Happy New Year!! - 2013

Happy New Year everyone!!! It's a new year and that means ... new goals!

I don't usually make New Years resolutions, but I think maybe I should this year. I've been trying to build up to doing so many things that I feel if I just lay them out, then it'll be easier to go along with them. That'll totally work, right?? Most of my goals this year actually have to do with my jewelry/crafts/business. There are maybe a few that aren't, but most are definitely geared towards getting my butt in gear about my crafts and jewelry.

First things first: Clean that craft room!!

**WARNING!! - Things in the following pictures may scare the weak-hearted. Please take caution while viewing....

 Straight ahead, the box that's half open? Yeah, that's my friend's Christmas wreath I'd borrowed and taken down.... I just hadn't quite gotten the box closed yet. The big tubbie it's sitting on would be a mix of mine and my bff's Halloween decorations I never got a chance to put away. The box by the Joanns bag would be kitchen dishes and things to use for Christmas to put food on/in I borrowed/nabbed from my mom.

On the floor, that's the 2nd butterfly punched paint chip art piece I promised you guys last post that I never quite finished.... Then there's the little wooden shelf that I was using to work on some clay pieces one day with a friend before the holidays exploded. My sewing table on the right is right by the door, therefore, has become a sort of catch-all sadly.

This is supposed to be clean enough to do clay and resin on and/or possibly plug my laptop into that monitor to use for references when working on said clay and resin projects.

 And a better idea of the mess that is my sewing table...**siiigh**

So there you have it! My horrible mess of a craft room! This would not do! This is not a space that promotes a healthy, creative mind! I haven't been able to make anything more than simple holiday decorations since maybe Halloween? No wonder I was in such a funk!!

This last weekend, I told myself I would get in there and do what I should have done ages ago and really, shouldn't have to do at all if I'd only learn to pick up regularly.... But on to the half-reveal!!

 This is after about 4-5 hours of solid work picking up, re-arranging, cleaning, etc on Saturday. (Hey look! There IS a floor!! OMG!)

A nice view of the 2 new Sterilite drawers I got. I was lucky enough to find the same kind as I already had before. I use these for a majority of my non-fabric craft supplies and this is before I'd decided what to fill the other half of the drawers, but I'll highlight those in a bit.

I spent another 4-5 hours in my room on Sunday but I was unable to finish everything sadly. I did however get about 90% done and now my craft room looks like this!:

 TA-DAAAA!!!!! Doesn't this look MUCH better?? **nod nod nod** I am kinda proud of myself, but the sad reality is it should never have gotten this bad in the first place! I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted things arranged which is why I already had the drawers I did, and the hardware drawers above my sewing table house my beads and basic jewelry making supplies. The pegboard was built by my loving boyfriend and is fantastic since before, I only had those on my desk taking up space, or even on the floor! :(

My room isn't 100% yet, but this is where I left off Sunday night.

Since I've recently gotten into making loom knitted scarves, I had to store my yarn in a safe, clean place so I bought one of those hanging shoe organizers and I love it! It even has a little side pocket on the top 2 shelves that I can put my tools in!!

 These are my loverly Sterilite drawers and I love them!!! I also love my label-maker. It is the most awesomest of awesome tools!! I have labeled the drawers as to what is in them, and all that's really left to clean are the stragglers. The last few things that you can never really determine where they need to go, are always the last to go somewhere!! My goal in this is to make sure they don't just get shoved somewhere, but are actually organized and put away with like items where I can easily locate them later.

You may ask why I showed you all this. You may ask, "Aren't I embarrassed by all this?!" Simple answer is: yes. I am extremely embarrassed by this. I've never been a spotless kinda gal, even when I was young I had trouble keeping my room clean. But with as many crafts and supplies, you have to understand.... it's just plain HARD!! 

This brings me to my goals/resolutions, and if any of you have similar problems, these could be for you as well?

- KEEP ORGANIZED!! - This may be hard, but it's necessary! Goal = monthly spot checks through my craft room to make sure that I have given myself ample resources to keep my crafts organized, and make sure I do a sweep to make sure everything is in its place

- CRAFT OFTEN - This should be fairly easy, but I have sub-goals to help myself along the way = 
         - Monthly craft challenge - to be explained in next post ;)
         - Keep up with holidays, and try to make things relevant to them at least 3+ months ahead of time. This can't start yet, but maybe 4th of July things could be first?
         - Determine a certain number of things I want to add new to my Artfire store, BeadsbyCelleste every month so that I have fresh stock and attempt to make new sales.

- FINISH PROJECTS I START! - This is definitely something I have a big problem with! I start things, and once I get as far as realizing I pretty much have the procedure down, there's a good chance I drop the task and go on to something new! Goal = monthly checks on what I haven't finished, and make a conscious effort to finish as many, if not all, of these projects. I think maybe even designating a certain area in my room that I could put these projects so I can maybe go straight there and see what needs to be finished. This is definitely inclusive of all the curtains I promised my mom years ago as well as finishing the curtains I started for my brother (along with pillowcases for throw pillows for living room). 

- BLOG MORE - I really want to start keeping up with this thing better and I want to get so good at updating that you guys can actually expect a post schedule!! Wouldn't that be fantastic! :p

There are probably a few more things I should add to this list, but I think this is good enough to start with. I may add anything else later...

I'll catch you guys later!