Good Thing I Over Bought

I am going to admit something about myself. I have a lot of craft supplies. I probably have enough craft supplies to be able to needlepoint, quilt, bead, paint, scrapbook, and cross stitch for the rest of life and never purchase another supply. Now I certainly don’t have all the white vineyard vine fiber I might like for a life time, but if color is not an issue, I could go on. But color is always an issue, so I will need to purchase more fibers, at least for needlepoint. I have been working on some beaded Christmas ornaments and I realized I might have enough beads for a year’s worth of production.

In the past I have had a tiny amount of shame for the size of my “stash.” That is what your raw materials are called in the craft world. I have enough fabric to easily make a dozen or more quilts…If I didn’t care what colors went in them. But color does matter so sometimes I have to buy more fabric for a specific project, despite the fact that I have hundreds of yards of other fabric.

Today it was brought to my attention that there is a real shortage of many essential craft supplies. Needlepoint canvas that is made in Germany is having a shortage. This means you might be waiting longer for a painted canvas since the painter might have trouble getting the blank canvas.

I have never been more glad that I have this hoarding issue. I have plenty of painted canvases ready to go whenever I find the time to stitch them. I have a number of rolls of blank canvas just waiting for me to create. I need to get on working on my Christmas exchange ornaments, but I am not worried about the supply side, just my production mode.

Being forced to utilize what you have on hand leads to more creativity. It is the same in cooking. Some of the best meals I have ever made were created from trying to use up things I had on hand.

So use up what you already have. But also, don’t feel bad about building up a stash. You never know when “what in the world” might happen to create a shortage. I would like to use everything I have on hand before I die. So currently my plan is to live to 124 years old. By then I can work down all my stashes.