Mending, Shovelling, Putting Away

In between sorting and putting away resources I would go out and shovel.

One time, after coming back inside, I found the mending pile had grown to toppling height.

I dealt with it.

More shovelling but the sun is helping.

Awkward Selfie: I found this carpenter-type apron and have been wearing it to see if it would be useful.

It is. I could make one in an interesting fabric.

Getting Things Done

Once I had put away all fabric and threads in their right places and my tables were clear again, I was ready to organise the many other piles of stuff in my studio. 

I started organising the stuff into different categories according to David Allen's system.

I am a David Allen disciple.

Clean-up Time in the Studio

After completing the Pattern Design course, my studio was a chaotic mess. I knew I couldn't begin on my next project until I had put everything away so I had some clear horizontal surfaces to work on.
The 1st thing I did was to pick up everything off the floor and put it on my central work tables. Then I added everything else that was out of place.
What a pile of stuff!

I worked away through the layers putting things back in their place so I could find them again when I next needed them.

Everything that needed more of my attention got piled into the 'Action' basket, which has morphed into a slippery, tottering double pile.
I'll attack it bit by bit whenever I have a few spare moments.
Or perhaps I need to deal with 5 items each day - that sounds like too many. How long would it take to eliminate the pile if I dealt with 2 items each day? That would be better than leaving it to compost and grow down onto the floor.

This is another pile waiting for my attention - fabrics and threads needing to be put away in the right containers.
As long as the pile stays like this I feel as though I don't have complete access to all of my textile resources. I might as well not have them. What if the perfect thread  I need for my next project is hidden deep within the pile? But it would take most of a day to put it all away. That day needs to go towards meeting one of my looming deadlines.
Now I have 2 and a half clear surfaces to work at.
Onward....

Back After a Disaster

Here I am back after a disaster. The hard drive on my lap top died, the day its warranty expired. It has taken HP nearly 3 weeks to send me a new one. But now I am back, up and running. Thank goodness I am a cloud user of the Internet otherwise I would have lost everything. No, I hadn't backed up much even though I was given a separate saving device thingy for my birthday. I was always too busy to stop and save. I have learnt the alternative is way more time consuming.
I have to start again building a library of images. Here are some that were on my camera card.

This is the entrance to the 2 rooms off my main studio. When we moved into the house I took over a bedroom with dark green walls. Our son painted the walls for me. I chose a buttery cream to give maximum light reflection. It maybe a bit too warm to be neutral but it sure makes for a cheery space to work in.

I had left the 2 smaller rooms dark green but have since decided they were too dark to be functional. So they recently got painted the same cream as the main room.

This is the stripped storage room on the left, in the middle of its paint job. I forgot to take the 'before' pictures of the green colour to show the transformation.

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The room on the right is a bathroom that I am setting up as my wet studio. I still have to seal the stone tiles so I can easily wipe up drips and splashes.

This is one of my work stations where I do writing types of tasks. I am still looking for the right kind of material to put up on the walls to make inspirational pin boards.

Mind Like Water

These past few days I have taken a time-out to do a tidy-up of my life. I listened to David Allen reading his book (7 Cd's) while I took notes. His book, Getting Things Done The Art of Stress Free Productivity, is about setting up a system to capture all you want to do in your life so your mind is free to become like water, free to be creative and to come up with those brilliant ideas.
Another half day of work and my studio will be set up according to his system.
I am looking forward to having a mind like water.