Joyful Abode

Tell us about what we see in your photos.

What you see here is my little sanctuary that I close myself off to whenever I can quietly back away from the demands of the day to day (particularly the demands of a three year-old and a thirty-eight year old) and dive into my need for creative digestition. We have moved into this strawbale house we have been dreaming of for the past five years just this fall so to be hugged by these thick uber-insulating walls while I’m crafting is pretty much the epititomy of bliss to say the least.

What do you create in your space?

I challenged myself last year to not purchase any new clothes other than the occasional second hand item, but to try to sew everything in my wardrobe. I think my friends are starting to notice that I wear a lot of the same outfits but that’s because I have so many other vying creative pursuits that take place here; I felt (hats, scarves, purses, slippers, puppets), spin yarn and surf the web (that’s where a lot of creative inspiration occurs).

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

Make it a priority to attain it the first place. My friend was complaining that her husband wanted to build their laundry area before he finished her sewing room and I told her to put her foot down. Crafting before housework is what I always say.

Once you have called dibs on a designated nook, treat yourself then to at least one special piece of artwork to celebrate the fact that this room, or corner or little tiny area, is yours and yours alone and to honor that miracles occur here. Something is created by almost nothing; just like us. One of the first pieces I bought for this purpose is a bird cage from Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy which hangs over the big window sill over the letter “K”. And since then, I love finding prints and collages from Etsy in particular for this purpose. No one else’s tastes to consider.

How does being in your creative space make you feel?

Being in here makes me feel like I have achieved some balance in my life. After sharing myself to my daughter’s and husband’s needs all day I am practicing self-love to draw some attention to my own needs for a few moments. I feel immense gratitude. Living in a strawbale house in this blessed valley has been a dream of ours for long time. I look out the tell-tale window sills and remember how truly fortunate we are.

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

My newest crafting obsession is spinning and the fiber collection is really exploding I notice. So, keeping that organized and tidy-looking I find challenging. I recite this quote I read in an organizing catalog over and over again when tidying; “a place for everything and everything in its place”. But it’s annoying and easier typed than done.

I definitely need more surface space, so I’m trying to convince my husband that we need a new dining table so I can hoard our current one in my room. It’s the perfect size. That, and I’m sick of eating on it (my sweater sleeves are starting to snag on the fraying edges).

What is your favorite quote?

A place for everything and everything in its place.

What do you do when you’re NOT creating?

I feel like I’m always creating. Either creating the next meal or the next drama. When I’m not creating, I’m attempting to surround Edie with a dependable rythm to her day. Three meals (I love cooking by the way so everything’s from scratch), snacks, outside time and that in turn entails a lot of dishwashing.

Because of a next-door fourteen-year-old babysitter, my husband and I can now revisit some more together time. For instance, we are taking a two week long Permaculture Intensive in the spring. From wiki, “permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements, in particular the development of perennial agricultural systems that mimic the structure and interrelationship found in natural ecologies.”

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

I think it would be my big blue desk. I’ve been lugging it around with me ever since my first job in a small advertising firm after University. It’s massive and my husband hates it because we’ve had to dismantle and put it back together again with each move. It’s now being held together with packing tape and wood splints but I love it. It symbolizes for me the integration of creative process and livelihood and claiming my own personal sphere to allow it flow. That and I like the pretty blue top.

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

Oh, yeah. Big plans. As soon as my husband builds his strawbale office out somewhere on our seven acres of forest, I want to move our bedrooms from the upstair loft into our current offices downstairs and move my space to the big open loft that houses the master bedroom right now. Much more space and light. That and I love the idea that both my “offices” (one being the kitchen) will be at the center, or heart, of the house.

Do you have a website we could visit?

My blog and etsy shop are both called While Tangerine Dreams because my crafting usually occurs when my daughter is finally down for her nap or sleeping in in the morning. I’ve had my blog for a few years now, which really reveals my growth as a fiber artist and mother over the years. Originally we were to build our dream house from scratch on our land, but fate had different plans for us. I love how my blog was able to capture the idealism we had at the beginning of our strawbale adventures (which, I suppose aren’t over yet!).

My Etsy shop is brand new. I sold my hemp soap company in December, and coming from a family of entrepreneurs (my mother is a professional seamstress) I couldn’t not have a venture (hope that doesn’t sound too double negative) to finance/justify/instigate my creative pursuits.

Get free shipping if you email or convo the password “Joyful Adobe Walls”! Get it? Forgot to mention I’m a punny girl.

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