stash challenge

 One of the assignments for the "Ready, Set, Create" creative team for the next ezine is a stash challenge. All the team members chose one (or two) stash items to create with. It was tempting to pick an item I already am using a lot and go from there, but I stopped myself and thought why not actually challenge myself. As I looked at the list, I realized that "rubons" were the perfect choice for me because at one time they were my absolute favorite embellishment. I loved them so much that I built up quite a stockpile that now sits neglected.

I have more than a few rubons

So after signing up for them, I hauled out my stash. This is most of what I have in that department (except for the odd sheet tucked away in a kit or packed with my rolling crop bag). That box in the back of the pic above holds my alphabet rubons and it's about 18" wide, 15" tall & deep. That's a whole LOTTA alphas, my friends!

The other two accordian files are maybe 15" in length (or width, I guess), about 12" tall and 4" or 5" deep when full expanded. One holds shapes & designs and the other holds words & sayings.

Funny thing about rubons is that when I bought my first few packages, I wouldn't use them. My very illogical reasoning was that if I used them then I wouldn't have them any more because they'd be used up. How dumb is that, right? (I've done this with other products too, sadly.) I thought got over that at some point and went to town with rubons, but somewhere along the line I just sorta stopped using them. Not absolutely, but mostly. (Maybe I never really did get over my issue with not wanting to use them up?) Anyway, whatever the issue it's a shame really because (not only do I have a ton but) when I finally use them, they look GREAT! And they're easy to use and so versatile too. That's why I fell in love with them to begin with.

You can use them on silk flowers, or ribbon/twill. They look great used directly on photos (I especially like to use white rubons on dark areas of photos) and on acrylic or acetate. I can't wait to use them on my RSC projects and hopefully inspire some of our readers to try them if they haven't before. Or, if they're like me and have neglected them, they can pull them out and re-discover them.

So what are you hoarding in your stash that you need to challenge yourself to use?