slight digression

And I did have every intention of NOT buying storage supplies but...

There was a tremendous sale at Staples.  Those 3 binders for plastic plastic page protectors, of which I have many, were $2.97 and then another 25% off.   score!  The binders will have the  sheets of alphabet stickers, themes, etc.  I'll just flip instead of digging through containers  in various locations. Might try my stencils. The lidded boxes will be for all the loose stickers, a colour per category which I hope limits me to 5 categories.  The flat trays will be to corral stamps in the shallow drawers, I'm thinking. And all those stamps I'm saving for the grand kiddies will GO to the grand kiddies and their mother can store them!  lol   I was looking for magazine holders for scrap book paper. Got 3 cheap ones in our local print shop but just the smaller 9 inch size.  The gal at the Scrapbook store said the larger ones for 12 inch paper is hard to find but she found one to sell me.   One tip was to cut paper to preferred size anyway.  I'll go by colour and anything that doesn't fit will be tossed!  When I finally get mad I am okay with this much space and not an inch more. 

I sent our library a request for an organizing book by Marie Kondo, that will make me happy to throw stuff away! It seems to be a bit quirky but fun. Indeed, it kinda fine tunes the way I already think about organizing. 1) drag it all out, be horrified and then chose the best to keep.  oops, point 2 was don't buy storage supplies,  etc.  :{   Well, at least it'll keep me motivated.  I hope.  She also says do it once which I can't seem to accomplish.  I let go of most of the biggies layer by painful layer.  :(  I'm in the pursuit of the perfect work space but it is definitely a progressive process. 

The blank page does not stall me.  Mess and too many choices does stall me.  So nicely organized and easy to access supplies inspire me.

So far I have 'edited' stamps, especially those teeny ones I can't even decipher.  :(  I eliminated all the oil pastels and the oil paint sticks. The smell puts me off them and I've no patience to await drying.  Wrinkled, odd sized and ugly paper- trash.  The thrift shop can store magazines and old books and papers.  (I'm more and more amazed at the fact that if you need it the thrift shops somehow have it!)  Now all my mark making paraphernalia I've collected is going to the basement which is one step closer to the garbage.   Goodness knows it fairly easy to replace.  :-}

I eventually got to the place with quilting where I said, "enough"!  I don't buy much fabric anymore and usually it is in small amounts and with something in mind.   My mistake was thinking this mixed media phase of my life was different!  ha!  So it now has a boundary, a physical space and it is not allowed to encroach on my fabric space.  Fabric and mixed media do meet but it'll be on my neutral work table!  ;^)  There will be no more buying unless it can be used in the next 24 hour time period. 
Not quite done as I didn't fill the binders yet.  The small sampling of inspiration is still too big but I have got breathing room.
 

Now with things looking less stressful it is time to get back to the beginning; my default setting where I regroup and gather momentum to continue the life I luv!  And, no surprise, the simpler I make things the easier it is to start at the beginning and quickly move to the MAKING!  Shoot!  I even have some empty drawers.  :)

 Next up- my monthly project reports! 

Two steps ahead and only one back!

Before we begin the Creating 101 series, I have to organize all my supplies.  Jenn and I tackled the bead section on Wednesday.

I was very glad to have her because if she felt it was a big job, I knew it was a big job.  But my bravado and her willingness got us a very great start. 

I had moved fabric around to clear most of one whole bookcase.  I find it interesting that the huge amounts of fabric I once absolutely had to have has given way to making room for other things I 'have to have'! lol  But I do believe I'm a bit wiser so hopefully I'm avoiding some of my previous traps.  We made a list of a few organizers that will help.  Her reward will be a 'field trip' after I see what we need for organizing and what I need to fill in the supply gaps.

I'm finding stuff I'd forgotten about so I'm getting it where I can see it which also means I can get it.  I'm also getting rid of lots of junky stuff.

