Phew! Well this has certainly be an interesting read. Ok, here's my take on it. First of all, lady....if ya got, flaunt it! You are one of the better builders and if having to stick to base or feeling guilty limits your creativity then that's a serious problem for all of us who enjoy and download your builds.
I think why some of us have felt guilty, (myself included!), comes from some of the contests. To be "fair" to "everyone" you are not allowed to use store items for many of the contests. Personally I think that's reverse discrimination, but that's just my take on it and I do NOT want to start a big deal over my opinion. I DO understand why it is set up that way and I accept that. My personal response now is I simply don't do most of the contests since I dislike that limitation.
Another place that caused this "no store" was in helping create Union Cove. By necessity, we had to be VERY careful about what we used, as store items simply did not transfer to a CAW world. It caused many CAW problems, so many of the team got to be extremely cautious about using store items, and we often will say, "no store items", in a build. It's not to make anyone feel bad about the goodies they have, but simply a habit.
I've now come to the conclusion of, I've got it and I'm darned well going to flaunt it! I'm not feeling guilty, I DO NOT need the pressure of trying to win a contest, I DO love playing Sims. Since I've removed the restrictions from my own brain, I am free to do either base game only or full out store stuff.
