Seth Apter's Studio Table: The Reveal Challenge

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.

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.

Doubles as my computer station when not crafting.

Happy Stash- I love vertical storage-- I hope someday to have some more customizable built-ins that I can organize to my hearts content.

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 :)

Last night Halloween card draft.

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).

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.

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.