A Not So Secret Pact

In almost every conversation with my friend Sue, we both bemoan the fact that we have too much stuff.... Not just art stuff, but everything. Mostly art stuff though. Yet we are constantly buying more. Having so much stuff means that some of it gets misplaced. So sometimes when we buy more, it is to replace something we already bought but can't find.

So, as we do often in every year, but obviously not often enough.. Ha Ha. We have declared February to be NO ART SUPPLY PURCHASE month! So if one of us is tempted by a coupon...or a sale at anyplace, we will call one another for support. Of course, right after making this pact once again, we started tossing in qualifiers.. What if Michaels or JoAnn's has a 50% coupon? What if we really do need another glue pot of some kind? Probably because we can't find the one we bought last month. OY How about a book we already "pre-ordered". Does that count? What if Tim Holtz comes out with a new die cut we cannot live without? We have come up with several excuses. We will just have to do the best we can. I know we can do it. Me more than her! Hear that Sue? Well, it's really only because she is exposed to way more tempting situations than I am.

Well, here is the plan. We will start today, and try to create something every day or two, using only what we have on hand. No new stuff! I think I could be locked in my art room every day for a year and not need anything new. Providing I could find it. Two examples are: I decided I wanted to carve stamps again. Can't locate my entire box of carving tools. Then I decided I really wanted to just do some old fashioned stamping. Found the embossing powders, and the pad and ink refill...Now where is the heat gun that I probably haven't used in 5 years? Nowhere to be found. Both a heat gun and carving tools are not lightly replaced because they are kind of costly. I probably don't need to mention how many other categories I went through before I found a couple that I actually can LOCATE everything I need for it. I can do some FELTING, because all my felting supplies are in one of those large plastic 3 drawer organizer thingies. But I don't really want to felt right now. I could do some stenciling, as all of those supplies are in one place. I'd really like to do some of that. Oh but wait, right now it is 28 degrees in the garage, and even colder outside. I can't do my stenciling without spray paint.

So...it's back to the drawing board. I may have to rethink the felting. Maybe a few small things just to get the feel of it. That's what I usually do with the felt stuff. Take it all out of the drawers, FEEL it and then put it back.

Hopefully I might have a project to show in a day or two.