stash busting

A question about : stash busting

Ok now I'm sure I cannot be the only crafter to be drowning in mountains of crafty goodies am I?

I have piles of paper, cards, embellishments, beads, fabrics (in fact you name it ive probably got it!!) everywhere. No room is sacred in my house my craft stash is in pretty much every room including the loft and the sheds (and I even have my own craft room which is full to bursting with all the pretty things that I just can't bear to use xx

I have recently just purchased a whole host more from that shopping channel that specialises in craft - don't peetend you dont know the one!

However I have decided that I really need to stash bust (for the sake of my marriage if nothing else - having tripped over my large scraps box in the lounge one too many times he has told me he is hiring a skip if I dont use it soon). So I am going to set myself a challenge.

The challenge is to make 500 items from my existing stash before I am allowed to buy anymore

Anyone else up for a stash busting challenge ?
If so feel free to post below setting your own target and we can motivate each other, keep us on the straight and narrow and share our stash busting creations xx

Best answers:

• The rules of the challenge are simple.
  You can make anything you like but everything you make must be made using items from your current stash.
  You are allowed to print things from cds etc and print any photos etc which may be needed for scrapbooking pages but you must not buy any new stash until your target has been met.
  However this challenge is just for fun so keep creating and having fun xxx
• Reserved for participants (updated 12th May 14)
  1/ Craftingmad 615/2014
  2/ Emslovesmickey 50/50 44/50
  3/ Rosie51 1/25
  4/ Silverbird 0/500
  5/ Susan42 271/2014
  6/ CEW 0/50
  7/ BluDaisy 0/50
  8/ Jellie 0/500
  9/ Scrapmate 50/50
  10/ Beth2242 ?
  11/ Dallam20 50/50 50/50
  12/ Cabriolean 0/15
  13/ macma ?
  14/ pukkamum ?
  15/ chiefpossession 15/17
  16/ Meg72 45/500
  17/ Habibiboo 0/60 balls wool
  18/ milliemonster ?
  19/ chirpycheap 58/500
  20/ sarahboo ?
  21/ birdie85 ?
  22/ Ailsb 1/25
  23/ loopychris 276/500
  24/ pigpen 3/35
  25/ beginagain 0/20
  26/ Lequirk 17/?
  27/ suzeesu2000 ?
  28/ the Cre8tor 0/25
  29/ Maisie M 0/30 & 4/45
  30/ Toonie 0/25
  31/ Bobblymosh 8/500
  32/ heather2409 100/500
  33/ BMG ?
  34/ Kim317 ?
  35/ CWSmith ?
  36/ wit40iwtwan 3/50
  37/ thescarletpixie ?
  38/ CraftyC 18/52
  39/ crafty witch ?
  40/ lmb4wcb 8/500
  41/ thriftyscotslass 0/50
  42/ tattycath 0/50
  43/ nimbo 30/50
  44/ Mrs Bones ?
  45/ Yorkshire Celt 2/?
  46/ keepcalmandcraft 7/50
  47/ FR_262 1.5/500
  48/ ziggy2407 27/52
  49/ owlfan ?
  50/ tillyenna ?
  51/ mothernerd ?
  52/ kinski 8/?
  53/ panterka 0/500
  54/ greentiger 50/50 50/50 50/50
  55/ Florenceem 50/50 50/50 37/50
  56/ Mooloo 0/500
  57/ rufusdog52 0/10
  58/ emmi_bush 4/50
  59/ Annie021063 ?
  60/ love2shop 20/500
• I'm joining! Hobbycraft has been a dangerous place for me this year! Only things i will keep doing is subscribing to a papercraft and a cross stitch mag, and my CC box i get once a month
• I know the feeling emslovesmickey xx
  Do you have a target figure in mind and I'll add you to the list xx
  Good to have you on board xx
• Hi, Very new member but have been a fan of the craft threads for months. May I join in as I have a large stash that needs using up.
• Craftingmad, is it your challenge, or your husband's? If it is him that said you have to get rid of 500 items, just part with 500 brads.
  Joking apart though, I'm a collector and not user. I just wish I had a craft room to keep it in. Eldest son has just left home but I can't baggsey his room yet in in case he comes back. My stash is in my open plan under the stairs, so problems when I want something that is at the back.
  I know you will prob. have to part with a lot of your stash, but what you have got, is it sorted into drawers and on shelves? It looks a lot less when it is sorted. The 4 drawer plastic units that I bought at Pouindstretchers hold a lot. And I have bought some 4 shelf plastic units for if I get my son's room. (don't I sound like an awful mother!)
  I think I had better stand back from this thread, as I am encouraging you to keep it all. I've only collected for a couple of years though, (apart from cones of wool in the shed from when I was into machine knitting) so don't want to part with any of it.
• Good to have you on board rosie51 and welcome. We will be very gentle with you xx
  Battybird please stay I love your thinking already I have decided to try and use my stash up in projects after lots of whinging from hubby. They just dont get it do they? I didnt say I was going to get rid of any though just use it in projects. I lovd all of my goodies of course xxx
