Product Free 2013

This year I have one and only one scrapping goal. And leave it to me do something revolutionary! From the title, can you guess what it might be?

That's right folks, I'm going Product Free in 2013!

What does that mean you might ask? 

For me it means, 

NO NEW PRODUCTS! 

Shocking, I know. 

It's the ultimate stash busting experiment!

Lately, and especially with the move, I just feel like I've been buried under my stash. It's getting too big and too unmanageable and is part of the reason it took me so long to set up my scrapbook area. I just had too much and it was stressing me out! (Ask MT, I was soooo overwhelmed)

The other side of it is that I love my stuff. I love my papers and my buttons, all my funky little embellishments. My travel themed goodies and all those yummy Thickers. (I mean seriously, they're just too awesome!) I love my stuff and I want to use it. I don't want to keep giving it away just to make space for more of it.

Now you're probably thinking, but how did it get so bad?!

We're scrappers. It's kind of what we do. The powers that be have made this industry such a have-to-buy-it-now-or-it-might-be-gone-and-I-HAVE-to-have-it market (scarcity). Plus, scrapbook stuff is cute and sooo pretty. It's also reasonable cheap (when compared to purses and shoes and things).

So I was having too much fun shopping online, thinking up projects and buying product but then never following through with them.

I also felt like I was getting too caught up in the kit thing and making sure I only used the kit products. Because that got my bonus points in my head for some reason.

And on top of all the kits that were coming through the door, I was still buying hoards of things from Two Peas, Simon Says Stamps, Archivers, etc. As well as finding too good to pass up deals from other places as well.

Do you see the problem?

Enough is enough. So I have decided to stop my online purchasing. I'm canceling my kit subscriptions. I'm quitting cold turkey.

Now, I have to be realistic. There's no way I can scrapbook and not buy some stuff. Here's what I'm allowing myself to purchase guilt free:

• Prints
• Photo Paper
• Printer ink refills
• Adhesive refills
• Card bases
• Cardstock (as necessary)
• Ink replacements (stamps and mists)
• Silhouette cuts (as necessary)
• Classess! (but to a minimum)

Sounds reasonable right?

What I'm not allowed to spend money on is patterned paper, ribbon, embellishments, stamps, punches, tape. (But it's all the good stuff!!!) It's time to pare down my already bursting stash!

I know it sounds drastic and very throw out the baby with the bath water. But I think with my hoarding/collecting/buying tendencies, it's best to quit completely.

In a first attempt to lighten my load a bit, I'm offering up a RAK of goodies! Most of this is from an American Crafts contest I won at Two Peas last year. I've been meaning to find it a new home but just hand't for some reason.

Here's what you could win:

1 Dear Lizzy Page Kit
7 sheets American Crafts patterned paper
6 stamp sets (Hero Arts, Prima, Pink Paislee, Sassafras, American Crafts!)
1 wood block stamp
1 set of Studio Calico wood veneer embellishments
2 packs of American Crafts embellishments
1 pack of AC glitter brads
1 Stickle

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what your scrappy goals for the year are. I'll leave the comments open until 8:00pm CST next Saturday, January 12 and announce the winner shortly after! (Oh and international ladies are welcome to join in as well!)

So here's me taking a pledge to not buy new product this year! Won't you help me on my quest? Check in on me as we go along. I know I'll be tempted here and again. I'm not sure if I'll make it through the whole year but I'm going to try. And who knows, maybe by April I'll need to start buying things because my stash will bare! Fingers crossed xx

Ok here I go! It's on the internet, so now I have to do it =)

cheers & besos,