Work In Progress...

I know, not such a pretty photo to head a post with but hey, gluing is just not that glamorous and that is mostly what I am doing today.

I thought I would pop in while I am taking a break and post on the studio spruce up work in progress. I got all the pieces cleaned up, sanded, primed, and painted. Some of you asked where I got these items. Actually, they were all pieces I already owned that were no longer in use and in storage. My challenge to myself was to try and come up with replacement storage without spending any or at least very little money. That meant I had to scout out the storage building and the loft of the barn for potential pieces.

The bookcase with the spindles was a flea market find and the other one Handy Hubby built. The one was stacked on the other to make one large unit that I used as a display in a flea market booth I used to have. At one point I added fabric to the back it held all our home school materials and it also served as guest room storage for fluffy towels, extra blankets, etc. at another time. When it was no longer needed it went to storage and held tubs of Christmas ornaments. The Christmas ornament tubs stack just fine on the floor so I snitched it for the studio.The little door is one of a pair of closet doors that I salvaged from my grandmothers homestead before it gave way. The other door resides on an antique wardrobe that a friend gave me. All the drawers were in tact but it did not have a door. This little door was a perfect fit. My son is currently using the piece in his home.The child's trunk was a gift from my mother to my daughter but my daughter never liked the trunk and it was never used because there was no room for it in her room. It has been sitting in the loft of the barn for many years.Today I am papering the back of the shelf unit with old book pages and sheet music. The back has holes drilled in it where I had cords for lighting when it was a booth display. Not wanting to go to the hassle of replacing it I am just papering over them. Tonight I should be able to seal the pages with a non~yellowing sealer.I wanted this to match the previous build we did so I am keeping it simple with white paint and book pages. I'll tackle the door and trunk this afternoon. I am not sure I want to paint the outside of the trunk now that it is clean, I rather like the patina. What do you think?Hopefully I can get all the work done so that it can all be sealed today, that way it can dry the rest of the week and be ready to load up this weekend.

While visiting Dawn I followed this link and found this storage idea...and I want to make one for my studio. I love this! I even have some of my grandmothers canning jars with date stamps from the early 1900's that I could use. I also have some salvaged wood pieces that would work well and I can raid Handy Hubby's stash for the clamps.

Have you seen any clever storage ideas lately or do you have any you would like to share? I'd love a link! Break time is over and I have to go glue. Have a great day!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

Sprucing Up the Studio.....

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries."

~A. A. Milne~

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that now that Darling Daughter had moved out that all things not studio related have moved into her recently vacated closet. So, that left me with more space to reorganize supplies. Formerly, the closet looked like this...If you want a full glimpse of the former space you can visit this post.

We installed shelving all the way across the space and I am still in the progress of figuring out exactly how I want it all arranged. This might have been simpler to do if I would have had time to plan it all out before the move.

Darling Daughter needed one of my cupboards for her art supplies in her new home and I had promised her any or all of the cupboards if she wanted them. I had to quickly empty this one...

for her to take with her, so all the stuff from it got shoved in a box or in the closet. Then this one and the one in the closet needed to be emptied...to be taken up to my grandmothers for a laundry room project, so all their contents also got shoved into the closet. That is why the closet looks like a some what of a messy jumble, just a small peek mind you of the part that looks pretty good...

I did not like looking at the empty space evacuated by darling daughter so I shoved some of the stuff up on the shelves like this...I probably won't leave it this way but at least the stuff is off of the floor! It is mostly books and boxes that need to find a home, possibly not mine. I have a crazy habit of buying interesting boxes and filling them with smalls when I flea market. I sometimes forget what is inside each one and it is like a treasure hunt to open them. I will honestly tell you that I don't have a clue whats in some of these. Maybe later this week we will play a game of guessing what's inside.

I still have to sift through the stuff Darling Daughter left behind. Shall we take a peek and see if there is any good stuff? In drawer number 1... just junk!In drawer number 2...JACKPOT! Yummy rubber stamps!She knows how much I love and used her feather so she left it for me, so sweet.In drawer number 3...pretty papers left over from her projects! Underneath, more paper and card kits, and beneath that decorative scissors and other fun stuff!

Cabinet number 1...a container full of cards, a lot them handmade by her!Also, this container full of fabulous papers, stickers, and embellishments that she says are no longer her style, lucky me!And this one...full of stickers and embellishments!And yet another container full of paper kits and embellishments she has assembled!A drawer full of ...bright cheery Christmas goodness! That solves this years card making idea, I'm using this stuff! I love hand~me~downs and leftovers like this don't you? I asked her a thousand times if she was sure she wanted to leave this stuff. She got very exasperate with me and said, "Yes, I am sure! Now go play and have fun with it all."

Underneath I found two scrapbooks that were nearly finished that she says she has outgrown, girlhood stuff. I'll finish them, save them, and give them to her in ten years when her twenties have slipped into her thirties and she will once again be sentimental about such stuff.Lastly, I found this...an album almost complete of precious girlhood memories with more finished pages yet to be added. I'll finish it too and save it for her.Now I have to sort through her stuff and my stuff and combine all our stuff but first I have to have a place to put all this stuff now that my cabinets are gone. So, that is where this stuff I dragged out of storage comes in, two tatty old book cases...An old door...

A very dirty stinky antique child's trunk...

Add to the mixture some primer and white paint, a few brackets and old book pages, boards, some scissors and glue, plus a paint brush and I will be sprucing up the studio for the next day or two! All this disorder really did bring about some exciting discoveries. Hmmm, maybe I won't clean it up after all, exploring is rather fun. I hope you all have some lovely plans for this week.

Blessings,

Miss Sandy

Making Progress.....

"Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles, and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful."

~Mark Victor Hansen~

I think...

that I am making progress on my studio space. But, I cannot decide if I feel like this...

"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date! I'm over due! I'm in a rabbit stew! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" Or this..."Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming!" Everyone needs a Dori in their life to encourage them to keep on going even when the clock is ticking and the odds seem against us. Thank you all for being my Dori, you are such great encouragers!

I undertook my most ambitious project for the room yesterday and hope to have it complete today. I gathered pieces and parts from my architectural salvage stash to build a shabby chic shelving unit. After a little alteration and cleaning all the pieces got a fresh coat of white paint. I wish I had take before photos but I am under time constraints here so I just jumped right into the project without thinking about it.Handy Hubby helped me to assemble it all last night and today I just have the shelving to work on. Tomorrow it is on to pretty fluff and stuff and hopefully to photograph. Everything will not be "just right" or as perfect as I had hoped it would be before I shared the space with you but I will continue to step past the challenges, obstacles, and less than perfect conditions with a "So what" attitude. This space will more than likely never be complete. It will change, grow, and expand in whatever direction creativity takes it. Anyway, I'll just keep swimming until I get this shelving unit done. I'll see you all on Friday!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy