A List of Things I Don't Need!

During the school holidays, I did a lot of Decluttering and Tidying Up. The break between school terms is an opportunity for me to press the reset button.  Cleaning up, getting rid of the mess, organising what I'm going to keep and fixing things that didn't work is so nice.  The last week of my holidays was busy.  I managed to tidy my bedroom (after my Mum painted it) and I can't wait to finish the process of refreshing my bedroom.  That will probably be a job for the next holidays.  The study/office and my school resources got a much needed sort out too.  Leaving a school after 11 years meant that I had lots of stuff to bring home.  While I'd already got rid of lots of stuff and gave some things to colleagues at my school, I still needed to go through quite a bit.

In doing all this I realised that there are some things I will not need to buy for a long time.  Lots of people seem to think these things are also great gift ideas for me.  The thing is, I now have so many of these things that if I'm given more, I will probably have to re-gift them.  I can't possibly use all these things, let alone store all of them.  In no particular order, here goes...

My list of things I DON'T need! (2020 edition)

Post-it Notes/ Sticky Notes  

Actual Footage of me with my post-it notes

Please, stop buying me sticky notes.  Especially the bright coloured, novelty, sparkly, filled with pictures, in weird shapes and not even sticky, post-it notes.  I love them for the cute factor.  I do.  They are just too cute to use and I have so many that I can't possibly use them.  

Staplers and Staples.  

While I was tidying my desk and sorting through all the school stationery, I found not one, not two, but three staplers!  Why do I need so many staplers?  The answer to that question is simple... I don't!  Of course when you have three staplers you also need 5000 staples.  I found four unopened boxes of staples.  That's right, you heard me.  UNOPENED!  I also had the contents of two opened boxes of staples strewn through my desk drawers.  WHY? 

Pencils and Pens.  

I know that this one doesn't seem to track.  Don't all teachers use a lifetime supply of pens and pencils each school year? Don't all teachers always NEED pencils and pens?  While this is somewhat true, I have lots and lots of pens and pencils.  My father had lots of pens and pencils that were in unopened boxes.  Yes, you heard me, UNOPENED.  I often receive pens and pencils as gifts. THANKS!  The truth is, I don't need another pen with a fluffy end and a cat crystal springing off the end of it.  I don't need pens with glitter in them, (we are not talking about my craft pens, I need those).  I have plenty, thanks.  

Highlighters!! 

I must have a thing of highlighters.  I know I bought a bunch of them one year for students to use in my classroom.  I still have many of these pens and I have many more.  I used to buy a set of highlighter pens every year.  I used to lose them, often and now they have all been found!   I reckon I have at least 40 highlighters.   This isn't counting the tiny ones with lids that have cat ears.  

Cute Little Notebooks.  

This is another one of those things that people buy me and I used to buy for myself.  I don't anymore. The number of notebooks I found during my tidying up process was ridiculous.  There are a bunch of them, in all shapes and sizes.  Most of them have only one or two pages used from them or they haven't even been opened.  Yes, you heard me, UNOPENED! Please stop buying me cute (or even ugly) notebooks. 

Pencil Sharpeners and Erasers.  

These two items seem to be the most elusive in my desk drawer, until recently, when I emptied out all my stationery supplies and went through the whole mountain.  I found no fewer than  8 pencil sharpeners and 7 erasers.  Three of the erasers still had the plastic wrapped around them.  That means they haven't even been used.  Yes, you heard me, they were UNOPENED! Seriously?

Therefore, #RockWhatUGot, is going to apply to much more than my crafting supplies this year.  I'm going to add to this list as the year progresses, so stay tuned for more items I DON'T need.  What is something you don't need more of because you have too much? It doesn't have to be stationery.  Let me know in the comments. 

Rockin' it! 

Happy Valentine's Day! and Best of AGT

The Hallmark Holiday has come around again.  Instead of being guilted into buying flowers or chocolate OR feeling sad because you have no one to buy for, take the choice to enjoy the love you do have.

You are an amazing being of light and you are worthy of love.  You don't need chocolate or flowers to know that there is someone in the world who loves you.

If you are desperate to give a gift this Valentine's Day, make it original and special by following the advice I have given in the past, with this little selection from the Best of AGT collection.

Valentine's Day 2019

Valentine's for your Cat

Love Languages: Gifts

Ten Gifts for your Crafty Friend

Gift Guide Round up

Have an Awesome Day!
Love You!

Rock What You Got!

This year, my card making motto is "Rock What You Got"!  I'm going to make cards using what is in my stash.  I have been decluttering, purging and organising this past week, which has led to quite a few discoveries.  I have found so many things that I forgot I had!  Does that ever happen to you?

Let's have a look at some of the cards I have created this year, using stuff in my stash.

An awesome Birthday Stamp Set!

These four cards were created with the balloons from the HB2U stamp set from Sugar Pea Designs.  I used some die cut sentiments and stacked them up for dimension.  This stamp set is a classic and I had so much fun making these cards.  It was so easy.  I will have to pull out this stamp set again.  On the first two cards I stamped the balloons as usual.  On the second two cards, I used a technique I learned from Jennifer McGuire which she called Swipe Stamping.  It's great for getting a different look from your solid stamps.  I dressed up the card bases in different ways to make these cards all a little bit different.

Digging in my Scraps

The green watercolour background on this card, was the product of an experiment I did last year.  I almost threw it out, but then I realised it could make a great background.  This card is for one of my nieces.  The glitter cardstock, sequins and Wink of Stella glitter pen, really made this card sparkle.  I love it.

The frame I put on this card was also a leftover from another project.  I got the flower stickers from a friend who gave me her whole scrapbooking stash.  Unbelievable, right?! A simple sentiment popped up at the bottom and some gold sequins, and Bing Bang Boom - I have another cute card for my stash. It isn't like the other cards I usually make and I really love it.

Finally, this card was almost entirely made out of bits and pieces just sitting in my stash of scraps, left over backgrounds, experiments and extra die cut pieces.  I usually find it so hard to pull together cards using these kinds of things.  It took me some time, but I had lots of fun making this card too.

What do you have in your stash that you need to pull out and play with again? Let me know in the comments!
Stay Inky!