MaryLou's time2cre8

What a mess! The state of my "studio" right now is an unbelievable mess.

See, I've never had what I would consider a studio. I've had a craft room, but despite the fact that it's a great size for a craft room I've had it piled high with stuff. That's one of the hazards, I fear, of having such an obsession with creating. There's just so much stuff involved because I have to feed the addiction... fabric, thread, sewing machine, batting, yarn, frames, matboard, embroidery floss, polymer clay, beads, cardstock, paper... Argh! I can't say that it was ever truly organized. I made a few attempts at it, putting shelves all around the room to store all the stuff. The problem is that I'd rather spend my time creating than organizing, so there were boxes piled all over the place.

And now it's worse.

You see, I really like spending time with my husband, so I do the bulk of my creating in the living room and dining room. (They're on the first floor, and the craft room is on the second floor.) Last week, however, I decided it was just too much of a mess to have piles of things on the first floor, so I moved everything upstairs. Everything. We thought we had company coming for the weekend (that's a whole other story), so I didn't take the time to truly organize it all as I moved it. Now the room is in worse shape than it was before.

Moving "everything" meant that I made about a bazillion trips up and down the stairs. My knees are not happy. Some of this stuff was heavy! If you don't think this was a task, here's just some of what was moved:
- computer tower >> upstairs
- computer monitor (one of those giant, clunky, heavy ones) >> upstairs
- keyboard, mouse, modem, router >> upstairs
- digital scale >> upstairs
- office chair >> garage
- cardstock, paper (3 boxes full) >> upstairs
- guillotine paper cutter >> upstairs
- shipping supplies >> upstairs
- Etsy inventory (cards, envelopes, beadweaving, etc.) >> upstairs
- camera and attachments >> upstairs
- computer cabinet >> garage

Granted, that doesn't seem like a lot when you see it typed out like that, but it required many many trips up and down the stairs.

And now that it's all moved, I'm squashed into this little space I've carved out. It'll take me awhile to get everything organized, particularly since I'm pretty sure I'll continue to procrastinate the organization while I make new things. I already like some of the new arrangement, though. I now have my printer on the table next to me rather than in the cabinet underneath the keyboard; so I don't have to duck underneath the keyboard tray every time I want to print something. I also have the digital scale next to me instead of in another room, so I don't have to get up and walk to it every time I want to weigh a package. The paper cutter's not in the greatest place, so it's going to have to be moved somewhere, but for now I can make it work.

Now I'm going to experiment with taking my pictures in the guest bedroom. It has a big window that faces north, so I think it'll be good lighting. I just tried it out with one of my newest beadwoven cuffs, the Nine-Patch Quilt. I think it worked pretty well, and it's a big improvement over my previous photography staging area, which was out on our deck. Winter's coming, and I don't want to have to traipse out there every time I want new pictures!

Before I finish this post, I have to send some thanks to people...

To triz, for including my Piano Man cuff in this gorgeous treasury that made it to Etsy's front page!

If you've never checked out Triz' Etsy shop or her blog, you're really missing something. She does absolutely beautiful beadweaving, and her photography skills are incredible. Just check out her newest creation, which she has aptly named the Turquoise Delight Cuff.

I also have to thank Freya, of AFriendlyMonster, for including my Bat Banter captioned critter mini notecards in her blog post about bats. There are all sorts of batty creations included in her post, so check it out!

Now I'm off to do some organizing. No. Wait. I have an idea for something I want to create.

Guess what's going to win? :-)