Tag: art supply no buy

Everything in one place

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment

So I decided not to make a written catalog of all of my art supplies because the idea was extremely daunting, especially after seeing the pile.

I included both my and my partner’s art supplies because we share with each other, even though some things are more mine and some things are more hers.

I ended up doing most of the decluttering as I removed things from the cabinet in the hallway. So what you see in that photo is pretty much just what was left as my “keep” pile. There were a few things though, like the Zebra Zensations mechanical colored pencils, and the 6 sheets of Canson XL watercolor paper, that went bye bye after this photo.

I decluttered all of my tempura paints (because I’m now using acrylics instead!), a Winsor and Newton Cotman travel watercolor set (I have every color in that set and more in my custom palette), several sets of Crayola crayons, and quite a few other miscellaneous little things. And that’s just the art supplies! I also donated a bunch of baby stuff that our daughter has already outgrown, some clothes that don’t suit me, and other random household items we no longer need.

This has been the biggest declutter since my first big purge back in January of 2019. Hard to believe I’ve been pursuing the minimalist lifestyle for so long now! I’m hoping the No Buy can help me do better now and in the future.

Although I’ve been fighting my hoarding tendencies over the last 3 years, I hadn’t really combatted the real root of the problem: my shopping addiction. I’ve learned to let things go when they stop serving me, but I haven’t learned to stop acquiring things in the first place. This lead me to buy things only to declutter them a week or two later!

I’m really happy with how I ended up reorganizing everything, made the whole process worth it. I’ll be back shortly with a separate post about that!

Art supply “No Buy” 2022?!

~ Ari October ~ 2 Comments

Recently I was gifted a pack of 60 acrylic paint markers from my partner, and a box easel from her dad! I’ve always wanted an easel, and I really love paint markers, so obviously this made me very happy.

I also bought myself the 320 pack of Ohuhu bullet/chisel duel tip markers (HUGE splurge, wow that was expensive!), 2 sets of 16 count 2oz Craft Smart acrylic paints, and a pad of Canson Oil & Acrylic paper.

I have a LOT of art supplies. I have decluttered them a few times, but I always end up buying more because my brain wants a shiny new thing. I have more unfinished sketchbooks on hand than I want to admit, and a whole cabinet of art supplies just collecting dust. In a lot of aspects I’m a minimalist, but art supplies are my weakness!

Quite simply, I am an art supply hoarder. No surprise there, I used to hoard everything, not just art supplies! It’s just a lot easier to talk myself into thinking I need a new art supply rather than the other random junk I used to accumulate.

So I’ve decided to take on a new challenge to hopefully make far more use of the things I already own… a No Buy year. Can I truly commit to not buying any new art supplies for a whole year? Only time will tell. I’m sure it can be done, but I have to be responsible and disciplined.

I’m not sure if I will allow myself to buy replacements for things I run out of. Maybe if it feels genuinely urgent for some reason. My Molotow liquid chrome marker is something I might consider getting another refill for if I were to somehow go through the entire refill I already have, as it’s my absolute favorite art supply. But maybe I shouldn’t!

I have so many things I need to use (or realize I’ll never use and thus donate) so it might be a good thing to run out of my favorite things! I do have a drawing tablet (an older Wacom, none of those fancy ones with the screens haha) so technically even if I ran out of ALL my traditional supplies I could still make art.

Since my problem is specifically hoarding and not just finances, I will also not allow myself to aquire new supplies for free unless I have a genuine need. If I completely run out of paper I may use scraps from the recycling bin for example, but otherwise, no free supplies from the charity, and I’ll have to tell people not to get me art supplies as gifts either.

Maybe in the future I can make a post where I catalog ALL of my art supplies. Maybe seeing it all in one place, KonMari style, will help me realize how bad the problem really is! And maybe I’d be able to declutter some things right away, things I know I truly do not need.

I’ll try to keep y’all updated with this challenge, as a way to hold myself accountable. Wish me luck!