Happy Monday. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and maybe even got some creative time in.
I have been having a tough few weeks. I am struggling with the whole family/life/creativity balance and sometimes it feels a lot more like drowning than balance. On Sunday the hubby took the kids to visit with his parents and I had the house to myself. It was a beautiful spring day, the house was clean and I was able to dig into some creativity and some creative corner cleaning and I thought it would be fun to share a little update with you.
First I want to share with you my first foray into Paper Mache! I know it’s hard to believe but I have no memory of having ever done this before in my life. I have wanted to do it forever but just never got around to it. I think some of the things I read seemed a lot more challenging and it put me off trying it. The truth is-it’s so much fun!
I had ordered Sarah Hand’s book a while back which lead me to her website and then to her online class. I purchased the class and have been watching it over and over working on my ideas for my character and the other day it came to me-a bird with a sunhat!
I have some more plans for this girl to show up in other projects and I’ll be sure to share them with you when I do. For now I just have the base all done and dry and then I need to give it a quick sand and add the paint-something I think I am going to save for my Mini Creative Retreat.
If you are interested in paper mache and a unique project I highly recommend Sarah’s class. It’s really fun and I love her approach.
While I was waiting for my characters to dry I decided to start a much needed creative corner clean-out. We have a built-in hutch in our room which was holding just a miss-match of items so I went through and cleared it out. I also did a big recycle of cardboard and junk mail I was keeping to use in projects. I still have lots to use but it was time to get rid of the hoard.
As you can see I had project baskets (and boxes) and just things tossed everywhere! This is behind our door so it’s usually out of sight which I think is why I let it get so cluttered. The printer is even in the mess of stuff.
And this is how it looks now! It feels so much cleaner and I was even able to get some things off the floor in my creative corner (the giant bag of foam for starters). Now I have everything organized and yet I can still see what I have. I am very visual and if I don’t have my supplies and projects out in front of me I forget I have them. I also need to move things around after a bit because things tend to blend together and I don’t notice them. Like hiding in plain sight.
I also tackled my desk which was full of stuff from a recent project. It didn’t take long at all and I was so happy with the results I couldn’t wait to sit down and create something. I am thinking of going back to putting down paper on my desk to catch all my drips. I stopped doing it because I have such a small space to work on it seemed that I was running out of dry spots on the paper to actually do work on. I might give it a shot again though because I love having the paper to use in backgrounds and mixed media.
This little clean up inspired me to make this a regular habit. I don’t know about you but I always feel so inspired when I am cleaning and “finding” all these supplies. I might just make a mini clean up a regular part of my creative practice.
What about you? Do you like all your supplies hidden away so your space is neat and tidy or do you need to see things? I would love to hear!
This week I am hoping to work on the shelves and the cabinet above the desk along with my sewing cart. I’ll be sure to share more pics when they are done.
Until next time…
-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante
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