Piles

Good ole October.  I ran 3 out of 3 mornings so far [No. 4 and No. 24 watch out!].  I have been enjoying my 2nd house guest of 4, more on this later.  Josh brought home orange roses.  Eli's wearing an 'I love my mummy onsie'.  Cleaning out my garage that has been filled with keepsakes, more on this later too.  Basically livin' it up while the weather is good, and just taking that time to smell those roses.  But as all of these things are whirling around, I can't help but focus on the mess I've created.


Pile

1 : to lay or place in a pile

2 a : to heap in abundance

   b : to collect little by little into a mass


I love to make piles.  In the office, on the kitchen table, by the door, but more importantly ALL over my creative space.  This is about to change.  Over the past 9 years I have moved 8 times and some creative piles have moved with me each time.  There are some projects from nine years ago that still have meaning to me, but sadly some do not.  Why am I holding on to them?  These piles are on my creative todo list and will never get done, but instead make me feel guilty and fill up valuable creative space physcally and mentally.  I am allowing myself to let these projects go.  Yes, gone with you old projects, you will fulfill your creative destiny by being recycled into something else.  Whether that be another creative project or the recycling bin to become a paper bag or who knows what else!

There are different piles in my creative space,

• large and small
• important and insignificant
• organized and chaotic.
• old and new

With all of these differnt types of piles some are awaiting the right project and others are gathered for a specific project.  I am no longer going to save things simply because I have been saving them in the past and have a large collection or the physcial space to do it.  These piles are taking up too much mental storage.  If they don't have a project in mind or will inspire me to create something new, down the road they go.  This will be happening more frequently, or as projects die, they will be buried immediatly rather than stinkin' up the joint!  Adios stinky projects, hello roses!  

Now the list of piles that have accumluated and my future plans for them...

• Adios cards that are half completed or went wrong and I felt I had the creative ability to turn them into a masterpiece  
• Hello treasures from my childhood [preserving them in a simple way is the goal]
• Adios random class projects I don't care for
• Hello my sisters wedding album [they're coming up on the 5 year anniversary, YIKES]
• Adios fabric I will never use
• Hello shadow box of keepsakes for my mother
• Hello quote collection [you soon will be living in a snug database]
• Adios random scraps [can't believe I still had you]
• Hello frames to become gifts [and will mark off #16 on my list]
• Hello Eli's baby book
• Adios collection of cut rubber [embarrassing I kept 3 one gallon ziplock bags of this!]
• Adios glue that got too hot/cold and doesn't work [even more embarrasing I kept 5 tubes of this!]
• Adios old magazines [keeping them for reference has never come in handy]
• Adios old album for a friend she never gave me photos for
• Hello mustache book [you have been in the making for far too long, get it done already!]
• Adios paper that came in packs I will never use
• Hello random tidbits of goodies for minibooks [you now have a new home that's workin' great]
• Adios old Stampin' Up demonstrator product [who needs product for something they don't do?]
• Hello Denver mini book [you were supposed to be completed on the trip, let's knock you out]
• Hello grateful book
• Hello forgiveness book
• Hello wash cloths to make into rice bags
• Adios patterns for little girl dresses [funny to think how invincable I was when learning how to sew]
• Hello horse book for my mother
• Hello dog/star minibook for a friend
• Adios minibook for other friend I've lost touch with
• Hello goodbye minibook for friend
• Hello 28 things minibook

HELLO to a creative mind and space I can work with.  Time to enjoy life with streamlined piles.

Simplify

This is my new years resolution (I'm always late, why would this be different), my goal, my one little word. This is a fridge magnet I made for myself to keep on track to do it everyday. Find yours here. I have made a choice to get rid of the excess in my life that only causes me stress. Less = more.

I love color

So, I guess I have been looking for these holders from Ikea for about 4 years. Thank you craigslist for helping me! Wahoo! I found 9 of them (should fit my current collection- I have an ink pad obsession).

I paid a lot for them, but didn't care because they were EXACTLY what I wanted. Well, until they arrived and I tried to slide an ink pad into them. Well it seems they were for a CD and what I needed was a cassette holder from Ikea. Geez, what a waste of money. After talking to my friend Melissa she is so handy with anything. She said my husband has a wood working tool that could fix those. AWESOME- thanks Miss they worked out GREAT!

Pieces- contained.

The road to organization is never ending. I found these mini fish bowl like containers at Hobby Lobby in Billings and knew they would be the perfect home for my tiny embellishments (brads, eyelets, charms, etc.). The best part was they were only 99 cents! There are 15 bowls one for each color- brown, black, silver, gray, yellow, orange, purple, pink, green, blue, red, white, cream, copper and gold. I love to find a cheap way to organize that fits my needs. I'd rather spend money on supplies but SIMPLIFYING is the goal in my life.

Up to my ears with PAPER

I continually buy paper. I am not sure why I make the purchases I do. It's 5 for a dollar, it's pretty, etc. With stamps I always ask myself will I use it on three things? If not, it's not the stamp for me. I really need to get a grip on this with purchasing paper as well. I found these vertical organizers at Hobby Lobby and I love them. I have a real love for black and they have a folded down flat bottom. The vertical paper holders from cropper hopper are a bit flimsy for me. I am a rough and tough scrapper and need a paper holder that will stand up to the abuse.

Problem = could not find paper quickly without making a HUGE mess

Old way = stacking paper on floor or shelf by color and stacking on top of each other

New way = vertical storage holders containing multiple colors/themes that can be sifted through in a snap

What I like about the new way = I can grab the green, teal and blue vertical file and find just the right shade without taking them out of the storage, and if the paper doesn't work I don't need to restack them. I just slide the unwanted sheet back into the file.

Ribbon-organized?

