New Room, Returned Time

It took from Thursday evening (the breakdown and emptying of the craft room) until the following Tuesday afternoon to recreate the room.  I'd forgotten how hard real work can be :)  But it's done for better or worse, and I probably like the results.  Thing is, since I haven't had the chance to work on a project, there's no way of know how truly efficient the changes.  Tomorrow it's back to play time... and planning which area of the house to hit next, without the urgency of this past weekend.  At this point I can't even imagine organizing anything beyond my thoughts.  As much as I earnestly enjoy the process, I've been processed out for a day or two.

I posted the first set of pictures at my other blog.  Maybe I'll split the series between the two sites.

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I managed to make a run to TM while in Fayetteville earlier this week.  The question posited in a earlier post about a binder system is answered.  I had wondered whether the Zutter or Cinch systems to go with.  The decision was made for me!  On the shelf sat a Zutter (Bind it All) for less than $40. No more comparisons beyond that.  Like everything else acquired over the past week, it sits waiting to be opened.  There's not a real need to play with it yet, three other projects based on rings precede the necessity, so it may sit for some time before pulling it out.  That just seems so wrong, but for the price, well...  Did I mention we picked up the UTEE?  Again, this whole timing thing.


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Ah, heck, why not do some more before and after pics now?

Prepped for furniture (the photographer took a slanted photo... the wall is fine!)

A very narrow bookcase.  Decidedly bare.





 

99% complete.  Still not sure what to put in the middle area; thinking something decorative.  Amazing that it holds all the card stock purchased thus far!

New Craft Room

The new furniture works splendidly.  The reorganization of scrapbooking supplies remains an on-going project, even after 15 hours of sorting between Saturday and today.  It looks as if the room will finally be squared away by Tuesday at the latest.  (Better time than originally estimated.)  

Thus far I've bee able to empty two multi-drawer rolling bins; which provides more floor space, and gives the room a more open appearance.

I honestly believed the room outgrown, but this forced re-do sheds light on how badly space was managed.  It's difficult to see this when bringing in a few items at a time, and not seeing the changes necessary to accommodate the growth and change of room function.  Taking this lesson to heart (and a recent episode on a much smaller scale a couple of weeks ago in a kitchen cabinet) it's probably not a horrible idea to empty a room and repack it every couple of years.  It's amazing to discover how much "junk" held on to when a non-critical eye becomes accustomed to the placement.


There's one another system yet to add to this marvelous overhaul, which will finally provide a real solution to the punch storage issue, but I don't have the heart to take this project on until catching my breath from this weekend.  I decided to also empty and reorganize the craft closet while assigning new spaces to everything else; something that could have been delayed, but a better idea to tackle now.  (The closet also looks a bit foreign at present.)  Once finished, most of my everyday supplies will be much closer at hand and the constant rifling through will largely cease.


At long last, I can quit the daily struggle to keep the room organized and get down to scrappin'.

Table, Organization & Tricky Deals

There's no comparison between my crafting table "during" the creation of a LO and the rare times when I'm not.  One looks as if a slow motion explosion has taken place, and the other a nice orderly oasis of quiet.  Without exception, and from a hard earned lesson, the table gets cleaned in between projects.  I've said it a hundred times already, but I can't think with a disorganized mess in the line of site.  I can't!  In the future I'll have to make sure any haul mention will be during those times between projects.  I want to start photographing/videoing them... for future reference.  And that simply can't be done on a disorganized table.

I find that once again there are more scrap room organizational changes necessary.  It's the paper!  There's a small box sitting on the floor layered with colour coordinated long paper strips.  There's no other place to file them neatly as they come in varying widths and lengths.  I'm thinking the solution to this could involve using the shoe tree bag currently used for punches; but then, what with all the punches?

Pink Shoe Bag, very weighted down

This, too, has become problematic lately since it's very difficult to find a particular punch within the current system.  Punches don't file into neat categories, be that size or theme.  The card ring with punched images is the only way of really knowing what I have available anymore.  That's a real lifesaver.  But most of the punches proper are heavy and restrict some options.  Maybe....?  We have a few open-wire baskets, primarily used with wire shelving systems out in the garage.  (Always a treasure trove of storage possibilities!!!)  I'm thinking using these at the back and hanging under of my craft table where they have both the weight and extra area to spread them out instead of riffling through small sleeves as required now.  Each time I wanted a punch it would require bending over and crawling under the table; bothersome, but "do-able" until I come up with a better system, and to a certain extent, I'm already doing with the current system.  The only other option would be to hang the other six-foot wire rack (the twin to the rack shown here) somewhere within the room.  And, as these things go, doing so would require rearranging that area, also.  Either way, something has to give somewhere.

The craft room was originally set up as the computer room.  I hadn't actually began scrapping at that point.  But, should we move again, the room would be set up specifically as a craft room, alleviating most of the organizational challenges dealt with over the past year.  One thing for certain... that computer desk with hutch would never grace the room!  I would certainly buy another crafting table instead.  And paint the room in pink and lime green, if I want.

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I submitted the latest LO for the CSI challenge with only hours to spare, and then only after I decided to settle with the photography results on hand, which were all less than idealistic.  Before this project, I never, in a million years, would have never considered the tricky problems with photographing a matte finished photo with a glossy.  Well, I sure do now!  I'm convinced that it can't be done.  Oh, sure, hundreds of photographers would testify to the contrary.  But not with MY skill set!  I literally spent almost two hours, some with Martin's help, trying to capture a true page likeness.  In every case it became a contest of shadows.  Even though I had two different skies to work with - 1 sunny and 1 rainy - and an abundance of natural and artificial light sources, there was no coaxing out a single great photo.  I guess the lesson taken from the experience is to consider this problem when thinking of using two different photo surfaces in the future.

The problematic glossy photo!  Urg!

All the myriad of talents learned thus far are about to be put to a functional use.  My husband went on a new diabetic medication delivery program.  It's not insulin, but he has to administer a shot within an hour of eating dinner, never after.  He does well with the morning shot, but 9 times of 10, he forgets the evening dose.  I'm about to put together a 6x6 or 8x8 cutely decorated page to remind him each evening.  It will say something to the effect of:  No pot before the shot, or some other silly thin.  I can't wait to jump on this project.  Just right after I pull together an awesomely adorable ocean themed LO.  ;D