Tag: no buy

No Buy 2026: What, Why and How

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment
Small poster made from an index card reads: NO BUY 26 Jan 15 2026 through Jan 15 2027 Clothes If you need it sew it you have plenty already. Art supplies Markers, pens, pencils, paint use up your stash pan it. Fabric Get it for free at the library Books use the library, Libby Dolls and toys Appreciate what you already have
This is a mini poster I created for my closet door as a constant reminder of what I’m doing and why. Also makes a good TLDR for this post!

What

This year I will not be buying anything from the following five categories:

  • Clothes
  • Art Supplies
  • Fabric
  • Books
  • Dolls & Toys

Why

First of all, it just so happens to be convenient timing that I am starting this challenge at the beginning of the year. It could have been the middle of August and I still would have chosen to do a 365 day No Spend Challenge given the circumstances I had put myself into. This No Buy started on the 15th of January and will continue until the 15th of next January.

Let’s talk about the circumstances that led to me taking on this challenge:

I realized that I had prioritized buying little plastic women over my physical needs, when it occurred to me how much trouble I was having sleeping on my old mattress. With no money left to address this issue, I hit a rock bottom.

Debt is something I have feared for most of my life after seeing my parents struggle under the burden of it. So the fact that I got into even a small amount of debt in order to pay for a DOLL of all things absolutely baffles me. Retrospectively I really can’t believe I did that!!

One shouldn’t use pay-in-4 for a piece of plastic. Going into unsecured debt for things we can objectively live without, especially novelty items, is honestly ridiculous. I am really glad I realized this before I had done even more damage.

And while I do love many of the dolls I purchased, I could have purchased them slower and more sustainably. It would have been wiser to spread out my purchases in order to fit them into the confines of my small budget, instead of stretching my budget to fit my voracious appetite.

Not to mention how spoiled this was making my daughter, since I share my collection with her. I saw it affecting her too. She got used to frequent shopping trips and would influence me to buy even more. I’ve had to explain this No Buy to her and apologize for my behavior. I’m grounded, I told her! Surprisingly, she has taken this quite well.

My goal is to deprioritize shopping and no longer have it be a hobby for me. I am sick of feeling like anything short of prowling through thrift stores is boring, and I’m running out of space for more stuff anyway!

Most importantly, I want to embrace an abundance mindset and appreciate what I already have.

How

Not buying things isn’t always as simple as it sounds, so I had to make a plan of action. Each category has its own plan so I will break this part into five chunks.

Category #1: Clothes

Not only do I have more clothes than I actually wear on a regular basis, (despite having a notably smaller wardrobe than practically everyone I know,) but I’ve also spent much of the last year learning machine sewing and the basics of garment drafting and construction. If I am truly in need of something I can ask around or sew it myself.

I believe this category will be extremely easy. I will also not be needing any new bags or accessories. Shoes likely won’t be an issue either because I already have a backup replacement of my everyday shoes waiting in my closet. My hardcore minimalist phase taught me I need significantly less clothes than I had originally thought.

Category #2: Art Supplies

I’ve done this before. I only made it to the end of October, but 10 months of not buying is still a big deal and a huge victory in my books! However, I am confident in my ability to stick it out through the whole 12 months this time.

In my opinion I have not been using what I have enough to justify how much I own. In fact I’ve actually been continuously on a Low Buy since that initial No Buy, and I still feel like I have way too much, even after many rounds of decluttering.

I feel like I make more art when I’m limited to just one art supply, like a single ballpoint pen, which is kind of what I’ve been doing lately. I tried Inktober again this year, and for fun I decided to make it Pinktober. I was only allowed to use pink art supplies. This mostly resulted in me only using a pink ballpoint pen. I am still working on that challenge and that sketchbook!! It might take me all year but I will get it done eventually.

I am going to count jewelry making supplies in this category as well. Findings can be purchased if necessary to complete a project, but any beads or charms will have to wait. I have plenty already. And I have polymer clay, as well as resin, to make my own! It’s even more gratifying to make something completely from scratch anyway.

Category #3: Fabric

This one is a little more complicated, because I am still very much allowed to acquire fabric, I just can’t be spending any money on it. This is because my local library has a fantastic fabric swap, apparently we have a huge local quilting community! There is so much fabric I can acquire for free, there’s really no good reason for me to spend money on this category.

Notions can be purchased as necessary to complete a project. However, I’m required to shop my stash first and see if there isn’t a suitable substitute.

