The time has come.
This place needs to be cleaned up so I can move forward with making stuff.
Here’s just a peek at what I’ve got going on in here right now (most of the piles seem to have found homes on the floor):
Wish me luck!
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thank you! I feel better now
Yeah Me too! I kept wondering how one 12×12 page made such a big mess.
Best of luck! mine needs some cleaning too, but just now need to craft more.
I do wish you luck! I plan to do a major overhaul of my space soon too, but I’m waiting until the colder months since my space is in the basement. Just can’t spend beautiful sunny days in the basement knowing that I have months of cold and snow ahead. Anyway, good luck to you – I can’t see the “after” pictures!
It’s nice to see that you are a real person who messies up her craft room every once in a while! I just did a major cleaning of mine too and it’s always kind of fun to go back through some things that you haven’t seen in a while and had forgotten that you had…good luck!!
Looks similar to my studio. I spent all weekend looking for a small die and embossing folder. Found them today, while looking for something else!! Good luck with your cleaning and organizing. I have made a pack with myself, not to buy more product until I use old. It is killing me not to have the new gorgeous stuff, but no one who looks at my albus will know. Will be watching your progress.
Nice to know our spaces look somewhat similar right now….clean up is on the way!
Wow. I totally had it in my head that you worked in an immaculately tidy craft room. Looks like my dining room.
In my fantasies I do
but the reality is that this is a “working” room where stuff happens. For me to have stuff happen means that there are usually piles!
me to!! I thought your office was always in tip top shape. I understand I have gone through this before so I totally get it. I think the only way I have been able to clean it up is do what you are doing put it all on the floor so I can’t walk and totally organize it. I wish you much luck!
This is making me SMILE knowing there’s another craft space that is messy like mine. Mine looked like this all summer now that the kids are back it took me two days to clean it up. Happy to report that it’s still clean and I am scrapping again, yipppeee!!
Good luck on cleaning and just know that if I lived closer I would have gladly came over and helped you or at least cheer you on from the side.
mine looks eerily similar, minus the carpet
I so want the carpet to go away!
If you need to purge any of those piles…I could use another pile in my junkie scrap room
I have to tons to part with.
I’d love to be able to organize a trade exchange for scrap supplies…that would be cool.
Have fun with your space.
I love the amount of natural light you have in your room.
I have heard people say the kitchen is the heart of the home and when it’s a mess so is the rest, but for me it is my work/craft space. When it is together I am together
Wishing you joy in your soon to be clean space.
Thanks for posting this! It makes me feel a lot more normal
Best of luck that the cleaning/organizing goes quickly.
Here’s to “Real” scrapping spaces!
This makes me smile…to know that even the best have spaces that look like mine!! I just cleaned my desk/craft area yesterday so I feel your pain.
Joining in the chorus of kindred spirits! LOL I have NEVER learned to clean as I go no matter how much my Mom begged me to do it while cooking. I cook the exact same way except I don’t put piles on the floor! LOL My best friend was in my office a couple of weeks ago and I could see the “DOES NOT COMPUTE” look on her face with all my floor piles. I’m totally intrigued by the Italy kits!
Go Ali! Nothing like a clean studio after it’s been a disaster! Next week my goal is to start unpacking the 49+ boxes that my studio has been stored in for the past three months!
Good luck!
Good to know even the pros have studios that look like mine! Happy cleaning.
be careful of those piles on the floor, ali!!!! i slipped on something on the floor while cleaning 3 weeks ago, fell and broke my arm!!
I’ll be showing this to my hubby later, he just doesn’t “get” the creative process starts with piles ;-/
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Looks like a well loved, well worked in creative space! Yes, I get the need to bring it back together. And I get that there are people who keep their work spaces pristine, but it feels so good to also see the peeps who can and do work in other ways too! (I’m not someone who works in a pristine space! lol)
Oh, thank goodness! I am so happy to see my office is not the only one that looks like that! Thank you SO MUCH for making me feel halfway normal!
even messy it’s lovely, creative. Although I know the reality of trying to work with piles around.
Too funny! It does let you see what you’ve got, though! Good luck – I recommend LOTS of coffee first…and then a beer after
Thank you for showing me this! It makes me happy to see that i’m not the only one. My desk is such a mess, I cannot create anything! I look at it, feel ashamed and crawl behind the computer. There is one good thing about it and that is that my digi projects are almost finished!! LOL
Good luck today!
Sandra K.
i can so relate to this! btw – those kits look intriguing;)
Thank you, makes me feel so much better to see your scrap space in a mess, thought I might be on my own there! I’m curious Ali – what is the kit you’ve got piled up on your floor?
Those are for my Scrapmap Italy trip: http://scrapmap.com/sm_tuscany_1011.html
Do you know when Scrapmap will be publishing information about your 2012 Ireland trip? I keep waiting and waiting and really want to see if the trip will work for me.
Hi Kim – I don’t have any additional details on that yet. It will be a fall trip. As soon as I know more I will post here as well.
Thanks, Ali.
I shook my head this morning as I passed by the craft room on my way to work and thought – well, the summer project of cleaning this place up will now be a fantastic autumn project
And, did I spy possible scrapbook on the road kits for Italy all lined up? Hooray! Can’t wait
I just finished putting together a SBOTR album for Italy two weeks ago when I was on vacation. No worries, though – I had a lot of fun doing it and will use it anyway. I’m excited to work on another with you all – and who knows, maybe I’ll need two. . .
That’s what those are Jill
. I’ve been gathering lots of fun products to include. Can’t wait to hang out with you!
I wish I had a craft room like that! Mine is currently my desk in a little corner of my bedroom.
I totally know how you feel. MIne is like that all the time. I am constantly organizing. At this point I have to wonder when that is going to stop and when the creating is going to happen?
