Organize your Stuff (round 6): Week 1: Make Something/ Space Audit

Welcome! Today starts the 6th round of the ever popular Organize your Stuff Challenge at the Two Peas in a Bucket website. The original challenge was hostessed by the ever venerable Zen Master Wookiemouse in May of 2009 (We’re not worthy!). She was followed by the Always Awesome Crisann for rounds 2-5. Now it is time for us to step up to the plate, open up our own crafty dojo and see if we pass on some of their organization mojo!

For those who are new to our blog, when we first started organizing, we found out that it was/is a LOT harder than we had planned. That was when I realized that when it came to scrapbooking…and the mess… it was not really I, but we. The different parts of myself were at war over everything, and so rather than dealing with the growing mess, we just agreed to disagree and the mess grew.

The personalities that we seemed to recognize within ourselves are on the sidebar and are as follows: The POW (Plays with Others Well)… chief negotiator and moderator (the sane part) and ironically hostage to the rest, OCD Me…the reason we are organizing, PA Me (Procrastinator Anonymous)… the reason we have not gotten to organizing yet *squirrel*, the Inner Hoarder…the reason that everyone drops out when we hit memorabilia week and have that paper from 1987, and Creative Me…whose fault this whole crafting thing is in the first place. Theoretically, there is a Budget Me, but we think that she got walled up some years ago a la Tell Tale Heart and we get a niggling thump from time to time that $$ is something that should matter but then we remember why we ditched her in the first place!

Enough about us…

This week we are channeling our Creative Me and OCD Me. We know, we know. These two do not often work together well. Just think of it at a ying and yang zen kind of thing. We want you to Create this week! If you are a scrapbooker, create a layout…card makers, make a card… art journal-ers, journal. Whatever it is that you love to do right now…do it. If it turns out that you cannot finish, that is ok. In the immortal words of Nike: Just Do It!

While you are creating, have your OCD Me take notes. Really? Yes. We want to find out what works and what does not. …and the three foot pile of un-put away prior projects is a legitimate entry in the does not work category. The thing is, 89.7% might be perfect…tool caddy, lighting, brad storage…etc. List those. We will be looking to you for suggestions on those weeks, and you can slack off and *gasp* work on that memorabilia (that is not the memorabilia you are looking for, move along…)… or not! LOL!

We are looking for your week spots. If you ignore everything else, you want to tune in to the Does Not Work weeks… and remember- Some of these will not get fixed. That was a really hard thing for OCD Me to handle. When the universe goes tilt…or you get suckered into that Walking Dead Marathon before the start of Season 3 (you know who you are)…or PA Me and the Inner Hoarder Jedi mind trick you into avoiding it because they are just not ready to deal (memorabilia). Just let it go…we are pretty sure that there will be a round 7.  :)

Oh, and one last thing. If you do not have a blog, they are super easy to create, and an easy way to post progress. NOT required, but The POW found that it kept us on track when we posted something every week…even if it was just a picture. It kept that pesky duo of PA Me and the Inner Hoarder from derailing us too much! The POW is going to try and figure out the linked in thing, so you can share every week. So, if it is not here on Monday, check back. Note: there is no Technology Me. Good Luck!

Review:
Create something! Feed your inner Creative Me.

Document at least your top 3 Works for Me/ Does Not Work areas (or more). Empower your OCD Me.

Extra Credit-Share what you have created/ are creating (if I can figure out the Mr. Linky thing). Wednesday is a good day to do that as there is a large WOYWW (What’s on your workdesk Wednesday) group that will visit your site and give you the encouragement you may need…

Here is ours:

Likes: Paper storage, inks/copics,stamps, tools
Doesn't work: Kits (we have no Idea what is in them), memorabelia piling up (cannot find my fine point scissors), work space too far from embellishments  

Link in to share what your Creative Me did!  