• Edited to say,sorry I read your post wrong. You've posted that you're going to make 500 things. I read it that you were going to get rid of 500 items.
  (so you may not have to part with anything if you keep what you make) smiley face
• We posted at the same time.
  What kind of projects are you thinking of doing? And what are the pretty things in your craft room that you cant bear to use?
• We'll I came looking for a thread looking for info on crafty bargains but maybe it was better to find this one! I have soooo much stuff and cannot resist buying craft bits and pieces.
  I can't say I will quit but I will commit to working out how much I spend on craft bits for a month - perhaps as a bit of a reality check.
  Good luck with your challenge
• Battybird I started out as a card maker but now dabble in all sorts of crafts. So during this challenge I could be making anything. who knows what sort of things I will find along the way.
  As for all my special things there are too many mention. There are papers and fabruc which are just too pretty to use, embellishments and beads which I am saving for those special projects and then obviously all thd things I bought but dont really know how to use them
• Tclarel you are braver than me I darent sit down and work out how much I spend a month. All thd new and pretty things keep coming out and obviously I just have to have them xx
  And now ive just had a look at the crafty bargains thread dangerous!
  I too cannot guarantee that I can make it through this challenge alive but if it helps me to stop and think about what I buy before buying it then it will have done its job.
  Afterall whats the worse that happen if we break the rules of the challenge ? (In my case it could be death by drowning in a sea of crafting clutter or a head injury from falling paper!
  So how about it are you up for the challenge? It would be great to have you on board xx
• 25 sounds good to me emslovemickey - why didn't I think of that number Good luck with yuour stash busting - don't forget to post progress reports and pic xx
• OK first things made today - 19 x reindeer food
  Made using bag of porridge oats and some edible glitter (these things were both in craft room with a view to making this anyway). As a bonus I also used 19 cello bags, three sheets of red paper and added some printed some reindeer labels and poems.
  I can't work out how to get a picture up so if you want to take a peek have a look at my blog (found by clicking on my username and then clicking on craftingmad's homepage xx)
  19/500 of my target reached
• I'm another stashaholic!!! and would like need to join in with this challenge.
  So, I'll be aiming to make 500 items before buying anything else to add to the stash. The majority of these will be cards but there will also be some knitting and sewing projects along with way.
  Crafting can become an addictive hobby, can't it? If I mention that my craft room is 15' x 11' then you can begin to appreciate the scale of the problem!!!
  Anyway, I had my LBM recently and decided that the time had come to face up to this. Pleased to say that I haven't watched that well-known tv craft channel for 5 weeks now However, must confess to having bought a few bits and pieces from online craft stores recently, purely to complete projects in progress, of course
  My papercrafting stuff is currently being downsized to no more than will fit into an Ikea Malm 3 drawer unit - eeeeks!!! This really makes you focus on what is to be kept.
  There's also a substantial quantity of yarn stored in the roof space (but that's another story) and this is also being sorted through. Then, there's the fabric and patterns stash, again being sorted through. (Surplus items are in the process of being cleared via auction and sales sites, or donated to local community craft groups and charity crafters, depending on what it is.) Fabric, yarn and patterns are initially being restricted to what will fit into 2 x 900cm wide wardrobes (with lots of shelves, of course!) but the aim is to gradually reduce this to what will fit into 1 of the wardrobes as items are made and the stash reduced, and then finally re-home these wardrobes when the stash is down to what will fit into another chest of drawers.
  Will report back each week to share my progress.
  Happy crafting, and good luck with your own stash-busting challenges.
• craftingmad fab reindeer food.
  I aspire to the concept of a stash bust however having joined a Facebook group to sell stash, I am now the proud owner of a pre-loved bigshot and hunting dies as we speak. I did sell a couple of items but alas have bought far more. Good luck folks
• If anyone would like to post photos of their huge stashes, it would give us addicts a "fix." (or make us green with envy!)