Parkinson’s Law revised

Parkinson’s law says “work expands to fit the time available” but I’d like to revise that to say “stash expands to fit the space available”! Honestly, I don’t know where all my craft supplies have been hiding, but I’ve never seen so much “stuff” in all my life. No wonder I lost my mojo… everything was crammed so tight that I didn’t even know what I had, much less where it was! Moving to the new studio has been an eye-opening (and eye-watering) experience. I feel really excited again, BUT friends, please listen: DO NOT let me buy another sheet of paper, another stamp, another pot of paint, or anything else from a craft shop for at least five years. Seriously, I have more supplies that I can probably use in my lifetime.

Well, here we go with some photos of the new studio (I’m calling it “studio” instead of “cabin” now). First is my sweet husband assembling the new Ikea Expedit shelves, with the help of his faithful companion.

So I now have two Expedit 4x4 shelves, one Expedit 4x2 shelf, an Ikea trolley, and two (old) worktables, not to mention all the plastic drawers I already had. For the Ikea Expedit shelves I bought five drawers and five slide in boxes. This is the way the studio looked as I just dumped things in.

 

And there’s still LOTS more in the house left to bring out. Never mind…. I did at least have enough to play with, since I was really chomping at the bit to get started. I had a chipboard chest that I knew I could use, so I covered it with some patterned  paper. I used Simple Stories “Summertime” and a sheet from “Portobello” (can’t remember who makes that). I think it turned out pretty cute.

So poor hubby is now building steps up to the decking for the cabin. It’s supposed to rain this afternoon, so he’ll build some shelves maybe, when he has to go inside. Really, he’s been wonderful about doing all the hard labour. I just can’t wait to get things DONE! I’ve found some red gingham curtains and red lampshades for my little studio, too.

Woo hoo…. I’m having fun now!

Finally ready for moving day….

Yes, it’s finally here. Now if we can just find the TIME to cart everything from the old (indoor) craft room to the new one… and do I call it a “craft cabin”, “craft cottage”, “craft studio”, or (on impulse) the “crafthaus”? We painted it early this week and thank goodness the weather has cooperated. It’s been dry and sunny, with just slightly warmer weather.

There is still a lot of work to do. I want some hanging baskets, container plants on the decking, landscaping around it, curtains inside, etc. The window and door trim was supposed to be a sort of russet/cedar/reddish colour but it looks brown with a little red. At this stage, however, I’m not too bothered. I just want to get IN it! The furniture from Ikea is coming next week, but in the meantime I want to get everything in it and sorted, ready to put away when the new stuff arrives. Overall, I’m a happy bunny!

Our kitchen also is almost done. We still have to get the walls tiled and painted, but overall we’re very happy with it. The only glitch was that our clothes dryer wouldn’t fit in the space provided, due to the tiling and the anti-cracking mat under the tiles. It’s not ideal, but we’re going to put the dryer in the garage for now and we’ve ordered another cabinet to put in the space. I’m not sure why two people should need so much storage space but we certainly do. It’s very sad, isn’t it???

This is one of my favourite additions… a slide-out pantry. Then next to it we have a traditional one. I’m not sure if it’s properly called a “larder” in the UK, but we would say “pantry” in the  U.S.

and fridge/freezer

It’s just so nice to be able to cook in the kitchen again! I never thought I’d ever get tired of eating out, but eventually (after nearly three weeks of it!) we did. On the few occasions we tried to cook at home in the microwave, we had to wash dishes in the bathtub! Not ideal!

So next week, we’re getting all the windows and doors replaced, and I hope also the kitchen tiled and painted. Then my stress level should return to normal. I’ve come to believe that if a couple can get through a remodelling without killing each other or getting a divorce, they can get through about anything. My poor husband must be a saint for putting up with me.

So then, perhaps soon I actually get back to blogging about crafting. I sure hope so as the creative urge is driving me up the wall.

Oh, the wait is killing me!!

Yes, I haven’t been able to start on the inside of the craft cabin yet. Our kitchen is nearly finished, to the point we have been putting our kitchen goods and food away all weekend. We don’t have as much extra storage as we thought we would, but it still looks good. The tiler has finished and now we are expecting the kitchen company to return tomorrow to put in the plinths and the stove, the builder to put in the skirting boards, and then we have to decide on wall tiles. The tile man suggests we wait until the window company replaces the large kitchen window before we do the wall tiles, so the kitchen won’t be COMPLETELY finished for awhile.

