Organizational Skills Trials

I've been on an organizational kick lately. I purchased Organizing Your Craft Space with a B&N gift card I received for Christmas (yay "free" books!)

Looking through it tonight, I realized that my 6' space of desk that I have just doesn't fit the amount of crafting that I (want to) do. My hubby Ryan & I have thought about other alternatives, but it's just not seeming to be feasible in our >1000 sq. ft. apartment that's filled with stuff. We've experimented a bit with thoughts of transforming the closet in the 2nd bedroom into a crafting closet, but can't figure out an easy way to do it without dismantling the closet or adding extra shelves, which isn't an option in our rental.

In any case, I'm going off on a tangent. I've been organizing lately. It all started when my hubby bought me a shelving unit to put my cookbooks on, so I can actually reach them rather than having to grab the step stool or climbing on the counter to reach the high cupboards. With that top cupboard almost empty, I was able to move all the knick-knacks crowding out the linens in the linen closet (and yes, there's something wrong with that picture! ;)). Once those were moved, I could rearrange the linens so they actually fit!

Then it came to putting away the Christmas decorations... at which point I almost gave up on the idea of organizing and consolidating. I mean, just looking at the pile of Christmas decorations, and then our boxes they used to be in... it's a scary process *sigh* In any case, we went from 7 boxes & 1 large bag of Christmas stuff to 4 boxes, with an extra box for Christmas tins, which are almost gone now that I used them for Christmas goodies this year! :) In any case, it's quite the accomplishment. Things are finally organized according to what it is (i.e. Christmas village in one box, ornaments in another, etc.), rather than everything just thrown into boxes & packed back into our garage.

In the process, I emptied a Rubbermaid container, which is exciting since I now have another container in which to store fabric, which is desperately needed since the recent purchases before & after Christmas out-grew my current boxes. Which brings me back to the fact that eventually, I need a crafting space of my own, even if it's half of a room somewhere. A few shelves for fabrics, a nice tall work table that I can stand or sit at, and an area to store all my tools.

But for now, I'll continue organizing, sorting through, and getting rid of unnecessary things around the apartment, in hopes that one of these days we'll have the space to allow for just a little more room in my corner of the second bedroom, which is my crafting area :)

a completely unrelated wish list item...

...one that i just spotted over at CraftZine that's being sold at Bold & Noble. decor8's blog entry displays it so well...

how absolutely perfect is this poster for a craft room or indie shop?



*sigh...* still dreaming :)

Wednesday Wish List: projects

as mentioned in a previous post, i'm thoroughly addicted to craft blogs. i think part of it is the inspiration i get from seeing what other highly talented people can accomplish with their time, and part of it is wishing that 1) i was that talented and 2) i had that much time!

so, on the false premises that i 1) am that talented and 2) have that much time... ;-) here's my wish list for the week: projects i would like to accomplish.

these pillows from Molly's Sketchbook (part of The Purl Bee are absolutely fantastic. i love the fact that they incorporate designs instead of just one fabric, as well as the fact that they seem to curve in on the sides, making the corners poke out just so. there's so many possibilities here--i'd love to play around with them!


this tea wallet from Christy's Creations has me thinking about making myself a new wallet. i've had the same one for a while now -- a handmade/woven one from Lebanon that Ryan's grandparents brought back for me from a trip a few years ago. it's started to wear out, and the one i switched to must have been a little cheaper than i thought it was, as it's already falling apart on me. i've been playing around with some sketches and ideas for a while now, and i really like Juliette's modified version over at Chickpea Studio.

if you had seen my room at college, you would understand when i say that i love pictures and picture frames. i still do... but with a lack of space, there aren't as many displayed as there used to be. one of these days when i have my own craft room (yes, i'm still dreaming :)) i'd love to have all sorts of pictures on the walls. one fun way to take care of this is to make a scrabble board picture frame. with tiles from the scrabble game and a cork tile secured to the back, you can glue thumbtacks to the back of the tiles and use them as captions for your pictures that show through the frame of the board, or simply tape on to the front for easy rearranging.


lastly, i'm in love with the artsy clutches from bend the rules sewing. most of the book i could do with or without -- it's not one that i'm crazy for, but this clutch is perfection. i made one for my sister for christmas, and am still regretting not keeping it for myself, since by her reaction i'm not sure if she'll use it! i made it with alexander henry's blue koto, which i'm desperately trying to find more of. i'm almost out and i have so many more things i could use it for! i guess i'll just have to make another one for myself... and then find more of that fabric :)

i think i'll wrap it up for now. there are so many other projects that i'm longing to tackle, but a girl only has so many hours in a day, right? speaking of which... my lunch break is now over -- it's back to work for me! :)

i'm back!

sorry for the long absence. it wasn't intended, but between 2 colds back-to-back that kept me out-of-commission for several weeks, getting a new dog/puppy that's been taking a lot of our time, and chaos at work due to a lay-off and those of us left having to pick up the extra work... it's been just a tad busy around here lately! :)

needless to say, all things crafty have been a bit on the slow side (read: non-existant). i've had quite a few ideas flying around this brain of mine, but simply no time to implement them. there have been some sketches (although i'm not a great sketcher by any means!) and a lot of jotted ideas.

one of those ideas has been more of a dream for the future... one that my dear husband has been brainstorming on as well :) it may be quite some time before we have the space (or money) to implement it, but it's fun to dream in the meantime! as you can see by the picture below, i'm in great need of a good workspace... and especially a good cutting table. my "cutting table" for right now typically consists of either an ironing board, our coffee table, or the kitchen table, as they're the only surfaces big enough and flat enough to work well.



the problem being, the ironing board is the only one of the three that is tall enough for me to stand at, the kitchen table is the only one large enough for me to cut big projects on, and the coffee table is too short for me to be able to do more than kneel at. we talked about it a little bit the other night, and decided that the best way would be to make it a little higher than table-height to allow me to stand or sit, have cabinets on two or three sides underneath and one side open to sit at. that way i have areas to store supplies as well as cut, iron, and sew. i've been researching it a bit and saw a fantastic idea to layer the top with cork and brown paper/butcher paper to allow for sticking pins in to secure fabric while cutting, patterns while tracing, etc.

minor detail, this all has to wait for a bigger house or at least a bigger craft area. we unfortunately don't have enough room in our second bedroom/office area/craft room/music room for any sort of cutting table. but i can dream :)



any tips or tricks to help me in the quest for a perfect work/cutting table? all i've got is time for now :)