Tagged: clean

Feb 20

Clean Drawer Giveaway

Would you like a peak in my drawers? I’d be glad to show you since I just revamped and organized my ephemera/project file cabinet.

Notice the labels on the hanging files? Before I just had things randomly shoved in the cabinet, but now I can find that perfect piece of ephemera for collage. This is my vintage drawer and includes categories such as book covers, embroidery patterns, music, nature, report cards.

The middle drawer is filled with longer items such as vintage sheet music and larger magazines, plus cardstock and other specialty papers, and my favorite magazines.

The bottom drawer has projects in progress, drawing paper, and magazines used for collage.

Before these drawer were organized, piles would form on my desk top because I wasn’t quite sure where to put my stash if I wanted to find it again. And now…

The file cabinet is just to the left of my work desk, so everything is easily accessed. Some of my favorite vintage books like dictionaries, record books, encyclopedias are stored on top of the file cabinet.

Right behind my desk is my solder station.

This is an old high school shop class work bench. It is the perfect work and storage space for soldering. All I have to do is spin my desk chair around to be facing the solder station.

Here’s the view from the back of the solder station.

And to the right is blue dresser full of paints, mediums, oil pastels, all those lovely art supplies.

I have everything stored in plastic shoeboxes, so if I need to remove supplies for teaching a class or for transport, I can easily pull out the shoebox, pop on the lid, and go.

Relief! Without the piles and clutter, I am much more free to create. Disorganization really hampers my creativity. I like to make a mess while I work, but I also like to start fresh with each project.

One thing I realized while organizing my file cabinet is that I have an abundant supply of ephemera. What better way to thin it down than to SHARE.

Enter the Clean Drawer Giveaway by leaving a comment on this post sharing why you love ephemera, or how you organize your own ephemera. I will randomly draw for the Sweet and Chunky Ephemera Package on Sunday, February 28, and will announce the winner via blog post.

I love to use ephemera to package my soldered jewelry sales. Here are a couple sweet packages prepared for shipping today:

This sweet little ring was a commission using the first measure of Clair de Lune.
The packaging is a report card from 1929.
This packaging is a vintage postcard sent from England, postage stamps intact.

amanda ∞

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May 24

Clean = Inviting


Inviting and refreshing, that is how the art studio feels when it is clean. As we wrap up the school year, I have had very little free time to express myself creatively. To hinder me further, piles were accumulating and swallowing up my work spaces. Today I tackled the studio and won the match. Creativity reigns once again.

After putting away the clutter, I was able to finish a page in an art journal and continue on a couple other projects that were buried in the rubble earlier. I feel invigorated, recharged.

Tonight I think I’ll curl up with this book by Kelly Rae Roberts,

Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts

Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts

my journal, and a cup of tea and allow swirling thoughts to settle in my brain.

amanda ∞

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Nov 03

Grace

To kick off Art Every Day Month, I did a thorough cleaning of my art studio and the rest of the house. Some clutter had been giving me a total mental block. Now that the space is fresh and clean again, I am drawn to the room.

For Art Every Day Month, I am applying some wisdom I learned from Sark. I am making small movements in the direction I want to go. On Saturday after cleaning the studio, I gessoed some Moleskine pages and painted. On Sunday I used those same pages for taking sermon notes. Today I applied more gesso. And I have even moved a quilt to a very accessible place to encourage my hands to get busy.

The sermon on Sunday was incredible. I’m still pondering all that I heard. Jeff Cox always gives fresh perspective and greater insight into the Bible. The topic was grace. For me, he brought history to life and put flesh on a man who wrote much of the new testament, Paul. Incredible. If you’d like to listen, go here and select ‘Crisis-Jeff Cox.’

Thanks for all your kind words about the loss of our sweet little Gloria. The house is very quiet today, even with two other dogs and a cat. Gloria was our little shadow. She would follow us wherever we went, and had the sweetest disposition. We all keep looking for her, expecting her to burst around the corner full of joy.

amanda ∞

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