Sunday-11am

25 degrees right now and we had another dusting of snow.

What a dark day, eh? Looks like dusk at 11am.

Karma checking things out like she does most mornings.

Well, I didn't make it over to Dagan and Leah's--my body's fault this time. We are going to see how today goes. She needed to borrow Crisco from me, so she hasn't made the turkey pot pies yet--hehe!

Since I was home and not feeling too hot, I watched the first DVD of The Tudors. I saw the first three episodes of season one--very good!

This superb and visually lush Showtime series provides a look at the world of the Tudors in the days when King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) was a handsome, charming, athletic 25-year-old. Inheriting absolute power at a young age, the king indulges his voracious taste for ladies-in-waiting, hangs out with his entourage of young nobles and makes momentous political decisions. The stellar cast includes Jeremy Northam and Sam Neill.

Well, we'll see how today goes. I hate to say anything in case I jinx myself--hehe! Have a good one!

Saturday-10:30am

Yesterday the replacement ArtBin satchel from Cheap Joe's arrived! All this packing material protected it quite well--hehe!

It arrived in pristine condition and Karma is very happy with her present, too!

I guess I forgot to mention that, other than Dagan and Leah, I have no family up here in the Fargo/Moorhead area. The closest are about 250 miles away in Minneapolis. It's not like I could pop on over for a few hours--ROFL!!

Well, let's see---yesterday I did watch the new Indiana Jones movie. The plot and many of the stunts were completely beyond merely stretching the imagination, but it was still nice to see Harrison being Indy after all these years. He pulled it off. It was just poorly written.

I watched the video on my new Logan mat cutter (301-S). I'm wondering how well the cutter will work on paper vs. mat board? I would think I could just not press as hard or that I could put something under the paper--like cardboard--as a padding? Maybe it will work just fine on regular paper? I guess I'll find out, eh?

That was actually the other big reason I wanted to do a trial sketchbook. The first being to test out the paste paper and the second--I have to figure out how to use the mat cutter for the first time. It's about time, eh? Chuckle! I think I am going to be so glad to finally have something to be able to cut larger paper--nice clean, smooth cuts. I have always had to use a yardstick, pencil, and a pair of scissors--one sheet at a time--which was fine for all those years before I hurt my arm, of course. :)

Anyways, later today the plan is for me to go over to Dagan and Leah's for homemade turkey pot pies--and good company! So I probably won't get to the mat cutter until Sunday or Monday. I'll make a video about the various cutters. Or I should say I plan to make a video. I have lost a couple of them somehow--somewhere--between taping them and getting them into the computer--ROFL!! I'll try--hehe! :):)

Friday-10:15am

Karma and I watched a lot of TV yesterday. Miracle on 34th Street was even on in the afternoon!

[Note: To those of you who are new to my blog--I absolutely LOVE the holidays!! From Thanksgiving till New Year's I can lean toward sappiness and exuberant happiness--hehe! You have been forewarned.]

Yesterday I made a chicken and rice bake--so the apartment actually smelled like poultry--hehe! Karma and I had our usual quiet, lazy Thanksgiving. :)

Dagan and Leah trade off Thanksgivings and Christmases between Leah's mother & family and Dagan's father & family. Lest you misunderstand--I do LOVE and thoroughly enjoy my private holidays. I get to see Dagan and Leah all year round, so I'm okay with my peaceful, solitary holidays. I spent years rushing about on the holidays like everybody else, of course. I don't really miss that, to be honest. I get to see or communicate with all the people I love during the entire year. The people I miss seeing, I'd rather visit in nice weather--ROFL!!

Let's face it--I am always happily floating along on my own holiday joy cloud--hehe! Not physically being with the people I love on those particular days doesn't matter a whit to me. I know I am loved. Took me many years to believe that down to my core, but I know I am loved. :) I am more than happy to relieve some of the holiday stress for Dagan and Leah.

