I love Seth Apter's challenge. It is so incredible to see people's creative spaces in the real world. Magazines offer up pristine interior designer quality spaces- and though I wish I had some aspects of a space from a magazine this will do. I was surprised how easily my inner critic came up after I took the photos of my space. Initially I took them in the evening and found them to look too dim even with lights. It felt a bit sad. This surprised me because I see my creative space as a happy space within my home. I took more pictures in the morning when there was more natural light. I try to keep everything within arms reach. Before I start a project lots of bins are displaced to get materials needed and then laid not the floor or stacked nearby. The table is usually full of something- one conner for upholstery project, one corner for bills/mail, one corner for mainstay supplies that are never put away and one corner for work surface.
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| My craft corner - outside looking in--- |
The past 2-3 years I've been radically growing my crafting stash---embossing folders, spellbinder's dies, sentiment stamps, background stamps, distress everything, gelli plate printing, stencils, watercoloring, and SoulCollage® materials I must admit I love shopping for craft supplies and love all the things colorful and sparkly and have symbolic meaning. Its a bit of retail therapy coping with some life losses- but at least they get transformed into creative inspirations for others.
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| Doubles as my computer station when not crafting. |
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| Happy Stash- I love vertical storage-- I hope someday to have some more customizable built-ins that I can organize to my hearts content. |
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| My craft station doubles a my computer station when not crafting. |
I must admit I love having stamps border the periphery of my work space. As quickly as I index them and get them into containers- I relish being able to find more symbols of inspiration. I have an article on my fridge called "In Defense of Clutter" and basically it is viewed as an optimistic outlook on life and creating possibilities. I like that. I love seeing peek-a-boo images of my stamps as their cascading sizes decorate the edges of my craft sheet. They remind me of all the projects yet to be made :)
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| Last night Halloween card draft. |
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| Ongoing project- index and catalog all my stamps |
My view across from my work table is a painting an artist friend did of me playing cello, souvenirs from my honeymoon trip to Italy, a wedding photo, paint swatches (I'm planning on painting an accent wall to warm the view and move from the neutral color palate zone).
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| View from my craft table |
One of the features of my creativity area is a mobile that hangs over the table. Our place is a bit boxy so I like the bit of whimsy it adds to the space and I can change up cards and ideas that I hang from it. I mix it up with cards received from other crafting friends and technique ideas I've tried or want to continue to experiment with.
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| Inspiration mobile overhead |
For anyone else whose inner critic came out when sharing their space, I recalled a fb post of a woman who posted some pictures of her kitchen and had received tons of negative feedback and how she should do this or that. I loved her response--- she went around the room and expressed gratitudes for all she did have. Likewise, I am grateful to have a space prioritized for creating and to have time and resources with which to create. I'm grateful for the friends and family I make projects. I'm thankful for all things sparkly- stickles, distress glitter, Elizabeth Craft microfine glitters, Twinklin' H2Os, shimmery acrylics and more. I'm thankful for the variety of storage solutions- so I can keep my resources organized and safe from the elements. I love being able to be inspired by all the innovators and artists I've discovered not his journey. Thanks for stopping by.