I'm thankful that I had a good start and things became clearer and made some sense as I found places for similar things.  Next I must deal with the ephemera and paper for my altered books and journals.  But I'm optimistic that things will become clear as I begin the sort.  I will have to deal with a couple of stacks of books.  I cringe at the thought of pruning my books again, especially as I have another one ordered.  sheesh! 

Perhaps I really need to get rid of the Singer Sewing Library that I accumulated in the lean years.  There is a bit of memory attached to those.  I remember them arriving in the mail and being the highlight of my day.  But I can't say as I've really used them much.  ;^)

Now the glitch in the organizing is the Rooster.  A lack of appetite and all the cough medicine flared up his gout.  Big time!  And then he finally did what I had suggested and went to the doctor. He is home on major rest as he has pneumonia.  awk! Men are such wimpy patients and I am a not so compassionate nurse.  Oh, well.  This too, shall pass and we'll be all the better for the bonding experience.  Course that means I'll have to refrain from tripping him as he moans and limps past me! 

Studio Spring Sprint

I have come to terms with the early spring.  I don't usually think of the yard til May but the weeds won't wait and the debris is blowing about.  The weather was okay but served up a stiff northerly breeze for Friday. 

We got a good day's work in but nothing photo worthy.

The weather is kinda nasty again today so I'm back to thinking about the month of April.

 Now I need to figure the best way to stay up to date with the Altered Book tutorials which I am enjoying immensely.  This mixed media is 'clicking' for me and I want to do MORE!  Then the quilting for the quilt show needs to move along as well.  I also am tired of shoving stuff about for the beading class.  That means I need supplies to be where I can work on them.  So I'm studying the playroom layout.  Basic configuration works but the counter is actually too high.  So...

I changed the ironing board cupboard for the art supply cupboard.  This will be way better to stand and work at. 

The ironing station has a new cupboard that my Rooster has been trying to ignore.  I'll have to ruffle his feathers a bit!  I figure the hooks will hold up that pesky iron cord and the shelves can always hold things.  The lower cupboard  is a bit high but I do have an ironing board and this is for quick pressing of patches. 

All this is helpful as I need to think about what to keep here and what to send to the workroom when I get it done.  I could use some tweaking of Nina's space but that's as good as it gets for now.

I need to think of an appropriate name for the workroom.  This is my Coop and Saucer Playroom.  I have some birds and some teacups.  Not sure what the workroom will actually evolve into but it'll be for wet and messy stuff.  Suggestions welcome! 

A bigger playground

Bearing in mind that I will probably never have the ideal, I have decided to make myself a better/bigger play ground.

The Coop and Saucer Playroom is really the best place to sew.  For some time I have realized that it is not conducive to the messy aspects of my creativity.

The view from my playroom overlooks the chicken coop, the potting shed and the garden area.  It is a pretty area with a lovely shaded area I call That Faerie Place. Hmmm, it also seems to have accumulated a goodly collection of singing, swinging frogs!

My Rooster said I could turn the potting shed into a Shed to Dye for! I'm up for the creative challenge.  But the reality is that it is only 8' x 12'.  It has no power and the water source is a very long garden hose. The floor is dirt.  It would not be very comfortable in the winter. And, last but not least, it is actually pretty useful as a garden shed!  

This barn, which is slated for some work this summer, is 30' x 60'.  The roof leaks and it needs a bit of luving.  The back half is for livestock.  The front half is up for grabs!  My Rooster wants one quarter for his hobbies.  I think I am going to claim the north east corner for me and my hobbies!  It is insulated.  It has power and water.  I would have a 13' x 26' space!  Should be enough!!!

The windows need to be put back in.  My son in law can operate a compressor with accompanying paint nozzle.  The ceilings are high, the floor cement, and layout long and narrow.  It is far from the phone and the temptation to google one more web site.  A mental check of shelving, tables, laundry tubs, the Rooster's lumber stash and tools and I'm feeling quite confident that we (he) can do this.  In fact, I can hardly come up with a negative.  lol

I will also remind him that it will be a great place for the grand kiddies to hide out!