This year I am going over to Dagan and Leah's for our own Thanksgiving dinner--tomorrow! tada! I think Leah is making homemade pot pies from leftovers? Yummy! And we usually have our own Christmas dinner at some other point in time, too.

Anyways, Karma and I had a nice Thanksgiving. It was a bright day and a balmy 35degrees! Somebody was moving into the building on Thanksgiving, as you can see. At least it was a nice day for it.

I did dig around yesterday for paper to use on the trial sketchbook I am working on. Finally found some. (Told you I needed to get more organized--hehe!) Oh, BTW--you can click on my YouTube link up in the upper left-hand corner of the blog now. Under "My Other Web Spots" I added "SoulComfort's Video Corner" to the link list. I have five videos now! I'll keep adding more as I work on projects like this. :)

Anyways, I found some paper, but I need to make too long of a cut for it to fit in my new Dahle cutter. So--it is finally time for me to watch the video and learn how to use the new Logan mat cutter--TaDa!!! I knew that when I got back to bookbinding I would be soooo glad I have it!! (Thanks, Leah!!)

These sheets were loose and all the same size. I can't tell if they are really cheap watercolor paper or heavier drawing paper--chuckle! Doesn't matter. They will work just fine for the trial sketchbook.

So--today--I am going to watch the video on how to use the mat cutter. I am supposed to have Netflix movies coming in the mail today. Good thing! I was so sore last night--up and down--that I took a pain pill in the middle of the night. Another reason to eventually be more organized, eh? Less searching and hunting for my body to do--ROFL!! You really would think I was 90 years old instead of only 57--hehe!

Have a great day!!

Thursday-8:45am

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What a wonderful holiday! People coming together and focusing on gratitude!!

The sun is coming up and the sky is mostly blue and clear this morning--even tho they predicted clouds. If we could remain grateful and peaceful--despite predictions--ahhh! What a world we could create!

I got this in an email from Go Gratitude this morning:

In deep appreciation for All that IS,we offer this prayer from our great-full hearts to YOU;Today, and every day ...May you be filled with Light, Love and Gratitude!
May your brilliance be reflected in the eyes of all you meet.May the blessings of Life be felt in thought, word and deed.
May you drink deeply from Wisdom's cup.May you see the gift in every challenge, the sacred in every step.
May laughter roll your belly as you delight in Creation's mystery.May you breathe freely, Love deeply, rejoice wildly and createpassionately.
May you be at peace, whether your bowl be empty or full.May the Light of Love shine brightly upon your soul.
May you listen deeply within, faithfully heeding the guidance of Spirit.May you wake to dream each day, remembering NOW is all there IS.
May you feel the energy of co-creation flowing through each hand.May you remember to honor and give thanks for our Motherland!
May you experience the bliss of a well-lived day ...Forgiving ignorance; releasing regret, guilt or shame.
May you be sovereign, and to thine own Self be true.May you remember each person make a difference ...... and that person is YOU!
Many blessings always and all ways ...
Ukehi Shiiji (Thank you for being our heart)
Stacey Robynand the ground crew of Go Gratitude!

May the Motherland Earth provide you with food on your table today. May you be surrounded with the company of your loved ones--be they present, far away, or safe in your memories. This is a day to count your personal blessings--and the blessings we all share.

Have a wonderful day!!! :):)

Wednesday-9am

OMGoodness! I am on YouTube!! Do you believe it??!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/soulcomfort1

Ann was my motivation for trying to learn how to make videos. I wanted her to be able to pick which paste paper she wants me to use for the rice paper sketchbook for her friend. Ann sent me a whole stack of paper she had played with to use for whatever I wanted--cards, etc. Since I am making her a sketchbook--perfect! The cover paper can be actually made by Ann herself and that makes it so much more personal. :):)

I am just thrilled that I figured out how to find the video on the dial and was able to turn the camera on. (The instructions for the camera are someplace in Dagan and Leah's storage area--hehe!) Two videos that I thought I had made--well, the camera wasn't even on, I guess--ROFL!! Nothing there at all--hehe! So now I turn it on and make sure it says "rec" in red and then I go sit down.

