mission accomplished

Continuing on from my last post...the organization mission is - well, nearly - complete.

The last pile of 'stuff' got stuffed! I crammed it all into drawers and boxes - until (I told myself) some time when I get around to sorting through it, which I know will never actually happen.

So, now, I have a little more elbow room and don't feel quite so claustrophobic.

I know this need to clear some space is actually just cabin fever that comes from being indoors too much in the winter. My house does not feel quite so small in the summer, when I can enjoy the outdoors or at least leave my doors open to the outside world.

And this summer, there will be yard sales! No, not the ones I go to and haul in more stuff that I will be wanting to throw away next winter. I will be having the yard sales this summer - not one, but several!

I can hardly wait.

too much stuff

Do you ever want to throw everything away and start over?

the top of the refrigerator
is the only calm place in the house right now

I've been re-arranging furniture and every time I do that, I end up with a pile of little things that I don't have room for. In a house as tiny as mine, I find I constantly have to re-adjust the flow in order to keep things running smoothly. Working at home requires space to function in an organized way. There's the bead table - the production area - and all the attendant sorting and storage issues. The 'office' - desk, file cabinet, computer, office supplies, printer, scanner, which all take up way too much room. Now I have a small table top area for packaging and shipping with bags, boxes, mailers, labels, etc.
(Yes, supplies from Highwood Studio are actually selling on Etsy).
That leaves the kitchen counter for taking pictures. Thank goodness the camera is tiny and that I get plenty of light in my little house because I have no room at all for a light-box. The closet is stuffed with display gear for summer craft shows. The only 'me' space in the whole house is a book case, an easy chair, and my bed!

When I get into one of these re-arranging frenzies, I also want to dump the blog, the Etsy shop, half the files and folders and the mile-long list of bookmarks on my computer and 90% of the clutter filling up my head.

It's ALL just taking up too much space.

Zen Habits says that re-arranging systems is just a form of avoidance. Makes sense to me since I spend an inordinate amount of time organizing stuff. If only I wasn't so OCD and could be okay with some clutter and just a little bit of confusion. I know people who manage to function very well in the midst of what, to me, looks like the debris of years of creative chaos. It just doesn't bother them.

I'm really missing the days when this jewelry thing was just a hobby.
No computer to keep track of inventory, supplies, pricing, billing, bookkeeping, taxes. No need for (my current) 137 strands of assorted beads, not to mention a hundred small containers of loose beads, and 13 boxes (with 16 compartments each) of silver spacers, caps, pins, charms, clasps, chain, wire. And drawers filled with finished jewelry, tags, bags, earring cards, tools.

I've never wanted to use my blog as a place to rant, but do you ever just want to throw everything away and start over?

a vintage heart

From time to time, I fantasize about living in a country cottage filled with faded pastel linens and white painted furniture. Louise is living the very life I've dreamed about and I can now enjoy it vicariously through her blog, Louise Loves Pin Board.

Louise lives in Builth Wells, Wales, UK and is a dealer of vintage textiles as well as having her own line of vintage-inspired printed cottons. Seriously Shabby Chic! She has an on-line shop, selling everything from fabric covered books to lampshades to vintage quilt covered clothes hangers - everything you need for your own idyllic shabby cottage.


Her blog is all about life at her country home, Stable Cottage. There are pictures galore and you can read about raising guinea fowl, the blooming of the crocuses in the spring, and some travels to nearby towns that have all the charm you'd expect of the Welch countryside. There's a tutorial on making a hydrangea wreath and the photos of her home have a wealth of decorating inspiration.

If you love country living and all things vintage, you're sure to enjoy this lovely blog.

this cyber-heart goes to...

I absolutely love the warm earthy colors of autumn and from now on I’m sure I will simply think of them as nataJane colors. Her Etsy shop is filled with rich greens, golds, reds, and mochas.

The same palette and sensibility is carried over to her blog, where the glimpses she gives of her life and her world are as soft and muted, as warm and cozy as her scarves and wrist gloves.

This blog is as comfortable as the big leather easy chair on the banner and at the same time full of completely unexpected surprises. I've discovered what a multi-talented artist Natalie is. She draws, paints, sews, makes the most mouthwatering brownies and takes great photographs!

