Heap of Change Challenge: Part 3

This is week 3, the final week, of the Heap of Change Challenge.  A big hearty thank you goes out to Donna of Funky Junk Interiors!

This week, I completed three different areas.

The east wall is done.  Those boxes on the floor are filled with jewelry and jewelry bits.  I have to go through these yet, but they are contained.  I will come back to those later, sort them and get them ready for sale.  The magazines in the crate are the ones I decided to keep. The books on the top shelf of the bookcase and the books for altering on the bottom are organized and staying.  I ran into a couple of silverfish on this shelf...yuck!

Directly across from this wall is the cabinet.

The top of the cabinet is organized.  Starting from the back, there are envelopes, then two drawers with my artwork that will be displayed, and finally, a box of completed cards.

This is the back side of the cabinet.  On the top of the shelf are basically 8 1/2 x 11 card-making papers.  In a former life, the blue thing was a rounded shelf.  It is great for storing my paper.  Beyond that are magazine holders which are also great for storing paper.  The plastic sweater box on top is for scraps.  Below this is my storage for 12 x 12 scrapbook paper, word stamps, ATC supplies and paper punches.

This was where I got side-tracked.

I was sitting there putting some scrapbook paper away, and I got the creative itch.  For over a year, I have not felt like making anything.  I know...one big room filled with all of the delights one could use for whatever creative desires arise.  There are so many different kinds of supplies in this room, but I no longer got excited about making things.  A couple of months ago, I forced myself to make a few cards out of necessity.  No store-bought cards for us!  But, that was it.

Until a few days ago.

Now, there are stamps on the floor and the paper cutter is set up.  The paper is on the far side of the table, and there is a nice little space for assembling the cards.  I have made a small stack of cards daily.

I share the table with Katie, who is a teacher at a couple of community colleges and needs space for grading papers and getting lesson plans ready.  I stay on my side, for the most part.

Mr. Franklynn is keeping my seat warm.  He is our youngest cat, coming in at about 8 years old.

These are other things that I am using to make cards: a box of adhesives, the die-cutting machine, ink pads, markers and cheddar cheese popcorn.  Don't judge!  In the bottom right hand corner are some completed cards.  I will show them off later.

I am going to let the creativity flow, so instead of going clockwise...

counter clockwise it is!  While taking this photo, I was standing between the cabinet and the bookshelf in the photos from above.  This is the north wall.

Community Service Announcement: Here is little Miss Tulip, our neighbor's outdoor cat who we bring in when the temperatures are below 40 because she won't, resting near a heater.  Please bring your animals inside during extreme cold and heat.  They aren't bred to withstand the elements like wild raccoons, foxes, wolves or bob cats are.  And, while I'm at it, spay and neuter your pets.  They don't need to breed.  Don't shop; adopt.  There are many unwanted animals in our neighborhoods.  They need homes where they can be cared for.  We have 5 cats of our own, plus we take care of the neighbor's 3 outdoor cats.  We also support our local no-kill shelters and a low-cost spay and neuter clinic in our county.

Moving right along...

This conglomeration of shelving holds many different things.  While it is fairly organized, I need to remove some items that we are no longer using and move some to another area where it makes more sense.  This area is next.

The boxes on the floor on the right - the top one is empty, and the other is one that I had filled with items that will be leaving the house.  I had to move them away from the rest of the pile so Miss Tulip, Mr. Jingles (but, known to us as Mr. Bjorn Catspurrski, the "legendary" Swedish/Polish/American Shorthair) and Mr. Tangerine could have access to their amenities when they come in from the cold.  We'll give them another month or so until it begins to get a little warmer.  Until then, we work around them.

Well...that's it for the Challenge.  Everyone else is moving on, I think.  I will continue to work my way around the studio on my own, updating once a week.  Although I don't want to get too ahead of myself, there are many other areas of the house that could use a good cleaning out!  So, stay tuned!

Heap of Change Challenge: Part 2

 You can refer to my previous post for Part 1.

I'm continuing to organize my space in the Heap of Change Challenge.

This past week, I have continued on the east wall of my studio.

