Moving On--What would you have to take?

[Looser]

These days many people find themselves relocating for any number of reasons. If you were in such a position & knew that your new space was limited or that the cost of shipping all your craft materials would require winning 'Power Ball', what items would be on your list (& why)?

Yeah. This is a Dan's 'brain picker' topic, but I'm looking forward to seeing your responses.

[Looser]

My current 'must move with me' items are my CuttleBug, some EFs & dies. I'm also planning to take my current DIs & StazOn midis since they cover a wide range of both colors & use--and they are all still 'juicy'.  Also will ship a few stamps & stencils--not sure which ones. Paper/CS? Maybe a bit, but not a biggie as a 'must have'.

Note: Had my need to relocate been 10 years ago, my list of 'craft travel companions' would have been different. Then I was still much more into hooking up my stamping with my general crafts.

Who's next?

[Yankee]

I would do what I told my best friend to do when she had to move, not planed.
I would rest a storage unit and put in everything I loved and used or wanted.
Then when I found my place and could see the size of the area, I could then make choices!
It worked great for her, because she ended up moving twice in a couple months.  The ending up place had much more room and even storage space.

[howdyheidi]

This is hard because my space is already limited to a repurposed computer armoire. 

I think I would keep dies and get rid of punches.

I would keep most of my stamps and ink, however I might get rid of a few inks like the Brilliance ones that I do not use often. I already recently went through the stamps, although I might get rid of a few more wood mount ones.

Definitely would keep the cuttlebug and EFs.

I think that I would not need to keep many papers, as those are easy to pick up in small amounts later. 

I think I might be able to get rid of some things in their packaging, such as my watercolor pencils. There probably is a small container that would fit them all and free up space.

[Craft Nerd]

Ack, your asking a pack rat to think about getting rid of stuff.     That being said, I would have to agree with both Daniel and Heidi that the first thing on the chopping block would be my stash of paper.  And I could probably cull my stamp collection, but it would be hard.

I could cut back on my inks - the must keeps being my DI (which I've been using a lot lately), Versamark, and my Memento and Versafine blacks.  I could probably live without the rest of my stash of inks.

I would definitely being keeping my big ticket items - my Bigkick, my silhouette, my bow-it-all, and my Copics.  Going along with my Bigkick would be my dies (which are all in an Art Bin Magnetic Die storage case so they don't take up a lot of room).  I might be able to cull some of my embossing folders. 

Oh, and I'm keeping my paper trimmer and my ATG gun. 

I could definitely cull my collection of ribbons and embellishments.  Although, it would be tough.

[CarefreeSadie]

Gosh, this would be really hard for me.  All of my crafting is in one small room with a twin bed.  No matter where I was going it would all come with me.  I have sewing machines, material, paper, stamps, inks, tools (a lot of tools).  I have had my craft room as a part of my bedroom, as a part of a spare room, and in a closet.  These places have all been in the same house but as people have moved out I have moved to different areas.  At this point I would probably be apt to leave behind furniture instead of craft supplies.  I could live without part of my clothing before giving up my craft supplies.........and I love my clothing so this is saying a lot.  I think the room I am in now is 8 x 12 with shelves at either end of the long ends and a twin bed against the inside wall.  With the creative use of shelves I could use this room as my bedroom so if I had to move all my stuff would be coming along.

I am also in the frame of mind that if I own something now why would I give it up just to replace it down the road if I needed something similar.  So, I am absolutely no use in this discussion.  I very seldom purge, but I do throw away things that are dried up or no good after a certain period of time, so there is that.  I also throw away paper after I use it for laydown when spraying ink around.  So even the awful paper gets used in my craft room.  It has taken me 30 years to get the craft things I now own and I just can't see getting rid of any of it if I had to move.....

Looser, I am sorry I am no help in this discussion.  But I do wish you luck in your purging........