As I look around, my supplies are finding their perfect home in my space. It's crazy to think that I put them back in their new home when I'm done! That's a major accomplishment for me. I am terrible at putting things away. My mom would be so proud.

Problem= Ribbon is hard to travel with and never put back

Old way of organizing= wrapping around paper towel tubes by color

New way of organizing= purchased 3 inch book rings to string colors on

What I like about the new way= I can see what I have quickly, it's easy to return a strand to the ring when done or I can cut a piece straight off of the ring, and their mobile!

Where chaos once lived...

Goal of 2009 is to get a grip on what I own. Organization is really taking over in my craft space. That's a good feeling since it has been a place of chaos for so long. These are paper covered chipboard dividers that I created to divide my completed cards. They are in a microfische file cabinet that my boss gave me for FREE. Gotta love that!

The categories include...

baby boy

baby girl

boy birthday

bummer

christmas

congrats

fall

friend

get well

girl birthday

just a note

lady birthday

love

manly birthday

manly congrats

manly thank you

misc.

prego

sorry

sympathy

thank you

travel

So far every one of my cards fits into one of these categories. But they are easy enough to add or remove a few. I have found using my cards I have already created so much easier because there is no question about what the inside says. It save me time because I am always grabbing a card as I am running out the door to meet someone or go to an event. I have not made cards really in a year so my stash is really taking a hard hit.

Let's get physical, I mean organized...

While at the scrapbook retreat put on by The Scrapbook Hideaway Gina had a ton of plastic boxes (but larger than the link) and Jami had a ton of jars in her work space. Every embellishment was color coordinated, from brads to large tags. And if you are like me you appreciate that. So far in my work space paper, ink, cardstock, ribbon, my clothes are even organized by color. Why this has never made sense to me before is beyond me. I have organized by theme (christmas, travel, etc) well that doesn't help me if I am looking for something red. It also doesn't help me if I don't know I have something red because it is so hard to find so I never use it and just continue to buy more product. So more organized and using up product I already own- win win! So how are you winning at orgainzing and using product?

I feel as though I am really making progress. I have went from this...


to this...













Organization accomplished:

• Embellishments coordinated in bags by color (currently I have 15 colors). Not thrilled on the whole idea of bags, but it will do until I find out what I really want.

• All keepsake items bagged by year. This is just the beginning. I still want to get them lined up with the coordinating photos I already have printed.

Organization that needs to be accomplished:

• Store all alterable items in categories: ready to be altered, ready to be recreated, and ready for not quite sure what


• Patterened paper color coordinated. Since moving it is a bit outta sorts.

RAK is back...

This is a birthday RAK I received from Sally Merchant/animallover back in August. Thanks lady! After cleaning up a pile of craft crap I found it on my table and realized I didn't blog it. Amazing what you find while cleaning. And along with my cleaning you will be glad to hear I have started a chronological listing for my photos, this way once my boxes arrive I can get a handle on this (being I'm afraid to scrap without everything in order). Amazing how your thoughts seem to organize when your environment is organized as well!

Building

The sunrise collection. I am so grateful to live with my aunt, not only is she the most giving person she has the best view. This was the sunrise Friday morning. I love Montana.

A Mess.

Getting organized. It's time to get a handle on this obsession (scrapbooking). So I attended a scrap retreat at MOMS and barely accomplished a thing. I decided all of my current projects are boring me right now. After talking with Melissa about it, she said why not do something totally different. She is a genious. I guess I have been reluctant to because I am not organized. I am a chronological scrapper and I feel trapped by it. If I organize myself so that I have all of the ticket stubs, programs, papers, embellies, etc ready for multiple layouts ahead of time I really think I can get a handle on this "I don't want to scrap" crap. I have searched the internet to find these at the cheapest price, again Melissa is a genious for showing them to me. I will put the "memorabilia" in these with any papers/embellies I want to use as well. Then store all of them in these. I got 4 of these suckers to start with because they were on sale and I had a code for free shipping. Spending money on organization isn't as fun as getting new stuff, but heck I can't even use my new stuff because I don't want to scrap at all because I am so unorganized. I'll keep you posted on this solution.

Let's face it.

I love to organize, but let's face it... I'm a mess. I enjoy a good sale and will purchase anything if it is a good deal. So after having to go through my stuff a million times I have come to the conclusion...
I must like what my studio looks like, this way I will want to show it off. ie-clean it up more often. So I am really evaluating what I need, what I use and what is the best organizing tool (not necessarily the best deal) to contain my supplies. Well if the first part of recovery is admitting you have a problem I am on step three or four. I am taking action. My first mission was paper scraps. I color coordinate my paper so I can find it quickly- solid, cardstock and patterned of the same color go in the same bin. I also keep a bin of stamped images (wishes, mess ups- to use to make a quick card). My problem was containing it. I found some great bins for 100 yen (one dollar) and I had to open and close them to put paper away. Too much work (I know I am lazy) so I found these great little zipper bins at Ikea for 4.99 (the real ones I wanted were from Hobby Lobby and 20.00) So I still went the cheaper route but I am happy. Scraps are where I can find them now. Here's to you getting your life organized too!

10 hours of stamping later...

Can we say "maid"?

Makin' a mess or masterpieces!?

I am not sure why, but everytime I sit down to stamp this happens! WHY!? I let my creativity flow which could run for hours but then it is restricted by the space- I NEED MORE!! I have always wanted a conveyor belt as a table and it just rolls outside of the house and someone sorts it out. I love to organize, but not when it is my own stuff. HMMMM, any ideas on how to cure my sickness? Do you share it also? I am in the process of finding out what is the best storage for my stuff above is what some ladies have used for their ink pads and I think it is a great idea. The SU! pads fit perfectly in there. I figure if I can get the stuff off of the table and that way I can have a place to work. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.