Should I just warn you right now? I should. This blog post contains a lot of pictures. And maybe — just maybe – a little nostalgia for some of you.

This is the sight of organization in progress:

I recently had the sudden urge to go through every cabinet, every drawer, every shelf in our home office. And since the drive and the energy and the motivation were all very much alive, I went with it. I didn’t resist.

In this process, I came across a lot of stuff. Stuff as in … a lot of stuff I have been hanging on to for years. I take on a big project like this at least annually and it was definitely that time again. I did a serious assessment. Even more “serious” than in past years because of the personal evolution I’ve experienced these past couple of years.

In going through my stuff, I asked myself a few simple questions:

- Why am I hanging on to this?

- Do I ever use this?

- Do I really value this?

No? Then buh-bye. Clear out the clutter. Let someone else enjoy it. If yes, then fine. Keep it. Note to self: Remember I have this stuff and make more effort to use it more often. Otherwise there is no point for it to take up valuable storage space.

Want to know what supplies in my stash I couldn’t let go of? Well, plenty of things actually. You know — patterned paper, cardstock, basics like that. But also — flowers & brads. Even though my decorative/creative scrapbooking days are far & few between these days, I just can’t seem to let those go.

And letter stickers. Gave a ton of letter stickers away to friends … among many other products. I love that you can see Claire & her little friend reaching in to choose some for themselves here. But I still hung on to a healthy amount of favorites. To me, letter stickers are a staple for creative projects.

So you know what I did throw away … and I even surprised myself? Old Christmas cards! No – not our family’s extra copies. That’s our family history. But after 15 years of hoarding Christmas cards from loved ones, and realizing we truly never go back and dig them out, and reminding myself that I’m not responsible to be the keeper of other families’ histories … well … in the name of SIMPLIFYING … I finally let go.

And it felt very liberating.

Here are some other nostalgic pieces from the past. Like the binder where I kept all of our house ideas for years and years — floor plan ideas, decorating ideas, favorite magazine tear-outs, sketches, color inspiration.

Other books full of inspiration, more specific to scrapbooking and paper-crafting projects.

I know this will bring back some memories for some of you who have been familiar with my work from “long ago”. Behold … the sketches. Many, many, many sketches.

And some organizational stuff from several of my book projects. Lists & calendars & scheduling my tasks and deadlines. Some things never change. : )

Even my homemade Prismacolor colored pencil reference sheets. Nerdy? You bet. Necessary? I sure thought so at the time.

Oooooh. Anyone remember this album? I taught a Creating Keepsakes University class called “Snapshot of Me” that was all about telling the story of your life & personality right then & there in that time of your life. Anyone happen to be in one of my classes? This was from 5 years ago. I’m so glad I did that project. I’m even more glad that hundreds of others did it too. That’s a lot of story telling. A lot of life documenting.

Here are even more themed books that are currently sitting pretty in a cabinet.

And this … This. Wow. Talk about nostalgia. This album was the start of my very first little Project 365 – a picture every day of the year, starting January 2008 — just 3 years ago.

I used a photo album I picked up at Target, stayed faithful with my daily documenting until a very sick pregnancy took over my life that year. But the idea never died. It was only a matter of months that the concept came to be in the form of a scrapbooking kit. Of course this eventually evolved into what we now know as Project Life.

Kinda fun to come across that.

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Oh, and one more thing. I came across a lot of homemade cards that I made over the years, especially ones that I designed specifically for my 2002 Creative Cards book. I’m hanging on to a few favorites.

But the rest of them? Good grief. Did I really hand-stitch pieces like this for a card?

Guess what? I’ve got a collection of about 40 cards — each one of them a unique handmade card by yours truly — and I am giving them away. The whole collection. Got a strong desire for handmade cards? Know of an upcoming auction that we could donate these to? Another way you plan to use the cards? Leave a comment and be sure to include your first name, city, and state. I’ll announce the winner by the end of the week.

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Thanks for taking a stroll down memory lane with me.