I made more--but it took 13 hours to upload just the four of them. I left it uploading and went to bed. It just finished--tada! I don't remember what else is in the camera (either one or two more), but I'll work on uploading a little more today.

Anyways--20 degrees and the sun is trying to peek out this morning. Wow! I can't get over it--just keep laughing--a new online world has just opened up to me, eh? How exciting! Well, maybe not for you--ROFL!! I do hope they're okay? Now you can actually see what I am doing once in a while--here by myself up in Fargo, North Dakota--hehe!! What a hoot!!!

Tuesday-9am

Karma sometimes keeps me company in the morning while I read emails.

Yesterday my big project was washing clothes--hehe! :)

No plans for company this week. Leah will come the following week for crafts--to start making her Christmas cards. I told her not to worry about trying to make it over tomorrow. This is the very busiest time of the year for her with work because people can switch their prescription drug companies from mid-November until the end of December. She's always trying to squeeze the holidays into her schedule--well, anything into her schedule--hehe!

So, I can start on my next project. :) How quickly I can lose a week, eh? Or two! ROFL! People who "knew me when" would be amazed at how different I am now from my former self -- hehe! I used to be able to get so much done--get lost in time working on projects or writing--thrived on multi-tasking and juggling my time. Now--most of my work is done internally--hehe! The brain is still fairly busy, anyways. ROFL!!

25 degrees and cloudy--again. Nothing has changed much the past few days with the weather. The staying-for-the-winter snow has still missed us here. Thanksgiving on Thursday. What's not to love about a holiday that is based on gratitude and family!! Have a good one!

Monday-6:45am

Figures--this time it was because of me that Leah and I didn't do any shopping. This is how our lives go--chuckle! But they made it over for Sacred Circle!! :):)

First we did the talking piece. Pick any object to pass around the circle and each person gets to talk uninterrupted about what has been happening on their path since you last met. I grabbed the little crystal ball this time.

We write down on small pieces of paper (so we don't set off the fire alarm--hehe!) the things we want to send off to God/The Universe/our angels & guides/whatever each person's beliefs. We write down things we want to release, what we want to bring into our lives, things we need help with, and what we are thankful for.

As you can see--we are out of practice and were a bit too silly last night--hehe!

Anyways, we like to turn the lights down while we do the burning bowl ceremony. Each of us looks at what we wrote on the paper, thinks about it for a bit, and then burns the paper. We take turns and go around the circle until everybody is done. Here's Leah burning one of hers.

And here's Dagan being silly at the end and burning a whole little sheet! Naughty! Naughty! (It was dramatic in the dark, I have to admit--chuckle! And he didn't set off the fire detector--hehe!)

Then we did the Soul Coaching cards and the Angelic Messenger Cards (single cards). Here's Dagan reading about Leah's card to her. We just take turns and go around the circle.

As you can see--when I say we had a good time--there is a lot of laughing to be had. We did have a good time--but we are sadly out of practice with the grounding and centering. Things just not working and feeling like they usually do. I looked it up this morning and we haven't gotten together for Sacred Circle since last February! We agreed that we should start trying to get together once a month again.

Anyways, they also helped me with some computer problems--we both sent money via PayPal to a Costa Rica missionary to sponsor two children for Christmas--Leah fixed the loose base on the plant hanger in the bedroom--and they were gone early--before 7pm. :):)

I'm glad to be on days again. I've been doing better and better on the IBS with the new pills. Very slowly--but I am patient. I have hopes of being able to actually leave the house more often. Being able to go for walks, sign up for stamp classes, go to the library--to be able to make plans. The things I used to take for granted, eh? Even if I can't go out more than once every few days, I'd be thrilled to be able to go someplace once a week. I'll take the additional pain! :):) And I have a new dream/goal of maybe even making a trip down to Minneapolis and over to Wisconsin next year! ??? Everyone needs to dream, right? :):) Think positive!!

