Hello everyone,
Hope your Wednesday is turning out to be a good one! Since it is Wednesday, I am sharing some photos of the hell that is my studio with the WOYWW gang (links at the end of the post).
So my desk is (still) a mess, due to all the moving and rearranging and the hard slog that has been/is the brilliant idea that I had to switch the contents of a couple of rooms with each other. It’s a slow process and it’s been going on for a few weeks now and I am well and truly over it… and yet it still has to be done because there is stuff everywhere, and not a single room in the house is unaffected. It does not make me calm. I did comment yesterday about entertaining the idea of opening the window and throwing everything out! That idea is so appealing, maybe then the road sweeper would just sweep it all away and I wouldn’t have to think about it again. *sigh* Meanwhile, life goes on and other things need to be taken care of, so I have to stop and do those things, and then have no notion at all of going upstairs and continuing, but I did trip over something in the dark the other night so it must be done! It must be done SOON and I need to find places for everything before my head explodes.
Having said all of that, let’s look at today’s ICAD (Index-Card-a-Day Challenge) which is sitting on the only clear space on my desk! This current batch all have a similar feel to each other and are slightly different to previous batches. They are all using these little watercoloured offcuts from another project, teabags, random orphaned diecuts…
and for the first time, some embroidery floss!!! I would say that I found my floss but it wasn’t really lost. I knew approximately where it was, but I just couldn’t access it due to all this other stuff being in front of it.
If you were interested in more ICADS, the Day 1-9 post is here and the delayed Day 10-18 post is here, and I will have another 9 day catch-up when we reach the 27th of June, or thereabouts. Now back to my desk, this green cutting mat is 30 x 40cm and it represents the only semi clear spot on my desk right now, and it’s not really clear as you can see lol, but it’s the only working space I have at the moment. On the mat from left to right: a big spool of Harris Tweed yarn (this is what they weave the cloth from), a collection of found words and phrases, a new packed of Posca pens, my new batch of ICADs, two little bags that I made a while back and found in a box, so I would like to use them for something, not sure what yet. They are Japanese nesting containers and I have a bigger one in use with all my Sashiko supplies but these two, hmmm, maybe pencil storage, something to live on my already crowded desk? Next to that is a big jar that I use for paint water, and below that is a 5m tape measure and a 2m wooden ruler for doing all the measuring up when I am moving stuff around in the rooms to make sure they can fit!
The rest of the desk and every other flat surface is covered in stuff. It makes me think of Marie Kondo and nothing at all is sparking joy in this room lol. If you haven’t seen her or read her books, basically her method is to ask the person to take all of the problem stuff, be it clothing, books, craft materials etc and put it all in a big pile in the middle of the floor. Then they have to hold each individual item in their hands and ask themselves “does it spark joy?” if yes, they get to keep it, if no, it gets tossed. Honestly a big pile of anything in the middle of the floor is never going to spark joy which is probably why her method works haha. Plus remember, the person whose stuff it is has to put it all back if they want to keep it – who wants to do that? No one! So take it all away Marie! Last week, as part of this on-going switch, I had to move the contents of the wardrobes in one room with the wardrobe in the other room, so at one point all the clothing was piled on the bed. I entertained the idea of opening the window and tossing it all outside rather than finding space in the smaller wardrobe for everything. I really must stop thinking about throwing things out the window because one day I just might lol.
Anyway, moving on, last week this wardrobe was full of cats lol, well not full, wouldn’t that be fun? but it was empty and the cats were in it. These wire shelf cube things were outside the wardrobe, free-standing on the floor. So I moved them inside the wardrobe since all it had was a hanging rail which was no good for craft supplies. I still need to rearrange the contents of these cubes to make more sense of them but I have moved all eight boxes of DMC floss in there and one of my sewing machines for easy access.
This drawer also had a cat in it last week, but now it has all the yarn in it that has been living in the living room since before Christmas as it had nowhere to go. Now it’s in a new home in these big drawers along with all my hooks and needles, and at the moment, a collection of handmade paper, but that needs to be moved elsewhere, and a recent gift of some very soft baby cotton. I have no idea what to do with the baby cotton since I don’t make baby stuff so suggestions in the comments would be helpful. Oh and there is also an UFO in there too, a tapestry that I am determined to finish this year!
One other thing that has been relocated from the living room is this wonderful handmade yarn container which was a gift from a friend a few years ago. When it arrived I thought it was an ice bucket lol. A wooden ice bucket wouldn’t work very well now would it but it seemed like the right size and shape and I couldn’t think what else it could be until I turned it around and saw the little tail for the yarn… ah ha that makes much more sense than an ice bucket, right? lol It’s so handy and it’s big enough to take really large balls of yarn too, plus it’s really beautifullly crafted, so it’s been a fantastic gift, but it doesn’t need to live in the living room when I am not using it, so I moved it upstairs with the rest of the living room yarn.
So that was a look at the current state of the desk and a peek inside one of the wardrobes (there are two) and now I need to get back to it before I fall over another pile of boxes!