Organize your Stuff: Week 1 (round 5): WOYWW #125 & space audit

Well, once again it is Wednesday, and therefore, it is time to break out the camera for a WOYWW (What’s on your work desk Wednesday) view. For a change, OCD Me has made some headway, and we have a clean work space! (*gasp*)

We tackled all the detritus in the general scrapping/ card making area, and even weeded through our scraps. For more WOYWW spaces (any of which are more interesting than mine!) please click over to the always gracious and fabulous Julia at the Stamping Ground.

Our card this week was our design team entry for the Tuesday Trio Sketch #90: lots of layers! And boy were there ever! Creative Me was boggled at first on how to get so many onto such a small space. However, like always, she came through in a pinch and made the POW and the rest proud in the end!

For those who follow us regularly, we have finally finished round 4 of the Organization Challenge (originally posted here in May 2009 by Wookiemouse at 2 Peas in a Bucket). Since then, it has taken on a life of its own over at 2 Peas, thanks in no small part to the Fabulous Crisann, the moderator since then!

We admit, that we have been a bit slack in round 4, especially when it came to scrapbook layouts. So, the POW promises, PROMISES, to be better in round 5! (and OCD Me will make her stick too it, too!).

For week 1, anyone following along, you need to scrap a layout, make a card, do what you do, and figure out what works, and what you need to change. It could be as simple as moving your adhesive closer (or those dreaded button that Fabulous Spouse hates), or loving the way that the ink is filed. Your inner OCD Me and Creative Me will have a blast.  The rest, not so much. Hmmmmmm….

This week has been super busy and tiring, as Fabulous Spouse was officially diagnosed with pneumonia, and removed from much of the outdoor activity parental duty roster.

However, that does not mean that things slowed down! This week, our boys were the big men on the field.

Oldest Child was the Offensive Line Captain (in red between purple #7 and #23) for the 8th Grade Football game at the High School Stadium.

Illusive Middle Child (in black to the left of blue # 20) was also picked to be the Defensive Line Captain (and have his first game as a starter) the same week.

...and not to be left out, Girl Friday cheered as usual!

Let’s just say that We were very proud parents!

Off to travel the world, one desk at a time! Happy WOYWW!

Organize your Stuff: Week 1 (round 4): OLW Blog Hop & Space Audit (part 2)

No, this is no April Fools! It is the first of the month and time for another One Little Word (OLW) Blog Hop!

For those unfamiliar with OLW, it is a class by (and a mantra of) Ali Edwards at Big Picture Scrapbooking. We pick a word to encapsulate our year, and try to find it or live it in our everyday life. It is kind of like a New Year’s resolution without the guilt of being invited to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner where even the salads are over 1000 calories!

Our word is Embrace! This month we were prompted to find on small way to actively capture our word in our lives, and the POW laughed so hard, because for us, this was going to be easy! For us, pardon the tired cliché, March really did roar in like a Lion! And the biggest thing that we needed to Embrace was Change!

This week we Embraced Family, and for us, that was a big change. As of March 18th, Awesome Auntie and her tribe and menagerie came to live with us for a year! We gave up two rooms and official custody of the play room to make her and her young family feel at home for when Fabulous Spouse’s brother leaves for Iraq. This means a lot, because while this is still our home, it definitely does not resemble our house!

There were lots of other smaller, but by no means less significant things to Embrace this month as well. This month, our Cub Scout Den Leader resigned due to family issues, and suddenly Creative Me and the POW were promoted from crafty good idea fairy assistant to a full-fledged Den Leader and needed to Embrace Duty. This is interesting, as OCD Me does not participate. She has learned long ago that OCD tendencies and room full of Illusive Middle Child’s friends do not mix!

We also Embraced our Religion. Ash Wednesday and Lent began this month. We are giving up our home for Lent…and our sleep. But that is OK. See above. Also, we do not eat meat on Friday…until Easter, so it becomes an interesting challenge as we are allergic to seafood- translate cheese pizza for Friday pizza and a movie night.

