A Time to Download, a Time to Delete

I like to keep a copy of all my scrapbook kit previews in one place so that I can easily see at a glance what I have available. I used to keep a copy of all the previews in a folder on my computer. But more recently, I’ve been importing them into my iPhoto program. Not only are they all in one place, now I can assign tags or key words to each so they are easily searchable by color, theme, designer, store, etc. This has made it so much easier to find the “right” kit to use for my scrapbook pages.

It has also made it easy to do a kit cleanup / purge when I feel one is needed.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a hard time getting rid of things, especially if it is something I’ve paid for. Over the past few years, I have acquired a lot of kits. A lot. Freebies, kits purchased from stores and also kits received from monthly paid subscriptions.  But my hard drive was getting full and I kept running across those kit previews in iPhoto that I finally had to admit to myself that I’d never use.

I am pretty picky about the freebies I download, so most of them were keepers. The kits I purchased directly from stores were also mostly keepers, not because I’d paid money for them but because I’d purchased them individually and with intent. But the kits received from monthly paid subscriptions – not so much. Yes, I did receive many great kits that I love and will use. I was also glad to discover many new-to-me designers. However, I also received MANY kits that I finally had to admit to myself that I would never, ever use. Even many from “top-name” designers. Not that they were bad or poorly designed kits, they simply were not my style.

So I began deleting. It was hard at first. I kept thinking that maybe *someday* I’d want to use that artsy kit for a special artsy page. Or make a fantasy page with the fun fantasy kit. But realistically, I probably won’t do either. So off to my trash bin they went.

Then for the hard part. Actually emptying the trash. No going back now! 100+ kits deleted and my hard drive with 15GB more free space, I feel pretty good about my decision.

Have you cleaned up your scrapbooking supplies lately?