scrabble tile necklaces
• several dozen bamboo bracelets
• 5 dozen dictionary pencils
• 1 funky recovered couch and 2 matching pillows
• countless zippered pouches

What should you buy less of this summer? I challenge you to bust your stash this summer, too! If you are going to join in the fun, leave me a link to your blog and I'll post it here.

If you decide to participate, feel free to grab this icon and link back to Crafty Moira.

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