Category #4: Books

Quite simply, I do not read physical books enough to justify buying any more, and I am running out of room to store them!

Thanks to the ADHD I’m far more of an audiobook person, I process books better and remember them more clearly when I’m listening and doing something simple and repetitive with my hands. Like drawing, or hand sewing!

I have a fantastic library system at my disposal, that comes with a large catalog on Libby as well. This is a privilege denied to many. It’s not like I don’t use it though, more than half of the books I’ve purchased come from my library’s book sale!

Considering my very limited income, it’s silly that I’m spending any money on books that I don’t even read when I could just check them out instead. Libraries are awesome!

Category #5: Dolls and Toys

Ah yes, the category that started this whole thing! It was really hard for me to add this, everything else is so easy in comparison, but it is probably the most important category for me to tackle. It sounds so silly because mass manufactured toys, mere fancy pieces of plastic, are not at all essential.

The fact of the matter is that I was being influenced into purchasing more than I really needed to. I have noticed it has been quite easy not to buy dolls because I have significantly cut back on my doll related media consumption. When it comes to dolltube, I only watch restoration and crafting videos now. I am not allowed to watch shop-with-me, hauls, unboxings, or review type content anymore.

Even though my YouTube channel about my doll hobby originally started with thrift haul restorations, I have decided to change my focus but keep making videos. I am going to make the kind of content I want to see, doll appreciation videos that do not center around buying and accumulating.

Primarily I will be restoring dolls I already own, sewing them clothes, and crafting accessories for them. I will also openly discuss my No Buy whenever it feels relevant. I have stopped calling myself a doll collector and moved towards the label of doll enthusiast instead.

In conclusion

I really just need to de-center shopping as a hobby and pastime. I already see the benefits and it hasn’t been that long. At the time of writing this, it has been 21 days since I’ve made any purchases in any of these categories. I’m past the acute withdrawal stage, I no longer feel a burning desire to go to the mall or hit up a bunch of thrift stores. I blocked eBay and Mercari on my phone as well, so that I would not be tempted by scrolling. In fact, I have these websites reroute to the shopping addiction subreddit using a site blocker add-on for Firefox!

Place your bets now! Will I succeed with a home run? Absolutely no purchases in any of these categories? Will I have just a few slip-ups here and there, getting right back on the horse every time I fall off? Or will I throw in the towel before Spring is over? Only time will tell!

Wish me luck, and hold me accountable, I’m going to need it.

The blog is back!

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment

I found that I miss blogging about my art and crafting endeavors very much, and I’ve considered returning many times, but I haven’t set aside the time to do so.

The “cocoon project” as I called it, in which I stopped posting any art online for a year, did have its benefits, but it went much further than the one year I planned on. In the end there was a point in which it stopped being beneficial, and I found myself needing to share my work again. Maybe that means it’s finally time for me to break out of my cocoon and try out my new wings.

I restored most of my old posts, culling only what I truly didn’t want in my archives anymore. I had thrown them all into my drafts. I couldn’t bring myself to really delete all of them, and I’m glad that’s the case. I painstakingly made sure to keep them in their original post order, though unfortunately in some cases the true original publishing date or time is off by a bit. WordPress makes it a little too easy to mess that up!

Recently I have found myself becoming a little bit of a YouTuber. I’ve been making videos about restoring dolls, which includes some sewing. Machine sewing is a new skill I took on in the last year. I found while learning sewing I felt a strong desire to blog about the process of learning this brand new skill I have wanted to acquire my whole life.

I’m also taking on a 365 day No Buy challenge of certain 5 categories of items, which includes art supplies as well as dolls and toys. The need to blog about this has been eating at me! Sharing my journey strengthens my resolve and gives my challenge purpose.

So yeah, I’m back. I have to be! This blog is the closest thing I ever had to a consistent journal and in retrospect I can see the tangible benefits of maintaining this blog during the time I did. I deeply regret that I ever left. I know I was feeling overwhelmed, but a simple smaller hiatus would have sufficed.

More to come, hopefully quite soon. But for now… I need a nap! See you later!

Art Supply No Buy: I’m throwing in the towel!

~ Ari October ~ 1 Comment

Do I regret attempting to go an entire 365 day year without buying any new art supplies? Absolutely not! Is it time for me to admit defeat however? Ultimately, yes.

This isn’t to say that I’m now going to go on a wild shopping spree and buy every single thing that has tempted me over the course of this year! I intend to continue on with a Low Buy for the foreseeable future. I want to buy new supplies on a “need” basis, rather than just because I’m itching to try something new. There’s no need for me to buy, for example, chalk pastels if I haven’t already come up with a project in my head that would benefit from having that particular supply.

