My local public library has a used book store run by the Friends. I have been pleased to find that there is a steady stream of like new, high quality art history books making its way to the shelves. Although the fiction is 50 cents or $1 they really mark up the art books. A book on how to do watercolor is usually $3, $3 is the highest category of standard pricing. Some of the better books are individually priced. I paid $8 for a like new ceramics book which is my college class' textbook that lists for $65. Still a bargain but those prices know the artists and art history lovers are willing to pay more than $1 for a great coffee table sized book or a tome on Degas.
AnyhowI have been stocking up as you can imagine. Being a book hoarder since I stopped homeschooling, I am no longer hunting for books for my kids to learn with. Instead I am looking for what I want to read and now that is mostly painting how to and art history books for inspiration. I already had formerly owned two bookcases full of art books but now that I have been stopping into the used shop at least once a week my collection is growing.
How can I resist the like new books published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney and MOMA? I cannot. Sorry, not sorry. I am trying to limit myself though. One need only own so many books on Monet or Van Gogh. Enough is enough.
However the two bookcases in my art studio / craft room are full. I am pondering options. Those include books on top of the bookcases (one is not really accessible) or moving some into the game room's built in shelves. I did another sweep to get rid of homeschooling books a couple of months ago so there are actually gaps on the shelf. My nineteen year old is asking to have access to some childhood favorites that are stashed in boxes in one of two closets here. I am torn, so torn, on which books to put where and am thinking about getting rid of more homeschooling books. Or rotating out the unused homeschooling books on the shelf for favorite childhood books on the shelf.
This is a project I will be working on with the break between semeseters.
Showing posts with label Organizing Art Supplies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Organizing Art Supplies. Show all posts
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Who We Are Is What We Do
Many Americans want to do so much that we feel we need more hours in our day. Since that is impossible, instead we need to figure out how we spend our time and if it's doing what we really want. A certain portion of our time is spent taking care of our house and our possessions, or reorganizing them or for shopping for more stuff. Thus owning too much can become a burden and prevent us from doing what it is we think we really want to do.
The key to feeling content in life is knowing what you want and to do that thing and feel satisfied. It is not a good feeling to try to do too much then fail at doing it all or fail to meet deadlines, because we then feel negative about ourselves.
We need to make time in our lives but stopping the doing of things that are unnecessary or extra or stupid or that are time wasters. There is nothing wrong with taking an intentional break from reality o watch a TV show or a movie but if you spend more time looking for stuff you already own so you can use it, or dusting saved things on shelves, you have lost time from doing what you want to do now.
We need to let go of old hobbies and stuff related to them because that stuff is in our face or in our way and preventing us from doing what we want to do now. Even if it is just visual clutter it is a reminder that "I failed at watercolor painting" and "Scrapbooking is a drag". Who wants to be reminded of the negative?
Today my game room has nice built in bookcases filled with homeschool high school educational materials. I already ditched the SAT prep books for the old style SAT that stopped being used as of this spring. But why am I keeping all that stuff when my last high schooler is in public school? I am getting excited at the idea of getting rid of more of it. While I am busy working on the garage I am psyching myself up mentally to be alright with letting go of the books we used and loved and those we used and hated or the ones we never got around to using at all.
Look around your home. Does it support the lifestyle you are living right now and those of your present goals? If not, start culling and letting go of the possessions that do not represent your life and your lifestyle. Make room mentally and physically to do what you really want to do right now.
The key to feeling content in life is knowing what you want and to do that thing and feel satisfied. It is not a good feeling to try to do too much then fail at doing it all or fail to meet deadlines, because we then feel negative about ourselves.
We need to make time in our lives but stopping the doing of things that are unnecessary or extra or stupid or that are time wasters. There is nothing wrong with taking an intentional break from reality o watch a TV show or a movie but if you spend more time looking for stuff you already own so you can use it, or dusting saved things on shelves, you have lost time from doing what you want to do now.
We need to let go of old hobbies and stuff related to them because that stuff is in our face or in our way and preventing us from doing what we want to do now. Even if it is just visual clutter it is a reminder that "I failed at watercolor painting" and "Scrapbooking is a drag". Who wants to be reminded of the negative?