Have a happy Monday and a good start to the new week!

Sunday-10am

If at first you don't succeed... :)

Yesterday poor Leah was trying to figure out how to work our trip to JoAnn's in--would have been a rushed trip late in the evening. I told her to just forget it and relax and enjoy herself. Our coupon wasn't going to save us that much money. We were only buying a bunch of smaller ticket items. Good grief! I probably won't get to working on the bag until January anyways. No big deal. I didn't want her to feel she had to buzz around trying to keep everybody happy on her weekend off from her second job.

We do love to shop together--but when we actually have time and can relax, you know? :) My body has messed up our plans so many more times than Leah ever has--hehe! So--we're playing it by ear. She and Dagan were coming over later today after the Viking's game for a Sacred Circle--tada! Leah is going to call me when she is up and about. It is possible we might go do a little shopping during the Viking's game today. We'll see.

I told her what I need sooner than the materials for the bag (now that the sale is not an issue) is to stop and buy some of that cheap, fake grass carpeting for Karma's cat box. That I would probably need help carrying. And I still have my $50 coupon from Caroline for Bed, Bath and Beyond that she gave me for my laptop. I haven't even gone over there yet. (I kind of held off to make sure the laptop was still working for Caroline.) Plus--Leah and I both love shopping at BB&B!!

I used to have remnants from the porch carpeting that I used in the bottom of the catbox. But they do get pretty gross after while and I have to throw them out. Having the carpeting helps to catch some of the kitty litter on Karma's feet as she exits the box, as you can see.

So, as long as we missed the sale--I'd rather go to buy carpeting for sure on our next shopping trip. :) And I don't want Leah to push herself if she's all worn out, either! She works long hours on her job during the week and then is on call every other weekend on her second job. I recognize that buzzy, rushed, scrambling sound you get in your voice! My life used to be like that. I'll just be glad to see Dagan and Leah for Sacred Circle later on today. Been many, many months! It's a time for us to pause and connect on a different level, too. Very grounding.

[Note: For those of you who are new to my blog, you can see the types of things we do at Sacred Circle if you go back to New Years Day entries--angel cards, burning bowl, etc. I always try to do my own private spiritual connecting thing on New Year's Eve. A good time to kind of recharge all my crystals and paraphernalia, too--hehe! That way they at least get dusted and cleaned once a year--ROFL! I always look forward to New Year's Eve!!]

Anyways, I hope they make it over for Sacred Circle. That is much more important to me than shopping--any day! Cross your fingers! :):)

Saturday-7:45am

Tentative plans, right? Leah was way too busy at work yesterday to make it over. So we are going this afternoon instead. She's not on call for her second job this weekend, so we should be able to make it and not be as rushed. :)

My knees were really hurtin' yesterday, anyways. Miss Karma had barfed in several places on the carpeting the night before (??), so I was down on my knees cleaning and scrubbing carpet right away in the morning. My arthritic knees protested wildly--as they usually do to such treatment--so I spent yesterday with my feet up most of the day. Much better this morning. :)

No idea why Karma had a bad stomach last night. She hasn't done that for a long, long time--maybe a year and a half. Who knows?

She's been relishing her empty box the last few days.

She was out like a light, as usual, in her chair yesterday.

Last night she hid in the hallway to leap out and scare me when I came back from the kitchen or the bathroom--and she's sitting looking out the window right now (Cat TV). Acting perfectly normal--hehe! Seems fine to me. :)

Yesterday I got an email from JetPens.com that they have a MySpace and a Flickr site now--and if you posted pictures you might win a little gift certificate. So, I gathered all my Jet Pens in one of Leah's pretty pots...