Hi Ali – I hope it helps to know that I found your ‘mess’ super inspiring! I’m a neat freak normally but when it comes to crafting I find I’m much more creative when I can see all my stuff. It seems the same applies to seeing other people’s stash… so thank you!
good luck with the cleaning. although I think I’d be quite at home in your craft room just as is!
Oh.My.Gosh, oh your Office pics are amazing but I think my OCD head would explode if I worked in there lol – love it though, what I wouldn’t give to have a rummage in those lovely piles
Thank you for posting these pictures. It’s like looking behind the curtain on the Wizard of Oz. I don’t feel so bad about the mountain of mess in my studioffice now.
Yes!! Your Wizard of Oz analogy is PERFECT!
Hee! Have fun! My room looks very similar except that it’s also the craft area for my two and four year old kiddos. I have to pick up their hurricane of paper madness before I can even start on mine. Fortunately, the room has doors and we have fun so it’s all good.
Thank goodness i am not the only one! I can’t even see my crafty desk … seriously.
I would not know what to do without my piles! They are my life
How do you keep little bity fingers out of them?? My 19 month old thinks my drawers are full of treasures for him! I have plenty of toys in the craft room for them (he has a 3 yr old brother!), but that still does not deter.
Thank you for keeping things real and honest. You are truly an inspiration.
Part of the reason I really want to clean it up is because Anna is walking on the piles. I’m totally fine if she wants to pick things up and check them out and am happy to share with her if she asks…but I don’t like her walking on it
.
I have a 27 month old boy who thinks that anything in my office/craft area is for him as well. He’s constantly trying to open the drawers, take books off of book shelves and “WRITE PLEASE” on any/every piece of paper. He LOVES showing me all of the TREASURES he finds. My mom both tells me “You need to tell him not to touch these things because they are not his” although THAT makes them like the forbidden fruit. (And if only it were THAT EASY to simply tell him once not to touch something.) Hubby thinks “if you have some things in the room FOR HIM to play with, he may leave your things alone”, but that hasn’t worked well either – as he still thinks EVERYTHING is for him! TWO is QUITE an inquisitive age!!! I just make sure that there are never scissors or Sharpie markers left out within reach as his use of Crayola washable markers normally turn into TATOO art instead – despite reminders of “ONLY ON THE PAPER!” BTW, Ali, I have a much smaller room, but mine looks similar!
ohhhhhh I feel so much better now…hahaha
I feel like I walked into a disaster zone when I go into my craft room – but at least I am not working in disaster alone…hehe
oh look at all that creative goodness!!! mess or no mess…LOVE it! and love all those Creative Escape goodies i see here and there! i had to get my hands on that Lost & Found pink sparkly damask paper too…LOVE! Words cannot even begin to express how blessed and lucky I feel to have taken your class and met you! Meeting you in the onsite store was truly one of my “bucket list” moments. You have influenced my heart and soul more than you will ever know. xoxo Happy Cleaning!
Good luck! It’s one of my favorite things to do. I love making a mess and then cleaning it up, so I can make another mess.
i am doing the same thing right now— it’s an overwhelming project but so WONDERFUL when completed! good luck!!!
Muah to all that S.P.A.C.E.
REAL LIFE scrapbooking…I love it! I have such a hard time getting my craft room cleaned up that it inhibits me from starting new projects, but I am soooo glad to know that you are able to create beautiful things amongst the clutter. Maybe now I can give myself permission to work within the chaos. I have so much trouble trying to figure out how to organize my stashes. Many times I forget what I already have so occasionally need to rummage through everything just to remind myself to actually USE the things I loved enough to buy – instead of just STORING them. Thanks for the update!
oooooh Ali, lm so glad lm not the only one, this makes me feel so much better, and after reading all the comments l feel even better again that alot of your followers have said the same thing,also wanted to tell you, that l ordered 3 of your stamp sets about 4 weeks ago, my hubby brought them for my birthday, but l have had to wait to use them as he has made me hang out till the my birthady to get them , how hard has that been, knowing that they have been here just waiting to be inked up, well todays the day, 1st Sept in Australia, l get my stamps yippee, so anyway have a great day, whatever your doing and lm sure you will know now what l’ll be up to ……..kate
Thanks for these photos–now I don’t feel so bad about my mess. I’m still unpacking all the boxes of scrapbook stuff after nearly 4 months in my new home. I still have about 7 boxes to go and I’m intent on finding the charger to my camera! It will probably be in the last box. Oh, well, good opportunity for weeding! That’s the plan for this weekend (I’ll be listening to my favorite CD, Adele’s 21). I highly recommend it!
Wow – thanks for not sugar-coating it. This is my REAL LIFE too! I usually end up w/ lots of piles as well — and then eventually have to clear the decks and start anew. Good luck. Enjoy the process!
Oh I feel so much better now!!!!
Much luck to you! I am the same way in my craft room. Don’t have a spot for it – put it on the floor. My table is so full right now that I can hardly make a card let alone a scrapbook page. I have been slowly trying to clean it up a little every day but I think I need to make a serious mess first before it is really clean! Does that make sense?! Thanks for the inspiration Ali! Makes me want to get at it right now!
Me thinks you aren’t alone!
If you have a spare moment with nothing to do once you’ve finished… might you come help some of us in the same situation?! You’ll have had plenty of practice!
Glad we’re all in -GREAT- company!
Cheering you on!
I cleaned my craft room last night… Now I just need to go through my bins/drawers and see what I have. Hopefully, the old stuff will feel like new again & give me a little goose.
The perfectionist in me that is never quite realized, loves seeing that everyone else is not perfect in their organization either. I love seeing the perfectly organized and the real life!
what are the cool kits for?.
An event in Italy