In the Midst Of Run Amuck, Beached, Stranded by the tide......

There is a saying that is particularly pertinent to my plight that I think many of you may be able to relate too! It is said that when one is really cleaning and reorganizing (hate that word) "It always gets much worse before it gets better." Do you know this phrase??? Then you know exactly where I'm at!!!

I have decided to post some pictures in a last ditch attempt to get myself to focus on the situation that I have very successfully managed to avoid. Before Christmas there was the obvious, and very handy excuse. I had to finish gifts, Deal with the mess later. I have been trying very hard to work on it a little bit at a time giving myself a very small space where I can take a break and work on some journal pages or some such little project. This was all well and good and I actually got some things done but I found that I was spending too much time on the little projects and pretending that the Gnomes had arrived to rescue me from my mountain of mess. So by posting pictures of it at it's worst, I will feel obligated to get it done so I can post pictures of it all better!!!!

So here itis! There are a total of five (5) flat surfaces that are supposed to be clear for use as work surfaces. Don't see ANY, do you??? I am so very lucky to have such a wonderful space but I think that I almost have too much space- I can keep spreading! Not anymore- I am actually getting rid of stuff!! I heard that collective intake of breath as you all said "Oh NO"!! But I have got to do this!!! I feel guilty having so much space and taking such horrid care of it!!!!

So now I will share some of my progress.

My fabrics are all sorted by color- the bins are a bit small but we will rectify that soon. The fabric is on the opposite end of the room from the sewing center but as soon as I can clear a path and a space, the fabrics will move down to the sewing area.

Here I have gone thru all of my tubs and actually labeled the clear boxes with the contents. In the past I had thought that clear boxes alone would solve the problem- you can see what is in there- Not So Much!! So Now I have labeled the boxes!! This is huge for me!!

This remains!! I made alot of progress today, sorting through boxes of bits and pieces but nothing that will show in a picture.

Here are the journal page backgrounds that I also worked on during my Mess Breaks.

You see, when one cleans up, one finds cool stuff!! I added some color washes to some Gesso resist pages that I unearthed and I used some not so successful fabric-paper as a background on another page. These will all have lot's more added to them but they are ready to go when the Art Journal bug bites. (BTW have you seen the New Art Journaling Mag by Stampington??? Awesome!!! ) Check out the great articles by Julie Prichard of Lost Luggage fame and Ingrid Dijkers piece on page embellisments!! These gals are so terrific and I am thrilled to be able to call them art pals!!

I have also been working on a beaded bracelet cuff and here is a picture of it in progress.

If anyone has a stash of old metal toothed zippers that they don't know what to do with, I would love to do a trade!! (There could be a small muse bird in it!!!)

Just so you all know that I can NEVER do anything completely by myself- here is proof!! (The dogs even try to follow me into the bathroom!! i thought that I could getaway with at least doing that by myself once the kids grew up!!! NOT!!!!!!)

I did manage to get the bead box on my lap Closed before DISASTER ( I mean Pepper) climbed up!! Buddy was less than amuzed!!!

Enough fooling around, back to the task at hand!!