The Stationery Gene

My stationery gene has been acting up this month. My creativity gene activates the stationery gene, but usually by the time I get home, the creativity gene returns to its' dormant state. Maybe they work more like hormones, playing off each other, pathways that need each other to survive, but not always at a perfectly balanced level.

Three things of many I've purchased this month:

-six photo frames, with the intent to create wonderful works of art to frame and hang on my walls. I'm sure I'll find: space to store them until the wonderful works of art are completed, time to do this, and space on my walls to actually hang them. The wonderful works of art are already finished and beautiful in my imagination, so I may not have to do the work to actually create them.

-a little gizmo to create stickers. I used one at a scrapbooking retreat to make stickers out of die cuts made by the Cricut (another stationery gene purchase, about last year at this time. It is gadget that cuts paper into beautiful letters and amazing shapes). It is very cool and you can run almost any kind of paper through it and have it come out as a sticker. I haven't used my own yet, though, but I will and I'll make stickers galore. I can make stickers to go over the buttons I can't quite throw away.

-a spiral book-binding machine. This is the big purchase. The plan is to use it to bind the family history stories I want to write. I've almost completed one story - my target date was Easter, but it might be hard to make that target with only a week left to go and other plans for this coming week. Perhaps I should have waited to buy the binding gizmo until I had something ready to bind. I'm so excited about this new toy! I almost bound blank pages together last week just to try it out. Maybe I will do that - I can make a blank book to create something in!

I sometimes struggle with buyer's remorse after a trip when the gene is in its fully active state. I haven't given in to the desire to buy a laminating doo-dad yet, but I can feel it coming. I wish the creativity gene would flare up when I'm home and energetic. That would ease the buyer's remorse. The purchasing of all this cool stuff has evolved into a hobby in itself. I may end up on the hoarders reality show, with front-end loaders moving tons of pretty paper, markers, pens, cutters, book-binders, envelopes, cards, rulers, erasers, binders, foolscap, looseleaf, paint, paper clips, staplers, crayons, coloring books, pencils, poster boards. Or maybe I will make at least one wonderful work of art.