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Just getting introspective at the end of an unusual year - my art and crafting tendencies and interests have shifted, as they do. Looking back at 2020 and ahead to a new year, which crafty habits or interests will stay, and which will go?
Not even ready with my own answer - I will be back!
Definitely a year for very special reflection, Dina! Sorting through challenges to friends, nation, and family seems monumental this year. Have minimized paper crafting while returning to a bit of sewing. Cranking up the music in the studio & singing out loud seems to replace some of the burn from missing church.
I took some time to think about this today and I'm all over the place on it. On one hand, mixed media 3D projects have really started exciting me again, yet I feel pulled towards making things simple too! I recently started going through my supplies and if I haven't used it for 6 months, it goes into a box. In a month I'll pull it out, if I still haven't used it, off to thrift it goes! One thing that went was all the sparkle sprays, shimmer powder and Nuvo drops--I'm so over those and the mess!
I've also taken up loom knitting. I can't knit the 'regular' way due to having arthritis, but looms work well for me. I've already made some scarves and hats and am pretty pleased. I have so many things I'd like to do, but not enough time (still working F/T) and not enough space (is there ever?). I'm interested in what everyone else is doing.
__________________ "I have cats, but they don't smoke or associate with dogs...."
Hoping to retire next year, so I'm hanging on to the stash for now and deferring the 'what goes, what stays' decision until I have time to make it.
I definitely plan to keep the card making going, might get back to scrapbooking and would like to do more sewing (if the cats let me do it without 'helping' too much!)
I’m in my 80s and have completed large ancestry books for all sides...now I just make cards which I love doing for myself to give and for my family so they never have to buy cards. My biggest problem is getting rid of supplies I don’t need. I don’t want to sell them just give to someone who could use them. I try not to buy more but Altenew and Simon Says Stamp and Tim Holtz make it very hard. Card making was certainly a lifesaver this year. Hope everyone has a safe and healthy New Year.
Stamping became more of an embellishment for me than a focal point. I spent a lot of time stamping on scraps this year and using them as ephemera. I enjoyed stamping more than ever.
I am really obsessed with the coloring book craze. I have spent the year learning new techniques which spilled over into my stamping. I really loved that because my technique's were getting stale.
I spent a lot more time this year collaging. Fussy cutting out images and collaging them has been so therapeutic. It has become my quiet place.
I know in 2021 I want to concentrate more on coloring and collaging. Not paper crafting but I would like to do more diamond painting's. Those have become an obsession too.
I want to work more with my digital creations and I want to draw more. I especially would like to draw a lot more of my elements to use in my art instead of buying stamps or die cuts. I use to draw and digitize my files. I let that go by the wayside and I miss it.
Things that will go? I am doing my end of the year updating and decluttering of my room. I am almost done. I don't think anything will go. I am in a really, really, really good place in my art and supplies right now. I am proud of everything I have and I use all my item's.
I would like to downgrade my die cutter's. Every since I bought the Cricut Joy I realize I don't like large die cutting machine's and find them a hassle now. That was kind of surprising. Instead of a Cameo I want Portrait. Instead of the Explore I want the Joy.
I am a cardmaker. But I have found that I have done very little actual stamping this past year. The images on my cards are either die cuts or cut from DSP & sentiments are mostly die cuts. I sometimes stamp a verse for inside a card, though.
I have been considering severely culling my stamps, including breaking up sets, and only keeping a few from each of my categories of stamps.
I am in the beginning stages of Kondo-ing my craft room. I've come to the realization that I was significantly more creative and prolific when I had fewer choices - of everything! I need to get "back to basics", more or less, so I will actually USE things.
I've been feeling a strong pull back to sewing. Lately I've been looking at sewing/quilting blogs and really want to spend some time learning and creating in that realm. I have most of the supplies already (been sewing for 52 years, lol) so it wouldn't require much to get going.
I also want to get back to painting - especially watercolor. I've painted on and off my entire life, but haven't done anything original for years. I'm sure I'll be "creating for the trash" for a while, but I'm also sure that I'll enjoy the process and learn a lot.
I guess that's where I'm at right now. I'm sort of in "forced retirement" at the moment, as well. Covid shutdowns have severely impacted jobs in my field and I've been on PUA since February. Stats are showing that my group (women, persons over 60) are not finding many opportunities to re-enter the workplace, so this may be permanent. The budget will suffer a bit, but my mental health will be just fine!