We Embraced Civics- Jury Duty, enough said (actually we did not really embrace it, we kind of grumbled and thought bad thoughts about the legal system, but still showed up). Finally, we totally Embraced Me Time, and had a blast at CKC Portland. Thanks Fabulous Spouse for the Christmas Present…and the sleep!

As for the space audit, definitely need to clean the pile of ???? that came out of the old scrap room. It seems to be spreading like the blob (or as a more contemporary reference, B.O.B. from Monsters vs. Aliens). Also, we lost our little clear ruler at CKC, and need another.

For those who love cards, here are the two that Creative Me made during our Copics I class.

Have fun! Here is the rest of the hop!

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog
Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com/ (<--you are here!!!)
Donna http://donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com/
Joy http://www.undiscoveredjoy.blogspot.com/
Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/
Jamie http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/
Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au/
Monica B2 http://www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/
Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com/
Stacey http://www.TheAcornGarden.com/blog
Katrina http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com/
Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
Monica http://scraplifters.blogspot.com/
Chrissy http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/
Jill http://jillconyers.typepad.com/
Lisa http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com/
Kathryn http://www.katlodesigns.com/
Jennifer http://www.studiojenn.blogspot.com/
Jen http://www.byjen.com/
Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
Miranda http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com/
Lynn http://www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com/
Cynthia http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/
Cheri A http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com/
Deb http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com/
Nicky http://www.seejanebake.blogspot.com/
Karen D http://womenontractors.blogspot.com/
Tina http://ryzmomplus2.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Kimberly http://foreverdaisies.blogspot.com/
Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
Julie Anne http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com/
Lisa A. http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Go and see these gals if you want some other OLW inspiration...This goes live at 8AM PST! Enjoy!

Organize your Stuff: Week 1 (round 4): Space Audit (part 1)

It is that time again…to begin at the beginning (...waiting for Vacini...Princess Bride reference.  If you have not seen it, you live with Patrick Starr and the guys from the GEICO adds under a rock...however it is playing out there somewhere on cable and is totally DVR'able if you have not.) with the space audit. When we began this blog, the space audit was a monumental and life changing event.  It started our hostile takeover of the dining room, which at this point will take NATO airstrikes and then some to get us to leave!

However, do not be alarmed if choirs of angels…or even lesser seraphim do not sing for you. It is a chance at an Ah-ha! Moment, but not necessary. (Link to my ah-ha moment here).

This is a 29 week…or 29 Step Organizational process first put forth by Zen Master Wookiemouse (blog here) on the Two Peas in a Bucket message board for scrapbookers. We have been working at this for two rounds now, but since PA Me is one of our more dominant inner personalities, we do have 3 kids with schedules (and a Girl Friday that likes to "help"), and the Creative Me is always messy, this continues to be a work in progress.

The task for this week is not to clean anything (PA Me and the Inner Hoarder are cheering loudly, and OCD Me is glaring). That does not mean that one does not have to tidy up their nursery… er scrap space (cancel the flying nanny and un-cue the music…No Mary Poppins needed here!), but rather there is no prescribed cleaning.

This week is all about creating. Unleash your Creative Me, and find out what is and is not working in that scrap space! Here is our layout for this week:

Yes, the Illusive Middle Child still has no front teeth.

Normally, we have cards on Tuesday, and a layout at the end of the week, but since a layout is required at the beginning to figure things out (and we were in Portland with no internet and missed our DT call for cards), you are treated to a layout instead!

What we learned:

Love our scrap caddie of essential stuff.
Love our cardstock organization… patterned paper needs tweaking.
Buttons need to be addressed.
Ribbons and fibers are fine.
We are still in denial over memorabilia.
Storage under the desk needs work.
We need/want more Iris containers and stock in the company!


See you at the end of the week with some cards! The POW pinky swears to it!

Organize your Stuff: Week 1 &2 (round 3): Brainstorming and Space audit

First order of business: Here is my next of four entries in the Tuesday Trio design team tryouts ( Sketch #34 )with the needed element of buttons.  The yellow smily is a yellow 2-hole button on which I painted a mouth and cheeks.

