2023 - No Craft Spending - I WILL bust my stash and make pretty things!!!!!

craftingmad

Another year - another chance to stash bust and turn all our crafting supplies into pretty things

I have put myself on a self imposed craft spending ban during 2023. 
As a total ban has not worked well for me in the past I have decided to set a budget of £300 for the year for me to treat myself to new supplies. I am not going to include in my budget buying adhesives or supplies for orders (for items which I already make - I have my own business on Etsy) as long as I have nothing left in my stash which I can use and I am allowing crafty storage as extra if really required and I don't have something already that can do the job as I figure being organised will help me see the stash I already have.

Other than that I hope to use only things from my stash and not get tempted by the new shiny objects which keep being released.

As I have failed miserably at my previous targets I may have to set the bar a little lower but always optimistic I am am going to start my target at 2023. 
This will be a mixture of cards, scrapbook pages, handmade items - in fact a real mixture of things as I'm sure I have all the supplies I need to make pretty much everything I can think of!

Would anybody care to join me?
The rules are simple - there are no hard and fast rules apart from what you want them to be. The aim is to use our crafty stash and stay within our crafty budget but of course if you do weaken and grow your stash just come in and confess your sins and you will be forgiven 

You can set your own target of how many items you would like to make using your stash or just a certain amount of time you want to not buy for. Whatever works for you is ok with me 

craftingmad

Participants:-

craftingmad 0/2023   £0/£300
plumduff55
soontobeoap  £0/£100
old_fogey 0/12
sammy_kaye18 £0/£60
CMD79 0/23
Tiggermad 
Wrathlady 0/12
Florenceem £0/£200

plumduff55

Hi, I need to keep going with the stash busting as I've come to realise that even if I never bought another ball of wool I'd still have enough to keep me going the rest of my lifetime 😳.  I have arthritis and know that as this progresses my crafting will become slower and slower. A bit depressing but realistic !!!  Definitely motivation to stop buying 🧶.

While decluttering recently I found a list I'd made of my wool stash in 2019. I did not keep the list up to date and have used some but I definitely have more wool now than then. I am embarrassed to say that the total was 19 kilo 240 grams. This does not include an IKEA Kallax box stuffed full of oddments of wool. I am going to update this list and make a knitting to do list for the rest of the year.

A friend gave me a knitting journal from Flying Tiger for Xmas. It's great so I am going start using it and will definitely reduce my stash this year.

Happy crafting in 2023 ❤️

Soontobeoap

Thank you for starting a new thread @craftingmad i would like to join this year and make as many things as I can from my stash. I am hoping to declutter my crafting shed and make some gifts this year to save a bit of money. Hoping for £100 craft spending but this will be tight as I make christmas cards for neighbour from her old christmas cards and need to buy wadding and backing for 2 bed quilts. (If i get that far). 

old_fogey

Thanks for starting a new thread.
I would love to join you this year. I am hoping it will help make me stick at it.
I have craft stuff all over the house and really want to reduce my stash and make things, or in some cases just finish them off. 
I have Wool, fabric for patchwork (was my mums stash), embroidery,  beads for jewellery, and cross stitch stuff. Some of these crafts I havent done for years!
I started by knitting two hats in December and are part way through a third. I am a beginner knitter. 
I am not including card making as I do that when needed.
I am aiming to make a modest 12 items. 
I will spend virtually nothing, maybe threads for patchwork,  or different sized needles for knitting, so will not set  a budget, but will keep track.

sammy_kaye18

I am so grateful to have found this thread again

Hi Ladies

I moved all my craft stuff to one place after my husband last year brought me a craft desk I think for my birthday in July.

But I have sat down and put everything into boxes. 
My current list of projects looks like this 

• a bullet journal to keep filling in and adding too 
• 5 diamond paintings
• 1 adult paint by numbers of a lions head
• penpal letters that are coming out the ying yang to reply too and constantly refilling
• cricut things
• a giant box of material which I want to make into various things - blankets/bags/etc
• paint your own gnome
• paint your own suncatchers
• paper mache dinosaurs to decorate and seal
• a paper mache house to decorate and seal
• a vision board to finish
• a robin cross stitch which was meant for this christmas but I will do for next Xmas
• a full bag of wool 
• a canvas bag to decorate
• 4 hessian bags to decorate
• a hand loom to even open and try
• crochet needles to even attempt 
• various paint projects 

I told my husband I really needed to focus on some crafting and he basically just encouraged me by buying me a Cricut joy and a pyrography kit for Christmas!  Doh! 

I am setting myself a limit though of £60 - mainly because I also got a £50 Hobbycraft voucher and I don't think I need anything else added to my list as I'm sure I have everything I need to complete a fair few of these! 

CMD79

Hi all, lovely fellow craft addicts!

I would love to join this one please. I need help! I don't know about a target, i just need to try to work through some stuff and get rid of some stuff! I liked the idea above of listing out the things I had, at one point, planned and not gotten around to yet, so I'll do that for the moment! But in other challenges, I need to get rid of 2023kgs of stuff, Make 23 craft projects from stash and Create 23 pieces of ‘art’ so I will have my work cut out!

1. Complete DHs  birthday present from last year! 2 sketches of our current and first home. I literally just need to write the Our First Home and Our Forever Home on them, but since drawing them, he wants to move!!  (but anyway!)
2. Make Crochet Cloud kit for next door-but-one neighbour (need to learn to crochet quickly first!)
3. And now that I've learnt to crochet!!! Crochet little rabbit kit, for next door (there's a lot of babies in our street and more on the way!)
4. Make macrame rainbow kit (learn to macrame, obvs!) for DD
5. Knit (I can already knit!) some first size baby clothes for next door-but-one 
6. Do Paint by numbers box set with DD
7. Make Family tree for next door
8. Make baby door sign for next door-but-one 
9. Draw year of birth and baby name picture for n-d-b-o
10. Create 2 pictures for the downstairs bog

I'll start with those and aim to get these done in Q1!! (I'll never do it, but let's see how long I keep up the pretence!)

Permissible spending will be £23 and whatever is left on an Amazon voucher I just found (maybe £30...maybe zero!)

PS - How do I crochet! 

Soontobeoap

There are some amazing utube videos online or maybe join a knit and natter group where someone will be able to help. Its knitting that struggle with. Shame we dont live closer we could teach each other. 😂

Tiggermad

Yeah, new thread  Nice to see everyone 

As always, I start each year determined to craft more   so I'll see how i get on this year (i dont set myself a target). I'm currently making a mini album with handmade envelopes as a seed holder/organiser for a friend whose birthday is in March and she's a keen gardener. Plus a post it notebook in matching paper. I've also two hard note books to decorate for a friend's birthday but that's not until November!

Plus I have a Lilliput Lane cross stitch I've been making for my mum, as she collects the china but that's been going for 5-6 years due to complexity so maybe this year might be the year. Her birthday is also in November so have time .....

And a hanging wooden heart decoration that needs repainting to match a friend's kitchen (would be a present for her October birthday). Mmmmm, I'm sure I have other UFOs around as well. 

Happy crafting everyone and looking forward to seeing all your makes this year  

Wraithlady

Hi,

Would like to join in this year again - I actually managed to hit my target so another 12 makes for 2023 (1 a month seems doable).

I won'r embarrass myself by calling attention to the size of my stashes, but really need to get them down

Florenceem

I would like to join please.
I will put a target spend of £200 but I aim to really not spend much at all.
As for number of items to make - ?
I have so many ufos/wips - some are knitting which I can't remember what the project is! Then I have sewing makes in progress and my stash - well!