...and took a couple of pictures. I do have some other craft pens from them, too, but I forgot them. Oh well--I can always post more pictures--hehe!

I love
http://www.jetpens.com/

They carry so many types of pens, have really fast service, and if your order is over $25.00 you get free shipping! They have the Lamy Safaris (and some Noodler's inks now!), Pentel Pocket Brushes, several types of craft pens, and all the latest pens out of Japan. I am a big fan! So I am posting these pictures in their new Flickr account. :)

It has been really cold up here! Deep freeze cold! Supposed to get up to 30 degrees today, tho. If Leah can't come today, I will have to go over to JoAnn's on my own. Last day of the sale. Not a big deal--just so much more fun to go with Leah, of course. :):)

I have slept my way slowly around the clock and am actually back on days--TaDa!!!! Hope I can stay on days again now for a while. :) Have a good weekend! I am off to post my pen pictures...

Friday-7am

Caroline came bearing gifts yesterday!! Well, borrowed gifts--hehe! All three of these bags are filled with books! A lot of female mystery writers. Isn't she just the nicest girl? She was delighted that I had gotten a comment on my blog from Leann Sweeney! Said she's missing one book and she'll try and find it for me. Caroline's dad sells used books or something, so he searches for whatever Caroline is looking for, too.

Okay--I thought I'd show you the red bag--a duplicating project that may or may not be doable--hehe!

Leah and I have the same bags. We really like these shoulder bags. The pocket built into each side holds a bottle (or phone or camera--whatever) very securely. Won't stretch out like the mesh pockets for bottles do. When Leah and Dagan go some place together, she can carry both their water bottles--she loves that!

The front flap covers some small pockets and a zippered pouch--velcro closure. Not sure how I'd want to make ours--a couple of bigger pockets--or do we need the smaller ones? I'll get more input from Leah before I start, of course.

I like the back pocket and want that for sure.

Just have some regular dark denim for our trial run. My trial run, I guess I should say. :)

I haven't been sewing for years! Only small clothing repairs. Last time I used it the sewing machine was still working smoothly. I haven't really used it much at all since I had it cleaned and oiled many years ago. It is kept inside of the case--so no dust really can get to it or anything. Should be fine. I'll find out, eh?

Meanwhile--the real grass I planted for Karma (vs. the cat grass that is actually barley and oats) has come up like gangbusters! I haven't trimmed it. Karma has been chewing on it regularly. Harder for her to get a hold of the skinny little blades, but she manages. The cat grass would grow up tall and fall over and die? Even when I trimmed it--only lasted for a few trims and died? So now we'll see how this grass seed for shade (probably why it is spiky?) survives? Been doing great so far. I guess I didn't need to put as much seed in there--chuckle! Oh well--Karma loves it.

She's quite the contented cat. Half the time, anyways--hehe!

Today--tentative plans--Leah and I going to JoAnn's Fabric Store for the rest of the supplies I'll need to attempt to duplicate our red bag. So I need to do some measuring and serious examination of said shoulder bag today--hehe!

I have enough to keep me busy for quite a while, don't I? The bag has to come after the sketchbook and the birthday cards for 2009. [I'm not in a big rush--be a good winter project. I'm kind of worried whether I can figure this pattern and sewing out or not, so having some extra time to think it through is not a bad thing--hehe!] It always makes me happy to have projects lined up. Keeps me going, you know? :):):)

Have a good day!!

Thursday-6:15am

Martha Stewart and I had a little problem.

I bought a set of glue sticks--more expensive, of course--but NOT a "good thing".

Days after opening them they became gummy and really stringy--very difficult to use. Within a week or so the glue became so thick that it had trouble sticking to the paper! Within a few more weeks--they had dried up and pulled away from the sides of the tube, as you can see. Completely useless. Didn't get much use out of either of them. I thought it had been a 3-pack, but I can only find two of them. Either I threw the first tube away or it had been a 2-pack.