Now the cabin, which I shall refer to from hereon as “the studio”, is going to be painted tomorrow…. barring any unforeseen disasters like rain. I’m sooooooo ready to start moving my stash in and “nesting”. I’ve ordered two Expedit shelves from Ikea, along with a few more goodies, like the Ikea trolley below for all my tools:

(this one belongs to designer Heidi Swapp) so when that arrives (next week), work will begin in earnest. Saturday my two friends, Andrea and Diane, got to see it in its naked glory. Just wait, friends, and it will be truly a thing of beauty. Probably not until the end of October, however. I still have a lot to do, like curtains for one thing. I’ve been saving photos of other craft rooms on the Internet for inspiration, mostly from Pinterest and Houzz. Here’s my current favourite:

Unfortunately, I have no idea where this picture originated so if it’s yours, Dear Reader, please let me know.

Saturday I drove from here in the Kent hinterlands into London for the “Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show” at Alexandra Palace, with my friends Andrea and Diane (mentioned previously). We met up with another friend, Margaret, who had come on the train. We also had a quick word with our friend, Barbara, who was demonstrating for a craft company, and I got to see a good friend, Glen (AKA “Art Angel” on UK Scrappers), who is always so nice and friendly. I hadn’t been in a couple years so I really enjoyed it, despite all the complaints I heard. I spent plenty (three figures!) and got a couple of bargains. Mostly it was standard prices, but I love seeing everything first hand. It beats ordering online!

So, it’s all happening now…… watch this space, please. Thanks for stopping by.

It’s Here….

My new craft cabin is finally here. I still have to paint it with a preservative paint, build some steps for the decking, bury the electric cable, and build a path through the garden, but it’s up and it’s fab!!!

It was not without pain, however (see the story below). The cabin arrived on Wednesday, delivered by two young men who set about erecting it.

The dimensions are 5 metres by 4 metres, a pretty good size! The two men worked (loosely) all day until about 5pm. When they left, they said “See you tomorrow.”  Well, tomorrow came and no one showed up. After a few desperate phone calls to the cabin company, a couple of new guys showed up about mid-day. The story was that the original two had both called in sick. Hmmm. Unlikely, I thought, but by the end of the day we had SIX guys working on it. They left about 6pm and said they’d be back early the next day. This was supposed to be a two-day job, but I thought they’d surely finish it by the next morning. That was Thursday.

Friday morning came and again, no one appeared. Finally the electrician showed up and said he didn’t know where everyone was but that he’d carry on as he had experience building the cabins as well as the electrics. Loads of excuses and apologies from the company, but it didn’t help us and it didn’t help poor Andy! The poor guy worked from about 9:30am to 7:30pm, totally alone and in the rain. Bless him…. he finished most of it and left it at least watertight for the weekend.

Andy, the electrician, on the roof!

Then Monday, same story, same song. Only Andy until about 4pm when one other person came, soon followed by another. Finally, about 7pm, it was done. Here’s the final cabin (still to be painted, etc. of course):

Of course we have to wait for three days of no rain to let it dry out before we can paint ………. not sure when THAT will happen, however. This IS England in the Autumn, after all!

Now I have to move all my craft room out there, order some new shelves, make curtains, and then I can play! I’ll take some photos of the interior when I get all that done.

Coming my way.....

Exciting news.... although our plan for the extension has evaporated, thanks to a builder who left us in the lurch, we still have a plan to gain more room. Most especially to move my craft supplies out of the spare bedroom into its own little "home" --- ta da.....

This is what my new craft cabin will look like when it's delivered in about six weeks. It's 4m x 5m in size, with insulated roof and floor, laminated floor, double-glazing, combo air conditioner-heater, fully electric, and a 1m veranda the width of the building. Now this may look a bit plain, but I have plans for painting and landscaping. I've been combing the Internet to find some inspiration and have come up with LOTS. Just take a look at these:

To say I'm excited is an understatement. Maybe "obsessed" is even a fair statement: I've been looking at furniture (cabinets, shelves, islands, desks, etc.) for days, playing around with a name for my new playhouse, thinking up ideas for decorating, and more.

As for actual crafting.... well, lately I've not done a lot. I have lots of photos from a recent US holiday to see grandchildren, a holiday here in the UK, and lots more. I need to scrapbook as it's been ages since I've done any. Cards are so much easier and quicker to do, but I've got a new empty scrapbook album and some empty pages in other nearly-full albums. I'd also like to find some ideas for making some nice wall art for my new cabin. I've got several blank canvases, mostly smallish sizes.

