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I spent time over the weekend cleaning up my stamping room and there were a lot of stamp sets with a lot of dust on them. Some have never seen ink. Really sad. I am trying to get better about what I buy but I am still buying too much.
__________________ Martha
"When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life." Jean Shinoda Bolen
It is so good to hear others admit their obsession or collecting habits!
My DH gave me most of my winter wish list for Christmas, so I am having
a difficult time justifying MORE stamps during SAB. After reading most of
this thread, I think I will order mostly basics (paper, reinkers etc.)
Thank you for helping me-I think
I know I have stamps that I have never used. I try to incorporate unused stamps into my Color Challenges so I can "kill two birds with 1 stone". Use my little used color combinations with my little used stamp sets. I am like everone else - there are just too many great sets out there that I have to have. My justifications may be a little different though. I say "stamping keeps me off the street and out of the bars" and when my children have me committed (which they threaten to do if), I'll have enough rubber to pad the cell!
I've been feeling guilty for having a half-dozen or so sets that I never use. (Most were SAB/hostess sets). Um - some of you have more unused sets than I own! Now I don't feel so guilty about buying more this month when I put in my hostess order!
vwilson"at"gmail.com. I will send my address for free, as part of a stamp orphanage program I have decided to start. Send me your abandoned sets, cute ones preferred, and I will give them a good home. I will not let guilt stop me from housing these poor, unwanted sets. I will let them take up my room, and will promise to try to cuddle with them while I surf SCS.
Victoria
Too funny!! I am with you. My address is free also:-D !!
I try to sort and purge at least once a year - but I really try not to impulse purchase in the first place. So I only have maybe 3-7 sets at a time that I just can't make myself use. I won't buy a set because I see ONE sample that I like. If samples are still *wowing* me after a couple months, then I'll think about buying that set.
Hmm -- I received everyday Flexible Phrases, Everyday Expressive Phrases and Amazing to Zany for free as part of my Stampin' Start, mounted them (that was not easy) and maybe used 1 stamp out of all 3 sets. :-(
But I do plan to make lots of mini scarpbooks in the future and I know I will use them a lot for that. :-)
I don't have hundreds of sets & a lot were hostess or sell-a-bration & have an equal amount of non-SU stamps - at least half haven't had any use at all. This year I focused on tools (refills, new colors, paper, pattern paper, new embellishments) - I also mark things & revisit after a few months & by that time I've changed my mind. With clothes if I don't wear something in 2 seasons I get rid of it. I'll have to do something similar with my unused stamps.
Kitty
I have a "waiting period" for myself because I have so many I don't use. By this I mean that I see a set I want, I write it down, then I wait at least a month or two. If I still want it after a couple of months, I will plan on getting it, but often, I don't want it anymore! My issue was impulse buying!
Cindy
That is an awesome idea! I need to do that to stop my impulse buying.
I've been stamping for a little over a year...gosh, it seems like so much longer, because it's soo much fun! Anyway, when I first started buying stamps, I really wasn't very discerning. I bought whatever I liked and looked good to me. Then I discovered SU, and again, I went wild and bought and bought. Now....I am more discriminating, but I've got SEVERAL stamps/sets that have seen little to no ink. I'm NOT too upset by this though as "someday" I'll find the time to play with all of my "rubber babies", right?
Well, I've used every stamp "set" at least once, but not every stamp in every set. But it took conscious effort over the last six months to be able to say that, LOL!
Well.... Considering I have over 70,000 stamps, I would have to guesstimate that there are probably 69,980 stamps that really just sit there. Some days I think I should do a little house cleaning to sell some of the "excess" but then I think "But what if I NEED that stamp some day?!!"
__________________ "There is a very fine line between hobby and mental illness." -- Dave Barry
Well.... Considering I have over 70,000 stamps, I would have to guesstimate that there are probably 69,980 stamps that really just sit there. Some days I think I should do a little house cleaning to sell some of the "excess" but then I think "But what if I NEED that stamp some day?!!"