Earlier this month I decided I wanted to make my 1 year old a low hanging gallery wall in our shared bedroom with simple artworks for her to admire. The biggest problem with this though, is that we had run out of nontoxic art supplies! The crayons we had bought for her to use were constantly going in her mouth, so we would dispose of them as she’d break them to prevent a choking accident. I needed her to be able to touch the art, even rip it off the wall and chew on it if she so desired. Nontoxic supplies are an absolute must for a project such as this.

And for a while I had been wanting some cheap water-based markers for coloring pages and quick washes of color in my sketchbooks. I love my alcohol markers but they always ghost and sometimes bleed through pages. They are also inherently more expensive, even though we use the inexpensive Ohuhu brand, so I am a bit precious with them. Using them for coloring pages feels wasteful somehow, even when it’s my own lineart I am coloring!

So I caved, and I bought a 50 count set of Creatology water-based markers. (NOT sponsored.) I have to say, I am extremely satisfied with this purchase, and I find they were worth breaking my No Buy over. And with this purchase, I was able to do what I set out to do, and created a cute gallery wall for my daughter’s viewing pleasure!

At first I felt a lot of guilt about this purchase, despite buying them for a good reason at such a low cost. As I investigated these feelings I started to wonder who I was even doing the No Buy for! I have concluded that my circumstances have changed since the time I decided to do a No Buy in the first place, and I have already grown significantly as an artist through this challenge. Finishing up 5 abandoned sketchbooks in 10 months is no small feat after all! This challenge also helped me realize I really do thrive while working on just one main sketchbook at a time!

Something else that necessitates changing up some of my tools is that I’ve realized I’m leaving my mandala period. It slowly snuck up on me and I never saw it coming, but creating mandala art no longer brings the same kind of joy it once did. For some naive reason I thought I’d be specializing in mandala forever… Now I question why I ever expected that. I’m certain I will still create mandalas on occasion, especially digitally for coloring pages, but they’re just not my main thing anymore and I have recently come to accept that. Now I am missing the giant set of Ohuhus I bought and donated out of buyer’s remorse… when I was specializing in mandala it felt unnecessary, but they would definitely suit the work I am making now so much better. Oh well, live and learn.

So while I might be unceremoniously ending my No Buy early, I promise it’s with the best of intentions. I have zero regrets about taking on this No Buy, and zero regrets about ending it earlier than planned! I have learned so much and I intend to carry those lessons with me through the rest of my life.

I will see you all again in the next few days as we welcome in November and celebrate the ending of Inktober! Until then, take care, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

I actually had to buy a sketchbook!

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve read the post about my new sketchbook system you may recall me mentioning one of my “travel” category sketchbooks being bigger than I’d like. Recently I came to realize that it’s too big to fit in my cargo pants or fanny pack! I had two options: move that sketchbook to the “medium to large white paper” category, or let it go. Using a bigger bag wasn’t an option for me, due to my disabilities I need to carry as little weight as possible, and I have a tendency to fill all the space in any bag I use!

A few weeks ago I met my friend’s 4 year old daughter and we had a blast drawing together, and since I’d learned she didn’t have a sketchbook of her own, yesterday I decided to ask her mom if it was okay to give that sketchbook to her. They were both thrilled by the present!

With that taken care of, I was left without any excess travel sketchbooks in the overflow cabinet! My No Buy rules allow for replacements and refills as necessary, so I was allowed to buy one. I knew I wanted one of the exact size I’ve been using since it fits perfectly in both my cargo pants and my fanny pack, but isn’t ridiculously small either!

In order to not torture or tempt myself I actually sent my partner into the craft store for me! With her help we picked out a recycled paper sketchbook by Artist Loft. (Not sponsored!!) They were out of the exact sketchbook I had been using, but this one has the same page count, weight, is the same width and is only .5″ longer. I am excited about trying recycled paper- I think the little speckles in the pages might help me fight against the fear of the blank page!

(Image from the Michael’s website)

Well that’s all for now. I’ll make a sketchbook highlights post when I finish up this current travel sketchbook, which will be soon! I’ll see you then, take care in the meantime!

My sketchbook system: 4 is the magic number!

~ Ari October ~ 6 Comments

(If you take a sip of water every time I use the word “sketchbook” in this post, you should be quite hydrated by the time you’re done reading!)

