Creating a {messy} Life: Where This Blogger Creates

I'm not sure I'm ever going to master the skill of confining my creative space to, well, one space! 

 

  

I have alot of my creative hoard supplies in the garage. But the garage is freezing in the winter and hot in the summer, and on nice days when I'd love to put the door up, it's usually pretty windy here. Chasing vintage sheet music and book pages down the street (it has happened) makes me cranky. Just sayin'

Our home has a basement space that could be claimed if the cat didn't live in that area. Pippin the cat is not always so well behaved. And having my vintage sheet music and book pages ruined by a naughty cat also makes me cranky.  



So usually I end up working on projects in the middle of our main living space {sorry kids} until the mess gets too out of control, at which point I will likely whisk it all out to the unpleasant garage space again. Last winter I may or may not have been known to set up a work space in the upstairs master bathroom. But we don't need to talk about that now, do we? No, didn't think so : )




First it's a piece of wood. Then maybe some vintage book pages...some tags, some paint, some buttons, some stencils...

One by one the tools of the creative trade creep their way back into the main living area, and BAM! my dining room ends up looking like this-

 

 {Did I already say "sorry", kids? Sigh..}

So this is where I am today. Actually for the last couple of weeks, I have been operating from what is supposed to be the dining area. It's really more like a corner in the open space that includes the kitchen and the living room.

In January, the space looked like this. Lovely....peaceful....

In March, we were welcoming Spring and it looked like this.

Brace yourselves, people...

This is what our dining room looked like in April. Light. Fresh. Minimal decor. 

What. The. Heck. 

I'm getting a little weepy seeing these photos, so I'm just going to scroll past quickly : )  

Now, to be perfectly honest all these clutter-y looking papers, tools and trinkets are beautiful. To me. Really, it is me. If I didn't have a family to be accountable to, I'm afraid my whole house would probably look like this.



I guess it's just that I know this isn't what a family dining area is supposed to look like. Now that I write that, it strikes me that nothing in my family is ever the way it's supposed to be by "normal" standards. I guess God has an abnormal plan for us?

It's a good thing we have a large kitchen island to eat at.
 

Hey, this cute little smiley suitcase is getting a new life soon!






 

 

 What you will generally see in my creative space are items that inspire me, items I'm working on and, what I like to refer to as "The Possibility Pile". That's all the possible components of a project I like to have layed out before me as I'm creating. 

My daughter made this darling little fairy, and it's one of my favorite things! I'm hoping I can talk her into making some of these for the shop.

                            On today's menu: Rope under glass.

 Some old wire garden fencing becoming a candle chandelier. 

 Would you like an extra helping of cardboard and rust?

I made this large sign for a friend's wedding reception recently. If the newlyweds don't want to keep it, I may sell it. I'll try to get some photos posted of the other signs I did for the wedding soon. It was a really fun project!

 I'm really enjoying using my "new" chippy door as a photo backdrop! {Books with paper flowers available here}

 Vintage book photo holder project over here

 Decorative metal "crown" available here

 


 

 

  
 So this is where this blogger is creating. At least this week : ) I'm hoping to get some fun new items listed over at The Penny and the Pearl in the coming days. I've had sick kids and several sleepless nights over here, so I'm just a bit loopy!

 

Thanks so much for braving the tour of my makeshift studio space.  This wouldn't be nearly as much fun if you weren't here with me! 

Blessings-

Jeanette 

I'll be sharing this week over at: 

 

Funky Junk's Party Junk

The Scoop at The Farmhouse Porch 

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House 

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style 

Be Inspired at Common Ground