Also, I was informed by Illusive Middle Child, that I did not really show the coolest part of the boys’ bedroom well in my last post…the skull fortress on his pirate island. Oldest child had no comment. So, humoring mom that I am, here it is…

Anyway, I went back to http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ to finish my participation in round two of the Organize your Stuff challenge. Much to my surprise (and I guess if I had been visiting the board instead of hiding, I would have), the Fabulous Crisann has resurrected the Zen Master Wookiemouse’s Challenge for a third round. I guess that some would call it luck, karma, kismet…whatever. The Inner Hoarder thinks that it a chance to postpone dealing with memorabilia week for another four months.

The POW, however, is in overdrive. She is tired of being a neophyte and wants to get her yellow belt in Scrapbooking Organization at the very least (between you and me, she is just a trifle bit of an overachiever and type-A personality). Before PA Me and the Inner Hoarder get totally out of control, she wants to attempt to finish round two (Really, it is just that we all don’t want an I told you that you would never finish from our Fabulous Spouse, or the rest of us would tie her down again until the caffeine wears off). So, I am going to try and juggle both and when possible post twice a week to work on finishing Round 2, while moving through Round 3. PA Me was sent to the corner to think about the consequences of making a mess and not picking up after herself, and the Inner Hoarder has been sent to Target to look for storage bins or garbage bags, her choice…I think that I need to buy stock in Rubbermaid!

Why Round 3 at all? Well, during the summer, it seems that clutter has reproduced faster than gremlins when wet! Round 2 has seen the near successful takeover of my dining room. Round 3 will make it more user friendly. So, get ready for some more mental chaos, some hopefully fabulous layouts (and cards). Together, we will get through this…or you can just laugh as you succeed, and I am stuck when PA Me finally finishes her time out.

Now back to business—Brainstorming and Space Audit.

What works in my current space…or what do I like best?

Ok, the one thing above all else, my jetmax/ paper storage, and the use of the label maker. My one piece of advice to those doing the Organize your Stuff challenge for the first time- get a label maker (mine is a brother p-touch). Just putting labels on things makes your space look cleaner, and makes it easier to find things.

What doesn’t work?

I need more storage. Less stuff is just not going to happen. I can purge, but between the Inner Hoarder and three kids constantly bringing more stuff into the house…and myself bringing new stuff into the house (yes, I know that it is a problem). That is not going to happen. Also, Girl Friday needs a bigger crafting space. She is too much her mother, and likes to spread out.

So here is my new before picture, warts and all. Yes, some of that is the Easter chipboard album that I have yet to get past page three on, but the edges of the boards are painted! I know, I know. I really need to get PA me back into therapy and finish something. Hopefully, in a few days, I’ll have a layout to go with the card from above!

Organize your Stuff Challenge: Week 1 & 2 (Part 2)

201o! Happy New Year!!! January 1st marked the "official" start of Week 1: Space Audit of the Organize your Stuff Challenge at http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/. In order to do this, I needed to plant my flag in the fertile land that I was to call my own, and figure out exactly what it was that I did...or didn't need.
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The first thing to do was remove the large masculine office desk from our dining room (seen in Before-Dining Room).... you know so that I could replace it with another large, er...functional, scrapbooking desk! Out too went the dented filing cabinet (on the right)... and in went the dancing little girl (my self-appointed Girl Friday).

New Years brought a boon for me, with 1/2 price scrapbooking storage at Michael's (Yeah!!!!). As a frugal, dining room expansionist... I knew that this was my chance to acquire all at once, that which would take me months of 40% off coupons to acquire. I channelled my inner "Kid in a Candy Shop" persona, and was off to shop!
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When I got home, Girl Friday was at the door! While my boys had slunk off to the play room muttering something like "this is not the helper you are looking for", my daughter saw a chance to "help". I had my first inner zen moment about jetmax cubes, then. The Cube itself, is so easy to put together that a preschooler could do it (and I have the photos to prove it). It just takes a lot l-o-n-g-e-r...
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Also, the inner drawers are SO tedious with their teeny screws, that if it wasn't for the previously mentioned fabulous spouse (and college football bowl games!!), I doubt that I would have gotten past drawer #2.
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Sooo...in two days, I got 10 jetmax cubes (for the price of 5) done and was ready to redo Week 1: Brainstorming (officially), and complete a layout.