[yellowcherrios]

Oh this would be hard for me---I'm with Sadie in that I'd probably get rid of other stuff in the house first!  lol!  And not only that---if I think about what I wouldn't take with me in this pretend scenario----then I'd think, why do I even have it now IRL, lol!  (But that could be a good exercise for deciding things to give away or to buy/not to buy....)

But to answer your question---I could give up:

-all my 12x12 PP (though I'd just stuff my 6x6 in my purse since I only have a handful)
-some of my ribbon
-glues
-some of my stamps
-some of the inks

Take:

-all my distress pads and archival inks/Mementos
-Cameo
-Cuttlebug/EF
-Stamps
-all my colored/white CS
-colored pencils/pens

---after reviewing my lists, I basically would need to take any and all that I need to make at least basic cards for others.   

[howdyheidi]

I took this as a hypothetical that you had no choice but to downsize your craft supplies and then what choices would you make.  I do think it is a good point that you maybe could get rid of other stuff.  I do look at my craft supplies as an investment. 

[yellowcherrios]

I forgot to add I'd leave my punches behind...too heavy!

and depending on where I was going I might have to leave some of my craft "furniture" (though my furniture is a table, dresser drawer, and a shelf and a lazy-susan type object)---which made me wonder, Daniel--how are you handling not having "furniture" that housed your craft items--or are there some furniture you had to have also currently? ("furniture"=any object that holds, houses our craft items)

[Looser]

I took this as a hypothetical that you had no choice but to downsize your craft supplies and then what choices would you make.  I do think it is a good point that you maybe could get rid of other stuff.  I do look at my craft supplies as an investment.

Although this is IRL for me, Heidi, I did pose this as a hypothetical where you must downsize. That said, I do appreciate all the posts.

I too consider lots of my supplies an investment--even the tons of stuff I got from mfrs as designer samples/requests when I was doing pro-work for mags & pamphlets. From a dollar standpoint, however, I figure whatever I can get from selling stuff is better than trying to take it with me. Lots of this stuff hasn't been used for years--even a decade or 2.

Good 'Q' about craft furniture, Melissa. In my case theer is none I have or could take with me.

Yankee. Thanks for posting about storage rental. For this topic, however, that isn't an option. IRL for me, I simply couldn't afford it. But even if I could, this is about making hard choices. And so glad for the LOL posts from packrats like me.

[lovepug2]

This is a great topic, Daniel.

I do agree that supplies are an investment so it's tough to sometimes see what could be culled out. I know with clothing they say, if you haven't worn it in a year, it's time  to toss. I don't think that really applies to crafts though!
 
Here's what I would toss/donate
Ribbon and fibers. I'm a ribbon hoarder so this wouod be tough. I would limit myself to whatever I could fit in a ziplock Baggie.
Paper. I've got tons of 12x12 from my scrapbooking days. It takes up quite a bit of space so I would toss it.
Punches. I might keep 1 or 2 that I have and use often but the rest would go
Stickers. Still have tons from my sb days so I would toss those too.

What I would keep-
Stamps.  While I love my woodmount ones, I would unmount the ones I want to keep.
Distress inks and other stamping inks.  I don't think I could part with them! Granted my collection fits into 2 12x12 cases.
Cuttlebug and EF
Paper trimmer
White cardstock and a small selection of other solid colors.
Heat gun and a couple of EPs
Markers and colored pencils.

Since I don't have a craft room or a good space to store stuff(majority of my supplies are in the garage in a small storage locker) it's a bit easier for me to see what I could get rid of and something I've been considering with our move this year.
i used to be a pack rat but when baby #2 came along space got real tight here so I knew I had to downsize some of my stuff.

What really has worked for me and doesn't take up much space are the 12x12 iris scrapbook cases. They stack very well and have an attached lid.
I have several of these and I think they really help keep me organized and aware of what I have. I know how much is in them so once they're full, that's it!

