Do you collect anything?
When I was a kid I collected coffee mugs. Don’t ask. I have no idea why. I had like 50 of them by the time I was 12. {eye roll}
As a teenager I collected black and white Calvin Klein Ads and taped them in a grid on my bedroom wall. Most had Kate Moss in them, who I thought was the greatest model on planet earth. Again, don’t ask. I was one of those weird artsy-fartsy types in high school.
After I got married I collected magnets from any place I vacationed or visited. It sounded like a great idea at the time until I was totally overrun with random magnets and no where to put them.
I got tired of storing all the collections, and honestly, it’s really not as fun collecting something when everyone catches on and starts buying you loads of it. Family started buying me magnets from their vacations, and at that point the novelty wore off.
I do have ONE collection though that can’t be bought. And I think those types of collections are the best kind to have.
Wanna know what I collect? It’s kind of random and weird. But I guess I’ll tell you anyway.
I collect business cards.
More specifically I collect business cards from fellow bloggers.
{Do you see your card in the pile?}
I consider fellow bloggers in my niche to be micro-celebrity figures, and what better way to show off what famous peeps I’ve met than to collect a business card from them when I meet them?
Also, I like to collect business cards because they are easy to store and can’t be bought. You’ve either met the blogger or you haven’t. I like having something to collect that no one can just buy for me.
So far I’ve attended two blog conferences (Bloggy Boot Camp and Blissdom) and have met quite a few bloggers, which means I have quite the collection of cards piling up.
For a year now I’ve stared at these cards in a little basket on my desk unsure how to display them. Finally, the other day it hit me.
I got some double-sided tape…
And I grabbed two extra foam boards from the Dollar Store that I like to keep on hand. I started attaching the business cards to the foam boards in a grid pattern.
When all the cards were attached, I took some sticky double-sided foam squares and attached the lightweight foam boards to the inside of my closet door in my office.
I don’t really care if anyone else sees my collection and I’m not trying to show it off. That’s why it’s on the inside of my closet door. I collect for myself. And I will continue to add cards to my board as I meet additional bloggers.
There are several bloggers that I’ve met that I didn’t get a card from {sad face} but hopefully I’ll be able to snag those at Blissdom or Haven this year (yes, I am attending both).
So, do you have any really weird collections that no one would “get” or understand? Or am I just a complete and total weirdo? (Don’t answer that!)
If you are attending Blissdom or Haven this year, be ready for me to pounce on you and demand a business card from you!
Ummm, yeah. I totally used to collect cow stuff. Like COW everything. Don’t ask me why. So lame. Super cute idea, by the way! And, I see my card!!! 🙂
Fun – and colorful!! Send me your address so I can add to your collection!
Kelly
i collect metal lunch boxes. i use to collect everything miniture, and glass bottles… not the cool one, but likeany glass bottle so it was not cool or coordinated or… what ever. i had to pack it all up when i got married and 4 years later i finally went through the stuff, and though”what was i thinking!” so i donated it all to the local thrift store. if you are a total weirdo then i’m a total weirdo! but i like to think of its as… we are just that cool! i like your collection.
Don’t post your address or it could become like the family buying you magnets thing.
~Bliss~
How cool Allison! I can’t wait to meet you next week and see MY biz card on your foam board!
gail
I have a crazy amout of cozy blankets- I guess you could say I am a collector, they’re everywhere!
I collect fleur de lis(what’s the plural of that?), teacups and redheads. My family gets me fleur de lis stuff, my hubby and grandmother get me teacups. The redhead thing comes from being the oddball out growing up as one of the only redhead girl in my class. When i found out how rare true redheads are, I began collecting postcards, patches and paintings of us. Now I have everything from tshirts to jewelry to books about redheads. The redhead collection helped me remember that my red hair was a blessing and not a curse. 🙂
That is neat. It must make you smile every time you look at it. My weirdo collection is heart shaped rocks and the most perfect shell I can find each time I visit the beach. I don’t display anything, but I like knowing they are there.
I collected doll…Gene dolls to be exact until I was overrun with them. Ha!!
Don’t collect anything right now unless you consider art supplies a collection. I am always adding to my stash
Hugs
SueAnn
Not weird at all! I enjoy getting the calling cards from other military wives from different nations when we get together at coffees. 🙂
I collect business cards too!! I have hundreds! I moved to Greece a few years ago and I always grabbed a business card at every restaurant, cafe, hotel, or store that I really liked – and I have them in a business card book organized by city and then in subcategories by what type of business. I love them – I think of them as free souvenirs! They bring back so many memories every time I flip through the book. Plus they’re very handy for making reservations obviously. I sometimes get a raised eyebrow when I ask for one but I’m persistent and as a result, I can remember practically every meal I’ve ever eaten out 😛 I did it when I traveled in Turkey and Bulgaria too… I think business cards are the perfect thing to collect. They’re small, free, colorfu, and they’re all so different from each other. 🙂 I also collect antique copper vessels (just started) and books from a particular series (I have over 60), and probably a few other things as well.. .can I claim to collect spices? 😛
I can’t wait to meet you at Haven! I’ll give you a card and then you can hang it up there 🙂 Yes shamelss plug I know!
so fun, I used to collect anything winnie the pooh, now, baking stuff, and it all gets left on the dining room table or put away in my pantry. Nothing fun really.