Refresh

I think today is a good day to reclaim my life and my daily routine.  The events that happen are not always something that can be predicted nor pigeonholed but I'm hitting the refresh button to remind myself of my Triple F goal for the year.

FOCUS:  The ideal is not going to happen.  While I rebel at same old/same old, I do recognize that I do my best with some sort of a routine. A rigid schedule seems to be too constricting and worse I lose abilities and momentum when I lay things aside.  I can't do it all so I've chosen some. But the few I've kept need to be done more regularly rather than my usual sporadic bursts.  So my question is how can I keep all my balls in the air and not let any roll off into a corner.  I've defined the main players at least.

FIND?FIDDLE:  Driving hither and yon these last few weeks I have tried to figure out how to be more  creative in better ways.  If I identified my style and could incorporate it into all aspects of my various interests I could stay current in most things.

I was reminded of a small book I had bought a couple of decades ago.  It is a little Anchor book on Crewel Stitches and Patterns. I luv the asymmetrical positioning, the quirky motifs, the curves and swirls.   I had thought I could turn the little diagrams into applique projects.

Sewing and fabric is a MAIN thrust.  I need to get Nina to the spa for her tune up and continue my thread experiments.

But what if I used the patterns for free motion machine stitching?

I also like the Jacobean style of applique. What if I took the individual motifs as jumping off places for my own designs and incorporated them into some mixed media art with hand dyes, stencils, beads, etc.
     

What if my luv for words and letters could escape the blog posts and altered books and flow unto my fabrics?

FINISH:  A great deterrent is my work space.  I try to do the somewhat organized and dry stuff here in the Coop and Saucer Playroom. It isn't a large room, only 11 x 12 feet.  It is the original master bedroom so this is as big as it is gonna get.  I don't think there are any 'what if's...' left as I've organized and reorganized it for optimum use many times. My basement laundry area is cramped, cold and cluttered as well as being 2 flights of stairs down.  I am just going to have to try to keep the wet mess to one side and the dry piles to the other.      If the two meet well then, more creativity will have to happen!  lol

I use creativity everyday to problem solve and now I'd just like to have some creative art projects to show for all my problems!

Better than a B +

Not quite an A+ but I'm dealing with the B's!

BOOKS- The editing and cleaning of the playroom left a pile of books on the floor which lead to this fine mess. I decided to deal with all my books. Well, the ones necessary for my hobbies. ;^)

It makes me cringe when I see the price tags on these 'just had to have books'! Now some I've used, some I've referenced and some I've even gone through a couple of times. But I've also moved on. I've better defined what I like best. Tiny bits of layered applique which I can do and is nice is just not my style. I prefer a simpler look. Folk Art and Country has to make way for moderne! This hall closet is not too accessible so I'll give the garment making books and fabric one more year reprieve. I didn't dare take the time to refold, pat and generally get side tracked by the fashion fabric! My mum's old Elna is a nostalgic keepsake and a few other bits of memorabilia will hide out till the next purge!

The closet is inaccessible because I usually have my design wall flannel draped over it.

I sorted the unwanted books according to where they'll be going. Some to my Common Threads Quilt group which begins again for another year tonight. Some will go tomorrow to the local second hand shop where I've been helping out. Some will go to the Mennonite thrift store in the little city where I visit my kids on Fridays. I'm kinda embarrassed to dump it all in one place. LOL
Then I dispersed the 'can't bare to part with' books to appropriate parts of the play room.

I'm hoping that the remnant will be easier to remember and find for quick use.

The sewing machine cabinet/wash stand was cut down level with the cutting table. Its lower than I like for general piecing but I know it needs to be level with the larger surface for machine quilting. I put books that I'll need for quick reference to some specific sewing machine techniques behind the sliding doors.

