Trying to figure out what to do with your stash...

I'm an advocate of using up your stash but sometimes I have a small problem in doing so. I will find an item and have no idea whatsoever about what to make with it. Do any of you have the same problem? I can't decide whether the solution is to sell the stuff or hang onto it until inspiration hits.

Anyway, first thing I wanted to do today was to update my cross stitch progress. Here is the latest update

As you can see, the third page is coming along nicely.

I've also been working on making presents this last couple of days, and have another two birthday presents to add to my total. The first is for a friend of mine. I was going to do a collage of photos from when we went to Disney last year, but I just wasn't feeling it, so I dug out one of the wooden boxes I had left.

I kept it relatively simple. I had a few ideas for how to do this but the size of the box didn't lend itself to the ideas so I had to change it. That's what crafting is though; if the idea you initially had doesn't pan out you don't have to give up (I now have a few items ready made for adding to another project if I want to.) In the end I painted it blue, distressed it a little, stamped the bottom of the box, and then added a jute panel and some red lace onto the top of the box. The word April is grungeboard, painted with white crackle paint, inked and then glossy accented. Then I just added some little flowers from my stash.

Second present was for mothers day. Again, initial plans didn't pan out so I changed them. Originally I was going to use some photo shrink plastic to make a photo keyring of us kids, but I couldn't find the shrink plastic. I found some white shrink plastic, so I did zentangle letters of our initials, and made a keyring out of them.

I ended up doing the E twice as I punched the hole too near the edge on the first and it snapped.

I didn't think this was enough, so I decided to make a second keyring, something a little different.

I started off by dabbing an ornate plate with distress paint to age it. I then chose a paper for the back, and sealed it with some chipboard. I aged a flower charm and added gold beads with some green stickle, before setting it into the plate and glossy accenting the whole lot, adding a little bit of glitter too. The flower was originally white. It's made from polymer clay (came in a crafty creatives box) so I added some alcohol ink to colour it, then stuck it in a small frame so that I could hang it onto the bottom. I used an eye pin to attach the rose (and some beads) to the plate, then added a keyring to the top of it. This is definitely my favourite piece of the three made this week.

Happy crafting everyone (and don't forget to tell me what you do with your stash!)

Emma