I’ve never considered myself a hoarder…except with craft supplies.
It’s ridiculous, really. I have some supplies I’ve had since the 80’s! Seriously!!
When the quarantine hit, I found myself separated from my craft stash. It was in New York and I was in Florida celebrating being newly retired. I had some basic supplies and had plenty to keep myself busy. I discovered Vicki Boutin’s Lives and virtual crafting workshops so that filled in the spaces. When we felt like it was safe enough to return to New York, which was the hot zone for the first two or 3 months, it was nice to be back with my room full of all kinds of things to play with!
Last week, I started pulling out patterned papers that have been sitting on my shelf for about 5 years. I also had a stack of traveler’s notebook inserts that are actually the standard wide size. I had gotten them on clearance and planned to use them that year for Christmas gifts…which I never had time to make. The last 5 years of work just kept getting more and more demanding and my crafting simultaneously got less frequent.
No wonder I was stressed!
Alas, I’ve been pulling all kinds of stuff off the shelf and out of the drawers and I’ve been creating with them. It feels so good to use things from my stash. It’s all good stuff and now I feel like I’m really getting my money out of it!
I actually bought a traveler’s notebook cover and insert on clearance last year. It was a Webster’s Pages set that I got at the end of the season as the new designs were coming out. I really love the floral pattern and the deep blue color of the background. This is the insert that you see here. This is a standard sized insert.
I pulled two very pretty packages of old Stampin’ Up! patterned paper off my shelf and cut it down to the size of the pages. I rounded the corners on the outside of each paper and then proceeded to adhere the papers to each page of the journal. I used some old Fast Fuse adhesive that I did not like. I have a drawer full of the stuff and I think this is the perfect project to use it up on. I also pulled out some Washi tapes that coordinated well enough with the papers and I’m using that for this project as well. I’m freeing up a bin, a drawer, and a shelf as I use these supplies to create these journals.
My sister asked me what on earth I was going to do with them. Well! I’m journaling a little, and memory keeping a lot. I’m documenting our summer. I already have a fall journal all created and ready to go as well.
Here are some pages:
This is the inside of the front cover. I pulled out all the Project Life stuff that I had from Stampin’ Up! and never used up as well…shelf 2 getting cleaned off! I also have some stamp sets and die sets that I bought to create elements for inside my planner and my traveler’s notebook. They have been sitting on my shelf as well. My planner is essentially a calendar and a lot of lists. I never had time to decorate it so it is purely functional and stuffed full of things I need to be able to find for appointments and such. I keep that on my desk upstairs.
You can see that I’ve added a calendar to the front cover of this. I’m also using my stash of stickers, chipboards, sentiment stickers…you name it. Whatever I have, I’m using. That fabulous “Life is a Journey” sentiment is from a Visible Image stamp set that I love. The rest are things from Project Life and my Vicki Boutin stash of stuff that I purchased on my one trip to a craft store in Florida in February.
This is going to be documenting our summer and life in quarantine for me. I have a wacky immune system so I haven’t gone anywhere beyond a few necessary doctors appointments. My husband is doing all the grocery shopping.
One of the other benefits of this is that I finally started using my Canon Selphy photo printer for more than just printing 4×6″ pictures! (Vicki Boutin would be so proud of me! I’m listening to her and learning!)
I downloaded some apps to my phone including the Pic-Tap-Go and the Pic Frame ones Vicki recommended. I also downloaded Fonto so that I can eventually add some words to my photos. I love that I was able to create a collage of pictures in a variety of sizes. I also have a Cannon Ivy that I have been using since November. The pictures from that are all 2 x3″ and they have been working really well for the 6 x8″ scrapbook layouts that I have been mostly doing this year. I love that I can print multiple copies and multiple sizes for my different albums.
There are several elements that I created myself with the stamp and die sets that I have in my stash just for journaling and planners. Altenew, Catherine Pooler, Elizabeth Crafts, and Simon Says Stamp have some great ones.
I also pulled out my punch stash and started punching the parts of the Project Life cards that I wanted and chucking the rest. That’s something that I’ve been learning from Vicki…think outside the box and use the parts of those pre-made cards that work for you and don’t feel bad about getting rid of the rest. I just wanted the “memories in the making” sentiment, not a whole 4 x 6″ card, so I punched it out with a circle punch and drew some lines and dots to give it a border with my journaling pen. I LOVE that little piece now and I wouldn’t have used it the other way before.
Two of the 4 x 6″ Project Life cards got cut down here and I added double sided sticky tape (1/8″) to the sides and the bottoms of each to create pockets. Now my journaling cards and tags can be pulled out to see the stories on them. This is a great way to make your album interactive and it’s fun to create the pieces that get pulled out as well.
I wanted to document what a typical day has been like since I retired in December, so I just created a list of what I do during the day…without the cleaning chores! I snapped some pictures during a bike ride and after a swim one day to include with the list. Lots of Vicki Boutin chipboard pieces on these pages!
I bought the Project Life sets because I loved the concept…but I never quite “got it”. I get it now! I’m using it in a way that it wasn’t really intended to be used, but now that I’m cutting things down or punching pieces out of them to be used…they are getting used!! I love it.
It really does feel good to use some of those things that I bought because I loved them. Now I’m using them on projects that I’m enjoying.
I’m also trying to take more photos of myself. I’m always the one snapping the pictures so I’m never in the pictures. I will be now. The beauty of digital is that you can delete the photos you don’t like and you can print the ones you do.
I’ve had my little Canon Selphy photo printer for years and now that I’m using it with apps on my phone, I’m enjoying it even more! I love that I can resize photos and print exactly the size that I need. Using photos of different sizes in your albums makes the pages way more interesting to look at.
I bet you have all the things you need to start a project like this right now.
If you don’t have a journal, use a notebook. If you don’t have a notebook…it’s Back To School Sale season so you can get a composition notebook for 50 cents! Those make perfect journals when you cover the pages with patterned paper or just decorate it with die cuts and stamped images that you create yourself.
I can tell you that I’m having a blast and I’m finding this to be very relaxing. I’m telling my story my own way. It might look like a hodge podge of stuff to someone else, but every sentiment and every piece of ephemera that I place on the pages has a reason to be there for me.
You might just use it for lists, but mine is going to be a documentation of my days.
I have at least a dozen more of these journals to fill…and then I will have an empty drawer!
Supply List:
Are you interested in the products I used? To make them easier for you to find, I have linked them below. (Affiliate disclosure ) Your purchases help keep my blog running at no additional cost to you and I thank you for the support!
You can check out the Traveler’s Notebook supplies using the links below.
Thank you for stopping by! I hope I’ve inspired you to dig out a project from your stash and get creating…or even start documenting your story in a traveler’s notebook or journal of some kind!
Enjoy!