Like many artists, I have suffered from constantly craving a shiny new sketchbook. I would often buy a new one before finishing the one I was working in, leaving the old one to collect dust. This is why one of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2022 was to finish filling 3 of those partially-filled sketchbooks, and at the beginning of July I was able to achieve that goal! Yesterday I went above and beyond, completing a fourth!

Through my Art Supply No Buy I have come to accept that I am not a “sketchbook monogamist” and that variety of materials is important to me. Tidiness and a minimalistic lifestyle are also important to me though, so I have come up with a system: I may have 4 sketchbooks active at any one time, but they each have their own use. These four categories of sketchbook are as follows:

  • One medium to large, white paper, dry or mixed media sketchbook.
  • One medium to large, black paper, mixed media sketchbook.
  • One watercolor paper sketchbook, of any size or color.
  • One pocket size sketchbook, of any media or color.

These categories allow me to have just enough variety for all the mediums and sizes I want to work with, while also giving me a hard limit on sketchbooks to prevent over-purchasing. When I run out of sketchbooks in one category at that point I may purchase one new one for the same category. So for example: if I fill up my black paper sketchbook I may buy a new black paper sketchbook, but not a new sketchbook of any other category… No matter how tempting the options may be!

My No Buy rules allow for replacements and refills when necessary. Because of this, depending on just how much I create this year, I could possibly find myself purchasing a new sketchbook before the year is over. Black paper is the category I am most likely to actually go all the way through, because I only have one small pad of black paper in surplus besides the sketchbook I am currently working in. We will just have to see what happens, but that could be quite exciting!

I decided to take an inventory of all the sketchbooks I have left that are waiting to be filled:

  • 2 in the medium to large white paper category, the larger one is about half-full and the other is completely empty.
  • 2 in the black mixed media category, one is about half-full and the other is a pad of removable paper I have only used one sheet from.
  • 2 in the travel size category, although they are a bit bigger than I’d prefer. In the future sketchbooks of this size will be in the medium to large category, I just don’t want to buy anything right now so they will stay put. The smaller one is about half-full, the other is completely empty.
  • 1 in the watercolor category, with a few pages full. You would think I might find myself needing another before the end of the year, but with a crazy almost-9-month-old it is hard to find time to watercolor.

Between filling up 4 sketchbooks and donating a few others, I have dropped my surplus numbers into the single digits! This is very exciting for me. I now see a number of sketchbooks I could imagine myself filling in the next 12 months, maybe even less, especially if I keep drawing as often as I have been lately.

I have to attribute a lot of this success to my change in lifestyle choices. I have not been playing video games for 42 days now, and over the last several years I have been working on cutting down on my internet consumption and overall screen time. Forcing oneself to allow for a healthy dose of boredom works wonders for increasing creativity and productivity, at least in my personal experience! Now I find drawing to be fun, a time for play and exploration, when previously it mostly felt like work and a chore compared to the instant gratification of the digital world.

Obviously technology still serves me, as I am currently writing this blog post on my smart phone. It has just become more of a tool than an entertainment device! I am currently very satisfied with my relationship to my tech and my art. It’s such a pleasure to be able to deliver such news!

It’s nice to get another post out again so soon, last night’s achievement has given me some momentum! My next post may take a while longer, but I will see you all there when it’s done. Stay safe and healthy!

Art Supply No Buy: Mid-year check in!

~ Ari October ~ 1 Comment

Last week I let you all know that I had made a mistake and broke my No Buy rules. I never really laid my rules out in a list, so I’ll give that a go now:

  • No purchasing new art supplies, duh!
  • Replacements and refills ONLY and only when genuinely necessary.
  • Borrowing is only okay occasionally, prioritize using owned supplies.
  • Buying things that aren’t necessarily art supplies with the intention to use them as art supplies is NOT allowed.
  • Upcycling trash is allowed, but buying something you wouldn’t have bought with the intention of upcycling the packaging is NOT allowed.
  • Trying free digital art programs is okay, taking free traditional art supplies is not.
  • Organizational items (such as pencil pouches, desk organizers) don’t count as art supplies and are okay to buy if there is a genuine need.
  • Art supply gifts should be discouraged, but if given by someone ignorant of the No Buy may still be accepted. Don’t use gifted items until 2023 unless they would become unusable by then.
  • Buying art merch from fellow small artists, such as stickers, prints, or pin buttons, is ok and actually encouraged.
  • Don’t look for loopholes, if it feels like it would violate the rules then it would.
  • If you stumble or fall just pick yourself back up and keep going. You haven’t failed unless you give up entirely.

