be yourself: live with passion

What's your greatest organizational challenge?

It seems like the start of a new year brings on the desire to get organized...to purge old stuff (to make room for the new, I'm sure), to start the year fresh and clean and for many of us, to be able to find things that we've accumulated over the past year.

I was hit by the organizational bug earlier this week and ended up sorting my paper flower collections and condensing them into one tin file box from IKEA.  I promised to show you a picture...the quality isn't the best but you will be able to see the concept.

I used empty tins from Maya Road products...I had been saving them for some reason...good thing that I did.  All of the paper flowers that were left from kits, as well as those I had for personal use were sorted by color and inserted into the tins.  They fit perfectly into the metal file box...labeling each tin with the color helps me find what I'm looking for right away.  Now all I have to do is open one file box and voila, all of my flowers are in one place.  Yay!

The other thing that I did was sort through my hand held punches and pull out the ones most frequently used.  I put them into fabric covered boxes which I picked up at Michaels on sale several months ago...they are a great way to camouflage some of the less attractive (and sometimes downright ugly, but necessary) products.

I love the feminine look...but with clean lines.

So...that's two categories down...and many left to go!

What's your greatest organizational challenge?  What would you like to see more organized in your studio/workspace in 2009?

If you post a comment, I will pick one name and send you an old small tool box, organized to the max with little stuff from my studio...call it a mini artist kit, if you will.

Just leave a comment between now and Monday, January 5th, around noon Arizona time, and I'll randomly pick a name and share some of my product (already organized) with you.

I wanted to wish all of you and your families a wonderful, healthy, happy, prosperous and organized New Year!  Hope that 2009 is the best year yet!

Hugs,

Carol

P.S.  I think that it's definitely time for a new year and a fresh start :))!  I inadvertently posted this to my creatologie blog...for those of you who have posted comments, I have printed them out and will make sure they are included in the drawing.

meaningful...

It's the one word that best describes our holiday weekend.

I know that I was feeling a little detached from the whole holiday thing this year...we had all made a conscious decision to scale back in many ways...decorating, gift giving, entertaining, etc. and I just wasn't sure what Christmas without so many of the trappings would hold for us.

I have to say that it was meaningful...and one of the most relaxing holidays I've had for a long time.

It started with a 3 o'clock Christmas Eve candlelight service at church.  There's just something so restful about watching a huge room coming to life as we lit each other's candles and that totally set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Christmas Eve dinner was at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's brand new home this year.  We were so grateful to have Mom and Dad Wingert there with us as they had the most challenging of road trips coming from Pennsylvania to Arizona this year.  We just thank God that He watched over them!  I always love watching my mother-in-law open presents...she just rips into them like a child...LOVE that!

Christmas morning was an early one for all of us...I love that Ashley still has a ton of enthusiasm for Christmas morning and all of the traditions that go along with it.  I have to say that I spent a lot more time this year looking for and purchasing meaningful gifts for the family and obviously, so did Vern and Ashley.  Although we each knew some of what we were getting, it was so much fun getting the little surprises.

One of my surprises was this rusted, heavy iron finial from Vern.  He found it at a little store in Phoenix called Paris Envy, a store he discovered while surfing the net. 

It's really wonderful having a hubby who "gets" me...complete with my love of all things old and rusty...and that he's so in tune with the colors and even the French theme.

Love this piece...can't wait to incorporate it into the decor.

Ashley surprised us with some fabulous exotic teas...the kind in the little silk bags and pouches.  I've been tea sipping all weekend :).

She also made me a couple of pieces of jewelry that are so awesome...I'll be sure to get some pix and post them.

Christmas Day was totally laid back..at one point in the day, I just sat and took in all of the sights, sounds and smells...it was pure contentment.  The rain was gently pattering against the windows, the inside of the house was silent.  Vern, Ash and I were all absorbed in reading and Bodie was curled up on the wool area rug, sound asleep.  There was faint smell of cinnamon in the house...that was from the cranberry/walnut scones that I make only once a year...an annual Christmas morning tradition.  The tree lights were twinkling and the candle on the table was flickering.  I was so thankful for the opportunity to enjoy this quietness and have some time to think and reflect.