Today my game room has nice built in bookcases filled with homeschool high school educational materials. I already ditched the SAT prep books for the old style SAT that stopped being used as of this spring. But why am I keeping all that stuff when my last high schooler is in public school? I am getting excited at the idea of getting rid of more of it. While I am busy working on the garage I am psyching myself up mentally to be alright with letting go of the books we used and loved and those we used and hated or the ones we never got around to using at all.
Look around your home. Does it support the lifestyle you are living right now and those of your present goals? If not, start culling and letting go of the possessions that do not represent your life and your lifestyle. Make room mentally and physically to do what you really want to do right now.
Saving Stuff For Projects
This is a conundrum for creatives. We have real life to live that takes our time and interferes with just making what we want. Then other times we have time to create but may lack inspiration, have no motivation, or are dealing with illness or emotional stress that wrecks our muse. These times of real life living sometimes derail us from doing art and craft projects we did want to do at one time. Times change and then maybe we decide we want to do something different.
The thing is we should let go of what we own that we are not using. It is hard to let go of perfectly good stuff that we invested money into. I get it.
Before I moved long distance I donated a lot of craft supplies to an artist who was going to be teaching craft classes at children's summer camp. It helped me to know my investments were not wasted and instead would be enjoyed.
Here in Houston I have found Texas Art Asylum. They accept donations of art supplies and craft stuff and other things like old board games and old dolls and almost anything, books, magazines, vintage ephemera, costumes, seashells, rocks, vases, cameras, some construction materials, anything. Some items are put into a separate room for free for teachers to use in classrooms. The rest is sold to the public in their retail store. I have been giving some of my stuff to them.
----
When looking at what I own I ask myself:
How am I living now?
If I have free time what will I do with it?
Do I want to ever do that pursuit again?
Do I own too much material for that hobby? Example I think I own a hundred canning jars at this point and even if I make a ton of jam I will never need 100 all at one time. This week I am culling my cookie cutters as I don't forsee using these shapes going forward. When making cookies with my young sons the car shapes were fun but I don't think I'll ever use those again.
Can I access the materials? Are they organized well and reachable and ready should I need them or are they buried so that if I want to do that thing this afternoon I will have to go buy new supplies to do it with?
----
While decluttering I keep asking myself what kind of home do I want to live in and do I want to park in my garage and do I want to really go to the steaming hot attic to fetch a thing or is it really smart to cram 500 books in a closet and have none accessible?
I also try not not be negative with myself. I am taking some cues from Marie Kondo, a Japanese organizer who says we should thank our belongings for their usefulness in our life or the joy they brought us at the time or the emotion of buying them having felt good in that moment, to feel that gratitude then say goodbye and let them free into the world to get into the hands of someone who will actually use them now and have joy added to their life with our old stuff.
Friday, July 22, 2016
Thoughts on Packratting
My main priority this week is getting some family and house projects done. One is trying to finish unpacking boxes in my garage. They were packed five years ago and have sat in those spots for four years while I was doing other things. I want to actually park cars in our garage. While doing this I am all alone, and have time to think. Mostly I am thinking about what I wish I was doing instead. This gets me to thinking about stuff and clutter and how I spend my time and why.
I was raised by two packrats and one grandmother was a hoarder the other was also a packrat. The grandparents all lived through The Depression so they blame that as the cause. I have been battling my packrat tendencies for almost twenty years. By that I mean I had decided the status quo was not how I wanted to live so began taking steps to let myself let go of the stuff.
My thoughts are kind of a jumble and all these issues and ideas swirl together to intertwine so just bear with me here.
I basically realized that all people save things for a reason.
One type seems less emotional than the others, that type is the "it's usable and I might need it" type. That type has two issues going on: 1) they are thrifty or resourceful and see discarding it as wasteful and therefore irresponsible fiscally speaking, and 2) choosing to not set limits or expiration dates on things. By that I mean, to say to oneself that saving 25 screws of that size is enough and all beyond that must go, instead of collecting up 350. The expiration date idea is something like, "I will restring those windchimes someday so I can use them" but it's been six years so maybe it's time to say that the project is not a priority and should be abandoned and the broken windchimes should be gotten rid of.
Another less serious type is the lazy or busy person. They are just too busy doing other things to think about making priorities or projects so they just let the stuff sit and they keep gathering and keeping and it builds up. They are not in a struggle of the mind with their stuff.
