365 Project- More than 10% Done

365 Project- More than 10% Done
Originally uploaded by magscrafts

I can't decide if it feels like we started this project of artful exploration eons ago or just yesterday. I was catching up on uploading pictures to our group, and as I typed day 37/365, I thought "Wow, 10% done." Part of me thinks I should put an "only" in there. Part of me thinks it is a good accomplishment.

It is most certainly a testimony to my crafting ADD. If you look at my pictures, I made books, embroidered on felt leaves, made thread buttons, glued buttons to bobby pin blanks, and sewed bags. I made more than a few earrings, but I also think I made much less than I would in an average month.

There were some reorganization days in there, where I sorted supplies and attempted to bring order to the mayhem. I need to do that some more- I need to sort my fabric stash and I need to reorganize the basement to try to set up an area for using a torch.

I also want to stretch my artistic wings more as time goes on, and try to strike that balance between making the items that will sustain my current business while trying to change it into what it needs to be in the future.

Keep your eyes on this space- you never know what we might be up to!

The holidays are coming! Part 1

Aack, it's truly just around the corner and my scattered brain is stressing out over the pledge I took to do all handmade (except for the little kids) this holiday season! I have snowmen ornaments to make (I make them from sea urchins), sea glass angels and countless numbers of pendants and earrings. My mother has put in a request for a giant seashell wreath for her birthday (exactly one week before Christmas) and a slew of other things.

I have a large plastic mold for making birdbaths, 80 lbs of quickcrete in the trunk of my car and sheet upon sheet of stained glass sitting and waiting to be cut up to mosaic the birdbaths (yes I said baths- plural- three planned for holiday gift giving). Then there's the wine lovers in my family- for them, hand painted wine glasses and sea glass wine bottle stoppers. Oh and did I mention the people in my family who are impossible to gift?

On top of all this, I lie awake in bed at night- my mind reeling avec idée fixe: hand painted glass ornaments, mosaic mirrors, occasional tables, time frames, supplies to buy... Something tells me that "craft night" with the girls is not going to be enough to get all this accomplished. Tomorrow's agenda includes a trip to the office supply store to buy some sort of giant calendar thing to hang on my wall so I can start mapping out a timeline for getting all this accomplished. I guess, also, I should write a list of every person I need to make a gift for and what that gift will be.

*Note to self: organizing a studio space does not automatically organize a head cluttered with ideas!

And so, this mini rant will become a mini series. As I make progress tackling this aggregate of craftiness, I will blog about it. Sharing pictures, ideas and thoughts as I go. Wish me luck!

-Tara

A light at the end of the tunnel

Well, tonight was the big clear out night in my basement. I got downstairs around 9pm and just went to it. I knew I'd been down there a while but had no idea exactly how long. When I finally came upstairs and looked at the clock it was 12:51am. I finished up what I was doing and am sitting down at the computer at 1:30am. The dungeon is looking remarkably more like a decent work space.

I don't know why I procrastinated this as long as I did. Even before I intended to use the space for crafts, I intended to have things neatly stored and organized just for the sake of keeping inventory of my shells and things for my stores. I think somehow I talked myself into believing I just had too much stuff down there and no place to put it all. Well TOTALLY not true. It is so bare in there compared to what it was you'd think I threw away 80% of my stock! There were so many cupboards, closets and built-ins that I wasn't taking advantage of and even one I didn't know was there!

Almost all of my inventory is now out of the cardboard boxes they've been sitting in since shipped to me and it is about 75% sorted by specimen into plastic storage totes. LOL, just in time for me to decide I don't want to sell half of it anymore! Well, at least selling it off will be easier!

For more photos of the progress I'm making on this project, check out my Flickr photoset Studio Remodel. (And I apologize for the terrible quality of some of the pictures, the flash and lighting were not cooperating at all tonight!)

-Tara

Welcome to the Dungeon

Welcome to the Dungeon
Originally uploaded by mornindew2822

This horrifying mess is my "shell room". This is where I keep 95% of the stock for my eBay store and website. It is a pit of despair and this is day one, photo one of it's remodel. It will become my design studio as I move away from seashells and more into jewelry.

In the vein of organization, today I started a photo journal of my progress as I transform the space. Tonight when the kids go to bed, I am going tackle clearing a reasonable path for the plumber to gain access to a crawlspace so he can fix our outdoor water spigot. We'll see how that goes.

Maggie keeps telling me to take little bites...

Let's Get Organized

0824 sorted beads
Originally uploaded by magscrafts

So Tara and I were chatting last night and she was cleaning her house like a madwoman so she could go to the beach today guilt free. That got me thinking about how tonight when I got back from my trip, I would organize my bead boxes, because I had a lot of trouble digging out beads to take with me on my trip this weekend.

We got to talking about how organizing is such a painful process, because it is like dominoes- all a very delicate balance, and each thing you touch effects the things next to it.

We agreed to add to our 365 project that we would at least once a week have our work involve organizing, whether it be for our role as a mom, businesswoman or artist. The truth is that all those women occupy the same space!

Tonight I organized all my glass beads by size and color, and now I am feeling inspired to do something with them!