Thursday, November 3, 2011

Before & After Fun



My creative space has been a chaotic mess!! It had become so bad that all my desires to head down there and get to work simply vanished.

So last week I said ENOUGH!
I got to work and for the next 4 days I went through nearly EVERYTHING!!!


Boxes
and 
baggies
and 
baskets.


I sorted and made piles and sorted again.



I found papers and brads and stickers I hadn't seen in nearly 10 years!! 
I didn't even know I still had stuff that old. Geesh...

And while it was soooo very time consuming....
it was WORTH IT!!

Here are some really messy BEFORE PHOTOS and some fabulous AFTER PHOTOS....

Markers and rub-ons and papers just randomly stuffed in baskets and bins....



Everytime I looked at this I was so overwhelmed.
 I didn't even KNOW what was in here!
 

Books, photo albums, baskets of paper and photos 
were piled in this cabinet. I didn't know what all was in here.


Same with this white cabinet. It looks innocent enough!


What made this cleaning different from all the other times
is that I actually took everything out!
I didn't just half way go through my items. I took everything out then sorted. 
Yes, it took time but it was worth it!


Here is the cabinet AFTER!
All my empty mini albums, cutters and 
scrapbook pages that need albums are stored here.


Kits are here. Oh, and extra paper! I didn't realize I had sooo  many empty notebooks. If you ever need any scrap paper just call me:)


Other random AFTER PHOTOS...

That messy catchall cabinet now houses all my photos. It's nice knowing where they are.


That messy shelf is now home to past issues of CK, Making Memories and Simple Scrapbook magazines as well as a few idea books.



These open shelves were frightful until
I cleared them out. 
Now they are home to all my empty albums....{and Ziggy}!



I made a space in one of my cabinets for extra canvas's and vintage magazine images.
Why didn't I do this sooner??



I have plenty of bookshelves now for idea books.



These are just a sample of all the STUFF 
I put in 1-gallon bags to GIVE AWAY!
Every single bag went to various little girls at my church.
They LOVED them!



More photos of my cleaner space coming tomorrow...

What do you do with all your extra art supplies? Please share!

6 comments:

  1. well done, it looks as if you are ready for some lovely projects...i usually hand my things down to my children...and they seem to consume...them very quickly...

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  2. Oh, I just LOVE this post! I did a very similar clean-up and organization of my art space a couple of months ago . . . it was the best thing I could have ever done! Now it is a pleasure to spend time in my "Chaos Cave" (that's what I call it!) and I know where everything is. SO WORTH the time, isn't it? I LOVE seeing your photos! Can't wait to see more!.

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  3. What a fun post! I love before and after pictures. You have such a great space for working and playing. You did it just right--you have to take it all out to go through it, or it's too easy to "cheat" or stop halfway. I LOVE that you gave baggies of goodies to girls at your church--a perfect "disposal" solution. The best part of organizing, I think, is discovering all those things you have that you have completely forgotten about!

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  4. Isn't a great feeling to SEE your progress. Everything looks just great and easily accessible. That's my issue; I have some things tucked under the stairs and have to move the t.v. to get to them and oh, I can't forget to NOT stand up (and I'm only 5'2"). What a great craft space.

    A co-worker's sister teaches special education so I gave her a bunch of stamps and some paper. I heard the kids really enjoyed their stamp time!

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  5. this looks great!! good job! I love that you shared your goodies with some little girls, Im sure you made their day! Also, you said, why didn't I do this sooner?? and I reply, cause it took you four days! LOL...good job! (and yes we had a great time on Halloween! ;)

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  6. I love the feeling of a good purging and clearing of clutter. It just makes you feel brand new after you organize your materials. Good for you! I'm sure you will be so motivated to get creating now that you know all of the goodies you have to work with. xox

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I appreciate your thoughts and ideas...they inspire me!! I will be visiting you soon. Have a CREATIVE day!!