Maybe it’s the smoky colors and aura of candle light that give the feeling of turning the well-worn pages of a treasured family album, and I love that her family regularly comments and cheers her on. They’re so obviously proud of their girl and it’s very endearing.

Visit once and you can’t help but go back again and again.
You will want to be part of her family.

another heart

My next cyber-valentine goes to Pussman & Co, a blog by Danielle Roothooft, an artist who lives in Kalmthout, Belgium.

I was hooked from the moment I saw her banner.

We get to peek inside her home - meet her adorable dog, Milan - and her original stuffed dolls, which are like American primitive folk art - see her delightfully innocent and whimsical drawings - along with pages from her illustrated books.

Her wonderful art always makes me smile!

Danielle does not sell on Etsy, but on her blog she does have links to where you can purchase her charming illustrations on shirts, mugs, hats and baby clothes - as well as links to her other blogs where she sells her 'Pussmanstuffies' and original drawings and paintings.

I don't know how Danielle found my blog, but she linked to it and I'm so pleased she did because otherwise, I might never have found her.

When you visit, I hope you'll take the time to browse the archives and check out all the sweet pleasures on this happy little blog.

blog love

Ah, February...Cupid will be running around shooting his little arrows at people, and I will be sending cyber-valentines to some of my favorite blogs!

I've already posted about No Impact Man and Zen Habits but have completely neglected my favorite crafty people. I thought I should remedy that. So I'm sending my first heart to Monaco Designs, the very first blog I linked to.

Kim Monaco and I 'met' in the Etsy forums - in a thread about blogging actually. I was only thinking about starting a blog at the time, and when I finally did, Kim generously helped me with some things I couldn't figure out. If not for her, I might have given up on my very first post.

Her blog is so entertaining and full of useless information - her description, not mine! And she even keeps a long list of links to free things you can get!!

Kim makes very cool jewelry and takes great photos of her work....

like these

Beautiful!

I hope you'll visit her blog and take the time to read some of her wonderfully humorous posts.

You will find gems like:
Why isn't 11 pronounced onety one? -and-
What was the best thing before sliced bread?

It's a great blog to cheer you when you need a dose of good energy.

chickens

Ever have one of those days when you repeatedly dissolved into crazy laughter over something? It happened to me yesterday and I am only now beginning to regain my composure.

The morning after the State of the Union address, it was reported in our local newspaper that the town planning commission, after much consideration and input from citizens, had passed a resolution to allow the keeping of chickens within the town limits.

I know this is not really a laughing matter. Many people in our little town are avid organic gardeners and it follows that they would like to be able to keep chickens so as to have fresh eggs on the breakfast table. Apparently there was a city ordinance banning the raising of chickens within the town limits, but this past December, after some public outcry, a moratorium was placed on the its enforcement, pending review. It now appears the anti-chicken ordinance will be repealed at the next town council meeting in February.

The planning commission has recommended a limit of six chickens per household, absolutely no roosters allowed, and "it would be a persons own prerogative as to whether they want to fence their chickens."

Now, I'm not a big-city gal, having lived in the Colorado mountains for most of my adult life. When I was a kid, we lived way out in the country and my mother did, in fact, buy eggs from some folks down the road. People in rural areas all over the country are raising chickens and I apologize to any who might be offended that I found this story so amusing. I read the article again and again and each time I dissolved into uncontrollable laughter - not at our town or at the lovely people here who want to keep chickens. I, myself, am pro-chicken.

It's just that it delights me beyond belief to be living in a place like this! While the State of the Union may have been front-page copy elsewhere, the big story here is the chicken resolution.

What a wonderful world!

my inner hermit

I really need to get out more.

Once a month, I drive to the mountains to visit the shops that carry my jewelry. It's always worthwhile financially, but I'm so in touch with my inner hermit, that making this trip, especially in the winter, seems like such a chore. It's been snowing for weeks on end up in the high country so I put off my last trip as long as I could, hoping for a break in the weather. That break finally came on Sunday morning.