The boxes that are circled contain what I refer to as My Jewels.  These include bits of broken jewelry along with vintage and current necklaces, bracelets, religious medals, brooches, earrings and other pieces.  That makes 6 boxes full of jewelry that I have to go through, and I'm not looking forward to it.  I will probably sell most of it.  I will have to determine prices, and that will take plenty of research.  For now, I will set it aside.

Moving back along that wall, I have removed many books and magazines.  The magazines in the crate are Somerset Studio, Stampington, Where Women Create and some others.  Those will probably leave the house.  The books in the top of the brown bookcase are art/craft books, and the bottom shelf contains old books that I can alter and tear apart.  I am not finished with this bookcase, so more things might go.

Directly across from this area is a cabinet that I showed last week.  Here are pictures of the inside:

The top photo shows the left side before I sorted, and the bottom is after.

Top shelf: The pink satin vintage glove box holds small jewelry boxes.  The metal boxes hold other small boxes.  Then, there are some items to use in my art.  The red item is a clock from a home where I lived as a child.  Definitely vintage!

Bottom shelf: Wood items to use in my art.

The top photo shows how the top right shelves used to look.

Top shelf (second photo): Wooden shadow boxes, small frames, tiny broken frame pieces, new wood Jenga-like game and a vintage metal tissue box.

Bottom shelf (third photo): All of the boxes contain glass bottles, jars, and glass stoppers of various sizes.  Then, there are empty tins on the right.

I removed a lot of paper from the drawers, like sketch tablets, watercolor pads, a finger painting tablet and lay-out grid paper.

This is what is now in the top and bottom left drawers - a box of mat board, a disposable palette paper pad and an unopened package of carbon paper.  The carbon paper is ancient!

This is what is now in the bottom right - pheasant feathers, old skeleton keys and laminate samples.  The top right drawer is empty.

There is still work to be done in this area, but look at what more is leaving the house:

The top left is a big box of wood pieces, like small plaques, small birdhouse kits, little chalkboards, craft boxes, triptychs, shadow boxes, Scrabble tile holders and lots of other doo-dads.  Below that are wood tool handles and a vintage bingo number-drawing machine.  The top right box includes pads of papers and card-making kits, an unused rope of pastel lights, packages of vinyl scrapbook album page protectors and a draftsman kit that includes various triangles, lettering stencils, a brush and erasers.  The bottom right box contains the contents of a previous box of wooden turnings, craft sticks, chopsticks, etc., because I found more!

Heap of Change Challenge: Part 1

It's been over a year since I have posted.  There hasn't been much going on.

Donna, from Funky Junk Interiors, has a challenge.  It's called Heap of Change, previously referred to as Heap of Shame.  Wasn't it nice of her to change the name slightly?  It's time to clean up and clean out.  You can join in if you like: http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2015/01/heap-of-shame-challenge-and-were-off.html

My biggest heap happens to be the studio.

I haven't created much with paper and other bits in my studio in over a year.  I lost interest.

I have decided that since I am not using what I have, it's time to remove it from the house.  I have come to the conclusion that if I move this stuff out, some kind of creativity will begin to seep in once again.  It might be that I have too many choices, and it's time to pare down and keep only that which I treasure most.

I started before the end of last year, and I didn't take before pictures of this first area.

Above is the east wall.  The circle in the foreground and arrows in the background show areas where I removed some boxes and other items.

The circled items are leaving the house.  In the top picture, notice that the boxes of items that are leaving the house are in front of shelves I have not yet gone through.  I'm not sure where to stack the discards yet.  Maybe after I finish the east wall, I will stack them there.

Most of the items are new-in-the-package scrapbooking and crafting supplies.  I have some ideas for selling them, and we will be having a yard sale in the spring.

For next week, I will be going through what is left on the east wall.  The picture above shows the east wall from the opposite end.

I will also start on this cabinet.  The circle shows empty boxes.  Will I fill them with more unwanted items?  There are things inside the cabinet, and I will take a picture of that right before I empty it out.

Thank you for the encouragement, Donna!