The books weren't in the plan but I am quite tired of half done jobs. The room isn't an A+ because I still have a few piles on the floor and the small ironing station is overflowing. But the hall closet purge gives me a lighter heart because I have never had it so empty before. That good feeling will make me reduce the last few piles of clutter.

I did do the other closet which holds my roll of batting and the quilt tops that are awaiting finishing. I was so surprised to straighten them out and count the number remaining. The end is in sight! B++

I'd hoped to get to the Basement which is another area that is always amassing clutter but it'll have to wait for another day. B for bad! :(

I'm also really hoping to bee quiet at the meeting tonight because I can't afford another whole bunch of little projects. vbsigh

But now is not the time to settle for only a B. After all...

Good, better, best.

Never let them rest.

Till the good is better,

And the better is Best!

EDIT: I shoulda refolded the fashion fabric now that I see the photos! B-

Both sides against the middle

The Rooster sawed off the top shelf and with Ds's help we got it up! I'm definitely not going to be putting the thread all back where I had it as I wouldn't reach it. My guys were saying it wouldn't fit and they know all about my math skills. LOL But it did come from there! I was just a tad alarmed at how high it actually went. ;^)

Now I need to figure where to put my books. I have edited my books once already. I reduced by half. These on the floor, with no place to go, amount to about a quarter of my hobby books. I shall be doing some more editing. I think I'll only keep technique books. I'm past pretty pictures, I think.

So with the sides relatively done, I face the middle. The sewing chest, which my old timer Rooster says is a wash stand, needs to come down about 3 inches to make my sewing machine's work surface level with the cutting table.

I do luv the benefit of viewing the pictures once they are uploaded. See that far left corner. The sloped wall. It isn't right.

Better, but I need something bigger, squarer! I shall consider my options as I deal with the middle.

What if I got a fancy frame, painted it white and made it into a chalk board???

A never ending story

Tis the end of summer.

Well, we all had very red faces as we tore down the fence and threw it into a very large container to burn on Saturday. The temperature was 31 celcius and the fire burned hot. The burning ban lifted as we have had a bit of rain and we had to be vigilant but I am so glad that it is all gone. Yard clean up is never ending. The new fence will go back in spring with a few changes.

Then Sunday afternoon I tackled the veranda floor as the week ahead looks cold and rainy.

The son in law's big sander is almost more than I can handle. I pressed the trigger and was half way down the length of the veranda before I could even yell! But my, it does eat away the layers. It also ate the cord. oops! Joshua is learning about smoke. Smoke from fire, smoke from the tractor muffler and smoke from Grand Dad's ears!!!

Josh also came to see what I was doing. I was also smoking after he stepped on the door jam and then started back down the hall! The above photo is from this morning and Josh's foot prints have been removed! ;^) My muscles are sore. That sander does vibrate! I also sanded down the sills and repainted them. I'm so messy so now I'll need to touch up the walls. I really hope the touch ups can end there! lol

I got the playroom rearranged so my guys could just slip the newer chest into place.

I'd carried the drawers but the the chest is well made as there are dividers between each drawer so it is heavy. I need to use that sander again to get old paint off the drawers so they slide easier.

We had taken the base off and Josh screwed in the new metal foot pads.

It is a tad tall but I'll be okay with that. I'm going to remove that overhead shelf. It is way too cluttered and I'm learning to reduce surface areas where things collect. I think a few hooks and holders will be better. I'm sure the drawers will be crammed though. lol

These are 2 very old IKEA chests. They hold a lot and aren't deep so I CAN find things.

This is an old IKEA media cupboard. It is nice to have but a lot of space is wasted so...

Even though The Rooster has been busy with repairs...

The pump for our well, the hot water tank, the bathroom sink. He also had an argument with the grinder at work. He won but it did get a few licks in. I think Josh will have a hard time settling for those little coloured bandaids now! ;)

But now he needs to re-purpose my old media cupboard so it can sit on my two very usable and sturdy chests. Then I can begin to put stuff back. After I purge, of course. And that is really a never ending story!

