Where Boggers Create Blog Party.....

(Click on any photo to enlarge for better viewing)

Woo Hoo! Party day has arrived at last! Karen of My Desert Cottage is hosting a Where Bloggers Create Party today. To visit all the wonderful creative spaces, click on the highlighted link to Karen's blog, check out her space, then click on the links listed on her side bar to visit all the party goers. Thank you, Karen, for hosting such an inspirational event.I am doubly blessed to have two creative spaces, my art studio and my writing cottage. Over the years I have graduated up from small almost nonexistent spaces to real rooms. My first crafting space was a 1920's porcelain topped table, our actual dining table, with supplies stashed under the bed in plastic bins. My writing space was a wall hung desk in the corner of our bedroom.

After my son married and moved from home, my daughter moved into his larger bedroom and we turned her room into a guest room. In a three year period we only had two overnight guests so I decided to quit dusting and vacuuming valuable real estate and converted the guest room into my art studio. I moved everything from a 8' x 16' out building, which is now my writing cottage. This was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I love my room!

My art studio is a shared space. My daughter has her own corner and storage where she likes to sketch, edit her photos, or scrapbook. I also share my space with coats and um, well, dirty laundry. But you can't SEE the laundry so its OK, it doesn't hamper (pun intended) creativity.

Without further adieu, I invite you into my hodge podge haven of inspiration and art!Darling Daughter occupies half of this back wall space. Here are some of her inspirational items and displays. Shall we take a peek at her sketch books? Love these! You can pick up hints of her quirky personality, likes, and sense of humor by viewing her space.

I have used family items as well as flea market finds to decorate my space. This is my fashion wall where my modern sewing machine hides under vintage flair. The sewing table tutorial can be found here. The framed broaches were my mother-in-laws. The necklaces and earrings belonged to my paternal grandmother. The little lady standing on the corner of the sewing machine is Inez, you might remember that it was she that got me grounded from Ebay! The pattern tissue paper flower, tutorial found here, and the framed paper doll are pieces of my art. The picnic baskets hold thread, embroidery floss, and sewing notions. The black case holds vintage patterns for use in crafting.This is my current display of babies and beauties. The ruffled hat, purse, and little black shoes and lamb box were mine when I was a baby. The Kewpie, The Thinker, was purchased at the Rose O'Neill museum and is a vintage original. Flea market finds and blogger art round out the display.Everything is coming up roses where a bevy of beauties repose among the roses. The head vases are what I refer to as my damaged diva collection. None of them are in perfect condition but perfectly beautiful to me.My daughter drew and famed this rose for me several years ago.There is a story behind this rose painting. I bought it at a flea market after seeing the signature. It was painted by my former neighbor who has passed away. Evidently her family got rid of some of her belongings and this ended up in the flea market. I loved it because I loved her. Our road is named after her family and she painted this the year I was born. It is not the best painting but I love the vibrant colors and the fact that sweet Mrs. Ophie's hand created it.

Here is the practical portion of my space, where I create! I have a lot of favorite personal items in this area but I have to say that my Shakespearean Raven Theater is my all time favorite piece of art I have ever created.

Dividing our spaces is this little vignette. I altered a jewelry box to use and an ink cupboard. I store ink pads in one side and alphabet stamps in the drawers.

Here is the new build that I told you about in my last post. Don't let the lace fool you, that is where the dirty laundry is hidden. I have room for my printer and lap top which makes it handy for printing images for my art. I didn't really have time to thoughtfully decorate this area so I have a bit of this and that. I LOVE that vintage photo that I call Little Red Riding Hood, she is so adorable!The altered tin bucket I made for and art challenge just looks like it is filled with yummy lace, the lace is hiding a bucket of dead dolls. I rescued them from certain death due to dismemberment. They all need their heads and arms reattached. I'll show them to you when they are more presentable.

I am still working on stamping and hand painting these storage boxes. You can find a tutorial for theses boxes here. Above hangs one of my collage projects.Here above my paint cupboard is my button cubby where buttons are sorted by color and in cute little jars. My gathering basket is at the ready for our next commune with nature. Rolls of vintage wall paper or stored in the corner.

The closet is where I store gift warp, paper supplies, embellishments, and scrapbooking supplies. Oh, and coats too.I have a couple of spaces that I can rotate little collections of inspiration or display art. I have to tell you as I went around the room I got a bit weepy from all the blogger love in my room. I have 30 items that were gifts or little handmade pieces of art in my room! This does not count a collection of tags I have tucked away in an old hat box waiting for their turn to be displayed. That is a lot of blog love!

I don't like to see my supplies everywhere but I do like to see my supplies where they are stored so in all my cupboard spaces so I used clear plastic storage containers that are also labeled. Back in January I began to go through all my supplies and really edited them down to only the things I love to create with. I don't have a lot of everything but a little of a lot of things. I have learned not to go willy nilly over the latest gadget, gizmo, or hot product of the moment. I find I am more apt to create when I am using what I am personally drawn to.

Obviously I can't stash everything in my tiny room so I utilize other spaces for overflow. Vintage linens in the hall closet, bulk fabric, fiber fill, & foam in the storage shed, one large bin in the storage shed for project items like frames, boxes, etc., spray paints and painting supplies for large projects in the man cave, Handy Hubby's shop, and overflow of art, decorating, and design books all over the house.

My writing cottage is situated next our garden pond and is decorated in a beachy style. I love this space because no matter the time of year it feels like a summer get away. If you would like a short peek at my writing space, you can visit this previous post.

I hope you have enjoyed viewing where this blogger creates. If you have any specific questions about my spaces, feel free to post them in the comments section and I will address them in a later post. Now, I am off to visit all the other inspiring spaces!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy