Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Controlling the Chaos



Controlling the Chaos

  1. You will never EVER get totally organized.
  2. It is impossible to be creative and tidy too.
  3. Don't waste time procrastinating organizing.
  4. Also, never label a box “miscellaneous”!
Over the years, I have had some scary set ups for working in.
Our house was under construction FOREVER and I had to work around it. 

 This was my studio many years ago.




It’s still constantly evolving. (I don’t have current pictures because I am not there).

My studio has stations, so I can move from whatever medium I need to work in and leave it out and ready to use. It's the kindergarten approach.

I dabble in torching, soldering, polymer clay, sewing, wire working, metal working, paper (which includes stamping, inking and painting), resin, drilling with my Dremel plus I need a clear space for putting it all together. I have also tried many other things that didn’t do it for me. Do not ask me about making beads with glass rods and a torch. It didn't go well.

Ask me about Shrinky Dinks because when all else fails, make something with Shrinky Dinks.  It is strangely rewarding. If you have kids and you make something together with it, they will think you are a genius.

Most of my organizing systems come from IKEA. 
See in the picture the table on the trestles?
I still use those.
I keep them at the highest height and I stand while I work. 
I don’t think sitting is good for you so I force myself to stand. 
I also put a low coffee table underneath and leave tools on it to grab.

This was a few years ago, things were improving:




The boxes I have my beads in are from Michaels.
They are still too expensive at half price ($6 instead of $12) but they are bigger than the dollar store ones and hold a much larger selection.

The rest of the stuff I stack in clear plastic labelled boxes from IKEA  http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/search/?query=samla 

I have a little round holder for tools that I ADORE that came from a thrift store.
It's on the table, here's a close up. 




These soft plastic little blue trays are my reason for living. Also a thrift store find. 
The little inks and polymers and glues all sit so politely in them.




Out of that early chaos I did manage to make some pieces:








Tomorrow I will reveal my all-time favorite chaos controller. 
Wait for it. You are gonna be so envious.
You will want one. You can have one.  It’s from IKEA.

Now go sort that miscellaneous box.







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