January and the Holiday Aftermath

Like so many others, each January evokes a need to declutter and get rid of things that tend to accumulate during the year.   Simple things--that could be done during the year, but for many reasons just don't--become a challenge, a mountain to conquer.  I never get it done completely, but it is strangely satisfying to go on the annual declutter and organize campaign.  

On The Art of Doing Stuff, Karen talks about throwing away 50 things.  I can do that in short order, I thought, and started on kitchen drawers.  Spices past expiration date, packaging, items that I have multiples of (wooden spoons, spatulas, etc.), that belong somewhere else, or that I don't even use--I put in the Goodwill box or threw them away.  It felt good and the drawers I did look much better.  

Actually, on the spices, I just threw away the contents (my trash smelled like a cafeteria with all of the spices mixed, and not in a good way) and washed the glass containers to use upstairs for beads, etc.

I have many drawers, cabinets, pantry, and my closet to go, and although I'm feeling quite pleased with myself so far, I know the desire to keep up with this will begin to fade and the habit of "stashing" rather than trashing will reassert itself.  For this week at least, 50 things a day might be do-able.  The long term goal is not to stash, but at least I am making an effort.  

Continuing to write letters to all of those that I owe mail.

These will go out tomorrow.

More efforts on the white embroidery.  Filling in more space, a little at a time.

When I get tired of the cleaning and decluttering

I saw something the other day reminding me of Sei Shonagon and her Pillow Book.  So as I go about my day I've begun categorizing things.  I've been familiar with the book for decades and have my favorites from her various categories: 

Hateful/annoying things: 

A man who has nothing in particular to recommend him discusses all sorts of subjects at random as though he knew everything.

One is telling a story about old times when someone breaks in with a little detail that he happens to know, implying that one's own version is inaccurate -- disgusting behavior!

Adorable things:  
A baby of two or so is crawling, rapidly along the ground. With his sharp eyes he catches sight of a tiny object and, picking it up with his pretty little fingers, takes it to show to a grown-up person.

She had dozens of categories.  I am not sure where my book is so I took a couple of quotes from the internet.  
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Anyway, I'm going about my day with my own categories:

Satisfying things:
 My new socks.  So comfortable, and I like the design.
A clean drawer, so pleasing.
Finishing a letter and getting it ready for the mail.

Hateful things:
Slugs on my lettuce.  Slimy, disgusting, greedy creatures.

Annoying things:
Entering a room and forgetting why I went there.
Forgetting that I put on a load of laundry yesterday without putting stuff in the dryer.

Things that make me happy:  
Messages from Erin with pics of her sewing space.
A new book to read.

I used to add these to letters, and I think it is time to do it again.

What are some categories you might have?  (Frustrating, Anxiety Causing, Adorable, Uplifting?)

And So It Goes

My studio overhaul is still in progress, but has definitely slowed down.  I'm looking for some inexpensive bookshelves for convenient storage and easy access, and I want a new table of some sort for working on projects.  I use my cutting table for almost everything, but it takes up so much space in my tiny studio that it would be nice to have another work surface so I only have to open the cutting table when I have a large project.

As I've continued to look through the plastic storage bins and sort through what to keep and what to cull, I find interesting tidbits from the past.  I've stored scraps and small blocks in plastic bags that I'm setting aside for more hearts or small projects of pieced and embellished items.  The "heart basket" overflowed, and I'm sorting things out a bit.

 Hearts in progress.

 They make nice pin cushions, too

 Buttons and other embellishments litter my sewing table,

and must be swept out of the way in order to sew.

I look through a lot of pictures of craft spaces, and although I love seeing those perfectly designed or beautifully decorated studios, the ones that feel like "me" are the ones in absolute disarray.  You know, the ones with fabric and tools scattered about by crafters in the process of some creative project.  

While a beautiful room is one of my dreams, the truth is that I will always be pulling stuff out to audition and leaving it for a while in case I change my mind.  And I will almost always be working on more than one project at a time.

If I can just manage to get things more easily within reach, get some shelves, and a new table--things would be greatly improved!