It was actually nice to sit in the dining room, listening to my fabulous spouse help lead his teams to victory on the field through mass male ESP, share punches and oohhh over the creations of Girl Friday, and break up what ever the boys were doing in the play room that had me convinced that a herd of wild rhinos had been smuggled in with the cat from the back yard.
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This time I got a real list...
What Works:
1. Solid Papers in Cropper Hoppers
2. Clear Stamps / Acrylic Blocks
3. Inks
4. Digital Photo Organization
5."Must have"/easy reach sack of tools
6. Cricut cartridge storage
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What Doesn't Work:
1. Ok... the obvious...1/2 my stuff still upstairs
2. Counter space too small
3. Embellishments in too many places
4. Ribbons not organized
5. Patterned Paper
6. Pre-digital Photo storage in bulging plastic shopping bags


Here are my cubes in place, with 12 photo boxes (for photo week... also gotten for 1/2 price.

This leads to Week 2: Brainstorming (officially). Wookiemouse challenged us to think of what we would envision of our space, if money were no object. For me, that meant that if in fact fabulous spouse was transformed into non-philandering millionaire spouse, then my Scrapbook Room would be Martha Stewart/ New England Colonial. You know, fabulous trim, fluted moldings, cool pewter labels with antique, hand written labels that can only be reproduced if you are MS and own your own quill making ducks and geese and crush your own berries for ink... I know, not realistic, but Wookiemouse never said anything about realistic...
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Back in reality, fabulous spouse was on travel, and I brought down my two Ikea Expidit bookcases and scrapbooks. Also, I came to realize that stacking boxes on carpet is not the most stable of ideas....so it was off to my other store (besides Michael's and JoAnn's) that I am usually banned from without supervision...Home Depot.
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I built a platform for my jetmax cubes...to keep them stable, not because my inner OCD makes me overdo everything...
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Here is my middle child on the platform (I did manage to get my oldest to help...briefly). My boys are like rare, endangered species that are not often photographed in the wild, as they have been over exposed by my maternal paparazzi instinct.
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And finally, my transforming room for Week 2. No, I am not sharing the devastation upstairs... I ...er... forgot to photograph that. (It is a part of the letting go....yeah....um hmmm....).

Organize your Stuff Challenge: Week 1 & 2 (Part 1)

Ok. Here we are at Week 1: Space Audit.
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We were challenged to create a layout, any layout, and to do so with pen and paper to write down both what works and what does not work. So, back in December (before I knew that Crisann would revive the Challenge for 2010) I grabbed my box with my project, a handmade book about our trip to visit Ohio this summer, I grabbed my bag of "essential" tools, I grabbed the two boxes of punches I had accumulated, hauled them to the coffee table, where my husband was sitting and watching football... and 20 minutes started...

What doesn't work?

1. 20 minutes to bring down stairs the things I need to finsh 6 pages to complete my book.

Hmmm....that was it. I had my Epiphany! Yes, I needed to organize, but the real problem was that where I wanted to be and where my stuff lived was not the same space. It was like going back "into the closet"... that one thing I thought I'd gotten away from by expanding to a Scrapbook Room. I had just exchanged one closet for a bigger one.
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I did complete my book for my husband to take back to Ohio the day after Christmas, and took my first before pictures, which is actually Week 2: Brainstorming.

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Before-Original Scrapbook Room

w/desk that came with home

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And...

Before-Dining Room

Yes, its indeed messy,

messy, messy...

...but soon it will be transformed into my new functional Scrapbook Room. The desk will be moving out and some 12x12 jetmax cubes will be coming in!