The more serious type has an anxiety as the source. A person who fears they may run out of food may always overbuy food. A person who fears not having enough stuff may start couponing and wind up a hoarder of five year's worth of shaving cream and in the case of my grandmother, thirty year's worth of aluminum foil. The problem is it is not usually one single item, they save up many things or overbuy lots of stuff.
A related emotional saving is the person who is sentimental about things and wants to remember the good times. This is one of my big things. This person feels the only way to remember a good memory is to save a material possession because seeing it again will trigger the memory. Sometimes it can seem that the item has life, such as it would be painful to throw away a loved doll. I almost said the doll is alive and it would be like a death but I know that sounds exaggerated, but that's the gist of it.
---
The bottom line is we have one life to live and to ask ourselves how we want to spend our time. In my almost fifty years I have gone through times of plenty and times of unemployment with a very tight budget. Living through tight finances I believe makes packratting worse but I'm starting to digress.
Basically I've learned this: the most joy comes from living and doing what you want. We do have base life responsibilities to do such as grocery shopping and cooking meals to survive. But the way we live can be frantic with looking for something misplaced due to clutter and chaos in the home or we can have less material possessions around and just have what we need and keep it organized so we can put our hands on what we need whe we need it. If it is so valuable to keep it should be out and accessible. My eighteen year old asked to see a favorite childhood book, I said it was in a box deep in a closet mixed with hundreds of others. So what good did that do to save it?
And this week I am spending time sorting yet again through saved things instead of doing other things I wanted. I wanted to take a stab at painting and I wanted to keep drawing daily and read a certain book on my nightstand. But instead I am touching and moving and sweating in the 100+ degree hot and humd garage going through saved papers and things from my hoarder grandmother. She was filled wth anxiety and a was a textbook case of OCD And I keep asking myself if that is what I want to be.
My goal is to get the cars in the garage before hurricane season really hits us. The next project will be to cull the educational books in the game room on the shelves then go through boxes of books in the closets and put the ones out that I want and to get rid of even more.
---
The other type of packrat is the collector of project stuff. For the creative that means things like watercolor painting supplies, rubber stamps, and all kinds of art and craft supplies. We buy up the stuff to prepare to do a thing then when we choose to not do it, we still keep the stuff. I am trapped in this right now. I say some day I will do this and that.
I was raised by two packrats and one grandmother was a hoarder the other was also a packrat. The grandparents all lived through The Depression so they blame that as the cause. I have been battling my packrat tendencies for almost twenty years. By that I mean I had decided the status quo was not how I wanted to live so began taking steps to let myself let go of the stuff.
My thoughts are kind of a jumble and all these issues and ideas swirl together to intertwine so just bear with me here.
I basically realized that all people save things for a reason.
One type seems less emotional than the others, that type is the "it's usable and I might need it" type. That type has two issues going on: 1) they are thrifty or resourceful and see discarding it as wasteful and therefore irresponsible fiscally speaking, and 2) choosing to not set limits or expiration dates on things. By that I mean, to say to oneself that saving 25 screws of that size is enough and all beyond that must go, instead of collecting up 350. The expiration date idea is something like, "I will restring those windchimes someday so I can use them" but it's been six years so maybe it's time to say that the project is not a priority and should be abandoned and the broken windchimes should be gotten rid of.
Another less serious type is the lazy or busy person. They are just too busy doing other things to think about making priorities or projects so they just let the stuff sit and they keep gathering and keeping and it builds up. They are not in a struggle of the mind with their stuff.
The more serious type has an anxiety as the source. A person who fears they may run out of food may always overbuy food. A person who fears not having enough stuff may start couponing and wind up a hoarder of five year's worth of shaving cream and in the case of my grandmother, thirty year's worth of aluminum foil. The problem is it is not usually one single item, they save up many things or overbuy lots of stuff.
A related emotional saving is the person who is sentimental about things and wants to remember the good times. This is one of my big things. This person feels the only way to remember a good memory is to save a material possession because seeing it again will trigger the memory. Sometimes it can seem that the item has life, such as it would be painful to throw away a loved doll. I almost said the doll is alive and it would be like a death but I know that sounds exaggerated, but that's the gist of it.
