Monday, May 13, 2013

Bittersweet Day

I joined the Cult of Creative Memories in the early 90s. Would you like to see my photo albums? No? After we moved to Ohio in the early aughts I joined the Cult of Stampin' Up (they're not the least bit incompatible, & in fact each cult encourages the other). I made cards for friends and family for about five years. Here's one of my favorites, sent to a friend who was getting ready to have breast reconstruction surgery:


I stopped making photo albums when my mom died. I think I did a few more pages & then just quit. Apparently I was making the albums for her. (Well, getting a good digital camera also contributed to my lack of print picture interest).

And then about five years ago I lost interest in making cards. When we moved I thought that maybe a change of scenery would pique my interest. Not so much. And so I've had all this STUFF sitting around collecting dust for all that time. I finally decided that it was time for me to get rid of the vestiges of these two cults. I am giving it all away to some folks who I know will appreciate it.


I had some fun testing all the ink pads to make sure they still work. Although there was a twinge - I used to stamp the penguin on the backs of the cards I made & then write "Danamade" in its belly. Feels weird to know I won't be doing that anymore.


And then I came to this box:


It was a silly extra thing that I just had to have - it came with plastic pages where you could arrange all the pictures you wanted to put in an album & then store your layouts in the box until you were ready to put the pages together. I opened up the box to see September 2004 - the trip that we took to Lake Erie six months before Mom died.



And wow it was hard to take those pictures out of that box, knowing that I'd never put that album together. Fortunately, Dr. M knew this would be a tough process, so he brought in a cow to stare at me :)


Really, I'm glad to give all of this stuff to someone who will use it. And it removes that feeling I've had over the years of something left undone. And as we all know, I have a new obsession now. All that yarn has to go somewhere!

28 comments:

  1. OH my goodness. I have all that stuff too. I do keep doing it here and there, but I am a few or 8 years behind. I still have hope that I will get caught up...hopefully.

    Yes...it is amazing how looking at a picture can instantly send you back.

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    1. Thank goodness I don't have kids! I don't think I would have been able to manage...

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  2. One of my friends is an avid scrap-booker and has a whole room just for her supplies. She has so much money tied up in all the papers and supplies, her ex-husband asked for half of it during their contentious divorce. Not because he wanted it, but because he knew it would tick her off. A lot of emotions tied to creating memories...

    I don't know how it all works, but it looks like you should be able to just put some of those pages in a frame instead of putting everything into an album. It's hard to get rid of stuff. {{{Hugs}}}

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    1. Thanks! I very nearly had a room of stuff - & yes it's expensive! Over 10 years you can accumulate a lot.

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  3. I have boxes of art supplies in the garage just waiting for me to catch a creative bug again. I hope I will paint again someday. As for you, you certainly haven't given up your creativity. You amaze me with all that you do.

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    1. Thank you, Stephen. I have canvas and oil and brushes, neglected for five years or so. Here's to both of us painting again. But you are so right about The Bug! She continually amazes me with her creativity.

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  4. Now it's time to say goodbye to all our crafts and stamps. M-I-C (See you real soon), K-E-Y (Why? Because we like you)... but I think we should keep the staring cow.

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    1. Ha! I did stare at the cow quite a bit yesterday :)

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  5. Moving on isn't ever the easiest thing to do, but we all know when it's time, right? And as Stephen said above, your creativity is alive and well in other forms! THAT's the important thing!

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    1. That does help - I sure found a different outlet for our pictures!

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  6. Creative people are ususally NOT limited to just one medium. You're the perfect example. Don't feel bad about the giveaway. Just keep moving forward. :)

    S

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    1. That's what I plan to do - and now we'll have more room to do the moving!

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  7. Just remember that you can always return to making cards if the spirit moves you. Moving on doesn't mean moving away. Someone will make good use of these materials and should you decide to come back, all new material can easily be obtained.

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    1. That's true. And I did keep a few rudimentary tools I can use.

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  8. Inspired idea by The Professor. Cows make everything nicer.

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    1. Yep - he's pretty good at coming up with inspired ideas :)

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  9. Bug,
    You know how much I empathize. You and I are on the same page this week. We have to release things and keep on truckin'. I used to crochet, cross stitch and make ceramics. We enjoy things in their time and then find other ways to express ourselves. This post hit the spot for me.

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  10. Cute penguin! Somehow they fit your personality.

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    1. Thanks! I used have a license plate that said "OPUSLUST" after the Bloom County penguin :)

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  11. Rockin' penguin.

    I think you are good to give it to someone who will use it. I did that with my acoustic guitar and it was the right thing to do but I had a twinge or two in the process.

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    1. Yeah I think they'll have a lot more fun with it than I would. Although of course I'll suddenly have the urge to make some cards about a month from now :)

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  12. I never felt so free as the day I finally admitted I was never going to finish all those half finished craft projects and tossed them out.

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    1. Yes - I already went through this with all my cross-stitch stuff. Although in that case my eyes just didn't want to do all that close work.

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  13. Congratulations on paring down and blessing someone else with all that. I flirted with the first cult, but just couldn't get into it. I still have supplies though so I think it's my turn to pass stuff on. You're my hero in this, D!

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  14. Hmmm...you've made me think about the box of scrapbooking materials and my unfinished projects...
    Now that I make annual photobooks from P365, it is not so practical to scrapbook.
    But, oh, the hundreds of old photos still waiting...
    Interestingly, my parents' slides, that Ivan digitalized and I posted on FB two years ago, have resurfaced on FB and generated a new wave of lengthy conversations--recording history really.

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  15. Don't fret. You're only making room for new interests. Yarn takes up lots of space.

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