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pamcook wrote:Do I love it?
Does it make me smile?
Will I use it?

If no to all of them, it needs to go. It's just taking up the small amount of space I have for those things that make me smile, I love, and/or will use.

I think this is an excellent test. I wish I'd use it myself more often. The first thing that would happen would be the disappearance of a whole bunch of stamps. Alpha stickers - I was complaining about those super tiny stickers in another thread, and those actually fail the test. They need to go.

As far as other supplies, most of them do pass the "does it make me smile?" test. That's why I still have Creative Memories papers from the turn of the century. And paper is my biggest issue. My other categories of stuff fit nicely in their allocated storage area, and I don't need to reclaim the storage for any purpose currently. Paper, however, is an issue. I have no room for any more 12x12 paper. But dang near every sheet I come across makes me happy. So it stays. And I continue to acquire more.

I wish I had the guts to purge all that old Club Scrap stuff but I just cant bring myself to it!

I need to add "Do I have room for it?" to my criteria. I am trying to use faster than I acquire but so far, it isn't working that way.

The class on scrapbook.com - I highly recommend it! It helped me to get rid of that overwhelmed feeling.

Nothing beats my new-found freedom to allow myself to drop things in the trash basket. Somethings are just old or not my style - maybe never were! and just never going to be used.

Agree completely Pam. I've noticed a huge change lately with respect to how much stuff I pitch. I used to keep much smaller bits of scrap paper than I do now. And I used to keep a sticker/embellishment sheet that still had a sticker or two on it. But I find I'm pitching those bits, and not regretting it. I'm sure it helps.

I've loved keeping up with this thread. I think I've decided to take on a purging exercise this week. I'm going to tackle my scrap box. It's the lid from one of those boxes that printer paper comes in, and it's overflowing. I can't even get to whatever has sunk to the bottom because it's so full. So I need to go through that and either pitch or donate, or bite the bullet and make something with it.

Julie, there's lots of ideas for turning your scraps into embellishments on Pinterest. I've also found several LO ideas for using them.

Now if I could only remember to do it...

Oooh.. are you actually talking me OUT of a purge?

I watched a bunch of DIY embellishment videos on YouTube a few weeks ago, and some of those looked like fun. Good point about Pinterest. I don't spend a ton of time there, but I should at least look for some ideas before I start throwing stuff out.

Two of the larger parts of my room have been purged. My desk and the big wall unit to the side of my desk that holds all that paper and many stamps. I have 3 large boxes filled with paper and sticker sheets I haven't used in years and they don't particularly make me smile. They are either going to the garage sale or be donated soon. I also cleaned off my computer desk so I can KNK to my heart's content and have been. My one greatest bugaboo of a clean out chore is the dreaded closet. You know the one...you open it, toss something into it and shut the door fast. I am going to have to build up the courage to jump into that job...I'm afraid, very afraid.

I used to have a great big ol' zip lock bag where I gathered my scraps. I used a few every once in a while (nothing earth shattering by any means). One day, it a fit of cleaning, I dumped the whole bag in the recycle bin. Sure made me smile.
Now I keep a few scraps on my desk (few is a relative term, right?). Once I'm tired of them, I give it the old arm-sweep into the bin and out they go.
I've yet to run out of scraps for DIY embellishments.

For me, the key is knowing when enough is enough. I know Tori keeps as many as will fit in a metal tin that she's designated for scraps. A few on my desk is more than enough for me.

I used up a ton of scraps cutting diecuts and then gave a big bundle to my secret pal... and to Helen and Peggy... and also have a big bundle cut for myself, too.... lots of little pieces worked for lots of little die shapes... so now I'm ready to pop lots of those images right onto pages soon.

Think about a future diecut swap or something before tossing all your scraps! Maybe we should have another of those next month since so many of you are purging... you can cut your diecuts before tossing those scraps.

here's another way to "purge" ..... stick stuff on a card.... this card is from shimelle.com and uses a cluster of embellishments (presumably the ones you have left over and can't figure out how to add to a layout) on the front of the card. What a fun, simple way to use up those little oddball images...

Shimelle and Pam both have the gift of cluster!

Debbie J wrote:Shimelle and Pam both have the gift of cluster!

Don't they though? If I tried this with leftovers it might look like a hot mess
Although I do have a tray of stuff like that... Maybe I should take another look!

nchoney wrote:I used up a ton of scraps cutting diecuts and then gave a big bundle to my secret pal... and to Helen and Peggy... and also have a big bundle cut for myself, too.... lots of little pieces worked for lots of little die shapes... so now I'm ready to pop lots of those images right onto pages soon.

Think about a future diecut swap or something before tossing all your scraps! Maybe we should have another of those next month since so many of you are purging... you can cut your diecuts before tossing those scraps.

When I'm die cutting, I always go to the scrap bin first, then if I can't find what I want there, I visit my POP collection. It's a good excuse to keep some of the more sizable pieces around, for sure. But maybe I need to set a size limit - like if I can't punch/cut at least a 2" image, it goes.

I love the clustering idea too, but my clusters and layers also typically come out as a hot mess.

Love that idea, Debi!

I was the grateful recipient of those die cuts - they're fabulous!
I remember a video I watched or an article I read which said to decide on a minimal size for your scraps (like 4"x4") and throw away anything smaller than that. It worked well for me and the recycling bin !

My guilt was relieved by the size rule...a guilt that was instilled in me many, many years ago at my first Club Scrap crop at Pam C's house (~ 8 or 9 yrs ago). I arrived with a brand new paper cutter and no knowledge of all those acronyms. DH, POP, ALSB, Pizza Box, etc. And then IT happened ....I threw away a piece of paper I had incorrectly cut.....I did!!! This sinister act was met by many voices aghast with disbelief -
"Don't ever throw away Club Scrap paper, you can always use it somewhere!!"

Thus began my hoarding but now, PURGE ON, Sisters! ROTFLMAO