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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

It's Talk Time Tuesday with Ask Jo and a Giveaway!



Hello my sweet friends!
Welcome back to another Talk time Tuesday! 
Image result for RIP Prince
I am sure by now the news has circulated all over the world that the famous musician Prince has passed away. What a shame. I was born in the early 70's and so my era of music was in the 80's growing up. Prince was someone I loved listening to and I love everything he stood for. He was very humble, articulate, talented, religious and passionate. He gave so much to his community and charities, and while he was shy, those who knew him say he was also very dedicated and kind to his fans and those who were in need. Aside from all of this, he made amazing music. I feel like almost everyone that I grew up listening to has passed on. Luther Vandross, Natalie Cole, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and now, Prince. My final thought on this .... Prince, I hope you are at rest and driving around in heaven in your "little red corvette", looking for some "starfish and coffee", while flirting with the "lady cab driver"!   I know I couldn't help myself! :)

Okie dokie so let's move on to today's question, which comes from Emily Ann who wants to know, " Hi Jo. I have so many supplies and find myself so overwhelmed. My husband says I am a hoarder lol. So my question to you is what is your advice on using up everything that you own, thanks!?"

  Hello Emily Ann!

Welcome to the wonderful world of hoarders! LOL!!! As much as I hate to say this, you are not alone. I know that I am guilty of hoarding too. I hoard paper! No matter how many times I have tried to part with some of it, I cannot do it. My paper stash is enormous and I am pretty sure that I have enough paper to build a real life size home for a family of six and still have leftovers!HAH! 

Oh boy okay... so realistically I do not think it is possible to use up everything that you own especially if you are a hoarder. Usually a hoarder in the crafting world, has enough stash and supplies to fill up a 10' by 10' room in their house snuggly. And in this situation, I find it impossible to use it all up lol. But I will say this... and this is something that I have been doing for my own craft studio for the past few months now. Schedule the time into your normal schedule to do your craft "inventory". Literally make time to go through each section of your space and analyze what you have. As you start to go through everything, a number of things are going to happen. You are going to start realizing that you have things that you will never use. These items you should part with. Have a yard sale, put them on sale online (Ebay, Etsy, Craigslist, etc), donate them to a friend or local organization that could use them or at the last resort, simply throw it away. You are also going to realize that you have things you forgot you even had. You are going to get that feeling like you just won the jackpot or like Santa came early! With those things, you need to decide to keep or purge. And lastly, you are going to realize that with some of the things you own, you have no clue how to use it or what to do with it and you don't know where to put it. And these are things you need to make a decision about whether or not you are going to take a class, read up about it or find a home for it, and if your answer is no, then sell or donate. 

Once you have finished this process of going through your inventory, you will have a clear understanding of what you DO have. The next step is making sure to organize it all so that you can visibly SEE it all. If you cannot see it, you will not use it and it will sit there for another year or two, untouched. 
Ask me how I know :)  I have been going through everything in my own stash and I am surprisingly able to purge a lot of it. And because I have been doing this, I now know what I have and it is becoming much easier to see it and use it. Once you do this process and organize everything so that you can see it all, You will start using it all. The more you use it, the better you will feel that you have used it. You won't feel guilty that you spent all that money and didn't use it anymore. I think every crafter should inventory their stash at least every six months or every year. So while I do think it is impossible to use up everything that we own, I do know that it is very possible to use a lot of what we own when we can visibly see it. 


So I hope this helps you Emily Ann. Sorry for the long post but I answered your question the only way I knew how to, and that was by experience. :)  Thank you so much for writing in and I hope to hear from you again. Have a great week!

Okay and now for the giveaway.... I will be using random.org to select one winner to win this Stamp and die combo set by Hampton Art. All you need to do to be eligible to win, is to go visit my other blog, Jo's Stampin' Studio, subscribe to my blog and leave a comment on this post below letting me know you did. That is it! Easy enough! I will announce the winner next Tuesday. For extra chances at winning, refer a friend to subscribe to my Stampin' Studio Blog and leave their name in the comments below once they have subscribed!  Good luck! :)


Well friends, that is it for today. Please write in with questions you want answered or topics you would like to see talked about during our Tuesdays together :) 

 Thanks for stopping by and until next time.... Enjoy life's blessings~




13 comments:

  1. What a timely post for me to read! I am in that mode of sorting through my crafty stash too... I have a few stamping friends that I can share with. Getting together a box of things that I might try to sell, and a box of things to give away. That is my goal anyway, and a start to organizing what I have. I just had a project that I mailed off yesterday (an ATC swap) that I nearly didn't get done, all because I couldn't locate an umbrella die that I knew I had! I finally did find it, in a basket along with many other dies. Some of them I'd forgotten I had!
    I am already subscribed to your other blog as well as this one!