I have one for distress inks. I keep my dis, a few of the stains I have, blender tools and sponges and a small rag in it.
One for my inks and stamping blocks.
One I keep all of my tools in(ruler, scissors, adhesives, pens,etc) I also keep my stencils in a ziploc Baggie in here too.
One for Coloring mediums
One for cardstock and vellum
And finally one for projects I'm working on.

Sorry this is a novel!

ETA an option for ribbons and fibers are space saver bags. Might be useful for clothing and such too. I have several that I use for blankets and clothing and it's amazing how well they work!

[Iring]

A few years ago I had the luxury of having someone help me gather up all of my craft supplies and try to move them to one room in the house (that I share with a futon for guests).  My "stuff" had kind of spread to lots of nooks and crannies all over the house.

We went through paper ... it was awful.  If I were to do it again, I would get rid of old collections, rather than sheet by sheet.  In fact, I could still stand to purge some paper.

She would ask me if it was something I would use/complete in the next 6 months?  I must have lied , haha!  because I know I still have some of those projects!  I have lots of good intentions ... they don't always come to fruition.  I'm still not sure whether that rule should apply to craft supplies.  Craft supplies cross boundaries ... so while I haven't cross-stitched in a few years, I'm pretty sure I will do it again some day and the floss can be used for cards and other projects.  So that means I would keep the embroidery floss

I know I could get rid of some punches.  They are heavy and some of them don't even punch very well.  Sometimes they cause more frustration than they are worth.  But for you Daniel, it might be different.  You get more use out of your punches than most people, nibbling away to make frames and such.

I'm talking to myself here too ... maybe if we look at our stuff, especially supplies that have been hanging around for years, as not always an investment, but sometimes as a liability.  It can weigh us down, give us guilt, keep us from treating ourselves to something new, stifle our creativity by the time we sift through it all ... Try to look at this as a freeing opportunity.  If you try, I will try too.

Sorry, one last thing ... when I was going through my big sort/purge.  It made me feel good to weigh my stuff as it went out the door.  Whether it was going to trash, donate, or recycle, I weighed it, and it felt good to know how many pounds I was shedding.

Good luck with the purge Daniel!  I feel your pain.  I'm a packrat.  I get attached to my stuff.

[Iring]

Ok.  I realize I didn't really answer the question.  I somehow got in advice mode and philosophical.  What would I get rid of if I absolutely had to do it?  I promise to keep it brief.

Thinking about it, I think I would be willing to purge some things if I kept what I really love, which I think is my stamps.  I can rarely, if ever, get rid of a stamp.  Ok, so if I love my stamps ... then maybe I can get rid of:

ribbon : I have too much.  I could probably cut it by half.

paper : also too much.  Yikes, I don't think I can say half, but maybe ditch 1/3

embellishments : I rarely use them.  I bet I could ditch 1/2  of the eyelets and never miss them.  Probably could get rid of even more.  If it was a dire situation, I could probably get rid of colored embellishments, keep white or metallics and color them with alcohol ink or sharpies when I need to.

punches : why did I buy all of those Martha Stewart border punches?  They take up space, don't always punch cleanly ... ugh!  Get over the money, it's gone, it won't come back if I keep them forever.

Ok, hope that helped!

[howdyheidi]

I'm talking to myself here too ... maybe if we look at our stuff, especially supplies that have been hanging around for years, as not always an investment, but sometimes as a liability.  It can weigh us down, give us guilt, keep us from treating ourselves to something new, stifle our creativity by the time we sift through it all ... Try to look at this as a freeing opportunity.  If you try, I will try too.

Yes!  You are right that while some things are investments, some were just poor purchases that maybe we should get rid of the item and the guilt! lol

[Craft Nerd]

Get over the money, it's gone, it won't come back if I keep them forever.

Excellent point.   I tend to fall into that trap a lot.

My other problem with purging is that I invariably find a use for an item that I had been holding onto for ages once I purge the item.