All I can say right now is "watch this space"!

She's baaaaack. . . .

Yessiree, she is indeed back. I’m feeling my mojo returning. I just hope it’s back to stay. Just when I think I’m ready to call it quits on crafting and sell up, the urge hits again. 

First of all, it’s Wednesday. That means the What’s On Your Work Desk Wednesday, or WOYWW. I used to use Google Reader to keep up with all the WOYWW posts but that little gadget is no longer available. If anyone reading this has some advice about what to use instead, PLEASE let me know!!! Anyway, here’s my Wednesday Workdesk:

As you can see, I’ve actually been working!!!!! I made a birthday card for a friend:

The card isn’t wonky, but the photo is! Anyway, this is a “card lift” from the July issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine. The stamp was free with the magazine and the card I used was originally designed by Caroline Knott. Hers must be an 8x8” as I couldn’t get everything to fit – she had two patterned papers and . She had some beautiful designs in this issue and I highly recommend them! For the large scallops and circles I used Spellbinders Nestabilities dies. For the sentiment, I used my Stampin’ Up punches. The patterned paper is an older one (can’t remember the name) and the solid cardstock is Stampin’ Up. To color the image I used my ProMarkers. The Promarker colors actually are identical to those in the paper, but don’t look like it in the photo.

Now a word about cards. I recently purchased a huge supply of card blanks with envelopes. The manufacturer is Craft UK Limited.I bought white and cream, 6x6” and 8x8”. Well, WARNING… the sizes are very much OFF the sizes as sold. The 6x6” are just 5.75” if that! Now that little quarter-inch may not seem like much until you are trying to measure and cut your paper for layers before adhering it to the card. As you can imagine, there was a bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth when I realized (using American spelling here, folks, as I’m in a hurry to get this done) I’d have to re-cut everything!

A quick word about craftrooms. I’ve been working on getting a new craftroom for some time. We even had an architect and got planning permission and a bank loan for a large extension on our house and a couple of other projects, then as we were about to start, the builder suddenly decided he couldn’t do it until next year. To say we were gutted is an understatement. We got a couple more quotes but they were much, much higher so we’re now down to a garden studio for about 1/4 the price, even completely kitted out with electricity, floors, insulation, heating and airconditioner, etc. I found a couple of ideas on the Internet. I dream big:

Actually the one I think I want is much larger than this (about 16 x 10 ft) and has bigger windows, but this is the general idea. And…. drum roll…. it won’t need planning permission, either. What do you think?

How the time flies….

Yes, how the time flies when we’re having fun! Except I can’t say I’ve been having much fun. Most days I stay so busy I feel like a puppy chasing its tail…. do you know the feeling?

Crafting has definitely taken a back seat lately. Between all my duties with the local Women’s Institute, keeping up with the housework, and just every now and then reading a craft magazine or playing around with some cardmaking (usually project that ends up in the trash), I can’t seem to find time to sit down and do any REAL crafting. We’ve had the planning approved on an extension, so I’m just a bit closer to remodeling my craft room, but the wheels of progress (and the architect we’re using) seem mired in molasses!

Here are a couple of scrapbook pages I’ve done … sort of recently:

This is my soon-to-be-one year old grandson, Cameron. He literally fell asleep eating! What a face, though!!! The next one is of all four grandchildren. My son’s two (the older ones in the back) and my daughter’s two (the little ones in the front). Have to admit I’m a very proud grandma. They’re all just lovely, live in Texas, and I’ll be seeing them in two weeks. Can’t wait!!!

For this one (above) I used the Simple Stories collection kit titled “Summer Fresh”. I love the bright colors.

The card below is a little one I tried as an experiment. It’s a Papermania stamp I bought on a whim just because I loved it. I used ProMarkers to color them. The card is 6x6, my new favorite size.

Arrrgghh, my spell checker is driving me crazy. It can’t decide if I should use UK or US spelling, so for this post, I’m using US spelling. Next one I’ll use UK spelling, maybe. I always was the best speller in my school but it’s been all ruined now as I have to flip back and forth between the two systems and I’m constantly having to stop and choose (or wonder) which is which! So sorry!

Anyway, I know it’s been much too long since I posted anything, but hope to keep it more up-to-date in the future. Thanks for visiting my blog.