LATE Studio Friday & Organization Update

With everything going on, kids and me sick, trying to catch up on obligations, etc... I totally forgot I wanted to check out Studio Friday this week and participate for the first time. Okay, so I'm late. What's new? ha

This week's topic was inspiration. I knew exactly what inspires me. Having an organized room, a clean desk and being able to find stuff. This may sound like normal things to you, but I'm not always an organized person. No really! I can see your shocked expression. However, I was determined to get this studio (I'm calling my little 'scrap room' a studio now, this inspires me as well) finished by this week. Sickness waylaid me. I'm almost there though, I swear. Here are some pictures to show:

My organized box of colorful small flowers really kicks my creativity into gear. If I'm not careful I can use too many flowers on too many things. Is there such a thing as too many flowers?? My bright pens also make me want to do some fancy writing, if they're not all dried out from children using them.

My ink shelves. *shivers slightly* I'm an INK GIRL. I LOVE ink. I love alcohol inks, I love distress inks, stazon, Tim Holtz, I love them all! I also like being able to see what I have, so this shelf suits me perfectly!

My darling husband and daughters bought me shelves and brackets for mother's day last year. They were finally put up around November. I've been working on them ever since. They now hold organized cardstock, patterned paper (by company), drawers for patterned and cardstock scraps, a wooden thingie of paints I use often, purple thing holds buttons on one side, MM metal on the other. Another drawer thingie holds game pieces, bigger flowers and misc unusual things for collage. My accordion holds all my stickers I can't live without. My binders have my ATC collection.

Speaking of my ATC collection... some people say 'I just don't get ATCs'. I understand that. I didn't 'get' them 8 months ago either. But I love keeping them in the binders and I flip through them for inspiration. I might find a background I want to attempt, a color combo to try, a subject to use, etc... I love my ATCs.

I have lots of things in rubbermaid type containers. I can easily see what I need (these have extra paint, foam stamps, playing cards/dominoes to alter and various other things.) I love being able to see right into the container.

My magazines and books are great inspiration for when I am stumped for creative ideas. I reach for a recent issue of Somerset Studio, Cloth, Paper, Scissors or Stampers Sampler. Or maybe an altering book..

Probably the most inspiring thing to a collage artist like me, is being able to lay my hands on a particular piece of ephemera. I have worked hard to separate all my ephemera into drawers so if I'm wanting to do a piece with, say, Asian images, I just pull out that drawer, bring it to my desk and have fun! This was the most liberating thing I did while organizing. That and getting rid of tons of junk I will no longer use.

Organization 101 update: I still have things to get rid of/donate/trade/sell, in 2 boxes. I have many ribbons to bag and hang (I hang them on rings and sort by color) and I have lots of stamps to mount. Other than that, I am done. I am feeling so creative! This weekend I have finished 22 6x6 scrapbook pages for a recipe swap and 32 ATCs for various swaps. I have lots more to catch up on, but I'm feeling much more organized in my 'Inspiration Studio.'