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  2. Lovely stamp set, I'd love to add to my collection. Thanks for a chance.

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  3. Hello my friend!! I'm having trouble reading your post...something's up with Photobucket today and your background isn't showing up so it makes the text hard to read. I had the same problem and had to re-upload some images to Photobucket this morning. I'll try back later!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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    1. I can see your post today :) I'm so sad about Prince...I re-watched Purple Rain three times this past weekend and have been listening to his music non-stop. I'm in the process of trying to organize my craft room and it's such a chore. Awesome advice!! I already follow your other blog!! Have a great day my friend!! Big hugs :)

      Lisa
      A Mermaid's Crafts

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  4. Hi Jo

    Love your comment to Emily that is true and it can be tough I try to not buy any paper myself and use up a big bulk of it or gift it out to others (I've used it as wrapping paper on more then one occasion too) Selling some is a great way to get rid of somethings plus I agree if you haven't used something in 2 years your most likey not going to
    I'm happy to follow along your new blog and thanks for the chance hugs Nikki

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  5. I am a hoarder of supplies too, I recently did a purge and realized I never need to buy another button as long as I live! I also now make an effort to turn my old stuff into new stuff (Sneak peak of what is to come on your blogaversary hop!) I am now subscribing to your other blog! Carri~Abusybee
    Skittles!

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  6. I also have more supplies than I will ever use so don't put me in the draw for the stamp set.

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  7. I reserved me and husband tickets to see Purple Rain again in theaters tomorrow night.

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  8. I have the same problem of being a craft hoarder, but I also use them. I think you gave some great advice! The complete inventory is a good idea and that's on my to-do list as I tend to forget what I have! I already follow your other blog. It was a shock to find out about Prince's passing - I still enjoy his music a lot!

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  9. I visited Jo's Stampin Studio and I am a follower.

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  10. Visited your other blog. TY for chance to win. I went thru some of my crafting items and had them for sale at my yard sale but none sold. I did sell my former sewing machine so happy with that. There has to bee one helluva rock concert going on in heaven with the likes of David Bowie, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Prince and more. I did not know that Prince wrote so many songs for other singers and did not know how wonderful a dancer/entertainer he was until I saw when he was the Super Bowl halftime show. Never saw him at a concert in person. Have a BEE-utiful day!
    Melissa
    "Sunshine HoneyBee"

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  11. Oh, what a great question...and wonderful answer from you. You are so right that most of us have way too many supplies, but the problem is compounded when we don't use them. Organizing is always an ongoing task, and it's so frustrating when I can't find what I need in this pile of stuff. Your step-by-step for purging is excellent! I donated many of my wildly patterned and brightly colored papers to the elementary school, or to my 5 year old granddaughter who uses it for school and art projects. It makes my heart sing when I see her use up stickers and papers that have languished in my stash for years. I also periodically take unloved papers and ribbon to the Senior Center where they are appreciated and used. I use mostly stamps and dies on my projects, rather than buying pre-made embellishments, so there aren't a lot of things that can get used up, but then there is all that paper! We crafters love pretty paper, don't we? I just subscribed to Jo's Stampin Studio and will be referring a couple of friends as well. Thanks for the fabulous giveaway!

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  12. I am fairly new to stamping and card making so my craft hoard is still small but it helps that we've moved two times in the last 7 years, so I've had to get rid of things along the way. My mom is also a crafter and she shares all of her tools with me so that helps me keep it down to a reasonable amount too. You have some good advice on how to organize and purge extra supplies, and I'll keep that in mind. I just subscribed to your other Stamp blog through Google Friend and already subscribe here. Thanks for your fun question and answer posts, and for all the challenges.
    apedoak at aol dot com

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Your lovely comments always put a smile on my face! I love reading each and every one! Thank you for stopping by~
Hugs,
~Jo~