Are you SERIOUS??? Wow!!! Where on earth do you store all of those stamps!? I don't know whether to call you fortunate, or overwhelmed! ;)
Are you SERIOUS??? Wow!!! Where on earth do you store all of those stamps!? I don't know whether to call you fortunate, or overwhelmed! ;)
I unmounted ALL of my stamps a year or so ago (and it took me over a year). My stamps are all stored in CD cases. I am beyond organized with this. Each CD is labeled with the company name, stamp set or description and each CD is numbered. I use a program called Splash Shopper that is on my computer and my PDA. Everything is inventoried, grouped, and categorized as well as each entry has a matching CD number. Actually, every supply except for paper is entered in this program so that I always have my stamp room inventory with me on my PDA when I am shopping. There have been many times when I saw a neat stamp in a store. I looked it up and found that I actually already OWNED the stamp (or stencil, etc.).
I do the waiting period thing too. I usually make at least 3 orders(on paper) before the real order gets sent in. I learned this the hard way though and just recently got rid of all my UMrubber and now I'm collecting polymer(ctmh) images and really trying to not overdo things like flower images and christmas. Actually all the holidays because they go by so quickly and there are limited uses for them. The hard times are when there is a buy 2 get one free deal and I say, "I can get this, it's free"!
GEEZ!!! TOO MANY that's for sure!!!. Here's a funny story
About 3 years ago I went to a Stampfest in Orlando with a stamping friend. We did make n takes and had so much fun. At one of the tables with a make n take was this darling little "purse" stamp. It was to stamp and actually fold up into a 3 dimensional purse for favors. So, anyway, my friend suggested that we "share" the cost of the stamp and then we could each use it. WEll, I politely said "NO, I don't want to share it, I want my own, what if I want to stamp in the middle of the night and YOU have the stamp". soooo, we each bought our own purse stamp. GUESS WHAT!!!??? I've never used that stamp.
:rolleyes:
ROFL
Well... I did the proactive thing and I just went through my sets to pare down a little. I posted an ad in the Buy/Sell forum for my TAC sets. I wasn't sure what was dormant, current, retired for SU sets so if anyone is interested, I can PM you the URL for that list. (If my previous sentence is a "no-no", please let me know and I'll edit my post.)
__________________ "There is a very fine line between hobby and mental illness." -- Dave Barry
That is one of those questions that maybe we shouldn't ask. Kinda like how much do you weigh or how old are you. They aren't polite and we definitly would want anyone to know our true stash of unuseables. Plus, what if the husbands found out!!
This thread is truly a comfort. Especially when someone said part of the fun is simply "owning the image." I had the same feeling years ago when I was awestruck by the concept that we could actually own a movie ~ hold it in our hands and watch it whenever we wanted!! You see... it's the *potential* that's the draw, I think. And it's exponential art ~ it's art already and then we can create with it. Quite remarkable when you think about it.
Anyway, I have my share of unused stamps/sets, too, and once my stack of unused SU sets retire, I'll have a nice long post on BST!
I like to purge, like to know what I have, and if there's a sudden growth spurt it makes me a little nervous. I have a box right now of stamps waiting for new homes.
Does anyone else just get sentimental about stamps or stamp sets, too? I mean sometimes it's just - there's the cutest bunny or the most beautiful flower in that set ~ and even if it's rarely used, I can't bear to part with it.
But then, yes, there are those "what was I thinking?!" moments! I am doing the same as a lot of you now - I put what I like in my online shopping cart, do a screenshot of the cart and put it in Documents. Then I go back and look at it now and then. It helps.
Does anyone else have that "get the most for the shipping" thing going on, too? I mean, if I put something in a cart, I have a tendency to keep looking around the store to see if there's anything else I should add as long as I'm paying shipping. That is not good.
The thing that works best for me to curb impulse shopping is Don't Look. I keep telling myself that......
Does anyone else have that "get the most for the shipping" thing going on, too? I mean, if I put something in a cart, I have a tendency to keep looking around the store to see if there's anything else I should add as long as I'm paying shipping. That is not good.
Yep... ALL the time. Especially when places have free shipping on purchases over $xx. Sheeesh. I've found lately that sometimes I get a thrill by just pretending to order. I add things to the cart, etc., plan out in my head how I might use the products and then just close the web page.