---
The bottom line is we have one life to live and to ask ourselves how we want to spend our time. In my almost fifty years I have gone through times of plenty and times of unemployment with a very tight budget. Living through tight finances I believe makes packratting worse but I'm starting to digress.
Basically I've learned this: the most joy comes from living and doing what you want. We do have base life responsibilities to do such as grocery shopping and cooking meals to survive. But the way we live can be frantic with looking for something misplaced due to clutter and chaos in the home or we can have less material possessions around and just have what we need and keep it organized so we can put our hands on what we need whe we need it. If it is so valuable to keep it should be out and accessible. My eighteen year old asked to see a favorite childhood book, I said it was in a box deep in a closet mixed with hundreds of others. So what good did that do to save it?
And this week I am spending time sorting yet again through saved things instead of doing other things I wanted. I wanted to take a stab at painting and I wanted to keep drawing daily and read a certain book on my nightstand. But instead I am touching and moving and sweating in the 100+ degree hot and humd garage going through saved papers and things from my hoarder grandmother. She was filled wth anxiety and a was a textbook case of OCD And I keep asking myself if that is what I want to be.
My goal is to get the cars in the garage before hurricane season really hits us. The next project will be to cull the educational books in the game room on the shelves then go through boxes of books in the closets and put the ones out that I want and to get rid of even more.
---
The other type of packrat is the collector of project stuff. For the creative that means things like watercolor painting supplies, rubber stamps, and all kinds of art and craft supplies. We buy up the stuff to prepare to do a thing then when we choose to not do it, we still keep the stuff. I am trapped in this right now. I say some day I will do this and that.
Friday, May 27, 2016
Wanting To Learn vs. Mastery vs. Over-Shopping
Today I was in my art supply closet putting away some supplies and looking to see if I owned odorless mineral spirts (I do not). I am very carefully, slowly and thoughtfully selecting supplies to start oil painting with and do not want to overbuy.
I have a lack of knowledge but an overabundance of curiosity. I want to do things but lack the know how. At certain points in time I have had an excess of cash so have found it easy to purchase supplies that I never use. At other times I have been in the presence of discounted art supplies and was tempted as it was on sale or at an overstock store for 90% off so I bought it not even having a real plan to use it.
Right now my current debate is which oil paint brushes to purchase and how many. I had overbought synthetic brushes at great discount from Tuesday Morning. What good did that do me now that I am tempted to buy natural bristle brushes?
One thing I have learned from taking and finishing the Drawing I class is that really all that matters is doing and practicing. Art making is a process and you learn by doing. You have to do, do, do. When it feels scary or intimidating you need to push through and just do it as that is when you learn. The struggle and frustration and trying to fix a mistake or make a thing look better is how you learn and grow because you learn through trial and error and by correcting and improving.
With the drawing class I was able to use a lot of the previously purchased art supplies from our homeschool days. However I realized that by using sets of pencils that the ones I really used were a small number compared to the set so I have untouched supplies here. Lesson learned: sometimes you save money by purchasing a la carte even though seeing a set somehow seems to be a bargain or gives you the idea that it has all you need to help you learn that medium. Also I later found out that some of what I owned was crap that only belonged in the trash bin or a pencil that was repurposed for daily writing or maybe should go to the library for patrons to use to scratch down notes of book numbers.
My advice to myself and others at this point is this:
1. Explore possibilities by reading and watching videos
2. Choose a art method to try.
3. Use a limited supply list to try that medium. Buy decent paper and decent supplies but keep it to a small number. Avoid buying sets unless you have a plan to use 90% or if you would spend more buying basics a la carte.
4. Dive in and make art with that medium.
5. Avoid shopping until it is absolutely necessary. I found myself needing a better pencil sharpener and an eraser that actually worked, for example. When I ruined one chamois by accident I had to buy a replacement. Buy the smallest size paint tube to start.
6. If you are frustrated by your end product it may be due to you lacking art fundamentals such as how to draw in general, not undestanding how to represent value, scale and/or perspective, not knowing how to draw a face or bodies or people. Knowing color theory and helps with harmony, sometimes what is off or wrong is due to the color or too many colors being used. A decent understading of composition is necessary. Knowing to know how to use a material is self-limiting if you are frustrated with trying to represent something that looks awful in the end. Go back and learn the fundamentals so you can use that knowledge to make the art you want look the way you see it in your mind.