On Friday, Ash and I both got into the mood to get more organized...we headed off to IKEA and picked up some fun and practical containers.  Ashley loves changing out duvet covers in her room and coordinating them with cool pillows and she found a fabulous pattern in black and white that she ended up getting.  That, of course, set off the need to clean her closet and room and to purge a ton of stuff.  I did the same with some of my scrapping stuff...I'll have some photos later this week of some of what I did.

It was a quiet and relaxing weekend...I took time to pull things together for future projects, to restock the pantry and fridge, to read and to cook.  I really enjoyed the cooking...it was so relaxing to create in the kitchen without worrying about business deadlines! 

Before starting on another busy work week, I wanted to take a few minutes and just share with you some of my feelings and thoughts about the past few days.  I feel calm and at peace today...I think it has everything to do with taking time to think and reflect on the meaning of Christmas in my life...with taking time to relax...with getting some good sleep and good healthy food...with enjoying the company of my family.  I'm grateful for this weekend and the perspective it gave me on my life.

I think it is best summed up in that one word:  MEANINGFUL.

WISHING YOU JOY!

Hark the herald, angels sing...

Glory to the newborn King.

From all of us to all of you,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

gifts from your personal collections...

 

Friday was the traditional employee/instructor Christmas lunch at Scrapbooks, Etc.  As part of the celebration, we do a gift exchange, which is always fun, especially given the fact that this is a creative bunch of women.  This year, Marti had us open our gifts one at a time so that we could all see what was given and received.  I ended up being the last one to open...Lisa presented me with two boxes fabulously wrapped in burlap and cotton canvas cloth...OK, we could have just stopped there! :)

 I opened up the first package and just gasped!  It was a box of vintage ornaments that were fabulous!  Lisa explained to the group that she knew that I loved vintage things but wasn't sure what to get me.  Turns out that the ornaments are from her grandmother's house...part of her family history!  I was just amazed and overwhelmed by her generosity and willingness to share!  The second box contained two vintage metal holiday signs...I took a pic of them on the outside bench...where they actually look pretty awesome.  Thanks, Lisa, for your creativity and generosity...you totally hit the mark with these gifts!

Having the vintage ornaments inspired me to go out in the garage and dust off the old Charlie Brown tree...it looks like it should be vintage but I bought it new...it definitely is a great tree for the ornaments.  I stuck the tree into the silver wine/champagne cooler that I found about a year ago and it really looks funky!

It's draped with vintage silver tinsel garland...a fun addition to my studio work table.  (True confessions:  I have to say that there was only one little empty corner on that whole table and now it's filled with the tree!  I need to clean up before Christmas, for sure!)

Anyway, Lisa's gifts got me thinking about next year...I think I'd like to share things from some of my collections with my friends...something meaningful that they would enjoy...or maybe something that would get them started collecting...

maybe a pair of vintage white gloves...

or a rhinestone bit or bob...hmmm, something to think about.

Now I know for sure that I can't do gifts like these for most of my family.  I can just hear my parents or my in-laws after opening a vintage style gift...the conversation would go something like this:

Parent:  "Thank you for the _________.  (fill in the blank with vintage item)  Did you know that it has rust on it? 

Me:  "Sure it does...it's supposed to have rust.  It's old, plus it's been outside for a while."

Parent:  "It's old?  You mean that it's used?"

Me:  "Yeah...it's vintage."

Parent:  "You bought us something old?  And you paid money for it?"

Me:  "Yes...I thought you'd enjoy the history behind it."

Parent:  "Well, the last time we had something rusty like this, we ended up giving it to Salvation Army!"

And so the conversation would continue...and all the while they would be wondering why I thought so little of them that I would get them something used.  So, it's the mall for them (and not the antique mall).  But, I know that you, my blog readers, totally understand, right?  You get it...and that's why I shared the story of the fabulous family treasures passed from Lisa to me.

Hope that Christmas brings you something that just tickles you the way these gifts did me.

don't forget...

  It's such a busy time and there are so many distractions and demands on our time.

I just wanted to let you know that I'm working on the December CREATE banner or book kit right now...these fabric bundles were put together this morning and there's just something about them that makes me smile (and want to touch!).

Don't forget to order your kit today...they have been selling steadily through the month and will soon be gone.  Just click on the box where your kit will be shipped...it's in the PayPal storefront on the right side of the blog.   Kits will ship out on Monday, the 22nd.