I collected Tinkerbell things as a kid, and a high schooler… I even took some of my stuff to college. But now that I’m married and we have a house I have no idea what to do with all that stuff!
I used to collect keychains….starting with my name. Like you, everyone starts buying me keychain either with my name (which is so common) or any kind of keychains whenever they travel. I even use a big wire-mesh to hang up all the keychains.
Now I am collecting used gift card. Not just any giftcard anyone passed it to me….but gift card that I personally use it. 🙂
Now that is clever!! I love it. AND I gotta get my card on your door!!! 🙂
We collect shot glasses! Whenever we go to a new place, we grab one. They aren’t displayed nicely anywhere, though. But one day!
I also kind of have a collection of old antique doors. They take up a lot of space when you don’t have a garage or an easily accessible basement. Sigh.
Dishtowels are great to collect and use. They make for great souvenirs and are useful around the house.
This post reminds me I need to go back to my mom’s and pick out one of my many salt & pepper shakers I have collected over the years. I am sick of boring shakers at my apartment.
I used to collect Barbies as a girl and I still collect hats.
I used to collect business cards, but after getting so many of them from random places, they just didn’t mean anything after a while. Now yours, that’s a cool collection!
I also used to collect movie ticket stubs in high school.
Now I collect (this is going to be 2 weird collections) the whiskers from my cats when we find them laying around the house. They go in a little jar on a shelf. The other item is my used contacts. Very weird, I know, but keep telling myself that I’ll make an art project out of them someday called “lost vision” or something along those lines.
Oh man, if I collected business cards it would be the most boring collection ever. Just a bunch of similar-looking academic business cards. Boooooooring.
I didnt even know bloggers HAD business cards……whats new….something that I am outta the loop from. Geesh…when am I ever going to catch up to you peeps! 🙂
How fun! Oh how I want to get MY card into YOUR hand. Okay, nevermind your hand, I just want my card on your super cool display! lol
I think I am too new to blogging to have realized that you all have cards!! What a neat idea– maybe someday I’ll be on your door. Happy collecting!
Haha, I’ve collected random things, but when I got to HS and college it was shot glasses (yeah, I donated like 40 to the consignment shop last year. I mean really… what do you do with that many shotglasses?). I now do magnets of places we’ve been… my fridge is overrun… but I love it 🙂 I also do ornaments from special big trips. I love remembering all the places when we put up the ornaments at Christmas
What a cute way to double duty- fun design/art concept and a practical way to see friends and business contacts.
I think you need to come visit me on Etsy so you can get one of my biz cards! Look up JoyBelleJewelry (I won’t spam by leaving a link). As far as what I collect… I collect beads and crafting items. I’m starting to become overrun! I used to collect keys and keychains and rocks.
We collect 2 things but for different reasons. First are city Starbucks mugs. We love them and will take them however we can get them. I even bought one that should have been sent to San Antonio in Denver (where I live). Second, now you might not get what they are but, souvenir geological markers for mountains and other geological places we go. The real ones are a giant nail or something with information stamped on the top and they’re usually pounded in the ground on top of the mountain We usually look for magnets but sometimes we can only find pins that I then convert to magnets. They are both fun to collect and it gives us something to look out for.
I like what you did with your cards. Business cards are like mini works of art, I think. Especially from design conscious bloggers. 🙂
About the only thing I collect are paint chips. I can’t leave a home improvement store without a few. It’s sad. I have a box full and I’ve passed on this obsession to both my boys. 🙂
I collect magnets from places we’ve visited. I haven’t had the problem that you had thankfully with other family members purchasing them for us. When I was younger I used to collect snow globes. It started when I was 5 and my older brother brought me back one from a trip he took. I was hooked. My grandmother began buying my any snow globe she could find and it lost its meaning. I wanted pretty snow globes or snow globes with significant! Not a snow globe where instead of snow it was hair and the man in the middle was bald (true story). That being said, my grandmother has sensed passed away, and I’d love to have one of those snow globes back . . . OOPS! Didn’t mean to be sappy!
Hi,
I recently began collecting business cards. I only have a few.