A Score and an edit!

An auction sale for a local quilter! My rooster and I ran away for the day. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. And we scored some great stuff.

Well, I did. My rooster wanted a book box. He got it for a dollar. So he laughed all night as he read his book and I plotted and planned where all my stuff would go and what would have to leave to make room for the new stuff! lol

My friend says reupholstering is easy. I guess 'we' will be finding out! The foot stool turns out to be a good match for the chairs and I'll be spray painting the lamp. The chairs are the same and I quite like the fabric but it needs recovering. One chair has been painted and I'm thinking I will paint both. I originally thought of a bedroom chair but having both has made me think front room where they can be drawn up to each end of the dining table. YES!

I'm so excited about this elm cupboard which was our most expensive piece but so cheap I am still pinching myself. It looks like it is a kitchen storage piece as it has two wire rods on the inside doors for tea towels. ??? I may need to 'store' it in the bathroom while I work on the kitchen. That means the jelly cupboard in the bathroom needs a new home. I'm going to need to be very creative to keep things from getting too cluttered. ;^)

Then I really didn't need more fabric, notions, or books. But who can resist repurposed storage. I'm thinking this sturdy piece can support my sewing machine which sits at the end of my cutting table. The cubicle storage I am sewing on now will need a new spot. hmmmm?

I was quite excited about the wide drawers in this piece for paper, stencils, etc. and I will possible remove the kick plate section on the bottom to lower it a tad. The future spot for this heavy piece is puzzling me a bit but it will go in my playroom, possibly under the cutting table or the 'wet' counter.

In the book box was a couple of good books for altered book making and especially this one which has a number of blank pages with the wonderful borders around them.

I doubt as any of this was absolutely necessary. But we have done no auction sales this year and who can resist 'deals'. We had a marvelous time. The cost wasn't huge and the enjoyment will pay dividends far into the future.

I have just been SO blessed this week!

But now I need to spend the day wiping down my finds, shuffling furniture and editing STUFF in general. hum, hum, hum, HUUUMMMMM!

Tuesday's Tangent

Looks like Tuesday's will be the start of my week. I keep a grand child on Sunday and the return trip is Tuesday. A 3 year old boy and an 18 month old girl. We are on the move a lot! I'm learning to go with the flow while they are here and when they aren't here I'm learning I can work in the yard in the mornings and then have the afternoon and evenings for the 'fun' stuff. But I can't switch back and forth to cover all my different want to's in one week. Hence the need for tangents.

I'll always quilt but anything else will happen in tangents, dedicated blocks of time that last till the keenness wains or another bright idea overpowers and demands equal time. Now I am influenced by weather and supplies so there are some parameters.

I can read the signs of a creative breakout. ;) While working on the MQing for the comfort quilt and soothing my poison ivy itch I did some revamping in the playroom. Nothing major just added a couple of more rolling shelves and I made better curtains for the window. I'm also learning I create better in a quiet, calm, atmosphere and although I adore collectibles I'm better to keep things simple in the playroom as all my paraphernalia is more than enough in the accessorizing department. But I definitely had a little tangent happening; a kind of precreative warm up!

So the binding is on the cutting board and then I want to use my new couching feet.

I want the yard tangent to be done but I think there are many more wheel barrows to come.

Veranda:

The month of July has been designated veranda month by the Rooster.

The fellow who built our 1930's farmhouse and barn knew what he was doing. The barn roof line is straight and the house hasn't shifted much as the plaster hasn't changed much.

But the veranda! Whole other story and this is the year/month we deal with the constant fluctuations as it trys to pull away from the main house.

So while I'm a 'gofer' on the major fixing I'll also try for my own brand of fixing as I get some of my decorating and accessorizing for the veranda done this month as well. I did have a good start. Now to finish it up.