Sunday Morning
leaving town

I wasn't a mile from my home when I had to stop on the highway to allow a herd of deer to cross the road. There were 7 or 8 of them and each one took its turn to jump the fence along the side of the road and cross slowly to the other side where they gathered together again near some trees before heading up the hill. The last one in the group seemed to ponder for a very long time and watched his companions as they went on ahead without him. Finally, in one graceful leap, he was over the fence and then v-e-r-y---s-l-o-w-l-y trotted past my waiting car. All the while I was feeling around in the pile of bags, hats, gloves, CD's on the seat beside me, searching for my camera. Not wanting to take my eyes off the deer, I gave up the search and just enjoyed the show.

When I was sure none of them were going to dart back onto the highway, I was on my way again, just as a flock of geese flew overhead, low enough for me to see their golden underbellies.

And I found myself thinking that if I hadn't dragged myself out of bed this morning to get on the road and take care of business, I'd have missed this.

I really do need to get out more.

brrrrr......

Brrrrr....It's Cold....

I'm off to the mountains for a couple of days and am hoping for warmer weather - that would be anything above Zero!
Also hoping for clear enough skies to get some good pictures.

Is it too much to hope for? I'll let you know when I get home.

paradise lost and found

I once lived in an affluent resort town in the Colorado mountains where the homes were huge, impressive and expensive. Tourists and second home owners outnumbered the locals by about ten to one so most people were strangers to one another. It is so fabulously beautiful in the Colorado high country that - who can blame them - everyone wants to be there, so they come in droves to grab their little piece of an ever more crowded paradise.

A couple of years ago I moved, just one hundred miles away, to a completely different world. I'm still astounded by the contentment I've found in the funky little town I now call home. The pace here is slow, the weather more agreeable and the people are friendly. They smile and look you in the eye and say hello as you pass on the street.

I live in a tiny rented cottage with 70's wood paneling on the walls. Where I come from, little houses such as mine would be torn down and replaced by luxurious log homes, but here, thankfully, they are saved for people like me! I can see the wide blue sky from all my windows and when I open the door to let in the cool fresh air, there is no traffic noise at all, just silence and the chirping of birds (even in the winter!) My neighborhood has an abundance of my favorite things - weathered wood, peeling paint and rust - things you hardly see anymore in the wealthy resort towns.

The most telling difference though is that where I used to live, the freeway that carries all those people from Denver to the mountains, ran right along the edge of town and although the speed limit was 65, most people pushed it to 75 or 80.
Here, on the highway just outside of town, the speed limit is 45, but most people don't actually go that fast.

zen habits

I took a little quiz once that was designed to identify core values.
I think it was in a magazine but I don't remember which one. It was a very long time ago.

The first page was a list of 100 words like beauty, sincerity, wealth, luxury, and on and on. The reader was to go down the list and mark each word to which they felt an immediate emotional connection.
On the next page, we were referred back to page one and told to narrow our list down to 20 words that were the most representative of our core values. We were then challenged to choose just ten words, and finally only the top five. Thinking that was it, turning the page - surprise - we were now asked to narrow this list down to just ONE word.

My one word was 'simplicity' - my most fundamental core value.
I had not realized it until I took the quiz, but of course it was absolutely true.

It was true even back in the seventh grade when I first discovered Henry David Thoreau. At an age when I might have been more interested in clothes and boys and sharing secrets with my bff, I was day-dreaming of living in a cabin at Walden Pond. (I did, many years later, live in a cabin in the Colorado Rockies, as I posted here).

I've taken the long road to reach the point of this post, which is that I've discovered another blog I'm just crazy for - Zen Habits.

An example of the gems to be found there:

The Four Laws of Simplicity and How to Apply Them
#1. Collect everything in one place.
#2. Choose the essential.
#3. Eliminate the rest.
#4. Organize the remaining stuff neatly and nicely.

No, it's not a joke. Yes, it is crazy simple. That's the point.

There's great relief to be found in Zen Habits for our stressed, pressurized, complicated lives.
There are roads back to quiet contented simplicity.
If that's where you'd like to go, I wish you happy travels.

same old me

So I woke up this first morning of 2008 feeling just like the same person I was on the last day of 2007. It always used to amaze me when I was a kid that birthdays and new years did not automatically transform me into an entirely new person. I thought I would (and should) wake up at a new age or in a new year, being wiser and more graceful than I had been the day before.
Never happened.....but still I hold out hope that one day....