1st Anniversary

Wow, it's been awhile since I last posted! I had planned to take a little break over Christmas, and also took an unplanned vacation away from the blowing snow, and am now amazed by how quickly 6 weeks have flown by. It just so happens that I started this blog exactly a year ago, so this seems like the perfect day to take stock of the past year, and plan for the year ahead.

Last year, my main goal was to take part in some on-line challenges as way of utilizing my stash (as in justifying the money spent!), especially the neglected items that were laying around, unloved, so that I would feel less guilty if I decided to part with some older stuff. All in all, I'd say that was a success. I did manage to use a number of previously unused items, at least one on each post, but have not yet parted with anything. (Well, I have passed along a few of my oldest sets to my niece who is 6 and "all about" stamping). Anyway, I have found an appreciation for certain items by finally taking them for a test drive, and have set aside others that I'm not that attached to, in plans for a "garage sale" to purge my stash, possibly later this year. Here is my "To Go" basket.

 It's mostly older wood mounted SU sets which just take up too much storage space. Anything in this basket that doesn't get pulled out for use within the next 6 months will be banished from this house.

So what's in store for the blog this year? Mostly more of the same. I will do some challenges here and there, and try to use my new purchases before assigning them a designated space in the craft room. I dump anything new into this wicker basket to remind me to use it at least once before putting it away.

I also have a bunch of sets that have been tried out, but need to be transferred into cases and labelled before I can put them away. They've been piling up in this cardboard box, and will be organized very soon thanks to some help from this shiny new label maker my parents gave me for Christmas!

I wanted to get that project done, and clean up my desk before starting any new stamping projects, but I may have to squeeze in a challenge or two before that gets completed. Luckily I am the boss, so I make the rules, and can bend them, too!

I will likely be stamping a little less this year because we have a few home improvement projects getting underway. We are turning an extra bedroom into a walk-in closet, revamping the fireplace/built-ins feature wall in the living room, installing new windows and doors and  new siding outside, and relaying the sidewalks. There's a ton of work to be done, so I'll have to scale back on the crafting, focussing only on the challenges that really appeal to me, and skipping the ones that are truly a "challenge"! I think that's just as well. I find I tend to get better results on the challenges that really grab my attention, so I guess my mantra for this year will have to be, "Less is More"!

Must run, work to be done!
Thanks for stopping by,
T