A month of changes

In the days since my last post, I've made a few life-changes, trying to move towards better health and better productivity.  A diagnosis of high-blood pressure has me on medication, hopefully temporarily.  In order to eliminate the need for meds, I am walking more and eating healthier and less.  Diet and exercise, it's not exciting or new, but the only way to lose weight safely and permanently.  I'm down 10.8 lbs so far, in just under a month.

Our home now has flooring in the basement!  As soon as the baseboards get installed (possibly on Monday), DH will begin moving his office stuff downstairs.  In the meantime, I have been emptying out my art/sewing supplies from the studio and doing a big purge/sort/organize.  It took me about 12 hours of ironing (over 6 or 7 days) to press all the fabric I am keeping.  Most of my fabric is smaller pieces, which are now sorted by colour.  Most of these fabrics are stored in this three-drawer dresser:

The overflow is stored in these plastic bins.  The biggest bin is the Pink Fabrics, I have a good variety now and don't need to buy any more pink for awhile.  In fact, after sorting out the fabrics I won't use, I feel like I have more now, and I don't think I'll need to buy anything over the winter!

My embroidery floss is sorted by colour in these two two-drawer stacking drawers, which are on top of the fabric dresser.  You'll notice I am labelling everything.  This is crucial for me - when I am creating, I need to find things NOW, and I need all the help I can get when it's time to tidy up and put things away.

For a couple of years, I've kept my buttons and beads together, sorted by colour, in 5 plastic bead boxes (about $2. each at the dollar store).  Here's the inside of one of the boxes:

I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much lace I have at the moment..... This is a three drawer dresser, and the entire top drawer is full of white and ivory lace, most of it vintage.  Time to get lace packs listed in my store . The other drawers contain coloured lace, ribbons and "silk" flowers.  On top you can see a mug with scissors and seam rippers, and a box of sewing thread.

I have almost half of the studio organized and tidy now.  When the office gear is moved, I'll set up a couple of tables for lots of work surface.  I'll make skirts for the tables so I can store more Rubbermaid bins underneath without the visual clutter.

As for creative projects - I am working on oodles of things for a Christmas craft fair that is in 10 days.  I just decided to get a table at the fair yesterday, so I'm kicking it into high gear to finish enough stock for that.  The dining room, where I am currently working (and storing the unsorted items from the studio) is a shambles, but lots is happening there, art-wise.  More to come on those projects soon........ I'm off to paint and glue and stitch!