One thing that needs to go is clutter and inefficiency. Because of the setup of my craft room I have one small space which lets me work on one project at a time, and my brain DOES NOT work that way! Consequently, I have piles and bins of partially finished projects and pieces EVERYwhere. I've got to find a way to make my space efficient. I also have things on my desk that I don't need stored within reach so I need to switch those out for things I'm constantly pulling out and putting away elsewhere.
I'm probably due for a deep purge of unmounted stamps too.
I started working with polymer clay this year, and I love that that medium can incorporate my loves of painting, stamping, and creating. Having a lot of fun there.
I started collecting more vintage stamps this year along with flipping some larger lots of vintage stamps. We'll see how that goes!
After four or five years away from papercrafting, I recently decided it is time to get back to work on my (grown) sons' scrapbooks. I also want to color with my Copics and create another art journal.
But first, I need dig out my boxes of crafting supplies that were hastily tossed into boxes and stacked against the wall two years ago when I got a puppy. I needed this room to set up the puppy playpen. My pooch is a big girl now and no longer needs to be confined. So it is a good time to reclaim this room as my craft area.
I returned to SCS because I'm not naturally artistic. I need to be pushed out of my comfort zone. The challenges at SCS did that for me years ago, especially the Hope You Can Cling To challenge. It's much more fun to create when you know the cards will be put to good use. I hope that SCS still does that annual HYCCT event or something similar. It is so much more rewarding to create cards when you know they will be put to good use.
After four or five years away from papercrafting, I recently decided it is time to get back to work on my (grown) sons' scrapbooks. I also want to color with my Copics and create another art journal.
But first, I need dig out my boxes of crafting supplies that were hastily tossed into boxes and stacked against the wall two years ago when I got a puppy. I needed this room to set up the puppy playpen. My pooch is a big girl now and no longer needs to be confined. So it is a good time to reclaim this room as my craft area.
I returned to SCS because I'm not naturally artistic. I need to be pushed out of my comfort zone. The challenges at SCS did that for me years ago, especially the Hope You Can Cling To challenge. It's much more fun to create when you know the cards will be put to good use. I hope that SCS still does that annual HYCCT event or something similar. It is so much more rewarding to create cards when you know they will be put to good use.
The HYCCT challenges have morphed into Falliday Fest, so no longer creating for the cancer center, but there is an ongoing "Cards for a Cause" thread, where you can see which causes have requested cards and contribute there.
Good topic and interesting to see everyone’s thoughts.
Card making continues to be my main craft-love and I hope to keep improving this year. I like Cas but want to start making more cards with more layers and details again. Also work with different sizes.
All the junk taking place this year led me to send more cards than ever. People have shared how much they liked the surprise of receiving a note so I plan to keep that up next year.
I am a cardmaker. But I have found that I have done very little actual stamping this past year. The images on my cards are either die cuts or cut from DSP & sentiments are mostly die cuts. I sometimes stamp a verse for inside a card, though.
I have been considering severely culling my stamps, including breaking up sets, and only keeping a few from each of my categories of stamps.
I say go for it! I'm SO much happier when I don't have to wade through a bunch of stamps i don't love/use to get to the ones I do! Less real estate wasted, less time and energy wasted, less creativity wasted - I don't really see a downside...
I’m in my 80s and have completed large ancestry books for all sides...now I just make cards which I love doing for myself to give and for my family so they never have to buy cards. My biggest problem is getting rid of supplies I don’t need. I don’t want to sell them just give to someone who could use them. I try not to buy more but Altenew and Simon Says Stamp and Tim Holtz make it very hard. Card making was certainly a lifesaver this year. Hope everyone has a safe and healthy New Year.
Check out THIS THREAD for a good place to donate what you no longer want/need...
I am a widow blessed with a large house. I have been making bed quilts for all the family who didn't have one. In the craft studio (I could start a store), I got rid of wooden stamps, dies, paper and a lot more. Elementary schools are thrilled to get any embellishments, too. Think bulletin board decorations and art day. At my age, I HAVE to remember that I can't use it all up in my lifetime.
I want to play along with challenges in 2021 and make what I like rather than what I think someone else wants to see. That kind of creating never turns out well for me. I would also love to pull out older stamps and use them. There are so many amazing memories attached to those older stamps that it's a joy to use them.
I won't be getting rid of anything because I'm not much of a buyer to begin with - everything I have gets used.
What I'm especially excited about are the 2 opportunities that opened to me to make more cards - my sister-in-law asked to sell my cards in her salon and a local nursing home is in constant need of cards and loves getting donations from me. That means there's no reason to hold back on cardmaking!