Let me know what you think in the comments. As always, thanks for reading!
Ingredients
index cards, watercolour, collage, book paper, cat food box, teabags, embroidery floss, found poetry, gold pen, black pen,
Challenges
ICAD – Day 23
WOYWW – #629 – What’s on my desk (I’m number #25 in the linkup) Happy WOYWW!
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Thanks for the return visit, Elle, and for the info – I don’t know how I missed that! Before I order them I’m going to check my existing nesting circles to see if they will do, as the Spellbinders ones are certainly pricey! I’ve been too busy to do anything about it lately.
Shoshi x
Happy Belated WOYWW. Hope you are getting closer to getting everything sorted. I read the Marie Kondo books a few years ago, and now fold all our socks etc! I went to a capsule wardrobe, which has been brilliant. If it was just me living in this house, it would be a lot emptier and tidier, but at least most of my ‘stuff’ is needed/loved/organised. Hubby is a bit of a hoarder like his parents, and it is a struggle to get him to part with anything. That yarn bucket is fantastic. Ali x #24
argH! I can never find the comment box, and by tje time I do. I’ve forgotten what I was going to say! Arg yes! Your pages, with the tree I was thnking it was huge! but it’s quite tiny. I think I like it a whole lot better, tiny! That wool thingymejig bucket is a reallyl clever idea! At first, with a quick look, I thought it was spaggetti! Some thing’s telling me I need new glasses! Stay safe!! Happy WOYWW!? ((Lyn)) #15
Seems to me that you’ve nomads more progress than you think. And I get it, going between two rooms and having every other room affected does your head no good at all, it’ll only take a final push! Gotta admire that you’re still producing stuff though, I’ve come to a standstill till my room is sorted. As for the baby yarn…make something with it and donate it… hospitals and clinics are always looking for baby blankets or beanies for premature babies. It’ll feel a whole lot better than having it in your way in an unused state! Keep going!
Well now, Elle, I think the tidying and organising bug is spreading across our little community! I am so glad you didn’t chuck all your stuff out of the window haha! It does get a bit much when you fall over it in the night, though. There is something deeply satisfying about reorganising when you get to that golden moment when you get over the hump. It spurs you on to complete the task. I am finding plenty of things that “spark joy” and quite a lot that don’t! The problem is the intermediate ones, that spark something between interest and boredom. Keep? Throw out? Who knows? Unfortunately my task has been interrupted by having to sort out my computer but I’m cracking on pretty well with that and at least it’s useable now.
Thank you for explaining what an ICAD is! I knew they were index cards but I keep hearing about ICADs and didn’t have a clue what it meant! Love your latest one. Your woolly ice bucket is beautiful. I can imagine how nice it is to use, because it looks so lovely and smooth. It’s a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
Thank you for your visit, and for the Amazon link – I saw these, but they are the large sized ones. I can’t seem to find the standard sized ones anywhere! If they’ve discontinued them, I think it’s a mistake because they are basic kit and useful generally, I’d have thought.
I’m glad to hear you like Middle Eastern food and preserved lemons! They are pretty intense, aren’t they! Also granola – I make my own too, and found a recipe with no added sugar or maple syrup – it is sweetened with dates. I have it on my breakfast every morning. It featured as Recipe of the Week in this blog post: https://shoshiplatypus.com/woyww-599-final-needle-book-giveaway-reminder-musical-chairs-plans-for-cooking-and-crochet-and-a-new-old-box/ – I love this.
Are your kitties related? Ours are twin sisters. I think that makes a big difference as to whether or not they will snuggle up together. Our last 2 were unrelated and never did it.
Your hard drive woes sound awful! At least I only lost a few photos and videos – I can get the videos again if I can remember what they were but those 5 or 6 photos are gone for good, I’m afraid. It could have been a lot worse. Once, I deleted my entire music folder, thinking it was backed up on an ext. HD which it wasn’t. I invested in recovery software and got it all back – brilliant.
Happy belated WOYWW,
Shoshi x #12
Loving your ICAD – I have just made the plunge to join in again this year (better late than never!). Good luck with the sorting process – the in between stage is horrid, but I know you will get there in the end! Happy Belated WOYWW. Take care and stay safe. With love & God Bless, Caro xxx (#23)
Very impressed with that ICAD! Love all the different elements and the colour scheme. My next set of 9 or so is coming soon…
Good luck with the sorting process.
Happy WOYWW!
Susan #20
Lovely wool bucket, I am still thinking of a wardrobe full of cats 🙂
I love your ICADs and the theme you have, such a clever idea. Angela #9
I did have a good chuckle when you said about the wardrobe being full of cats. It’s painted quite a picture in my mind. Fabulous idea to put the shelves in their.
We did the same some years ago with all our business files, rather than have them on shelves on the wall. It made the space much more pleasant to work in.
Have a lovely crafty week
Lynn 14
Well done for managing to keep up with ICAD despite allthe tidying and reaaranging Elle. You are ver closer to finishing the task. Love the yarn bucket! Stay safe and happy WOYWW. Sarah #4