7. My new mindset is before you break the rules you can learn a lot by learning the rules.
By chosing to not overspend on art supplies you have no real plan to use, and therefore have no real intention of ever using, you are helping yourself focus on what it is you really want to do and how to spend your time.
The only way to get really good at someting is with practice and practice takes intention, time and energy. Get the smallest amount of necessary supplies with your money then spend your emotional and physical energy on making the art and on learning.
I have a lack of knowledge but an overabundance of curiosity. I want to do things but lack the know how. At certain points in time I have had an excess of cash so have found it easy to purchase supplies that I never use. At other times I have been in the presence of discounted art supplies and was tempted as it was on sale or at an overstock store for 90% off so I bought it not even having a real plan to use it.
Right now my current debate is which oil paint brushes to purchase and how many. I had overbought synthetic brushes at great discount from Tuesday Morning. What good did that do me now that I am tempted to buy natural bristle brushes?
One thing I have learned from taking and finishing the Drawing I class is that really all that matters is doing and practicing. Art making is a process and you learn by doing. You have to do, do, do. When it feels scary or intimidating you need to push through and just do it as that is when you learn. The struggle and frustration and trying to fix a mistake or make a thing look better is how you learn and grow because you learn through trial and error and by correcting and improving.
With the drawing class I was able to use a lot of the previously purchased art supplies from our homeschool days. However I realized that by using sets of pencils that the ones I really used were a small number compared to the set so I have untouched supplies here. Lesson learned: sometimes you save money by purchasing a la carte even though seeing a set somehow seems to be a bargain or gives you the idea that it has all you need to help you learn that medium. Also I later found out that some of what I owned was crap that only belonged in the trash bin or a pencil that was repurposed for daily writing or maybe should go to the library for patrons to use to scratch down notes of book numbers.
My advice to myself and others at this point is this:
1. Explore possibilities by reading and watching videos
2. Choose a art method to try.
3. Use a limited supply list to try that medium. Buy decent paper and decent supplies but keep it to a small number. Avoid buying sets unless you have a plan to use 90% or if you would spend more buying basics a la carte.
4. Dive in and make art with that medium.
5. Avoid shopping until it is absolutely necessary. I found myself needing a better pencil sharpener and an eraser that actually worked, for example. When I ruined one chamois by accident I had to buy a replacement. Buy the smallest size paint tube to start.
6. If you are frustrated by your end product it may be due to you lacking art fundamentals such as how to draw in general, not undestanding how to represent value, scale and/or perspective, not knowing how to draw a face or bodies or people. Knowing color theory and helps with harmony, sometimes what is off or wrong is due to the color or too many colors being used. A decent understading of composition is necessary. Knowing to know how to use a material is self-limiting if you are frustrated with trying to represent something that looks awful in the end. Go back and learn the fundamentals so you can use that knowledge to make the art you want look the way you see it in your mind.
7. My new mindset is before you break the rules you can learn a lot by learning the rules.
By chosing to not overspend on art supplies you have no real plan to use, and therefore have no real intention of ever using, you are helping yourself focus on what it is you really want to do and how to spend your time.
The only way to get really good at someting is with practice and practice takes intention, time and energy. Get the smallest amount of necessary supplies with your money then spend your emotional and physical energy on making the art and on learning.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Reorganizing Art and Craft Supplies Today
A goal for today: declutter the dining room.
Challenge: the dining room table is covered with art and craft supplies, the things I use nearly every time I make art.
We have a broom closet that I use for a craft closet. I have realized that the best thing to do would be to first go through that closet, declutter, or put away into the basement, the things I rarely use. I then will take the supplies I use most often that clutter the dining room table and put them in the closet to be out of the way yet to still give me easy access to them.
So today’s ‘to do’ project is first to go through the craft closet and declutter and rearrange. Then, to tackle the dining room table.
(The kids are busy with a new educational math computer game which gives me time to both blog and do this project.)
Thanksgiving is coming so I need to get the dining room emptied out!
Technorati Tags: home organization, decluttering, organizing art supplies.
