It Felt Like a Million Pictures

Good morning. I finished the pictures after the books and everything else
was cleaned out. I told my children that if anything happens to me they won't have a terrible time with unloading because I've gotten rid of the un-neccesary clutter. When I say that I mean that for today I have the clutter that I need. Because I'm down to doll making, fabric art, and beading the shelf space got smaller. I still have the poster on the board to remind me that I am supposed to be writing and making art and a few dolls that were gifts. All the other dolls are gone. My little pile of to-do stuff sits in the bright light under the lamp and the pile of supplies for going away to work is on the right of the table.


I've rearranged the book cases to hold my paint supplies and created a little space for writing and painting on one side of the table and sitting reading and crocheting a baby blanket for the new great-grandson coming in May on the other side of the table.

The other side of the table shown in the next picture has a group of small shelves that hold the paint and colored pencils as well as pictures of family. These shelves also hold the different papers and other "stuff". I can't just decide what I want to be when I grow up.

 Above the shelves you can see the collection of little chairs/doll chairs that I have. There are more on the inspiration wall and more behind the writing chair on the board that holds the cards and ATC's that I've received. There are dolls sitting on the little chairs that I have collected and they are mixed in with the books on the shelves by the window. Lots of inspiration.

 The inspiration wall is across from the beading and workspace. It has the TV below which is usually turned to the music channel with the nature sounds or to the Baroque music channel. Beside the other poster I made is a poster from Salley Mavor that I ordered after she made the cover of The Horn Book Magazine. I have been an admirer of her work for years and finally have a few of her books and follow her Blog.

My computer is in my bedroom at the foot of the bed.  And you will notice that there is bright light coming from a sliding glass door to the right that doesn't open. I was fortunate enough to get the apartment that looks out on the little garden with lots of trees. On the computer screen you will see the name of the blog I follow all the time as well it is The Frabjous Versipel. She has wonderful postings of work she does, family, recipes and in my imagination she lives in a little hamlet in the mountains (which is what I'd like to do but that is for another post) and is surrounded by tons of other crafty people.

Besides getting rid of things in the apartment the storage room was cleaned as well. There is no use showing a picture of that because I didn't show the mess it was in before. Pictures were scanned for my daughter that have been sitting under the bed waiting in an old suitcase from her figure skating days. Pictures were scanned of family members and more to be scanned. I dumped a ton of pictures - no one needs four rolls of film of the Statue of Liberty and megga rolls of scenery of the mountains of British Columbia and the south west.
I feel like there is room to breathe - not from the decluttering but from the tremendous pressure I felt to get things done. Besides making art and writing the only thing that calls to me is the family tree I started a few years ago. So that is it. Finished de-cluttering and sorting and putting away. It may not look like it but it is done - for now.

Update

Good Morning
A quick update on the de-cluttering process. I'm almost finished. It has taken a long time because I've been sorting through books and papers. There were a lot of things to go into binders - a portfolio of sorts. One day when I'm old I can sit at the kitchen table and sort through the binders and re-organize. This time I just separated patterns I want to keep from memories and certificates etc.

Today I am sorting through materials/fabrics and getting rid of what I will not use. As I've been sorting and de-cluttering I've been contemplating what it is that I want to do when I grow up. I go through that periodically. I did when I graduated university in 2000 and then when I turned sixty and now this year my brother will turn sixty five and I'm a year older than him. I'm not going to collect pieces to use in mixed media art like paper and such so that has gone to a friend who likes to do that. My mixed media will be with fabric and beads. So with that in mind I really de-cluttered and now back to the material.

The last cleaning will be the photographs. They will have to be sorted and given away after they are scanned into the computer. I have eight siblings and as many cousins or more so they (photos) can find a good home. I'll be back

Cleaning

In case you thought I fell off the face of the earth - nope, just cleaning.
The big ole pine tree that was outside my bedroom window was cut down this past fall and since then I've had lights shining in and people looking in so I decided that I needed curtains. I am not a curtain person. I like the trees and the squirrels and the birds and I like to be able to look out the window and see them. Since I am on the ground floor I had furniture blocking the lower half of the windows so no one could look directly in. But with the tree gone - and it used to block a lot - I had to do something. I moved bookshelves and dressers and computer tables and other pieces of furniture for the past week but I didn't stop there. While I was doing that I sent books to the Salvation Army store, I got rid of tons of paper - more paper from the past career as counsellor and from university. So that sent me into the storage room to get a box or two and I found more boxes of books that went to the library and cd's that will have to be sorted and gotten rid of - well you get the picture. I may be like the bear that comes out of the cave in spring and maybe I will have something to show you.