Messy workspace translates to my best work....at least I think so. LOL

I was reading this very interesting article called "The Psychology Behind Messy Rooms: Why The Most Creative People Flourish In Clutter" Here is a link to the article in case you'd like to read it. I felt like they were talking to/about me. I do like things to be organized and put away in their proper place but......when it comes to my scrapbooking, card making and all other crafts it's a different story. As I work I begin to grab supplies that may or may not end up in the finished project. Oh wait I have a piece of ribbon that will go perfectly with this so I go and get it. Then I think of something else that I might have in my stash that will work so I go and get that as well. Out of this mess will develop what I think is a really pretty card or a cool layout. Most people would tend to clean up the work space once the project is finished but it works differently for me. When I have all these wonderful crafting supplies strewn all about in front of me, I tend to have a million different ideas running through my head for my next projects. I believe, that is when I make my best cards. That's when I use scraps from this and combine them with scraps from something else. Whenever you see me display a large group of cards at once that is generally what has happened. These are just a few of those occasions. I have had to learn to just 'go with the flow' as they say when my workspace starts looking like a bomb went off. I try to use it to my advantage, using up those yummy bits and pieces of paper and ribbon that are small but just too pretty to throw away. Just to show you what I mean, here are some pics of my last craft room at our old house. I had taken over the formal dining room as my craft room and you can see that it got quite ugly at times. When we moved and I was able to take over the entire basement as my craft room I thought things would change. I thought that with this much space it would be all neat and tidy like we see in those craft magazines or all of the shots on Pinterest. LOL As if! Now will come the biggest challenge of all. I have decided to move my craft room upstairs into a tiny bedroom that is approximately 9 x 9. It's just too cold for me to work in the basement so this makes the most sense. However, I need to decide from my approximately 700 square foot basement craft room what I can comfortably fit into the new small space. I will need to purge like I've never purged before. Sell some stuff, donate some stuff and some will just need to be stored in the basement. I will take pics of the before and after space. Watch for that project to begin in weeks to come. I need to take down wallpaper and paint the guest room before I begin moving into it. Sorry about the long post. I sort of combined 2 posts into one. Have a wonderful day! It sure is beautiful here in Southern Ontario today. The sun is out, the birds are chirping and it finally feels like a beautiful spring day!

Craft Room Switcharoo! LOL

So my craft room was down in my basement. All 700 square feet just for me and my crafty supplies. This was one of the reasons we bought the house so I wouldn't be sprawled across the dining room table anymore. The only problem is that we've been in this house for 2 years now and I've noticed how cold the basement is all the time. I tried running a space heater in the winter but the problem was that I had to have it running 24 hours a day to keep the room reasonably comfortable. That equaled huge electric bills so I couldn't do that. I tried dressing in many layers but my fingers would freeze! Anyway my daughter has been complaining that she's always hot upstairs and that we have our heat turned up too high. (It's set for 72 so I think that's pretty standard.) So we decided we would do a room switcheroo. She gets the huge space down in the basement and I will take her room. So I've been at it for the last 3 days, bringing up bags and boxes of all sorts of craft supplies that I even forgot I had. Now comes the problem; trying to find spots for all of it. I have so much paper, 12 x 12's, 8 x 8's, 6 x 6's, Mat Stacks, Loose sheets, Kits of paper! Holy Moly....where did it all come from? Here are a few pictures of my craft room and what I've got done so far. I will post again when I have more done or have it finished.

I did it again!

I'm on top of the world! I have been chosen once again in the Top 10 Layouts for the DCWV April Stackaholic Challenge. The pictures that I used in the layout were ones that my brother had photographed. He likes to spend his free time photographing nature, animals, abandoned buildings and anything else of interest. Whenever I see these photographs of abandoned houses they always make we wonder "What's the story?" So many of them have furniture inside still. How is it that a house has a family living in it, one minute calling it home and the next standing abandoned? I decided to make a layout with these beautiful photos. I was also fortunate enough to be chosen as a random winner from DCWV. My prize will be sent out next week!

Here is the link to the Top 10 Layouts and Top 10 Cards from the April Stackaholic Challenge.