Challenge: the dining room table is covered with art and craft supplies, the things I use nearly every time I make art.
We have a broom closet that I use for a craft closet. I have realized that the best thing to do would be to first go through that closet, declutter, or put away into the basement, the things I rarely use. I then will take the supplies I use most often that clutter the dining room table and put them in the closet to be out of the way yet to still give me easy access to them.
So today’s ‘to do’ project is first to go through the craft closet and declutter and rearrange. Then, to tackle the dining room table.
(The kids are busy with a new educational math computer game which gives me time to both blog and do this project.)
Thanksgiving is coming so I need to get the dining room emptied out!
Technorati Tags: home organization, decluttering, organizing art supplies.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Misplaced Rubber Stamps
I am annoyed today because I have misplaced a whole set of rubber stamps. How that could have happened I have no idea. I am very organized with my rubber stamps thanks to a local Freecycler having given me her two rolling carts with drawers. I promptly filled them with my rubber stamps, even divided into categories per drawer.
I was reading a book about artist trading cards and saw a cool bleach rubber stamp technique explained. I had tried the bleach method of rubber stamping once before and it did not work. I decided to give it another try.
I had signed up for a Science Fiction themed ATC swap. I have a set of stamps which is perfect for using on this swap.
I started the day with a plan to try the bleach technique on black cardstock and to color in the bleached out parts with a makeup sponge and rubber stamp ink.
However upon going to fetch the rubber stamps I found them missing!
Later when I had time I thought perhaps they got mixed up with my paints and my rubber stamp ink pads. I did a quick check, no, they were not there.
I then faced my little craft closet which had grown cluttered. I didn’t know if in the pre-holiday prep period I had accidentally shoved them in there, someplace where they didn’t belong. I then spent about 90 minutes putting my hands on every single art and craft supply that I have in that closet. In the process I reorganized some things to put like things with like things. I put all the beeswax collage equipment into one box and that will go to the basement. I put all the metal crafting supplies in one box and that will also go to the basement. I put all the crafts for kids in one box.
I found all kinds of supplies I had forgotten about that are crying out to be used.
And finally I have all my embossing powders in one place.
I also found my hand carved rubber stamps and my carving tools. Those were nicely put away in the closet but I had forgotten that is where I had put them!
One tube of gouache watercolor paint had a loose top and had dried up. That was a hint to get to using the rest of the colors before they dry out.
I then went to the dining room table which right now is covered with various art and craft supplies which I have been using in the last month. I sorted and reorganized and put stuff away.
I then checked the rubber stamp carts yet again, yes, again.
Then, my next stop was in the basement to go through ALL of my ephemera. I have about a dozen copy paper boxes full of stuff. Some are only books to cut up and use in art making. Some boxes are magazines. Four of the boxes are ephemera from my grandmother from the 1950s-1980s. The rest of the boxes are random papers that I’ve saved, anything from tourist brochures to snippets of gift wrap to maps to interesting pieces of junk mail. Only one box has store bought papers, amazingly enough. I get most of my papers for making artist trading cards through ephemera from my daily life. I still didn’t find the stamps (or any stamps for that matter).
I then rechecked those rubber stamp carts yet again. The light is low over there and so I thought maybe I missed them. Now that I think of it, I should have used the head lamp that we use when camping with the Cub Scouts!
The issue is not just me wanting the rubber stamps for this swap. I have a real pet peeve when I lose something. I then will spend hours and hours looking for it! I always find what I am looking for in the end.
While writing this one more idea came to me. I have a few boxes of craft supplies stashed in the basement that I did not check. I thought those were mostly various children’s craft kits but maybe I am wrong. After dinner I’ll have to go check those. Otherwise this will bug me and may even cause me to lose sleep or to dream about lost rubber stamps!
In case you are wondering what set I am looking for it is a set of stamps made by Mars/Toyko/Adorned Surface and is of vintage toys. Some of the stamps feature images of robot toys and ray guns. I really love that set (and others made by that company).
I was reading a book about artist trading cards and saw a cool bleach rubber stamp technique explained. I had tried the bleach method of rubber stamping once before and it did not work. I decided to give it another try.
I had signed up for a Science Fiction themed ATC swap. I have a set of stamps which is perfect for using on this swap.
