Sunday, April 06, 2008

Weekend Warrior: Another "during" update

Hi! Thanks for all your kind comments and support so far. I am still working down here. This is quite a task! I have been taking photos as I go, and will post some tomorrow. I got through a lot of boxes and piles, only to fill other boxes and make more piles. I am keeping sight of my goal though, no matter how long this takes. Dy helped me a great deal by reminding me to think about the kind of art I want to make down here, and to really just keep the materials that will be used for that kind of art. A great deal of the stuff I have been tossing has been in our art cupboards for 5 to 10 years! I have to admit- I still have concerns about getting rid of some of it- spools and spools of ribbons, skeins of acrylic yarns by the boxful, piles of felt squares, etc. But if we haven't used it in 5 years, I am not goin gto miss it right? Right? I saved it for the kids, but that isn't the stuff they use- as long as I have tons of paints, papers, and sculpey, they are happy, so why is it so hard to give up the huge box of ribbon bits and bobs?!

The other thing I have to do is think about how I want my space arranged (thinking of moving the tables around to make more usable space), and how to best store the supplies I really do use often: fabric, paint, collage materials, fibers, paper, etc. The Dude came with me to the hardware store tonight, and I got some ideas, and he is going to help me come up with some storage solutions for the things I use the most. This is where the Studios magazine is both helping and harming- I will be happy if my after photos look as good as the before photos in the mag, lol. But the mag had lots of low-budget ideas for storing and organizing, and I do have a lot of options already.

One thing I have decided, with help from Dy, is that I want to put some of my fabric on the shelves behind the design wall. Mostly the stuff I love the most (batiks, japanese, bright colors, etc.) and want to be using for fabric collage. The unusual fabrics will still live in the plastic bins on the fabric wall, as well as some other supplies. I am not sure where I will store my books and bead boxes, but will figure that out this week.

The Dude is going to help me fix my wire baskets (I have some that don't have the side rails, that I got for free.) so I can put them under my paint table, and that will get rid of a lot of my paint table mess.

My paper cupboard is much more useable, but the little paper drawers need to be re-sorted and labeled. This is where my embellishments, and little doodads live, but they are a mess because I just throw stuff into any drawer after I use it- lots of that problem down here- little tubs and boxes with misc. stuff from a finished or set-aside project. Gotta get a handle on that.

Funny thing- it is hard to do this organizing and live my regular life too! As for what happened today that didn't involve the studio: I worshiped at the church of flannel sheets again this morning- sigh- this is getting to be a habit as I haven't been in 6 weeks, but I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night, being wide awake until 4 am.

After a nice brekky of avacado and bacon on toast, and a hot bath, I fetched Mama and she folded an entire couchful of laundry (I really should have taken a before photo of THAT!), helped with the dishes, and scrubbing of the kitchen, kept Piano Girl company while she baked bread and banana bread, and chatted with me while I made homemade chicken rice soup. We sent her home with two tupperwares of soup, half a loaf of bread, and lots of kisses.

The Dude and the Boy started the patio project, too. I will get photos of that tomorrow. I also owe the ladies on the WTM boards a photo of what I see from my front door. I better go charge my camera battery.

That's all for now- the Dude leaves for a trip tomorrow, so I want to go snuggle with him while I can, and get some rest tonight. See you tomorrow with photos. Not sure when I will post, as the Girls come for art playdate at 1 pm, I still have to get the studio ready for our big project, and I do want the kids to do some school tomorrow- it is Spring break at the high school, so the Boy will be able to focus on Green Dragon classes for a while.

TTFN,
LB

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who rocks?! LB!!!

Now I'm hungry for bread....mmm... remember Christmas feast? The Challah y'all made and the whole grain cinnam-ny wonder our neighbor Jenny gifted us with? Toasted with real butter...fabulous!

Create a great day ~ I bet your class will be lovely,

P

Amy said...

You've done great. I love the idea of keeping your favorite fabrics out in view. I've often looked with sinful envy at the idea of displaying favorite fabrics in various sized embroidery hoops and hanging them on the wall.

Way to go!

And, LB, thanks so much for playing with me this weekend! It's so much more fun to have someone else digging out the recesses of their messes with you!

Anonymous said...

Cool blog. Your daughter asked me to see your blog so I finally checked my e-mail and did.
Say hi to the family for me and warm wishes from CA!