(All instances of the word “you” in that list are referring to myself, but feel free to follow my rules if you like them and think they would apply to your own No Buy!)

Now that I’ve laid down the rules, we can see that I have violated the first rule once by buying a phone stylus that doubles as a ballpoint pen. Since this is my first and only slip-up this entire year so far I am actually quite proud of myself! This whole thing is turning out to be a lot easier than I expected.

Since I am not buying any art supplies until 2023 I started a shopping list for when the No Buy is finally over. Only items I think would truly benefit me made this list, there have been many temptations but these all feel like logical purchases!

  • Pentel pocket brush pen
  • Magnetic drawing board toy
  • Top coat for acrylic painting
  • Base coat for acrylic painting
  • Button press machine

The Pentel pocket brush pen is something I’ve only heard good things about and definitely suits my art style. I love using brushes, I love refillable things, and I love things that are very portable. It would definitely be great for limiting my supplies for my travel sketchbook. I have had black brush pens before, such as the Sakura Pigma brush pen, but never ones with bristles and never refillable. This may actually be the item I look forward to most, though it is small and simple I think it will be a game changer.

The magnetic drawing board will be perfect for my daughter and I to get creative together as she will be just the right age to start doodling when the No Buy is over. I also just want one for myself to revisit childhood memories and make some low-effort art without the guilt of “wasting” paper!

Painting rocks is something I’ve really wanted to get into for a while now, especially because a local park we go to actually requests you paint rocks and leave them there! It doesn’t feel right to start now though, as I have so much paper to get through, and it really is advised to use a top coat to seal the rocks so they will last longer outside.

The button press machine is a big pricey investment, especially since I don’t plan on selling pins for profit, but it is something I have wanted for over 5 years. The first time I got to use one was at a pride festival and since then I have always thought it would be awesome to make my own pins and help others make some too!

The shopping list definitely soothes my anxiety about things I think I “Need To Have” because I know I can survive another 6 months without them and I won’t forget anything important. I can always add or remove items as my needs change as well. It gives me lots of time to think about the item and I won’t make any impulse purchases. I really think this shopping list is probably the thing helping me the most through this challenge so far, otherwise I may have slipped up (in a more serious way) by now!

I don’t really consider buying that stylus pen a true slip up because it was a genuine accident. I was rushing to get in and out of the Dollar Tree as fast as possible, I didn’t take time to look at the item thoroughly, and honestly my No Buy was the furthest thing from my mind that night. Accidents happen and there’s no point in dwelling on something so silly. Nonetheless I still found it important to hold myself accountable, I can learn from my mistake and avoid doing the same thing again in the future.

Recently I have decluttered even more art supplies that I haven’t touched the entire first half of this year, many of which suited my mom’s needs so they went to her. Anything else went to the local charity that will give them away for free to families in need. I started my minimalism journey in 2019 and since then I have come to believe if I am not using something it is selfish of me to hold on to it when someone else could be using it. I still tend to hold onto things for quite a while before deciding to get rid of them, because sometimes things do come in handy later on.

I find it incredibly rewarding to pass an item on to someone who will value it so much more than I do, especially because I understand exactly how it feels to be on the receiving end, I grew up very poor and the same charity I donate to now served me and my family back then. The markers I regretted buying probably made a huge difference in a child’s life, and because of that I no longer regret buying them. When I end up donating something I regret purchasing. I just keep in mind that it’s like buying a gift for someone else, and that puts my mind at ease. I won’t let the sunk cost fallacy keep me prisoner any longer!

In summary, so far so good. I look forward to finishing this year out strong, hopefully with no more accidents! I will not let one tiny mistake ruin all the progress I have made over these last 6 months. I hope the lessons I learn from this No Buy will stay with me through the rest of my life, and maybe I won’t have the need to do No Buys in the future. I already feel that I have learned a lot about myself, my art, and my shopping habits through the first 6 months of this challenge.

My next No Buy check-in will be in a few months, probably around the beginning of Autumn. There should be plenty of new posts between now and then, so I’ll see you in the next one. I hope you have a wonderful day!

I accidentally violated my No Buy rules… Oops!!

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment

Today I bought a pack of two stylus pens from The Dollar Tree to use with my phone. Unfortunately, I overlooked the fact that they are actual pens as well. Since they actually work surprisingly well I am certain I will end up using them as pens too, making this the first and only art supply I have bought in 2022.