Inspiration and Organization

Great places to visit:

The Crafty Nest....give-aways, links to give-aways, DIY tutorials--good stuff!
Just Something I Made....lots of crafty tutorials and great ideas!  Too many fun & useful projects to mention!
The Graphics Fairy...free images and crafty projects and links!  I'm working on a project using the Fairy's images right now.

I'm organizing and labeling bits & bobs!  No, I'm not neat in general or in specifics, and the labels are not always even, the handwriting is poor, etc.  But...this is going to be a lot more efficient when I finish categorizing and labeling.

 When I finish organizing the tiny things in this little storage bin, I'll move on to things in boxes that are still behind the attic door.  Dragged out one box yesterday, but many items won't fit in the storage bin because the majority of the drawers are so tiny, but I have other containers.  I will soldier on for a while, trying to organize so that I will spend less time searching (often fruitlessly) for an item, I'm pretty sure I have.

 

I bought the old cloth covered sewing box a couple of years ago and found some neat stuff in it.

I've downloaded labels from both The Graphics Fairy and Just Something I Made for organizing all sorts of things, but mostly the chaos in my studio.  I have tools, fabric, vintage items, embellishments, WIPs, scraps, embroidery floss, needles (for all purposes, including felting needles), rulers, pens, pencils, clay utensils, paints & paint brushes, chalk & oil pastels, old postage stamps, magazines from the late 1800's, etc., etc.

Here is a great way to organize fabric remnants over at Just Something I Made. I plan on using this idea in the future.

It wasn't always easy to find what I wanted even before we moved; now, it is almost impossible.  Thanks to The Graphics Fairy and Just Something I Made, perhaps the things will improve!
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Today's Poem of the Day is by Gerard Manley Hopkins, one of my very favorite poets, and this is one of my favorite poems:  Spring and Fall.  So appropriate for this time of year.   And it makes me thinks of Shakespeare's Sonnet 73:

That time of year thou mayst in me behold (Sonnet 73)

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
   This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
   To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

In one of the boxes in the attic, I found a bunch of handouts of some of my favorite poems that I used when teaching.   For many years, there were few days when I didn't read poetry, but lately that has not been the case, and it was fun to go through the handouts.

Improvement

I'm calling the cleaning and organizing done. There are a few things left that I'd like to do, but they are relatively small in comparison. Everything is back in the room that I want back in the room. Some things went into the trash. I'm a compulsive collector, but I'm working on that.

Need to label these little drawers.My Fringe Festival posters. I so love them.Cleared off some of the junk that was cluttering the design wall.Labels should help me locate things, right?Desk area needs some work.Had yoga again tonight. I'm slowly improving. Slowly. But improving. I'm really enjoying the classes and the two different teachers. I can do more than mountain and corpse poses now, you'll be glad to know. I balanced in crow for about 30 seconds tonight and didn't fall on my head even once.

Current reading - The Mindful Woman: gentle practices for restoring calm, finding balance, & opening your heart by Sue Patton Thoele. Love the title. I'm reading it slowly and trying to keep precepts in mind. I love this quote at the beginning of the book:

"I'm alternately appalled and amused by just how elusive mindfulness can be, how incredibly easy it is for me to be seduced away from simplicity and focused awareness into multi-multitasking and rampant mind-mucking."

"Multi-multitasking and rampant mind-mucking"! Boy, do I know those feelings!

Monday Musings

I was the weekend babysitter for Bryce Eleanor. Well, from Saturday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. She was a joy as usual.


More stuff from the room organization:

Brooches I started and didn't finish over two years ago
The winter class piece that didn't get finished. The first part of Julian of Norwich's prayer:

All shall be well,

and all shall be well,

and all manner of things shall be well.

I was going to do the rest of the quote in embroidery, but now I really don't know how I'm going to handle it. Maybe it will be finished by next Christmas.

Room In Progress ..

just realized that is RIP - a scary thought.

