Once I get through Halloween each year, I am so over all the decorations and candy that I tend to just pack it all away until the next year. That is why I usually don't tackle my annual Halloween mini album until the fall of the next year. I know... weird...but I kind of enjoy scrapping the previous year's photos and reminding myself how quickly time passes.
As I began working this weekend, I noticed that it was going rather slowly and my creativity was missing a flow. I figured out rather quickly that I was working in a very disorganized manner. It looked like this:
My table was an absolute disaster! I had literally just pulled out a whole bunch of papers, washi tape, inks, stamps, & embellishments that I thought I could use along with the kit. Rather than trying to start out in an organized manner, I just chunked it all on the table (which was already covered with things from my previous crafty endeavor) and went to work. What was I thinking? I had stuff strewn out everywhere.
On my other desk behind me were stamps I was using on the project as well.
My solution was just to stop working. This frustrated me a lot because with a busy household, my creative time is usually a bit limited. But at the same time I knew I had to clean up a little so that I could use my time better and find a better flow to the project.
I seriously would have loved to have taken my arm and just scraped everything off onto the floor, but I realized that there were to many sharp objects, items that could stain the carpet, and paper that could tear or wrinkle. Dang it! That would have been so therapeutic. So instead I just began making piles on the floor and putting unneeded things away.
When I was finished my table looked like this:
Things on the table were so much more organized and like items were grouped together. I seriously think that I heard an Angel chorus singing when I stepped back and took it all in. At this point I really felt my crafty mojo coming back and the frustration leaving my body. I was instantly happier to be in my space.
Now that I had things where I wanted them it all seemed to flow much better.
Out of the chair & onto the right side of my table was the neatly stacked kit and additional colored cardstock that I will use to mat photos.
Stamps, inks, embellishments, and washi tape are all stacked neatly on the left side of the table.
Photos are grouped by both boys, just Carter, just Ethan, family, & pumpkin carving. I will go back through these and determine which ones to use and which ones to put away for other projects.
Most importantly I made a list on a scrap piece of graph paper. Now I have an idea of what I want to get accomplished in each step and it becomes more of an assembly line process. This is not usually how I work, but I don't do mini albums too often and I think that this will speed up the process, give the project more continuity, and keep me from getting disorganized again.
I know many of your craft spaces look similar to mine & I know that much of this post is common sense. But sometimes I think we forget that the clutter around us, whether creative or not, has an affect on how we create &/or how function within that space. Sometimes just by cleaning up a bit we do find the tops of our work spaces, but more importantly we find peace within that space again.
I hope you will take time to straighten your space a bit this week. I promise that it will make you feel quite accomplished! :)
I will post my completed album later this week (once I finish it) & let you know how the assembly line process worked.
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