I am a widow blessed with a large house. I have been making bed quilts for all the family who didn't have one. In the craft studio (I could start a store), I got rid of wooden stamps, dies, paper and a lot more. Elementary schools are thrilled to get any embellishments, too. Think bulletin board decorations and art day. At my age, I HAVE to remember that I can't use it all up in my lifetime.
this hit home for me: also widowed, in my late 60's and have a 3 bedroom house. My craft room is in my laundry room, and is definitely overpacked. I'm a card maker, and have enough supplies to last my lifetime and then some, only needing to buy adhesives. I need to clean out, but it's so overwhelming I just never get started.
I retired 2 years ago and began a massive clean out and reorganization of my area. This year i began to try to live minimally and my local second hand store has been the benefit of that. I no longer think about how much I spent on an item but think about someone else getting to enjoy it when they purchase it from the second hand store. This store sends all proceeds to our local homeless ministry and give credit to my church for the items I send there. My church in turn uses those credits to help others in the community. So it is a win all the way around.
this hit home for me: also widowed, in my late 60's and have a 3 bedroom house. My craft room is in my laundry room, and is definitely overpacked. I'm a card maker, and have enough supplies to last my lifetime and then some, only needing to buy adhesives. I need to clean out, but it's so overwhelming I just never get started.
mac4551, just set a timer for 10 minutes and do what you can in that ten minute time frame and then stop and pick it up again in a few hours or the next day. Just pick one single area, like your paper or embellishments and be very objective about what you get rid of. Do you love it? Keep it. Do you dislike it? Get rid of it, etc. Once you get started you will realize that it gets easier. Sending you a virtual hug.
No more HYCCT challenges? I'm bummed! I'll take a look at the Falliday Fest. (I'm assuming Fall & Holiday is the idea behind Falliday).
@cnsteele, I LOVED the HYCCT challenges because they forced me out of my comfort zone and I learned a few techniques along the way (most of which I've since forgotten! LOL). I was always amazed at how different the cards were for each challenge. The first year I took part, I really struggled. I was taking the themes way too literal, when I should have just used them as inspiration. There is no right or wrong!
Another thing I struggle with is creating cards for the sake of creating. I need a reason to make cards. And giving to a nursing home would be ideal, especially now that everyone is, once again, on lockdown in my state.
Mac4551, I am in a similar organization slump this year. Most of my stuff is in boxes -- NOT neatly sorted boxes but all willy nilly. UGH! I have to dig things out and find room for them before I can craft again. I'm really struggling this time around. Too much stuff, too little space!
What really helped me during my last organization (years and years ago!) was Tiffany Spaulding's organizational challenge. She does it to sell her products, but I didn't buy any and still found it helpful. She has some great ideas about how to sort paper, embellishments and the like to make it easy to find and put away. Give me an hour or so and I'll leave you a post on the Organizing thread with a few links you might want to look at.
Nothing much to forget when 2021 comes, but there is a new hobby I just found out worthy these past few months. Aside from card making, I'm now fond of growing my own orchids and other kinds of flowers in my customized garden my son made for me.
Between the impact that Brexit will have on purchasing from the UK starting in January, and the fact that from July all goods purchased outside the EU will be subject to sales tax @%20, it's going to be not much new and just play with the old here. Currently goods with a value under about €20 are exempt, so I place small orders with 123-Stitch. But not for much longer.
Wow, Sabrina! Is there a workaround? For example, could you send someone you trust the $$ and have them buy the items and "gift" them to you? I'm guessing that there would still be customs charges, but probably less than the tax. 20% is craziness...
Wow, Sabrina! Is there a workaround? For example, could you send someone you trust the $$ and have them buy the items and "gift" them to you? I'm guessing that there would still be customs charges, but probably less than the tax. 20% is craziness...
Any option, except for something very desirable, just sounds like too much work to me at the moment. There'd be double shipping, and technically even gifts have a limit of €45, so if they're over that tax is due. And then there's brokerage on top of the tax if our postal service deliver it. (They wrongly assessed a gift as a purchase this year, and while I got Revenue to refund the tax I had paid in order to take delivery and open it, getting the brokerage refunded from the postal service was an extra mile I simply didn't have the energy to walk at the time...).
Some of the European suppliers have quite good ranges, but not necessarily from all the American stamp companies - that's more the UK suppliers. I'll survive - I have plenty to work with and enough consumables that I have time to find new sources. I gather the home-brewers are a bit perturbed because most of them buy their hops from the USA!
My primary goal for 2021 is to make more, spend less and save more.
I've already gone through my home and completed a deep purge (Oct/Nov) so I can check that off my list. However, my studio is still a work in progress when it comes to paper organization.