Regardless, I found this glue stick phenomenon rather amazing, to be honest. Martha Stewart putting her name on something of unusually low quality. The absolute worst glue sticks I have ever purchased over all my years of crafting. I've had glue sticks that were still usable years after I opened them--literally--years! They may have thickened up a bit, but they were still functional. Martha Stewart's turned to a solid rubber-like mass.

It kept nagging at me until I finally sent an email to Martha Stewart's company and told them about the glue sticks. I had saved them because I had been thinking of mailing them to the company. I hadn't even taken these pictures. Just decided to tell customer service how shocked I was that Martha would be selling such a low grade product and described what happened. I was nicer than I am being now, actually--hehe! Didn't go into much detail and was polite. Minnesota Nice, ya know. But--come on! Wouldn't you expect Martha Stewart's glue sticks to be at least as good as Elmers or Office Max?! I wasn't expecting a response--just wanted to put my two-cents worth in, you know? Chuckle!

A couple of days later I actually got a call from a lady from Martha Stewart Inc. She wanted to hear all about the glue fiasco--hehe! She said it had probably been a "bad batch" or maybe the cold weather had effected the shipment. [Kind of a lame excuse. Do they not do glue business with the northern United States for half of the fiscal year?] I offered to mail the glue sticks to her, but she declined. She did offer me an apology warm enough to melt a Minnesotan's heart--and a free sampling of some of their other craft glues. I said, "no glue sticks?" No glue sticks. [Which did make me wonder if they must have had trouble with them? Otherwise you'd think she would have offered me some brand new, not "bad-batch" glue sticks, right?] Anyways, the craft glue sampling is in the mail, I guess. (This conversation was a couple of days ago.) "Hand picked from the factory", she said. (Doesn't that sound Martha Stewarty?) Hehe!

Well, at least Martha has wonderful customer service! Excellent, as a matter of fact. They made a personal call and offered alternative products for free. The lady was gracious and kind. I have to give Martha five stars for customer service!! I'll let you know what happens. :)

Let's see--I realized I didn't explain why all my bookcases are going to be involved in the reorganization plan. With all this stack of ArtBin satchels needing a place to live, I need to move all the art & craft books out of that craft bookcase. That's three shelves of books that have top priority and can't go too far away!! Hence the shuffle and shift routine. The equivalent of a crafter's earthquake! :)

Meanwhile--Caroline called and asked to switch to Thursday--today. I had already picked up all Karma's packaging playground--hehe! I gave her back the biggest box. She has been spending a lot of time in there! :)

I emailed Cheap Joe's yesterday--with pictures of the damaged satchel. We'll see if I hear from them as quickly as I did from Martha, eh? Cheap Joe's has been good in the past--but I called them before and that was maybe about eight years ago I had a problem with an order. If I don't hear back this week, I'll call them on Monday.

Yesterday Leah was going to come over in the afternoon (Craft Night) and figure out what she wanted to do for Christmas cards and then work on cards. Dagan was going to come over later after work and I was going to make dinner for us. Everything is always tentative with our plans--hehe! Turned out Dagan made it before Leah--and supper was ready before Leah got here, too. :) She ended up busy with work and couldn't get away when she thought she could. That happens a lot. :)

So--we ate and ended up watching WALL-E!!

In a futuristic world, human beings have destroyed Earth and evacuated the planet, leaving the cleanup to an army of robots they've programmed to do their dirty work. Due to a mishap, the dutiful WALL-E is the only one left. But with the arrival of a female probe named EVE, the monotony of WALL-E's existence is broken -- and he experiences love for the first time. Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) directs this Pixar tale with a sci-fi twist.