__________________ "There is a very fine line between hobby and mental illness." -- Dave Barry
I have so many sets, at least 50 that are not being used and some of them have never seen ink.
i personally am trying not to buy anything new and to use what I do have. In the next few months if I haven't used those idle sets they are getting tossed!
I have too many so I have been going through the SU galleries here on scs looking for ideas. What I am doing is seeing which of my sets inspire me, and the ones that don't I'm going to get rid of soon, probably via garage sale.
so many, i have so many sets that i just dont use or that i look at and say what was i thinking or they are cute but i just cant do a thing with them. I wish i could get rid of them. My upline thinks i am nuts when i told her the sets i dislike. but it is MHO... i just wish i could get rid of them for new sets i know i would get use of
I have this same problem...I have a few stamp sets that I bought early on that I thought would be good, but I just dont like them! (Loads of Love is one, I know, horrible of me!!)....I have traded a couple...have you tried doing some trading here on SCS? Its a nice way to get rid of something and get something you know you will use.
I think you get a bit cannier as you develop as a stamper though. I do have quite a lot of stamps and definitely some that I haven't used. However I do try not to be excessive. For instance I only have about 20 or so SU sets (many of which are second hand) and don't intend to buy more than 5 or so sets a year. However I also have what I started out with, a lot of single mounted stamps, plus ums and clear sets. It was occuring to me the other day that I should really slow down now and so will do, certainly until I have got good use out of what I have already.
However, as I said, I think you do get a bit cannier. I try not to impulse buy, or if I do, only for cheaper stuff. Also, more importantly, I know my own style now and rarely go outside of that as I know its attraction will pall. So that makes me feel a bit better. I certainly feel I have plenty to play with without getting bored!
I think you get a bit cannier as you develop as a stamper though. ... Also, more importantly, I know my own style now and rarely go outside of that as I know its attraction will pall. So that makes me feel a bit better. I certainly feel I have plenty to play with without getting bored!
ITA. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out my style. Like someone else said, I can get sentimental about vintage stamps (esp if there's a pen or ink bottle in the set--I collect fountain pens). But vintage is NOT my style at all. I tried so hard, and just can't "do" it in a way that makes me happy, KWIM? So a few weeks ago, I saw a fab vintage set at Marco's, picked it up, looked at it, smiled, and put it back on the table.
My aunt never puts a stamp away, until she uses it once. So...I'm trying that...I have a big pile of stamps that aren't put away yet. I just started doing that, I'm not counting all the ones I've gotten in the last 10 years and haven't used! LOL!
I have some that I rarely use, I made myself a promise that for every card I make with stamps that I love to use a stamp set that seems to have been neglected for one reason or another, I do have some stamps however that I bought from Michaels when I first started that I no longer even like,those have become part of my grandchildrens craft box..
i try to be a minimalist/ frugal when it comes to my stamps/ craft stuff and try to use them all but the fact of the mater is i Just Can't use them all. and there are just to many companies out there. i to have those purchases that i hope to use that have not seen ink i think we all do. One of the thing i try to do is give new life to stamp sets i already have (use it in a different way)and most time it's a successful adventure and saves me cash....I tell myself i don't "need more" to cut down my purchases... theres always gonna be someone out there telling you "you need/ have to have more", and lots are VERY tempting:twisted: . i don't feel guilty about my stamps not always being used cause i know they will get used eventually in one project or another and if not i can sell them and get a set i'll know i'll use more... stamping has let me branch out from the normal everyday into something unique, creative,and individual so it justifies my spending (for the most part) lol .Thanks For Listening
I have a lot I haven't used yet, but none I want to part with just yet. Many of the ones I haven't used are part of a set where maybe I've used one or a few of the set but not all of them. I do have sets I haven't used at all yet but know I will someday - they tend to be ones that were retiring that I really liked, or ones that I planned on using and ended up not for whatever reason.
My reason for not wanting to part with them is that I can't say I'll never use them. And with my luck sometimes, I'd end up really wanting to use the set a week after I get rid of it. So for now, I keep them all.
__________________ Ellen View My Gallery If you are ashamed to stand by your colors, you had better seek another flag.
~Author Unknown