Moving forward I want to...
sewing more. I recently started sewing a wrapped rope bag, but it may end up being just a bowl.
try my hand at metal stamped jewelry. Have any of you tried it?
After moving, spending a year unpacking and settling, I was ready to find new crafting buddies. Then the virus hit. I'm hoping to find new friends in the coming year and to share some "play" times. I don't mind working alone, up to a point, then I need a friend at the opposite end of the big table, occasionally, to bounce ideas off and share thoughts. That is very special. Card making is still #1. Mixed media on canvas, alcohol ink, and watercolor are all fun to do and to, hopefully, improve in the coming months.
Nothing much to forget when 2021 comes, but there is a new hobby I just found out worthy these past few months. Aside from card making, I'm now fond of growing my own orchids and other kinds of flowers in my customized garden my son made for me.
Good on you! Orchids were the hobby taking up my time before scrapbooking/cardmaking. I had over 80 plants under lights at one time. Considerably downsized from that now but still have some. They are very rewarding plants. :-)
I say go for it! I'm SO much happier when I don't have to wade through a bunch of stamps i don't love/use to get to the ones I do! Less real estate wasted, less time and energy wasted, less creativity wasted - I don't really see a downside...
It's going to be harder than I thought! I looked thru some of my categories of stamps & only pulled out a few sets to purge.
It's going to be harder than I thought! I looked thru some of my categories of stamps & only pulled out a few sets to purge.
Hopefully it will get easier!
I don't know if this will help, but I've found it very freeing to purge only individual images/sentiments that I won't use, rather than entire sets. That would depend, of course, on what you plan to do with the purged items. If you plan to sell them it may alter what you do but, if you're donating them, individual stamps or incomplete sets are fine. There is a very successful seller on eBay (creaky attic) that sells individual stamps all the time, including a lot of them that I recognize from sets, so that's a viable option, certainly. I've only sold stamps once and decided that it's not worth the bother of photographing, listing, collecting the money, packaging, mailing, etc., so I went back to donating. You do you, though, lol!
Ditto what everyone else has said: Keep crafting no matter what!!
DINI: I don't care WHAT you get rid of or what you keep.....please please just keep making videos for SCS!! I love your voice. You are so easy to listen to. You don't waste a lot of "ummm" "Umm" time, you get RIGHT to the meat and potatoes which I LOVE!! At the risk of sounding like a stalker, I watch for your videos!! You're THE BEST!!
STAMP ON, friends!!
P.S. Stamping with you in person is on my bucket list....you and Michelle Zindorf. Just sayin......
__________________ We cannot do great things, only small things with great love.
This is a great thread! 2020 has given me so many ups and downs but when times got tough, I came back to paper crafting and SCS. I gave up almost all of my supplies in 2018 so it's been a year of rebuilding. I have found some amazing new friends online and I look forward to making more in 2021. I realize that paper crafting will always be something I do. I have also learned how to crochet, and I want to continue that. I also want to work on my watercoloring skills. It is something I've always wanted to do but never gave myself the time. Now...all I have is time, so 2021 is the year!
Oh Dina, such a great time of reflection on the crazy pants year we've had. I took the time this summer to 'Kondo' my supplies and really REALLY sorted and purged. I had stamps not touched in 8 years and dsp/ 6 x 6 mat stacks even longer.
Before I was a cardmaker, I wrote. A lot! I was filling journals and notebooks. I've started collecting them all again and organizing my writing.
For my, I jabber away on my blog but eventually it will be in other places! As long as I'm creating something, I'm usually happy!
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I returned to stamping/card making this year, and just plan to continue that into 2021. I just thought of maybe doing a "pandemic scrapbook" - it would be fun to start scrapbooking again. While there are advantages to working from home, my craft space became my work space, so I feel like I can't focus on work if I have projects out, and then don't want to look at the work stuff when I'm stamping, so hoping in 2021 I can return to primarily working from my office and just enjoy my craft space.
Well, for me at the current moment, I've made a resolution to get all the cards in my "to be posted" folder...posted! I'm overwhelmed with what has mounted up, and I haven't even photographed everything I've made in the past few years.
That's all the "out with the old" for me now...old photos out of the "old" pile and make room for the "new". One thing at a time.
My life really didn't change much in this strange year. I'm 74 and still work full time in property management and our business, in Tulsa, Okla, did not slow down at all! Renting houses as soon as they are prepped to qualified tenants. VERY low percentage of tenants having trouble paying rent. No one had to move due to losing work. I'm amazed!
All that to say I spend most of my time outside of work making cards. I need to find an outlet to give cards away like Operation Write Home. I need to find local nursing homes who want cards for occupants to send to family and friends.
