The Purge

I have, in some ways, become my church’s go-to person for old craft supplies. When people downsize their stash or have neighbors who downsize, they bring their old stuff to me. At first, I worried about this, but now I get it. 

This last batch of supplies came from a church friend whose neighbor wants his wife’s precious supplies to go to a good home since she’s no longer able to use them. He wants the joy the supplies gave to his wife to fuel someone else’s joy. That’s so sweet, isn’t it? 

Instead of over-thinking (as I have done in the past), I sorted through the stash pretty quickly. Three piles and trash. First pile, stuff I kept, the smallest pile. Second pile, stuff for our before-and-after school program at church. Third pile, Salvation Army, the largest pile that included wood-mounted rubber stamps. Very little went into the trash. The donation piles are in boxes in my car ready to deliver. 

I’ve told my husband that if I die before he does, he’s to ask my Facebook friends for help disposing of my stash. Or he can take it all to Salvation Army in one large truckload and be done with it. All these supplies will have done their job—given me years of creative fun and joy that I gave away happily. 

And just think how happy someone will be to find a fully functioning Big Shot with spare plates, a Betterpress, a high quality guillotine trimmer, and tons of useful dies, embellishments, cardstock, ink, and stamps for bargain-basement prices. Amen and hallelujah.

My summer plans include purging my unfinished basement area. We’ve begun the task, but it will take discipline and courage to tackle the mess. I love the concept of Swedish Death Cleaning…getting rid of our crap before it becomes a burden to our children. 

Playing around with an old Concord and 9th set, using a layout I’ve done before with colors I hardly ever use. But I like how it turned out. The photo is a bit darker than in real life, but you get the idea. This set is hard to get rid of…the poppies in it in particular really appeal to me. 

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,

Susan