My thoughts on Organizing...

My brain works in very mysterious ways, even to me.
I definitely like to get lost in a very creative mess when I am in an artistic mode, which is very often a daily event. But clutter gets me jittery, so I am also constantly cleaning up. I love to organize! It's actually fun for me. (I know, I am a total nerd). The New Year always brings me a sense of order- I want everything clean, organized, and totally functional.

I got this idea from Clover Lane (who incidentally has a great post today).
Mike and I walked through our house, room by room, and pretended we were potential buyers. What needs to be done to make it market-worthy? No, we aren't really selling it right now, but we wrote everything teeny-tiny thing that could be fixed, repaired, or improved. We wrote a list, and on one side are things we can do now, the other side are things that need to be bought or hired out. We will do the things we have list first, and then start on the other. So we have been working on things and really seeing big improvements. Feels good!

My closet was a half-day project! Here it is right before Christmas....

After:
I used some Christmas money to purchase all the white organizational boxes from Ikea. I can't tell you how good it feels to walk in my closet now. It's a tiny closet anyway, so there's not room for a whole lot. But when there is a place for things it sure makes cleaning up and filing documents and photos so much easier!

When I purge and organize I feel so much more calm.
That is a neccessity when you are running a house full of noise and chaos!:)While the littles are napping, I'm off to paint our family room with a nice fresh coat of paint.

...and then hopefully tonite, I'll be back to creating some sort of messy art fun!

Have a good Wednesday friends!

xo

Chrissie

I did it! (insert happy dance...)

After I finished the quilt top and found out that it wasn't in my budget to have someone quilt and bind it for me I thought I would never finish it. But a few weeks ago I found out that my local sewing shop has a 10 foot quilting machine. I took a class to get certified to use it, and then went back in and quilted it. It's $15 an hour to rent it, and this particular quilt only took me an hour and a half to quilt!

For the machine embroidery I chose to just go free form (meandering) on it, so I could get used to working the machine. I'm pleased with how it turned out...although next time I will try to get it a little smaller and tighter.

I was really worried about the binding, but I followed a combination of this tutorial and this one, and it wasn't hard. I actually enjoyed the hand binding at the end. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would.

So, I am officially addicted to the whole process. I have three or four quilts that I really want to try, but I am going to be good and finish all my kids first. You know I will show you as I finish them!:)

My first art for 2010...a toilet.

Yes, my first art piece made for 2010 is a painting with an embroidered toilet.
Ahem.

Q. Why did Tigger look in the toilet?

A. He was looking for Pooh.

This is what happens when you have a lot of little boys in your house that pee standing up.
You actually make art to hang in the bathroom that reminds them to "be considerate" of others who may want to sit.

Remember when I showed you pictures of our re-done bathroom? This higher-end art piece has been added...:)

I had forgotten how much I love embroidery. Anyone up for a "Make Some Art Monday" with an embroidery theme?

365

Looks like I'm not the only one doing this... :)
Head over here if you want to see my new photo blog.
One picture a day for 365 days. I'm excited to learn a lot of new things and journal my day-to-day with photos.
The set up is a little too simple for me right now but I'll be working on that too!:)
(...and now I can cross off #11!)

Happy Weekend Friends...
I'll be back Monday with my first art project of the new year!

Happy New Year 2010!!!

Happy happy New Year 2010! I hope everyone had a nice celebration. We had a nice quiet evening with steak and potato skins from this cookbook, some dinky fireworks that the kids loved, and a bedtime promptly after midnight. Not very exciting but still nice...:)
You know I'm a sucker for lists and resolutions. I actually do them all year long but love the fresh clean slate of a New Year. I'm still sticking with my 35 before 35 list, but I'm also trying this challenge too:
How does it work? On January first (or soon after) you will decide on what change you want to make for that month and blog about it. For the entire month you will be conscious of this decision and follow through with what you decided on. Then on Feb. 1 you will write another blog post explaining how the month went with your new green change and also write about what you will change for that month. You will do the same on March 1st and April 1st, then will have one final post on April 22nd listing all the changes you made and the differences it made in your life.

For the month of January I am actually going to implement two changes. The first one is to bring in some more plants to our home. When we put away the Christmas decorations I planted these paper whites and Ava helped me decorate them with some burlap scraps. We used stamps and a recycled envelope to create the inspirational messages.

I'll be sure to show pictures February 1st of a few more plants we bring in.

The other green goal I have for the month is to replace my monthly pads by making cloth ones. I'll be sure to fill you in on that one too!:) (tmi?)

Maybe you'll consider joining in this challenge? These tiny changes can add up to an awful lot!

Have a wonderful weekend! I am going to soak in every last minute of everyone being home before work and school start again on Monday. (that'll be nice too...a quiet house for the first time in weeks!)

2009 in Review

A look back at my creative endeavors...

Another borrowed idea from the wonderful Sara Mincy...a 2009 review in pictures. (Go here to see hers!) It sure was fun going through my blog and finding my favorites for each month. Wow, I made a lot of art this year!

I love seeing the evolution of a lot of it...Some trends I noticed~

• a lot more fabric art! Quilts, altered fabric art, a lot of embellishing on clothes. This of course was brought on by the creating of the new book. However, I am looking forward to learning a lot more about fabric art the coming year
• my mosaic style has evolved a lot this year. I was so burnt out on them that I didn't do a lot, but the ones that I did do I am very happy with. I hope to do some large items again in 2010
• a lot of my creative time was spent on items for our home. I hope to double that this year
• I sure made a lot of posies!:)
• Although I sold over 100 items this year in my etsy shop, I still haven't found a "selling niche". I would surely love to, although I am starting to question whether or not I am meant to be doing that.
• Even though my style may seem very colorful and eclectic still, I have noticed a large simplification in my style
• I am still an amateaur photographer...:( I am DETERMINED to change that this year.

I had so much fun this year creatively. I question myself constantly...but it always comes down to the fact that I am an artist at heart. I create with passion and love. It is inherently who I am. I know that God has given me this gift. I am not quite sure what He wants me to do with it, so I am just continuing to create until He tells me. I am so excited to see where 2010 will bring me and I am excited to keep blogging about my journey. Thank you again for sticking with me and I will see you in the New Year!!! Happy 2010 Friends!:)

I'm back!

Hi! Do you still remember me?:) I hope everyone had a joyful Christmas! We took a small family vacation and had a wonderful time! Although it was such a relaxing and fun break, I am looking forward to getting back to "normal".
Here is the finished mosaic mirror that went home with this one. I'm really pleased with the results and relieved to have such a large project completed! I'm hoping at some point that I can go over to their home and get some really nice photos of both pieces for my portfolio.

I'll be back soon with my 2009 in review...

Glad to be back!!:) I can't wait to catch up on all your blogs!