Category: hoarding

Let’s Fill Those Pockets, Part 2

by Tanya

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. —Albert Schweitzer

This is one reason I love doing pocket letters. It allows me to send a little spark of hope, friendship, laughter, or love to my friends. Jennifer and I have known each other for more than 20 years, and most of those years we’ve been separated by hundreds of miles. Mailing each other cards, notes, stickers (I got those yesterday!), packages, and now pocket letters has kept our friendship alive and well. I believe in connections. But connections break if we don’t tend to them. This project we’re working on together in this set of blogs can strengthen the bonds of friendship no matter the distance between the sender and receiver.

Today we’re going to finish that pocket letter! Get out your supplies, including the cards you’ve cut to size. Let the fun begin!

FIRST: I like to insert all of my cards and arrange them in a way that’s random, attractive, and colorful.

   Front (see the binder holes on the left?)
Back

My mixed-bag of papers has a loose theme that could be kitchen-y or calico-y or retro. I just liked how all of the patterns and colors worked together.

NEXT: Now I get to go digging through my containers of embellishments. (I won’t admit how many of those I have.) I’m looking for stickers, decorative elements, etc. to add to each card. Here’s one of my hoards:

ALSO NEXT: The next photos will show you how I took different paper cards and applied stuff to them. 

     

    

ALMOST DONE: After every card has its special message, design, or gift included (tea bags fit perfectly in a pocket!), just put them into the spaces until the page is filled (on both sides if you want).

I added some tea bags to three pockets in the back before sending this PL to one of my new friends, Linda. (Hi, Linda!)

Sending? That’s right! These are meant to be mailed. Just accordion-fold the three horizontal sections and the whole thing fits a standard business-size envelope. If it weighs less than 13 ounces, you only need one first-class stamp. Most of mine take two stamps—sometimes I add a third one if the envelope is extra-thick.

So try one! There’s nothing about this that has to be perfect. It’s easy, creative, and filled with love. That’s almost as good as a doughnut!

Send me your photos of finished or in-progress pocket letters. I’d love to share them with my blog followers and on my Heartfelt Crafts Facebook page. Send them to me at tanya (at) heartfeltcrafts (dot) com.


 

Oh, the hoarders, the hoarders!

by Tanya

When I watched a couple of episodes of Hoarders, I had to look away whenever one of the hoarders said, “No, I have to keep that. I might need it,” or “Oh, I forgot I had that. I can’t throw that away.” How many times have I heard those phrases inside my own head while cleaning out drawers, shelves, or boxes? Although the show has not scared me neat, it definitely makes me pay attention to what I tell myself whenever I look at all my “stuff.”

My stuff tends to fall into two large groups: books and craft supplies. I am not a shoe collector, nor do I collect any particular collectibles (both of which my husband is very happy about). The problems I run into with the books and crafts are the niggling thoughts that someday I might read that book again, or I might want to use that 6″ piece of ribbon for a card someday. And I know why I don’t just give some of my books to, say, Goodwill or some other secondhand service. I want the next owner to care as much about that book as I did. I don’t want it to languish on a shelf or in a pile somewhere, getting old and ratty and musty. (UPDATE: I just gave away two large bags of books to the local library. Then I went out and got more books. Oh, well.)

The craft items are hard to give up because they’re pretty or they’re part of a kit I have almost finished or I had this idea of a new craft project…the list of excuses goes on and on. The main reason I have so much stuff (and such a variety) is that I love all kinds of crafts. I love to crochet (yarn, needles, books, pamphlets, more yarn, crochet thread); I love to sew by hand (thread, needles, fabric, felt, buttons buttons buttons, rickrack, ribbon); I sometimes use a sewing machine (thread, fabric, patterns, buttons buttons buttons, interfacing, trims, zippers); I used to cross stitch (floss, fabric, needles, floss, floss, books) but my eyes don’t let me enjoy that like I used to. Don’t even get me started on all the paper crafts (paper of all kinds, colors, patterns, sizes; rubber stamps; ink; colored pencils; markers; paints; embossers; scissors; punches).

Why do I feel like I need to join a recovery/support group after writing all this?

The truth is, I’m really good at this stuff. And in life, it feels good to be good at something. So if I have to put up with feeling guilty for having too much just so the stuff will be there when I want to express my creativity in some crafty fashion, then I guess I need to make peace with the piles o’ supplies.

But I’ll let you know if I decide to finally have that craft-themed garage sale.