my name is amanda, and i'm a crafting hoarder.

paul and i have been married for eight months now, yet as of this morning, my "wedding room" (originally our office, turned wedding project storage) looked exactly the same way it did the day we got married: like an episode of hoarders. packed to the tits with arts and crafts supplies, michael's bags full of fabulous shit, half started projects and a plethora of "i'll get to this one day", i put the clean up off for as long as i could. normally i keep the door to that 'martha stewart hell hole' closed shut, so i don't have a constant reminder of how horrendously embarrassing it is, but for some reason, this morning when i walked past to go for a piddle, i noticed the door had crept open. i peeked in. cringed back. looked again with one eye open, nope, still nasty. it was like watching someone catapult a watermelon right off the kisser, you don't want to watch, but you can't help yourself. in that moment i realized something about myself. it all sort of hit me like a tonne of bricks:

i, amanda cowley, am a crafting hoarder. 

everyone in unison: "hiiii amandaaaa"

now, only a handful of things have embarrassed me in my entire lifetime. like the time when i was 10, wearing my ma's bikini bottoms (that were too big, but not by much) in a canoe, and my uncle threw a sunfish that he had caught at me. in the blink of an eye, the fish flopped right into my bathing suit bottoms, cutting my wee arse right open. i have despised fish ever since, and will only go near one if it is on my plate with a side of veg. then there was the time i applauded a transgender male for having the balls to pull off dark lipstick, as most girls don't have the balls to even try it. but probably the most embarrassing moment, was the time i asked a girl if she was pregnant, not once, but three times, when she definitely, was not pregnant. 

what you are about to see, is one of the most embarrassing things i have ever shared in my life.

don't judge me. when i see something i like, or think i might need, i buy it. and then i put it in this room until i find an excuse to use it to make whatever it was that inspired me to buy it in the first place. as you can see, sometimes things sit around for a long time. i'm honestly horrified. tackling this room and all the jazz in it was something i put on my 30 by 30 list. i knew it had to be done, it was just a matter of when. and today, was the day. after a quick trip to wal-mart (paul can't know about the wal-mart purchases. i tell him i shop at canadian tire. he boycotted wal-mart a long time ago, but the canadian tire storage selection was subpar in welland today) i rushed home and got to work. for some reason, i have to make an even bigger mess to get to the point where i can start making sense of all the shit in front of me. but three hours later, i stepped back to appreciate my new found 'martha stewart heaven'. she would be proud.

it's amazing what $80 dollars worth of storage bins, a roll of shelf liner, three garbage bags of crap and two full recycle bins can do for you: i feel like i lost 10 pounds. i got to cross off another item on my list, and feel even more motivated to finish up some of the projects i have started, but haven't had time to get around to. today i hit rock bottom, and it changed my way of thinking. i plan to stay away from michael's for the next few months weeks, and will only buy supplies as i need them. no matter how pretty the paper or ribbon is, or how many 40% off coupons they try to shove down my pants.