Questions & Answers: How did I get started?

PTI's: Glitter Strip Challenge

I thought I would take some time to answer a couple questions I have received in the last couple of weeks.

How did I get started with my papercrafting hobby?

I remember two very specific events happening.

1. I was graduating from college (first generation college grad) and my parents were throwing me a party to celebrate my accomplishment.  I went to the stores to look for invites and none of them were special enough for my momentous celebration so I went back to my apartment and created my own from construction paper.  The invites were shaped like a graduation cap.  I drew the tassel on with a gold marker (school colors are black and gold), on the back I simple printed up the invite details and mailed them off to all my friends and family.

2.  Approximately a year later, my husband (then boyfriend and roommate) was going to be leaving for a study abroad trip in Europe for a WHOLE month and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself while he was gone.  Man, what I would give for that kind of a break from him now, haha.   I decided to go to Barnes and Noble and find a good book to read while he would be gone but instead I found in their clearance section a simple rubber stamp set and I (and it) was sold.  I remember bringing it home and him say something on the lines of, "well don't spend too much on this because you're not going to stick with it and you'll just have wasted your money".  Here we are nine years later and not only have I stuck with it but now I "waste" OUR money on it.  I like to tease him that I stick with it out of spite.

How much money do I have invested in this hobby?

A lot.  I 'm sure it is even more than I think it is.   I live with a financial conservationist (nice way of saying cheap) and this topic comes up a lot.  To be honest (please don't tell him) I love him for his cheapness. I think it is one of his best qualities and I do mean that in a good way.  If I were going to be completely honest, I am also a financial conservationist in a lot of areas.  My papercrafting hobby is not one of those areas.  In order to be able to afford my hobby, I make sacrifices in other areas (like on my husband's clothes....just kidding).  I have a month spending budget of $100 and I usually go over that.  I've been looking at areas in my budget that I can cut so I can increase this to $150, it just hasn't happened yet...for now I just keep going over the $100 budget amount.  

Card Ingredients:  I made the spiral paper from Papertrey Ink's (PTI) Mini scrapbook series: library ledger and spiral punch from Stampin Up.  The red ledger is just drawn in with a red marker.  The craft tag was created with a tag die from sixxix.  The paper & pencil image, "you have the write stuff" sentiment, and blue frame are from PTI's Tiny Treats: Valentine.  The "friend" sentiment is from PTI's star prints set.  There are three different glitter strips added with two different sized double sided adhesive runners.  I used 3D foam to make the circle stand off the paper.