23 November 2010

Free your mind

I am like a squirrel.

OK so I don’t run around collecting nuts to store for the winter but I collect almost anything else that could come in handy for something creative. Fabric, buttons, wire, scraps of metal, tins, lace, sea shells, old china, pots, drift wood….Come to think of it I might have collected the odd nut or too. Walnut shells are beautiful and chestnuts too…You get the picture right?

The problem with this little “addiction” of mine is that my collection is huge and my workroom is really, really tiny. Lately my workroom has taken a turn for the worse and it came to a point when there was no floor space left and I had to take a direct jump from the door to my work table. More often than not this put a stop to my creativity.
This weekend I decided that I had had enough. Something had to be done and since “throwing away” wasn’t an option I started operation better storage! I emptied my room by carrying all my stuff into my eldest daughters’ room (luckily for her she wasn’t home) and then I went to IKEA and bought 3 new storage shelves and a serious amount of plastic boxes. Back home again I started to sort everything out in neat piles and putting it in boxes and containers. After about 4 hours of hard work I took a look around and saw that nothing much had happened. All my energy and good intensions went out the window and left me feeling like a deflated balloon. This is when you have a nervous breakdown or tell yourself to get a grip. I went for the “get a grip” combined with a glass of wine and a piece of chocolate. 3 hours later I was done!

I had shelves for my glass jars with buttons and my collection of vintage lace….




…All my wool and yarn sorted after color in plastic containers.



……my vintage tins and old china in one place



….and all my paper, pencils and paint has its own shelf too.



I could actually see the floor!!!!! Hurray!

All this has left me with an almost overpowering sense of creativity. My head is spinning with ideas and I can’t get home from work fast enough to sit down at my wonderfully empty worktable and get started.

Free your mind and the rest will follow!

Take care
Jeanette

2 comments:

LiLi M. said...

Of course I'm doing the same thing twin sister!!!

Heather Woollove said...

Oh, Jeanette--Wow...who knew that all you need is some wine and chocolate?? :) It looks great, and I know you'll be so efficient, now with everything 'in its place'!!
Where's my corkscrew? I have work to do!!! :)