Image courtesy Flickr/chrissy.farnan

Have you accumulated more arts and crafts supplies for your favorite hobby than you know what to do with?  Would you like to find some ways to use them?

Whether you like to scrapbook, stamp, make cards, art journal, create mixed media, or any number of other hobbies, you probably have a stash of items that you are not really using on a regular basis.  This picture depicts a very tidy space, but many of us don’t have things this organized (and you know who you are)!  The fact remains, if you’re not using your stash of goodies, they are just taking up valuable real estate in your space!  If you are like most hobby enthusiasts, there is no telling how much money you have invested in these items.

This isn’t about making you feel guilty for not utilizing all that great stuff.  Instead, it’s about creating a plan to use it up!  We often get in a rut and use the same products over and over, and the rest just begin to collect dust.  In part, Artful Adventures is about helping you find new ways to use stuff you already have on hand!  We are going to dig in and find what you have, and help you find some ways to use it up!

As we get ready to do that, I would urge you to get started by finding out what you have.  Put like with like so that you begin to see what you really have.  Once you begin to do that, you’ll know what you have and it will be so much easier to move forward.  That way, as we talk about ways to use different products, you’ll know if you have it on hand, or if it looks like something that could work with others things you have, you won’t end up having duplicates.

I’ll confess right now that my arts and crafts items have finally made their way into a single area, and it so much more efficient!  However, I had been carrying items all over the house and using them when the mood hit me.  I am afraid that method has cost me several black markers I was using on some lettering projects.  Ouch.  I still hope they turn up before I need them and end up replacing any or all of them!

Not only are we going to talk about ways to use products, but we’ll talk about using them to cross from one thing to another: (come on say it with me) whether you want to use it in scrapbooking, stamping, card making, mixed media or art journaling!

What kinds of products do you have that you just aren’t using these days?  Leave a comment and let’s see what we can do!