A series whereby we talk about creating a thoughful stash. My previous posts on this journey can be found here.

The idea and impetus for Stash Less arose from shock – I went away for six months and on my return I was totally bowled over by how much stuff I had accumulated through my years of making. The time away gave me perspective and opened my eyes to what I had. And ultimately it changed my life.

My spending habits changed for sure as did my making, and the way I go about coming up with new project, but it also changed something more subtle. By establishing boundaries around my spending on craft, I found that I spent less time in a desire state thinking about the future and more time focused on the possibilities of now. What was/is before me at this very moment. I'm much more conscious of my consumption, and how it affects my life, and not just in terms of my making. Subtle but pretty profound.

Now I still have work to do regarding my habits around purchasing, hoarding (let's just call a spade a spade shall we) and using my materials. And I also have many ideas and resources that I am yet to share with you on this topic - so Stash Less will continue as a regular-ish series. But I wanted to take it a little further and see if you lot are interested in playing along in some way.

You see the thing is that as I've been posting about Stash Less, so many of you have pinged me to say that mindful consumption of materials is something that you too have issues with. And while you may not want to engage in the challenge in the way that I have, that you have been thinking about your purchasing. I want to encourage it, create community around it, and see more of what you are up to. I learn so much from your comments and ideas.

So here is what I'm suggesting; there will be two ways to participate...

1. A monthly challenge -  An idea or an exersize to get you thinking and to assist you in your journey to a mindful stash. One we share so that we can learn from each other. I'm going to ask you to leave me a comment in the blog to direct me to your instagram or blog where I see what you are up to around that particular challenge. First challenge will be set next week. 

2. Every three months I'm going to give away a (good :)) prize for my favourite Stash Less project created during that time - Jan to March, April to June etc. I'll post about it in more detail but I want to make sure we are highlighting the work people are doing to get creative with their stash. I love watching your projects pop up on instagram using the #stash_less hashtag and can't wait to see more of them as we progress through the year. 

Finally, because I want this challenge to be all about the joy then feel free to jump in and out throughout the year as your other life commitments allow - for the month, for a few months or play along for the whole year.

First challenge will be posted next week. In the meantime, are you interested thinking about your stash?

Felicia x

PS. I LOVED all your comments on Tuesday's would you or wouldn't you post. I can't wait to be able to sit down and read through them in detail. It's school holidays here so computer time is non-existant. Hopefully tomorrow, as I can see there were so many good, inspiring ideas. xx