Ruminations...

And not the kind a cow does.

I've had this crafty friend who I've known for many years now.  She was a lot like me, worked full time, had a family (hers are hubby and kids, mine is hubby and cats) and had lots of other things going on that limited her crafty time.  Like me she collected all sorts of stamps from all sorts of companies and all the inks, papers, supplies and embellishments that a girl could possibly need, along with all the latest and greatest tools and techniques.

A few years back she started selling one of those home party companies. For the longest time she continued on with her buying of various random companies along with the brand she sold.  But then she started slowing down on buying those "outside" companies.  She noticed that she didn't have the time to devote to using products from both her brand and other companies.  Then she started selling off some of her older off brand merchandise, realizing she'd never have time or space for it.

The one day in a big fell swoop she went through her craft room and got rid of almost everything that wasn't the brand she sold. That included not only the stamps, but the inks, papers, and embellishments as well.  She did keep a few of her old favorite stamps and stamp sets; the ones she'd pull out to use from time to time when she wanted to make something that wasn't from the brand she sold.

I was with her right until that last step.  It seemed so final and so concrete and I'm the queen of downsizing.  I wondered if "some day" when she had more time (you know, that magic some day we all keep waiting for) she would regret ditching it all and only owning that one company.

She doesn't.  She is retired now,  the kids are grown enough, and she has all that time and she is as pleased as punch with owning basically just the one company.  Oh sure, she occasionally buys a stamp or an embellishment from *gasp* someone else, but mostly it is just her company.

I'm starting to get it now that I'm selling A Muse Studio. I don't look through all my stacks, stashes, and piles of random cardstock--I go to the A Muse drawer and pull out what I need.  When I need a stamp, my brain first thinks of A Muse since I look through the catalog so often and point out pluses to other people.  When I think embellishments I think of bling, pearls, ribbon or washi all in A Muse colors and styles.  It's like I forget the other stuff exists.  As you can see on my blog I've turned away from a|s lately to use other companies but that's because I made a conscious decision to not use A Muse so much.  And that's not gonna last because I have samples to make!

The Fine Print: Top card stamps by Stampin' Up and bottom card stamp by Magenta, background papers by DCWV, flowers and ribbon from my stash, but the antique brass brads are A Muse because I "forgot" I own all sorts of brads but other people.  Don't be looking for me to get rid of everything I own that isn't A Muse though. Not yet anyway!