I have found some change in the vibe around me (lack of connecting with friends in person, fewer activities at church, NO OTHER TOPIC OF CONVERSATION!) and it has lowered my energy....so I slowed my housework instead of slowing cardmaking!
After I retire I plan to finish organizing my craft room and thin out unnecessary things, but I know I will get distracted and make cards out of stuff I haven't seen in a long time!
People keep talking about how strange this year was, but at the global level things have been turbulent for 2 decades now. 9/11,tech stock crash,08 crash, "In today's economy" (anemic economy following 0, "these divisive times" (trump), "times like these" (covid). It's just another year in paradise as far as I can tell : ). Luckily stamping doesn't change quiet as fast as the rest of the world : )
This is a fascinating topic. I love spending some time at the end of each year, reflecting on what went well that year, yes, but mostly planning for the next year. I choose a word of the year and set some annual goals (I do not do resolutions). This year has been unique. When the pandemic hit in March, my life changed from being on the go to going no where. I took on a 10-minute per day challenge to get my Play Room purged and better organized. I tracked the progress on my blog and managed to go through every single drawer, cubby, shelf, etc. in my room. It felt so good. My word for 2020 is Optimize and I really feel like I optimized the time at home to accomplish this task, as well as purging/organizing in other parts of my home.
I am looking forward to 2021. No, I do not think I'll quickly be heading out on the highways and byways again (I'll still be pretty much at home for the foreseeable future). I hope to sell and/or donate the bins of stamps that I purged earlier this year. There are many of them. I also hope to free up some of my crafting time/commitments so that I can spend time participating in at least some of the many great challenges here on SCS.
Isn't it interesting that the idea of purging seems to be a big theme for 2021? I've done this twice already. When I first started this hobby I thought I had to have everything...and use every coupon every week for the craft stores...and get involved in a ton of swaps. All of that led to having so much "stuff" that it was overwhelming. I learned what my try style was - which is very basic and simple. I had so much stuff that I found it difficult to even get started making a card. So in 2018 I purged my mega stash by half. I didn't want to take the time to try and list/sell things so I donated boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff to my local Salvation Army. They were thrilled as they were just about to start a Bible Journal course for their clients. I figured taking the tax write-off was much easier than listing/mailing each individual item. Then last year I decided I still had too much stuff...so once again I purged by half and trotted off to the Salvation Army again. I've learned through my purge that I also like the idea of digital stamps due to the ease of storage (much easier to store a thumb drive than a whole box of stamps). I've also learned that I don't really like embellishments anymore. It's been quite an experience and I do see one more purge in my future...probably by 1/3 this time. I will also at that time recycle all my little pieces of paper that I thought I had to hold on to because I had to use them.
As for other crafts - I discovered a love for crochet the last few years. This year my crochet goals are to make 10 baby items for our local pregnancy center (the small group I'm involved with at church donates every year in November) and also 15 or so scarves for a local ministry that helps women/girls get out of sex trafficking.
Lastly, I have also rediscovered a love of reading so I want to read 2 books a month for 2021. At least that is my goal.
Early on with all the stay-at-home orders, I took time to do a mild purge and reorganization. After that, I went on a card making and sending spree!
In the last couple of months, I've been buying again thanks to the combo of great sales and a nice bonus from work. My husband is just finishing putting up a ceiling and new LED lights in my craft space, which is in our unfinished basement. That required me to move a lot of stuff out so he had room to work and I didn't have saw dust in everything!
So far I've been able to reorganize cardstock and also discovered a whole box of finished cards I forgot I had! I really want to pare down again as I move back into my happy place, and some of that involves tough love: being honest about what works with my stamping style and what I just admire but know I won't use! I might have to have a craft supply garage sale in the spring. :-)
THis is super! I have a blog series I call Stamp What?! where my son pulls one of my OLD DUSTY wooden SU stamp sets once a month and I make a card with it. They would still be sitting on that shelf had he not suggested it - and I send the finished cards to a local retirement center. A win/win!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cnsteele
I want to play along with challenges in 2021 and make what I like rather than what I think someone else wants to see. That kind of creating never turns out well for me. I would also love to pull out older stamps and use them. There are so many amazing memories attached to those older stamps that it's a joy to use them.
I won't be getting rid of anything because I'm not much of a buyer to begin with - everything I have gets used.
What I'm especially excited about are the 2 opportunities that opened to me to make more cards - my sister-in-law asked to sell my cards in her salon and a local nursing home is in constant need of cards and loves getting donations from me. That means there's no reason to hold back on cardmaking!
2021.... out with the old, in with the new