I started the day with a plan to try the bleach technique on black cardstock and to color in the bleached out parts with a makeup sponge and rubber stamp ink.
However upon going to fetch the rubber stamps I found them missing!
Later when I had time I thought perhaps they got mixed up with my paints and my rubber stamp ink pads. I did a quick check, no, they were not there.
I then faced my little craft closet which had grown cluttered. I didn’t know if in the pre-holiday prep period I had accidentally shoved them in there, someplace where they didn’t belong. I then spent about 90 minutes putting my hands on every single art and craft supply that I have in that closet. In the process I reorganized some things to put like things with like things. I put all the beeswax collage equipment into one box and that will go to the basement. I put all the metal crafting supplies in one box and that will also go to the basement. I put all the crafts for kids in one box.
I found all kinds of supplies I had forgotten about that are crying out to be used.
And finally I have all my embossing powders in one place.
I also found my hand carved rubber stamps and my carving tools. Those were nicely put away in the closet but I had forgotten that is where I had put them!
One tube of gouache watercolor paint had a loose top and had dried up. That was a hint to get to using the rest of the colors before they dry out.
I then went to the dining room table which right now is covered with various art and craft supplies which I have been using in the last month. I sorted and reorganized and put stuff away.
I then checked the rubber stamp carts yet again, yes, again.
Then, my next stop was in the basement to go through ALL of my ephemera. I have about a dozen copy paper boxes full of stuff. Some are only books to cut up and use in art making. Some boxes are magazines. Four of the boxes are ephemera from my grandmother from the 1950s-1980s. The rest of the boxes are random papers that I’ve saved, anything from tourist brochures to snippets of gift wrap to maps to interesting pieces of junk mail. Only one box has store bought papers, amazingly enough. I get most of my papers for making artist trading cards through ephemera from my daily life. I still didn’t find the stamps (or any stamps for that matter).
I then rechecked those rubber stamp carts yet again. The light is low over there and so I thought maybe I missed them. Now that I think of it, I should have used the head lamp that we use when camping with the Cub Scouts!
The issue is not just me wanting the rubber stamps for this swap. I have a real pet peeve when I lose something. I then will spend hours and hours looking for it! I always find what I am looking for in the end.
While writing this one more idea came to me. I have a few boxes of craft supplies stashed in the basement that I did not check. I thought those were mostly various children’s craft kits but maybe I am wrong. After dinner I’ll have to go check those. Otherwise this will bug me and may even cause me to lose sleep or to dream about lost rubber stamps!
In case you are wondering what set I am looking for it is a set of stamps made by Mars/Toyko/Adorned Surface and is of vintage toys. Some of the stamps feature images of robot toys and ray guns. I really love that set (and others made by that company).
Thursday, November 23, 2006
The Dining Room Is Now Empty (of art and craft supplies)
I began decluttering, straightening, reorganizing the house and also cleaning the house in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday four days ago. I systematically did various tasks plodding along.
Yesterday was dedicated to getting all the art and craft stuff out of the dining room. In September I had straightened up and put everything in cardboard boxes and then stacked them along the walls, so that homeschoolers coming here for a co-op could eat on the table. But anyway between the last meeting and yesterday the table was a bit cluttered up.
I sorted everything on the table. I put the two rolling carts full of rubber stamps into the basement.
I sorted what was in the copy paper cardboard boxes. I put all the books and magazines to be cut up to use in making art or else to become an altered book in boxes dedicated for just those things. I then put random ephemera, saved, free stuff in other boxes. I had only half of one box full of purchased supplies such as some colored papers from the craft store. Most of what I have saved is random ephemera such as junk mail, colored paper from junk mail, clippings from mail order catalogs or newspapers, old ticket stubs and other random things. I labeled the boxes to tell what was in it “random ephemera” or “books and magazines for making art”.
My filing system is not very organized. I basically fill boxes with the papers. Then when I go to make something I sift through it. I toss out the stuff that I determine won’t be used and I use or save what I see as the best or most interesting.
I think I have enough stuff saved. I was not angry at myself for saving up all this stuff. However after looking at ten boxes of books, magazines, and random ephemera, I think that is enough.
I was inspired by doing that task yesterday and really wanted to sit down and make some art.
