Gratitude and no, I've not stopped stamping :)

Hey, y'all! No card today, sorry. Rather than stamping between the dishes and the laundry I've been painting between the dishes and the laundry! I do sit in my stamping area when I'm taking a break from all the painting and chores and homeschooling, but instead of making cards I'm going through all of my outdated Stampin' Up! markers and cardstock and am getting to know them again. I'm adding some pieces of newer (but actually older) cardstock to update my cardstock deck and making new charts for my markers and ink pads. One thing I've noticed is that many of my markers don't match their pads and papers anymore. If I'd never found this out I might have ruined a piece of artwork with a totally unsuitable color by mistake, thinking it would match since the name is the same. So I made new charts and can now see which ones match and which ones don't. The charts also help me match my Copics with the cardstock and ink pads. I had some old charts, but they were a bit faded and didn't represent all of the colors I now own. It was time for an update.

So, I'm feeling really good about what I have and am staying away from all the new SU! colors until I decide it's time to add some more to my collection. 

I'm really trying to exercise contentment in this area of my life because it shipwrecked me once before.

I saw this on Pinterest and it made me think of my stamping philosophy these days:

It really does, doesn't it? I. have. enough. I used to spend so much on my stamping habit. I went nuts! It was a regular embarrassment for me to have my wonderful husband see just how much I had spent. And the temptation to hide it from him was also there. But since he does the budget for our family, it was only a matter of time before he would know. And he is the sweetest, most amazing man and never belittled me or shamed me. He just gave me the facts and I couldn't help but feel the brunt of my choices. It often meant that our emergency fund was gone or much smaller because it had to cover my overspending. Or we couldn't get something we had wanted. You see, we don't do debt anymore (except for a mortgage). Was all of that spending worth it? No.

So now I am happily rediscovering old stamp sets in my collection as if they were new and I'm learning to appreciate all the colors of paper and ink that I have. I'm getting back into trying or relearning techniques that make my old stuff seem new again.

And it's enough. And I love that.