Cookin' Up Creations

What is your best tip on how to bash your stash?

I started really making a dent in my stash when I bought a desktop organizer that I change out monthly with embellishments and papers I want to bash for the month. I find if I see these things daily I am more apt to think of ways to use them and I do so before spending hours digging around looking for papers or embellishments for a project, limiting my choices makes me a faster scrapper and helps me focus on things I want to move out of my stash to make room for new! As they say : Out of sight out of mind!!!

I spend a day creating kits. I print out pictures and then find my papers, add embellishments and file it all in an accordian file. When I am ready to scrap and don't want to think about it I grab the kit folder and can create away. I also braek down element of kits. I have small drawers that I keep embellishments by theme so when I need a heart, I just go to the heart drawer and they are all there waiting for me. Need a star, or flowers, or banners or tags...I've got a drawer for that!

You ladies are so organized. I usually scrap in my head, so that when it comes time to put a page together I just grab the supplies.

I make paper kits for later use. But I'm not nearly as organized as you all. Hence why I had to do a major purge of my scraproom/office a few weeks ago. I could've opened my own scrapbooking store.

I don’t know how to do it, other than completing challenges.

This is a constant question. I'm totally trying daily to get rid of stuff. I am finally REALLY sorting through drawers and discarding. I love Patti's idea of drawers for like items. When we were going to crops before Covid I too would put together kits to grab n go! have way too much stuff. I find myself grabbing leftovers on my desk and fitting them into a layout that I am working on.

I have the scrap rack from totally Tiffany and did her online organization class (FREE) and it helped me to be more organized so I can easily find things by color or by theme. here is a link that could get you started. https://www.facebook.com/notes/get-orga ... 069833173/ I am still a messy scrapper and don't always put scraps away, but over all it keeps me organized.

For me, I have to stay organized. I have drawers, files, baskets and containers to hold like items so I know exactly where to go when I need something.

Spending all your extra money on building a house just after you've retired and moved across the country is a good way to use your stash! LOLOL! We moved here in June 2016. I gave away a lot of my stamps and threw away things I wouldn't use before we left. Then I gave my daughter all the albums of her and her 2 sons that I'd finished. And I had my granddaughter's albums from when she was born until then (she was 14!) and she lives in Ketchikan so that Christmas I gave her a big box full of scrapbooks I'd done about her. That helped too. And she was so excited to know that I'd been doing them all those years. If I had given them to her while she lived with her mom they would have thrown in the trash long ago. So I held onto them till she moved up here with her dad.

Now I only buy what I NEED except this year for NSD I splurged for the first time since we'd moved. Spent way more than I should have but I'm glad I did because I'm using it.

Challenges are a fabulous way to use up your stash and sketches that use lots of banners or strips is a great way to use those scraps!

Now I'm trying to design my new scrap room and I'm thinking about all those storage things I'm going to need to get better organized and stay that way! I'll check out that class Phillis! Thanks!

All great ideas ladies!! Thanks for your wonderful responses!!