However instead I hauled everything to the unfinished basement, where I have ample storage space for stuff like this.
Oh did I mention I already have some boxes of stuff down there similar to this stuff?
I have enough, I think.
I also found two blank journals that I purchased at a used book sale at a library fundraiser. One is big and square shaped, about the size of those old large square photo albums. The other is a leather bound journal with lines on one side of the page. It has an advertisement for a prescription drug embossed into the leather but perhaps I can alter it in some way to hide that.
So anyway right now the dining room looks like a perfect dining room with (just) furniture and framed art on the walls and vases and candlesticks to decorate the room. The room looks quite nice but that art-mess that defines that stress-relieving part of me is absent.
One problem with this house right now is that so many rooms look good and the way they are ‘supposed’ to look but that leaves me no space for things such as a place to sew, a place to make art (and to leave the stuff out), etc. I could convert a corner of the unfinished (dreary and dark) basement for this endeavor but the atmosphere would be so depressing I would dread being down there (with the spiders). Ugh. So for now it will be stuff stored in boxes and hauling things out when I want to do something then cleaning it all up when done and putting it all away, I guess.
Confession: for a few months earlier this year I kept the art supplies in boxes and stacked them along the kitchen floor near the table. I made a lot more art during that time as the materials were two feet away from the table and I could pull them and out throw them back in very quickly. It didn’t look so great to have copy paper boxes lining the wall over there but it sure was good for creativity.
Technorati Tags: altered art, collage, altered books, ephemera.
Yesterday was dedicated to getting all the art and craft stuff out of the dining room. In September I had straightened up and put everything in cardboard boxes and then stacked them along the walls, so that homeschoolers coming here for a co-op could eat on the table. But anyway between the last meeting and yesterday the table was a bit cluttered up.
I sorted everything on the table. I put the two rolling carts full of rubber stamps into the basement.
I sorted what was in the copy paper cardboard boxes. I put all the books and magazines to be cut up to use in making art or else to become an altered book in boxes dedicated for just those things. I then put random ephemera, saved, free stuff in other boxes. I had only half of one box full of purchased supplies such as some colored papers from the craft store. Most of what I have saved is random ephemera such as junk mail, colored paper from junk mail, clippings from mail order catalogs or newspapers, old ticket stubs and other random things. I labeled the boxes to tell what was in it “random ephemera” or “books and magazines for making art”.
My filing system is not very organized. I basically fill boxes with the papers. Then when I go to make something I sift through it. I toss out the stuff that I determine won’t be used and I use or save what I see as the best or most interesting.
I think I have enough stuff saved. I was not angry at myself for saving up all this stuff. However after looking at ten boxes of books, magazines, and random ephemera, I think that is enough.
I was inspired by doing that task yesterday and really wanted to sit down and make some art.
However instead I hauled everything to the unfinished basement, where I have ample storage space for stuff like this.
Oh did I mention I already have some boxes of stuff down there similar to this stuff?
I have enough, I think.
I also found two blank journals that I purchased at a used book sale at a library fundraiser. One is big and square shaped, about the size of those old large square photo albums. The other is a leather bound journal with lines on one side of the page. It has an advertisement for a prescription drug embossed into the leather but perhaps I can alter it in some way to hide that.
So anyway right now the dining room looks like a perfect dining room with (just) furniture and framed art on the walls and vases and candlesticks to decorate the room. The room looks quite nice but that art-mess that defines that stress-relieving part of me is absent.
One problem with this house right now is that so many rooms look good and the way they are ‘supposed’ to look but that leaves me no space for things such as a place to sew, a place to make art (and to leave the stuff out), etc. I could convert a corner of the unfinished (dreary and dark) basement for this endeavor but the atmosphere would be so depressing I would dread being down there (with the spiders). Ugh. So for now it will be stuff stored in boxes and hauling things out when I want to do something then cleaning it all up when done and putting it all away, I guess.
Confession: for a few months earlier this year I kept the art supplies in boxes and stacked them along the kitchen floor near the table. I made a lot more art during that time as the materials were two feet away from the table and I could pull them and out throw them back in very quickly. It didn’t look so great to have copy paper boxes lining the wall over there but it sure was good for creativity.
Technorati Tags: altered art, collage, altered books, ephemera.
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