Hopefully I can avoid making any more mistakes like this for the rest of the year, but what is done is done so I will just keep on going! Might as well just enjoy the new shiny toys since I have them now, the only alternative is to donate them and that feels silly since they do what I needed them to do.

Just wanted to make a quick post to hold myself accountable. See you in the next one!

Art supply No Buy: 1st check-in

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment

Wow, it’s already March! How?!

Well first of all, I’ve decided that I’ll be on a sketchbook No Buy for the foreseeable future, not just until 2023. If I run out of a specific-use sketchbook, say I fill up my watercolor sketchbook from front to back, at that point I may buy ONE new watercolor sketchbook.

I had to implement this rule because I have 4 really tiny travel sketchbooks (the pages are 5.5cm x 10cm!) that are specifically for putting into my purse so I can doodle when I’m out and about. If I wasn’t allowed to buy ANY new sketchbook until 100% of my sketchbooks were completely filled… That just wouldn’t work out well for me. I like to work in different mediums and at different sizes.

In the future I’d like to have active at any time: 1 travel sketchbook, 2 medium or large sized sketchbooks (one with white paper and one with black paper!), and 1 watercolor sketchbook. This is how I tend to work anyway, but I have a lot of excess in the medium/large white paper sketchbook department!

What’s tempted me in these last few months? Not too much! I’ve been avoiding watching product reviews (unless it’s something I already own) and I don’t let myself step into arts and craft stores. When passing the arts and craft isles in grocery stores I literally put my hand up to avert my gaze and say aloud, repeatedly: “DON’T LOOK AT THE ART SUPPLIES!”

Ironically as I was typing up that last sentence, I found myself thinking about the fact that we are going to Home Depot today. My brain started to fantasize about buying pieces of wood or tile to paint on. Facepalm!

Something that really tempted me though is a magnetic drawing board toy. I mentioned this in one of my previous posts, because I have a Boogie Board and it reminds me of those. I really want one so I’ve put it on a list of things to buy in 2023. The 2023 shopping list is a great idea that I got from Kindra on YouTube.

Speaking of Kindra, I really recommend checking out her channel if this No Buy topic is interesting to you because she is doing one too! She’s not a huge YouTuber and I actually really enjoy that, her videos feel very down to earth and relatable. And I just love her voice, I find it so soothing. Her No Buy videos have been so inspiring and motivating for me!

Another temptation I had but has since passed is getting a new drawing program for my computer. I fiddled around with a free one that worked pretty well (I think it was Krita?) and decided that was just fine. I haven’t even done any digital art since. (Unless you count building in The Sims 4 haha!)

I know that here and there I’ve found myself interested in a product I’ve watched someone use, but all of those temptations were very fleeting and I don’t even remember any of the products! So thank goodness I didn’t cave, in retrospect it is so clear I didn’t need any of those things.

In a moment of weakness I even found myself eyeing the free ballpoint pens at a pawn shop. Nothing tempts me more than shiny and new but also FREE! I really do not need any new ballpoint pens. They aren’t even my favorite art supply! It’s just my bird brain, wanting to collect and hoard.

But in terms of genuine temptations to buy something and break my No Buy, the only things that’ve really fallen into that category are the magnetic drawing board and the art program for my computer. All those other things were just silly little whims that were easy to write off immediately.

So far I have finished filling two previously half-filled sketchbooks and I haven’t bought any art supplies. I would say that I am doing very well!

So thanks for reading and I will check in again in another 2 or 3 months, unless something crazy comes up and I really need to blog about it!

Happily Reorganized!

~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment
My art desk, plus one cubby under the TV, for drawing and watercolor painting supplies.
My acrylic painting station, and the “overflow cabinet” in the hallway.

After I was done decluttering my supplies, I took the opportunity to give each item a new and more productive home.

I wanted to keep supplies closer to where I’d actually use them, so I grouped my drawing and watercolor stuff together as I generally do both of those at the desk. I also moved my purse from the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet to make room for my acrylic supplies so they could be close to the easel!

I counted and I have a total of 14(!) sketchbooks, not counting the 4 I have fully filled. Out of those, 9 have been drawn in already. I’m only keeping the ones I’ve been most active in lately in the bedroom, I’m hoping that focusing on a few specific ones will help me fill them up faster.

With everything nicely organized, and plenty of supplies that I know I like just waiting to be used up, I think 2022 will be off to a good start 🙂

May the coming year be full of creation! Happy New Year everyone!

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!