I've managed to resist the gazillions of emails I have received advertising various crafting companies amazing January sale bargains to concentrate on using up what I already have!

Recently I have tried to use some of both the background papers  I have stacked up, and also stamps that I rarely ( or have never) used.

I have also used some of my distress oxide inks that were covered in dust!

Far Too Much Stuff

Way back in July 2015 I bought a huge amount of stash off a lady who had to give up crafting for health reasons. I blogged about it here and here

I was searching in my craft room for some gilding flakes when I realized that over 4 years later, I still had so much of that stash lying untouched in different boxes and drawers

I really should stop buying fancy new bits that catch my eye and start using more of what I already have - there are still loads of papers, card stock, ribbons, toppers and other embellishments that I haven't touched yet. Perhaps a new years resolution should be no new purchases until a dent is made in this stash!!

Bits & Pieces

I'm sure we all have a pile of odd bits and pieces left over from our craft and card making- in fact I have drawers full!

So, I challenged myself to use up some some of the smaller pieces that have been hanging around for ages and make some Artist Trading Cards (ATC's)

I manager to come up with these 7, but it really hasn't made much of an impression on my pile of stash!

Using Up Very Old Stash

 These cards were made with embellishments, stamps and papers that I have had hanging around for ages - the Japanese girl on the tag must be at least 6 years old!

New Years Resolution - to use up those crafting bits and pieces!

Like many, I am guilty of hording all sorts of little crafting bits and bobs in the hope they will come in useful one day! I have 8 drawers full of of paper plus other drawers of ribbons, flowers, stickers and other embellishments. Despite my best endeavours - they never seem to decrease!

So, I got out this mix of bits and set to work - whilst I didn't use them all up, at least it is a small dent in the stash now, plus some cards to go to raise funds for local charities

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and as a bonus I also made 2 ATC's for swapping as well!