Don't forget to take care of your creative self this holiday season!

hunting and gathering...possible gifts?

This past weekend, I did a little treasure hunting at a local antiques mall and also did a little hunting and gathering in my studio area.  Both of these activities produced some things that you might consider as possible holiday gifts for someone on your list.

First, Ash and I found 3 vintage glass shakers with silver lids.  They stand around 6" tall and are solid and heavily weighted on the bottom, which makes them very stable.  I cleaned them up and filled them with fine silver glass glitter...about 5.25 ounces per shaker.  I finished them off with vintage shell pink seam binding and a vintage shell pink paper flower...a really shabby, pretty presentation. 

One of the shakers has been set aside as a Christmas gift but I thought I'd offer the other two on this site.  If you have an artsy friend that you still need to buy for, you might want to consider this shaker full of glitter.

The glitter filled shakers each come with a handmade cotton damask gift bag with a stitched cotton panel of vintage post cards on the fronts of the bags.  The shabby bags are left with a frayed raw edge at the top and are tied with vintage lace and seam binding.  The color of the bags are shell pink and they have a true damask texture...really pretty.

Each of the shaker/bag sets are $24.50 and shipping within the US is an additional $7.00.  Just by way of comparison, I did some online checking into fine silver glass glitter prices...it's going anywhere from $4.00/oz up to $11.00/oz, depending on the site...these shakers have over 5 ounces in each of them.

If you are interested in one, just email me and I can send you a PayPal invoice.

ETA:  SOLD OUT!

I also unearthed 2 Holiday White Book Kits (the creatologie kit from October) that ended up being extras because of an inventory snafu in my storefront.  I am offering them at $35.00 each (reduced from $43 in October), and shipping within the US is $10.00 for each of them.

Again, please email me if you are interested...this is also first come, first served.

ETA:  SOLD OUT!

Lastly, I have one remaining "Tis The Season" easel flip book kit left.  This kit originally retailed for $40 and is now available for $32.00 plus $9.00 shipping within the US.

Again, please email me if you are interested.

ETA:  SOLD OUT!

It was a productive hunting and gathering session...let me know if I might be able to help you hunt and gather for those special people in your life (or maybe for that special YOU)!

THANK YOU...EVERYTHING IS SOLD.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE, PART II

As much as I love elaborately wrapped gifts, I have always kept my wrapping simple...in fact, in many ways, extremely minimalistic.

Wrapping in kraft paper was something I started in the 80's, long before it became fashionable to be "green" or eco-friendly...I just loved the look of it and the fact that it was easy to keep a coordinated look under the tree.  Sometimes I would use plaid ribbons, sometimes solid but all of the gifts were totally coordinated.  I've heard others say that it's too boring of a look for them but it's what I like...to this day.  Last July, I found some beautiful, true red satin ribbons in various widths...that's what will grace the packages this year.

In November, I created a number of handmade gift bags to house the albums I sold at Silver Bella and I decided to make several more (a little more rustic) for family gifts under the tree.

I came across some decorator grade burlap (soft, washed and not nearly as linty as standard burlap).  The pieces were mill ends and were extremely inexpensive so I bought all of them in both the standard burlap color and in the bleached out color.

I created emblems for the fronts of the bags by printing clip art onto printable cotton.  Printable cotton is made by Jacquard and what I love about it is that it's already bonded to paper so that it pulls through the printer quite easily and there aren't loose threads to get hung up in the printer.  You can recreate the look by taping a piece of tightly woven cotton (available at most quilting stores just for this purpose) to a piece of copy paper and running it through the printer.  Adjust your settings for the thickest paper setting you have and make sure there are no loose threads...if there are any, I can guarantee you that your printer will latch onto them and jam up! 

You can also use photos to personalize your bags...wouldn't it be fun to have a pic of all of the kids or all of the grandkids for parents or grandparents?

After your image is printed, simply trim around it, distress with a bit of light brown ink (I used Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in Old Paper) and then stitch it onto the face of the bag.  You can also use fabrics such as organza, cotton duck or canvas, bleached wool (so soft but definitely expensive) or just scraps you have around your house.  I was looking through my stash before sewing these and found a stack of fat quarters of beautiful Moda fabrics in a washed red...also a damask pattern in a very faded, vintage pink.  I know I need to use these.  Fat quarters are relatively inexpensive (about the cost of a nice gift bag) and will create a pretty large bag.

