So, let’s share.
I like to have a place for everything and everything in it’s place. Which is why the etui doll Ms Petui Buttonbottom came into being…….. Remember her? She is a complete joy to me, everything I need is right there at my side, right when I need it
My working yarn is well organised. All the relevant yarn, tools and patterns are stored in the large blue bag and the yarn being used is in the green bag, which feeds me up to three 200g balls at a time
My tiny house is always tidy even though it is quite colourful – well, blue really – and no photo is complete without Siddy photo-bombing it
When I’m working in the kitchen, I clean up as I go. There is never a pile of dishes waiting to be done. When I get up the bedroom is left as good as a new one before I have first coffee. I know it sounds awfully anal, but I’m a Virgo and I blame it all on that. I also have an analytical mind even though I am, as many of you know, just a little on the whoopsie side…….. Doesn’t the mention of astrological sign prove that? As further proof I offer my latest reading matter:
I’m currently reading Dr Joe Dispenza’s ‘You Are the Placebo’ and loving it. I love him anyway. He first arrived in my life about ten years ago and had a huge impact. He is very important in educating us on how we can help heal ourselves, how we can change our thinking, how we can make our lives better – which many regard as more than a little whoopsie – but he is a scientist and brings his groundbreaking scientific research with him and that is what makes the difference for me. (If you don’t know of him there are tons of You Tube videos you can use as an introduction, he has his own channel too). He’s my personal hero.
But, I digress…….. Let’s get on with the point of this post.
I am so fortunate, these days I have a whole play-room, my happy place, a place where I make stuff for hours and days on end, all to myself. My work room is well organised, but being a crafter one necessarily makes a mess when working. Crafter’s have this thing going on where they start out with oodles of space to work in and by the time the project is finished they are working in ten square centimetres and even that is under attack
When I enter my room the desk looks like this
A few hours later it looks like this
Tim Holtz came up with his mixed media glass mat, supposed, amongst other things, to ensure that we have about 60 x 30 cm of unimpingeable working space. It sounds great, and while I don’t know for sure as I don’t have one (if you have one, I’d like to hear your views) I have a feeling it wouldn’t stop me doing this
I’d just scooped up a pile of pens and pencils before taking that quick shot, I’m sorry you missed seeing the real chaos 🙂 I am working on the card in the bottom right hand corner, the piece of A4 scrap paper is the remaining available working area. Try as I might, as the work proceeds the actual working space gets smaller and smaller and I have a plaintive thought – does everyone end up like this?
And this is just making a few cards people, painting is way worse!
So I clean up after every project and return to this once more, ready for the next foray into creativityI do like to see it all clean and clear and oh, so spacious – ready for the next creative outburst
So, how do you do it? Do you have a dedicated space or do you work in a corner of the kitchen or living area? Do you clean as you go or are you a happy chaos inhabitant? Whether you are crafter, artist, writer, quilter, sewer, yarn worker, photographer, carver, or anyone else who makes something and works with tools and media, I’d love to know. Let’s share…….
And I love that you came by today, thank you!
George Mackay Brown’s book is two separate novellas. Times are changing, the modern world is reaching the Orkneys, the expectations of the new generation include a wider world, crofts are being deserted and falling into disrepair. And yet we see how the people live on, battered by the storms of change, the actions of others and themselves – aware only of their own little world, their own hurts, their own expectations. An accurate reflection of much of humanity in general perhaps.
I’m making this, it’s maybe half finished now – it’s a prototype for an idea I have for a ‘mandala’ style wall hanging – a big one. This one though, is simply table sized. When finished it will be maybe 60cm diameter. I’m not sure yet which way I will go. 
I’m still happily growing this keeping pace with 
Here’s Siddy visiting his second favourite person and her new cat. George is a bit mean to Siddy (he runs at him with evil intent) and Siddy is trying really hard to be brave. But he isn’t really – he’s a lover, not a fighter.
I’m having a tidy up in the craft room this week – yikes, it’s a mess!
A work that grew out of a sketch where I got quite brave and began to experiment with acrylic paints over alcohol inks. I began by trying to manipulate the sky and eventually found my way forward enough to pronounce myself satisfied – or at least to the ‘let’s quit while I’m ahead’ stage.
Something apart from the woolly kind of creations finally got finished. There’s hope – there’s always hope 🙂
The colours are pretty accurate in the above photo – aren’t they fabulous! The yarn is wonderful it’s Corriedale Wool purchased from 
The colours are a little washed out in the second photo, but you can see the texture and the pattern. The edging needs to be blocked to finish the thing properly, but that won’t happen until the weather warms up a little.
Her name grew organically as I read your various comments and proposals and suggestions in the previous post. Karen said she needed to be a Miss and I agreed; Val said Petunia and Norah mentioned the same name, but was more connected to the ‘P’ for Pauline and et tu (you too) which she had jumped to from ‘etui’ I liked the idea, but in the end decided to stay with ‘etui’. So you can pronounce it Pet-you-ee or Petwee as you please. Her last name grew from Geoff’s suggestion of ‘Leadbottom’ which made me laugh, but you will see soon why I changed it a little. (Sometimes it’s obvious even to me that I have way too many hours to wonder around in LaLaLand!)
Here I can find pen, pencil, awl, ruler, thimble, measuring tape, needles of various sizes and sharpnesses, two pairs of scissors, quick-unpick, long vision specs and cleaning cloth, a variety of stitch markers, a reel of thread, a row counter and a small magnifying glass.
Her head scarf holds pins and unseen is a large amount of blocking pins hidden in her hair. She wears my reading specs, always ready to do a bit of stitching, hooking or sewing repairs.
He pretty much ensured every component of the blanket was pressed, whether I desired it to be or not.
It ought to be finished but I got sidetracked.
Finally, here’s Siddy in his posh winter gear to say “Hello!” or “Grrrrruff!” to you all, just in case you need that kind of puppy cheerfulness in your life…..
I went back to playing with alcohol inks and ended up adding acrylics over one of them to see what happened 
Nothing went awry, so, emboldened, I kept playing – now I tried to see what would happen if I added blending solution to a brush and swept it across the inky coloured sky
Well that was interesting! Obviously a very light touch and brush-on-paper-always technique is required. More work is currently being undertaken 🙂
And then I sketched her onto 300gsm watercolour paper making sure she was the right size and that the pen I used wouldn’t bleed with alcohol inks.
I then coloured her and cut her out. And finally tried her out on the background
The
This is how I crochet in the evenings – I quite often let You Tube play a random selection of videos while I’m working, they often choose to show me animals and Siddy always sits up and takes notice, much to the consternation of Orlando and myself who must consequently adjust our positions to accommodate any excitement or anxiety shown on behalf of the filmed animals……
It’s turning cold here now. Night falls early and morning arrives later. The heating is on and morning walks take longer to get ready for. Boots, coat, scarf, gloves, hat. Puppy. And off we go! No longer prepared to sit in the front garden and await our return, Orlando watches from the kitchen window. Lucky kitty!!
