Sorting Stuph

       I am STILL working in my studio, organizing and unpacking totes full of miscellaneous stuph!  I just counted AT LEAST 42 UFO's (Un-Finished Objects) that are waiting for me. I told someone once I have to live long enough to finish every item I want to create.  With the length of my list I'll live to be 350 years old!  For probably a dozen years I had a serious case of Pattern Acquisition Syndrome.  I bought every new pattern that caught my eye. I have a filing cabinet filled with files on a slew of designers, each having somewhere between 1 to 15 patterns.  I didn't count all the epb patterns, but I'm sure they are hedging towards a count of 20! Three drawers full of patterns designed by other people.  I do mean full!  The 4th drawer is full of kits that I absolutely had to have because I would get the doll completed sooner, or make a second one in a different color as a gift.  Ha!  I have been making dolls 20+ years. That's a lot of patterns and extra kits waiting for me.  
       My Mother-in-Law will be visiting for 10 days in December.  As we have no first floor guest room we need to convert one of my "storage rooms" into a nice little room for her. The room is currently walled with those white/ semi transparent drawer units.  2 walls are stacked over my head.  Okay so I'm only 5' 1" but seriously, what will I do with all this stuph? at least 2 walls will be moved into my second "storage room" which of course is the smallest room in the house sans the ladies room! That is part of what motivated me to tackle the boxes and totes to get excess things off the floor.  She arrives in 4 weeks.  I think I'll meet the deadline. I think I can, I think I can... chug chug chug.
       But for the rest of the day I'm back in there organizing and rearranging some stuff with some other stuph to make it organized so there is space for my Mother-in-Law. Come January I had better start in on these UFO's before they begin to take over the whole house!!!

Books, Boxes and Things

       I have finished putting all my books on shelves in the order that I want them.  Now if I want to read about embroidery I can find all my embroidery books in one place.  I did find that I have a few more books that are duplicates, including Wendy Froud's "The Winter Child."  I took a workshop with Wendy in New York City several years ago and I must say her dolls are even more lovely in person.

        There's a table with the sewing and ironing stuff.  Some small drawers hold pins, needles, bobbins and other miscellaneous items. Some larger items like ironing hams are in a unit under the table. Finally, there is nothing else on that table. My work table, however, is full of small items that need to go home. I'm trying to leave them there as I open the rest of the boxes. It seems small items got tossed into boxes just to fill the box so small items are everywhere.
       Speaking of boxes, I only have a few left to unpack and find homes for the things inside.  I can easily move a few around if I need something "boxed in", like my filing cabinets full of doll patterns.  I have a couple of file drawers full of doll patterns I've purchased.  I used to have a bad case of "Pattern Acquisition Syndrome." It manifested itself requiring me to purchase almost every new doll pattern sold on Dollmakers Journey.  That was back when I was friends with most of the designers.  Now I look at the designers list on Dollmakers Journey and I don't know at all 37 out of the 87 designers. I mean I have never heard of them or seen their patterns.  I guess that means I need to peruse DMJ again, including every dollmaker that I do know that has designed anything new in the last 10 years.  Wow!  I guess that will keep me busy for awhile.
       Meanwhile I'll keep emptying boxes in the studio.  My son Shawn will be helping me today by placing dolls on my tall book shelves while I sit back and point. Some are mine, some were made by others and a few are made from patterns of other designers.  Just to clarify, my "Patten Acquisition Syndrome" means I bought all the patterns, not that I actually made the patterns. 

Still Unboxing!

       I have been working on the studio bit by bit and most recently books.  My bookcases are like 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide.  They hold a lot of books!  That's great because I HAVE a lot of books! I got distracted and think I'll be reading Reclaimed Textiles this afternoon since I am done unpacking books today.

       So far,today I have opened 5 wine boxes. Each box was designed for 12 wine bottles and I packed the books in them to make them lighter to lift than the bigger boxes I used for everything else. Anywhoo, my wonderful son Shawn moved these 5 boxes out for me and between all 5 I managed to fill only a shelf and a half.  I thought it would make a bigger dent that that, but no.  So I went to the studio, moved a few things around and exposed more boxes of books for Shawn to carry in to the studio tomorrow.  Then I'll have to move more stuff for him to get to more books. The hard part was I wanted to sit and read a couple.  I am guilty of buying a book and not actually reading it.  (Shame on me!) I tend to flip through and look at the pics, read a couple lines of info and then saving the book for later, put it on my work table, or desk.  Then eventually, I'll clean up the studio- well at least the work table and put the books away that are there.   

So far I have only found 1 duplicate book! The one above.

       It will be easier to prevent duplicates from happening since the book shelves and my desk where I order from Amazon are on the same floor.

Boxes, boxes, boxes!

         I've been working on organizing the new studio and starting to empty Shawn's tiny old bedroom that has been a storage room for everything we needed out of the way for the craft show.  Here is a view of the wall packed to the ceiling.  I couldn't get the whole wall because it was too small a room. 

The second pic here is the rest of the wall, across from the doorway.  You can see the closet and a black shelving unit to the right that just fits the wall. 

        Did I mention it was a small room?  It didn't seem this small when it was a bedroom! 

          My dear friend Amy has been helping me unpack boxes by doing the lifting. She's awesome!  Amy establish a small path down the center of the room.  It makes it feel like there is hope to finish so I can start creating again.

       Oh- under all these boxes are boxes with books.  I have 2 large book cases that currently have things on them that need to go to their rightful homes, but the homes are blocked with boxes. What a surprise! 

    

    

 

   Down with the flu- the best thing to do is watch art videos on You Tube.  Currently I have watched hours and hours of Maremi Small Art.  She does a lot of mixed media journal pages.  She has an Etsy site, an Instagram account and 2 Facebook accounts, the second called Maremi's Creative Café where viewers like me can post finished works as well as works in progress.  Then she turned me on to Lindsay who has The Frugal Crafter Blog.  I just watched a long video where Lindsay did a beautiful water color gal and complemented her work with colored pencils.  If you don't want to watch a long video she taught me about the small gear icon below the video.  It will speed up the show but I hung out for the whole thing as I've never been keen with a brush.  I guess I need to try again.  She also turned me on to "pencil extenders."  It's a little tube you slide your short pencil into that locks the pencil in place and you can use it until it is a tiny stub.  I found them at Dick Blick for close to $5.  I have a few colors I depend on and get tired of buying new ones.  I think I need a couple of these!

       Anywhoo, if you are down with the flu OR stuck in the house due to below zero temperatures check out these sites.  I think you'll have a good time and probably try out some new techniques!

       My thinking cap just turned on as no caffeine yet, but I think I actually own a pencil extender.  I wondered what the heck it was and hope I didn't pitch it!

Looking for a unique way to celebrate Valentine's Day without spending a ton of money?  Try my "Fiber Delight!  Valentine Postcards" workshop on Doll Street.  Getting a  card in the mail these days is something special, especially when it is hand made.  AND you can actually mail these postcards without an envelope as long as they stay under 1/4 inch thick.  There are quite a few postcard designs to get you rolling and to sweeten the deal, the  workshop is 20% off! I hope to see you in class!

What's a postcard without a place to place your loved one's address?

You'll never guess how I made this "tin" heart!