Creative Destashing

Something in Flash Bang Fiber's New Years post that I read a bit ago really resonated with me. (This post has been marinating as a "draft" for a bit now while I thought about what I wanted to say.)

I will stash dive as much as possible, since it thrills me to no end to "make due" when I'm sewing or scrapping or making cards. I'm way more inventive when I "have" to use stash to make something work or get across an idea.

That describes me well too. I love the challenge of putting together the things I have to create something new. It is true for not just my crafting stash but also in cooking. It forces you to think outside the box, and I am always gratified with what I can come up with.

I think that is the reason I like to "destash". It isn't really to "diet" so much as to challenge myself. It is really easy to just go out and buy what ever it occurs to me for a project. But I find the projects that excite me the most, that I want to just sit and work on most, are usually the ones when I am working from my stash.

This is the reason, I can't really see myself as ever being the type of person who buys materials just for the project at hand. I know a couple of people who do not stash to any real extent, but at least some. The expression "marinating in [one's] stash" is perhaps overly popular one, but it is also quite apt.