It was cute! We all laughed a lot through the whole movie. Was a nice break--a little pick-me-up movie. :) We didn't get a chance to talk all that much, but had a good time. Always happy to see each other! :)

So, anyways, now the tentative plan is that I'll see Leah sometime on Friday. The JoAnn's store in Fargo was moving when Leah stopped last month to buy supplies for my "try-to-make-a-pattern-to-sew-a-bag-similar-to-the-red-ones-Leah-and-I-own-right-now-that-holds-two-bottles-of-water-securely" project. We'd like something a little less red and water resistant nylon--hehe! But we love the style of out bags. Anyways, all Leah could get last month was the denim--they were out of everything else I needed (thread, zippers, etc). Now JoAnn's is all moved, restocked, and they are having a grand opening special Thurs-Sat. Leah and I have our coupons and are ready to find the new JoAnn's store tomorrow. We should be able to make it? They are open into the evening--hehe!

Right now, Karma is zonked out inside the box. It's a dark, grey day again--looks like snow? Caroline will be here later. Guess it is time to start the day. :):)

Wednesday-5:15am

Okay--I have been mulling over how to reorganize. This is a huge project that Leah will help me with. To give you an idea of the scope--hehe!--I have taken pictures. You already saw the newly cleaned garage, now these are all the areas I need to shuffle, purge, categorize, and reorganize.

The two hall bookcases. The one by the door has craft magazines and cookbooks.

This one has painting supplies: oils, acrylics, watercolors, and brush painting.

This bookcase in the bedroom has literary journals, spiritual books, and a shelf of "to be read" books.

The craft bookshelves are overflowing. The one on the left holds all the art and craft books--and odds and ends...

...and most of our 8 1/2 X 11 inch paper/cardstock.

The bookcase on the right has the ArtBins--which hold all kinds of supplies and are not organized. All the 12 X 12 inch paper, scrap paper, tools, glitters...

...pens, brush pens, glues, ribbons, pastels, etc. The wooden cupboard in the corner is also filled with tools and supplies--and the shelves above the air conditioner holds all the ink pads, refills, and small odds and ends.

The narrow cabinet with all the drawers inbetween the two craft bookcases holds rubber stamps. On top are more brushes and odds and ends. You can see how we have piled things on top of the bookcases...

...and stuffed other supplies into every nook and cranny.

The bookcase next to my desk holds all the writing and reference books. I could also reorganize the desk cubbys and drawers--and the file cabinet, but that will have to be another project for the future--hehe!

My sacred space area--there are two shelves inside of the cabinet that I could maybe be utilizing for more of my spiritual books?

Then there's the closet shelves over the washer and dryer in the hallway! Loaded with craft supplies!

Papermaking, polymer clay, painting, etc.

And last but not least, the chicken wire storage area in a room on the other end of the hallway.

I added the plastic shelves. This chaotic space holds a little bit of everything.

Some seasonal things...

...more art supplies...

...and a lot of things I would have stored in the garage if I had been able to get in and out of it all these years. So--now that I have a garage door opener, unlimited access, and my little green cart--some of these items can head for the garage! Some could maybe be given away, too. Decisions shall be made--hehe!

I have been doing a lot of mental planning--thinking, pondering, milling. :):) The garage door opener and good shelves out there--and now the arrival of the new and empty ArtBin containers--these are our final catalysts--hehe! There has been a continual process of trying to make room in the craft area--moving things to the hall bookcases--the hall closet shelves--and the overflow ending up into the storage area--for almost four years. Chuckle! This will be the first time I can actually reorganize the whole shebang! May be a long process?

It will be so nice when it is all finished and we can more easily find anything we need. Ahhhh!!! I know over three quarters of it--but then there are the searches. Where did I put that wire? Which one is the scrap case? Where are the bookmaking tools? Somehow--we will get all these areas organized and know where everything is again. :) If Leah and I only had a couple of "hobbies" it would be a lot easier to find our stuff, eh? And Leah has the majority of the beading supplies over at her place!

Wish us luck! :):)

P.S. I forgot!! There are also craft supplies and writing supplies in two dressers, under my bed, and in my bedroom closet!!! A bit overwhelming, eh!?