Too Many Supplies

I can’t believe I’m about to say this.  I have too many scrappy supplies.  It isn’t just an organizational problem.  (Trust me, that is a real issue.)  The amount of scrappy goodness living in my craft room is more than I can wrap my head around.

It wasn’t that long ago that I could tell you what I had.  For any given project I could tell you what die cuts, chipboard, or matching buttons would work.  Now, I dig through an entire huge basket of die cuts because I’m not sure what I have.  There are drawers that I paw through, only to find something I don’t even remember buying.  All of this sorting through product takes time away from actual crafting.

Luckily I haven’t doubled up on purchasing materials too often.  Occasionally I will accidentally duplicate a piece of paper.  Honestly, I don’t worry much about that.  If I have 2 of the same paper, it just means I really liked it.  Both pieces will get used.

But, it is starting to interfere with my purchasing in another way.  Since I have so much product, I don’t know what I actually need.  (I know what you are thinking.  You are thinking that if you have that much stuff, you don’t need anything!  Basic logic.)  However, that became a problem when I ran out of adhesive.  Have you ever tried to scrapbook without adhesive?  I simply didn’t notice that my tape runners were gone because I had 3 packages of small glue dots where I keep my adhesive.

This issue reared its ugly head again as I was trying to make Christmas cards.  I assumed that I had plenty of 6×6 paper pads that were Christmas themed.  So as I sorted through my pads I was gobsmacked to discover that I had one partial Christmas pad.  It is mostly comprised of chevrons and polka dots that are cream, brick red, or turquoise.  Not exactly the colors or motifs I wanted on this particular day.  Since I have so much of everything, I thought I had what I needed.  Not so.

In the end, I did make a card.  I used some scraps in some not very Christmas colors.  And I vow to buy less, and use more.  Yes, I have said that before.  Maybe it’s a good New Year’s resolution.  That gives me 2 more months to shop.

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When Obsessions Collide

By now you should have figured out that I am obsessed with scrapbooking.  I am not satisfied with just making pages.  I follow trends and stalk the new products available.  (I still wish I could get paid for scrappy shopping.  It would be the best career ever.)  I spend every weekend creating something with paper and glue.  Really, there is an entire room of my house dedicated to this folly.  How crazy is that?

It was only a matter of time before my other fixation became the subject of a layout.  Ladies and gentlemen, I have a nail polish addiction.  The photos in this layout don’t reveal how deep the problem runs.  You see, shortly after taking the photograph of my new nail polish rack, I obtained about 50 more bottles.  Fifty!  There is no longer any space between the bottles on the top 4 shelves.

I specifically have a Zoya problem.  I have around 70 bottles of polish now.  I believe that 65 of those 70 are Zoya.  (For you math people, that is approximately 93 percent of the bottles.)  Out of all of my polishes, Sunshine is my favorite.  It is a lovely denim colored matte texture polish that has a bit of sparkly glitter thrown in for good measure.  Oh how I love that polish!  It makes me happy year round.

It just so happens that I recently received a scrappy order that included the Posh collection from Simple Stories.  If you love pretty papers, please take a look at it.  There is a lovely mix of colors, with bits of gold for an extra glittery punch.  I am also a little bit in love with the icons you will find among the embellishments.  There are birds, hearts, dogs, arrows, flowers, and feathers.  It’s a nice mix for everyday use.  The chipboard pieces are amazing!  They pop right out of the package and aren’t too clunky.

I began with the navy and white stripe paper from Posh and then chose the peachy pink background paper from another collection.  The embellishments are Posh die cuts and chipboard pieces.  I just loved sitting those birds on top of the word “sparkle.”  They just fit perfectly.  It needed a little more color, so I punched the scallop border in that pop of green.  Overall, I like the composition.

If you know me, you know I’m not completely happy.  The border below the photos is too blue.  It doesn’t look quite so blue in person, but in this photo I can tell it doesn’t quite match.  I am also not happy with the area below “Nails.”  It needed some gold to balance it off, but nothing quite worked.  I wound up using a thin gold washi.  It isn’t bad.  I just wish I had not written my journaling there.  Oh well.  I’ve learned not to do that again.

Now that I have documented the insanity that is my nail obsession, I can move on.  What should I scrap next?  My love of coconut water?  Maybe I should actually decorate my house (of 8 years) and scrap the process.  Most likely I will return to the hundreds of pictures of my cats.  Yes, I am certainly captivated by my cats.

Scrappy SOS

I’m stuck.  I put together a layout using this sketch from the Sketches in Thyme blog.  It is a lovely sketch.  Perhaps I’m struggling because I removed the embellishment that is supposed to run along the right side of the photos.  There just weren’t any nifty scrolly curly embellishments in my stash.  (And really, I never copy a sketch exactly.)  I just know it is missing something.  A third color maybe?  Something to make it less boxy?

I used that lovely We R Memory Keepers paper in the background as my starting point.  I love the teal to lime ombre.  Then I searched through my scraps and found the large teal polka dot paper.  It was a perfect match!  As I was digging, I also found that little scrap of a floral.  It was teal and olive, but I felt it was close enough to use. (In other words, I wanted it out of my stash!)  I’m very happy with the papers.  Still, something is not quite right.

So my scrappy friends, help me out.  What is it that this page needs?  How do I take it from drab to magical?  I’ve spent days looking at it, now it’s your turn.  I just know you will see something that I don’t.  Help!

Pages and How NOT to Photograph Them

I am in desperate need of a light box.  Currently I attempt to photograph either outside in the bright sun, or in the dark interior of my house.  Can you tell which one I used for this layout?  *sigh*  Shadows abound and make this already awkward layout even more awkward.  At least you can tell that it has some dimension.  If anyone has a light box suggestion or a diy, I would love to hear about it.

So this layout is the result of a speed scrapbooking session.  I started with a sketch from the Stuck?! Sketches blog, and then just eyeballed cutting my papers.  Could someone remind me why that is a bad idea the next time I try it?  That turquoise circle ended up being much too small.  It is driving me batty!

I also have to admit that I didn’t really spend much time picking my papers.  The lime and navy work okay.  I’m just not sure why I chose the turquoise.  I think that maybe pulling the orange from the floral paper would have been a better choice.  I think that would have complimented the wood in the photos.  Would that have been too bright?  I’ll probably never know.  I never go back and redo my pages.  So many photos, so little time!

Oh, and if you are wondering about the photos, they are from a HUGE bookstore in Portland.  You could wander around in it for hours!  Yes, I’m a book geek.  I also happen to be a huge Felicia Day fan.  That too puts me squarely in the land of geekdom.