Joyful Abode

1. Tell us about what we see in your photos. (Give us the tour!)

Welcome to my craft area! This has been a work-in-progress since I began stamping and card-making around 3 years ago. I live in a 1-bedroom apartment so space is somewhat limited. As a result, my bedroom serves a dual purpose.

My work area is made up of 2 desks (with filing cabinets), an extra 2-drawer filing cabinet for 12×12 papers, a pegboard, and a shelf along with your basic storage containers. The latest addition to my work area was the shelf and lighting system which I purchased in December. My bedroom hardly receives any natural light because I only have 1 window that’s shaded by this large tree. After a while I realized I needed accent lighting in addition to my desk lamp to illuminate the far corners of my desk.

Because I work with a lot of card stock, paper storage has become a necessity. For a long time I kept my papers in a stack until my collection grew too large to just be able to pick up the entire stack and rifle through it. Last summer, I saw these desks for sale on Craigslist for $60 and immediately called the woman who posted the listing. I was thrilled—I finally had a place to store 8.5×11” paper and cardstock.

I store all my stamps in one of the drawers of the standalone filing cabinet next to my desk. Right now my collection is small enough to store them this way, but I’m considering switching to the EZ-Mount storage system in the near future.

Above my desk, I keep supplies stored in plastic shoe boxes I purchased from the 99 Cent store and Bed Bath & Beyond. Even though they’re clear, I still like to label the boxes using my handy Dymo label maker.

My sister found this EZ Peg Board system at Target on clearance and bought it for me. It was such a steal, I couldn’t pass it up. I keep a lot of my often-used supplies hooked on this board. On my desk, I also have rotating cube storage with drawers and a removable basket, cork board panels to tack up inspirational photos or reminders, and a magnetic strip to display some of my favorite cards.

I think my space will constantly be a work-in-progress as I continue accumulating more stuff, but for now I think I’m really happy with it.

2. What do you create in your space?

I create cards mostly, but now I’m getting into scrapping and other paper crafts.

3. What advice do you have for others who are trying to put together their own creative space?

Be patient! Try not to do it all at once. Keep an eye out for deals on Craigslist (of course use caution) and at garage sales for storage. Grow into the space you have before you consider expanding.

4. How does being in your creative space make you feel?

Exhilarated! My creative space started out as a small tempered-glass-and-metal table (a remnant from an old computer desk). I think in some ways it actually hindered my ability to be creative because the thought of having to work on it, to shift things around just so I could find a space to stamp, was discouraging. But now I have more than enough room and can work for a couple hours at a time without so much as having to tidy up between projects.

5. What has your biggest challenge been in creating and maintaining your creative space?

Keeping it tidy has been my biggest challenge. Although that’s my biggest challenge in keeping house anyway so I’m not surprised! But I’m developing a better habit of sorting through my supplies once a month to see what I can toss, what I can sell on Ebay, or what I can give to friends or family.

6. What is your favorite quote?

I’m not one for keeping favorite quotes because I tend to forget them when I find another quote that strikes a chord in me, but the latest quote I’ve come across is, “Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought –Henry Bergson.”

7. What do you do when you’re NOT creating?

In addition to stamping, I have a full-time job as a creative developer and project planner for an Internet marketing company. When I’m not doing that, I’m cooking, baking, playing with my little mini-schnauzer, spending time with my family and friends, or enjoying a good book or a movie. The only other hobby that I would consider being as consuming as stamping is digital photography.

8. What one piece of furniture or organizational equipment could you not live without?

I would probably say my desks. As simple as it may sound, those have made the greatest impact on my ability to work and be creative because it allows me to lay out multiple options in front of me and swap things out without having to feel crowded.

9. What is your next “move” for your creative space? Do you have plans for its future?

Ideally I’d like to separate my craft space from my bedroom without having to move it out to the living area where I’d be forced to keep things tidy all the time. I’ll probably add another set of shelves above the current ones I have right now for additional storage, but that’s far into the future. In the near future, I’ll probably expand my pegboard so I’ll have more room to keep my favorite items within reach and implement an EZ-mount system for my stamps.

10. Do you have a website we could visit?

I have a blog and personal website where I often post photos and write about the projects I work on (or anything that’s going on in my life). I also have a Flickr account where I post photos from my digital camera.

 If you’d like to keep up with these inspiring features, you can subscribe to Joyful Abode using your favorite subscription application, or add the feed as a friend on Livejournal. If you’re interested in having your creative space featured on Joyful Abode, let me know by commenting here (and be sure to include your email address so I can get in touch).

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