When your bag is finished (I left the tops of mine frayed and unfinished but if your look is a little less rustic, you may want to hem the top), simply insert your gift and tie with lace, ribbon, hemp, trim...you name it.  You can attach an ornament, a flower or other decorative object or just leave it plain.

It took me less than 5 minutes to cut out and stitch each bag...a lot less time than heading off to the store on a busy Saturday right before Christmas.  That's pretty simple!

Any fun and simple gift wrapping suggestions to share?

KEEPING IT SIMPLE, PART 1

  The year 2008 has, in so many ways, been a very unique year for our family.

I honestly don't remember any other year where I was so busy or worked so hard (as in putting in the hours).  Even when you love what you do, the long weeks eventually take a bit of the stuffing out of you.

So, in light of all of that, we decided to keep Christmas simple this year.

If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know that I usually go overboard for Christmas.  Everything is usually removed from the pot shelves and redone in holiday style...the many Santas get positioned into their special vignettes, accented with greenery, sleds, chairs, etc.  It's really a fun time for me.  This year, I chose to use my creative energies elsewhere and the Santas (except for a handful of them) are going to rest in their boxes.  After all, there's always next year, right?

There is something so freeing about making that decision...and telling myself there's no reason to feel guilty about changing tradition for a year.  It's really taken the pressure off...in a big way.

Last weekend, Ashley and I decorated our "tree-o"...it's all white and silver again...and a few Santas and an angel grace our entry table.  I've placed a few silver trees in my studio area and we're done.  Keeping it simple is our motto this year...what about you?  Simple or not so much?

Sneak Peek #2

  Remember when I promised you peeks of the three projects I've been working on?  Well, here's a peek at project #2, the December offering from creatologie from carol wingert studio.

The cool thing is that, if you head over to the creatologie blog, you get to see the whole thing and it's now available for pre-order.

I LOVED putting this project together.  The color palette is one of my favorites and the end result is really striking.

You won't want to miss out on this one...and, if hubby/significant other needs a hint or an idea about how to round out that holiday list, just pull up the blog, find the PayPal storefront and tell him to click on the box where the kit will be shipped.

Kits will begin shipping on December 23, just in time for a little creating between Christmas and the New Year!

Thanks for looking and ordering...I really enjoy creating with you!

sneak peek #1

It's my second post today...gasp...but I wanted to get this one up due to the fact that my class is on Friday...yep, this Friday, 12/5/08 at 10:30 a.m. at Scrapbooks, Etc. in Mesa.

  This is the last Creative Genius Workshop of the year and it's a spinner with ornaments/tags that we will be making in class.

This one was hard to photograph and it's hard for you to see the perspective, so I'll try to help out with some measurements.  The "spinner" is actually a mercantile rack that spins...it comes in cream and black.  It's 27" high at the top of the decorative finial and the bottom spinning circle is 12" in diameter.  It's fairly large, which makes it hard to fill with little things being made in a 3-1/2 hour class but awesome in that you can add so many more cool ornaments, tags and Christmas cards after you bring it home.

We will be making 11 ornaments in class and you will get a couple more ready mades from me...for a total of 13 ornaments/tags.  Be ready to stamp, glitter, glue, cut and stitch...so many fun little techniques.

 

The spinner is included in the price of the class...and that's an exceptional deal because the spinners themselves carry a suggested retail price of $49.00.  I found a limited amount of them on a closeout special at a reduced price...and I'm thrilled to be able to include them in the class.  Each spinner also has 20 "S" hooks for hanging your "stuff".

The best thing about the spinners is that, when the holidays are over, you can simply remove the decorations and use your spinner to hold scrapping supplies or decorative objects for another season.

If you are intrigued and want to take the class, simply call the store at 480-854-2303 and get yourself signed up.  A full set of instructions with photos of each ornament will be included in your kit.

And, oh, did I tell you the coolest thing about the spinner?  It screws apart and fits into one neat little box...awesome!  Hope to see you on Friday at Scrapbooks, Etc.