I've been re-vamping and organizing, cleaning and trashing here in the chaos of my sewing room. This had been an AmaZingly time-consuming process. In spite of the fact that I knew it would be, the time it is taking continues to surprise me because there are so many decisions, and my poor brain gets overloaded.I have things scattered all through the house now, as I try to put like with like, decide what to keep and what to trash, and determine where to put things for the easiest access. I'm not showing the floor with its piles of stuff to go through - fabric, tools, freezer paper and stabilizers, etc. That is too much chaos for me to contemplate right now.
I have no choice now but to continue. In the meantime, I can't use my machine, although I can still do some hand work which calms me down in the evening.

These design boards have become just another place to store stuff and have pretty much lost their practical applications. So they, too, are on the list of things to clear.

And WIP's -- I am realizing how many things have been started and left unfinished. I guess that will be another post because now, I'm going to tackle this mess again.

Time to Organize

I need to re-organize. Although this is true of the kitchen and all of my closets, especially needy is the sewing room. It will be a big undertaking as I want to get rid of my metal shelves (too deep, too wide) and completely re-do the computer area; these shelves are about 48" wide and 18" deep and take up a lot of my small space. I'm trying to accept that this will require boxing and removing a lot of fabric,useful tools, embellishments, etc. as a temporary measure.

What I really wanted to do is to for this post, however, was to share this link dealing with organizing those messy items: ribbons, trims, and lace. The Domestic Diva has given some excellent options- both handmade to purchased. I'd never seen ribbon clips or roll buddies, but they are pretty cool.

Here are some wonderful craft rooms that can provide more ideas for storage and organization. Warning: this one can eat up some time!

So - one thing that I'll be attempting during March will be clearing clutter, organizing, and finding things that I know I have, but don't know where they are. I will also be working on some WIP's and doing more work on this:

click to enlarge

because it is relaxing and requires no thought, allowing me to ponder the thoughts that come to mind or to watch television as I choose.

Miss Bryce will be arriving to stay with Jenny Claire until tomorrow. Amelia and Chris are going to Lafayette to see a comic who is appearing in a club there, so we will have the care of the heir apparent.

Second Set of Napkins and Spring Cleaning

Daily Things: More NapkinsTwo more napkins done. Doing the hem and the mitered corners for these takes more time than I would have thought. When I finish the next set, I'm going to work on a table runner. I've already begun piecing some of the small strips that were left over.

Then if I decide to make another set of coordinating napkins, I think I'll leave them raw edge and let them ravel in the washing machine.

I loved Jane Ann's post about cleaning out the closet and simplifying. Check it out. It really is that time again, isn't it. Yesterday, something started me thinking about hoarding, and I walked around checking my closets which are full of things that have just been put away, out of sight. The idea of going through all of that STUFF made me so anxious that I opened a book to escape! But, truly, books are part of the problem. They overflow the bookcases, are stacked on top of every flat surface-including the hearth, and are threatening to take over.

And the sewing room! I have so much clutter in there that I can't find things I know I have. Which leads me back to the statement: It's that time again. Spring cleaning. Clutter removal. Organization. Simplification.

Yesterday, I was overwhelmed. Today, Jane Ann's post reminds me that it is one step at a time; that even if I never finish, it is necessary to begin.

Here I Go Again...

I'm going to clean up my sewing room. Yes. Wish one of those television organizers would appear and help, but adherence to an organized life would probably not last very long. Since I'm on my own, maybe just clearing off my cutting table (read: location of all miscellaneous fabric, tools, books, etc. that have not been put away) is a good place to begin. Not only is the normal pile of fabrics there, but items collected from other places in the house where I've littered (brushes from the kitchen sink where I cleaned them and instead of putting them back where they belonged, dropped them here; the plastic cross stitch kit I bought for Mila, but failed to interest her, etc.)

Just last week all was in order; not wonderful or well-organized, but clean and cleared. Even my desk was orderly -- all papers filed, no coffee rings, pens and pencils put away, dusted. Some people never learn to make cleaning after themselves a habit...no matter how many attempts have been made, how many resolutions posted, how many oaths pledged.

The one thing I can do is get it done when the realization of just how bad it is finally becomes apparent. So rather than clean up after myself each day, I'm reduced to a weekly horror show.