I've sat moreorless all day today [in between other stuff, and actually mostly I stood, following the best light around], decorating felt hearts, sewing tiny glass beads in all colours and shades, sequins and teeny tiny buttons with holes so small it takes, on average, 6 or 7 'stabbings round in the dark' before I actually get the thin beading needle to find the buttonhole through the back of the fabric each time.
I realise, too - the more I go on - how silly of me it was to mix together all the giant bags of assorted sequins I bought several years ago - how much simpler had I kept them all colour coded and not been so overcome with the colour rush that in a heady daze I mixed them all in one enormous container. Now if I want to decorate, say, a green heart in shades of green I have millions of different coloured sequins to search through for the right ones.
I'm also wishing I hadn't bought mixed colour bags of beads. I have this thing, you see, about colour. I think it goes to my head quite quickly - like a glass of strong wine mixed with lemonade, drunk through a straw. Seems like a good idea at the time, but there comes a time you regret it...
I briefly had an image of Cinderella flash by, going through the sequin box - sorting colours one by one, but reason tells me I may have to start again, buy individual colours and shades and store them in individual containers that are easy to rifle through and don't cost HOURS!
Anyway, I managed to decorate 11 hearts today, 8 more to go...
We moved into a house last September a lot smaller than the one we'd lived in for 17 years. Our front room here houses our fridge freezer (since the kitchen is also a lot smaller and allows only room for a small under counter fridge - not much good with 5 of us here) and doubles as my workspace. There is no room anywhere for a table. It took time and effort to fuse that room together so it felt less 'confused'.
I don't look back with regret - that was then, this is now... you have to stay focused on what you have now, don't you, but I may have what could be termed 'workspace envy'. I sigh inwardly, inaudibly, sometimes when I see pictures of proper work spaces... you know - a table large enough to spread your work out on, SHELVES for all your boxes of paints, materials, buttons, beads, threads and jars of scissors and pencils - decent overhead lighting.
Anyhow, no point bemoaning what you haven't got, it can terribly affect your ability to be creative and my directive has always been 'work with what you've got'.
A friend recently gave me a lovely wooden computer desk which I managed to make a bit of space for and now has my old Singer sewing machine sat on top - how lovely to be able to just take the lid off and begin sewing straight away, rather than the rigmarole of having to lift the machine out from its hidey-hole, balance it on top of an old blackboard that I had to lay flat on top of the ottoman that holds all our towels (also in the front room, since the airing cupboard I had to have built into the boiler cupboard and is only large enough to hold bedding), then kneel down on the floor to sew! Not very kind on my knees! Yesterday I was able to STAND at the sewing machine to do my bits and pieces ~ what bliss!
Last night I was up late sewing for this craft fair in under 2 weeks - I moved all my sewing paraphenalia into the kitchen for that since the strip light casts less shadows and I can actually differentiate between cerise and crimson in there! How lovely to spread all my boxes of beads, buttons and sequins across the worktop knowing, at that time of night, there was no-one needing to disturb me to get food!
Only problem with being sat up half the night (as so often happens!) is that the following day I feel really tired! Anyway.... this is is a picture of the scene in my kitchen late last night... point being, I suppose, where there's a will, there's a way! :-)
I've been invited to do my first craft stall in just under 2 weeks... well, the first craft stall where I'll be setting it up and running it anyway. I've mostly been selling online so I'm more used to making up some new stock, photographing it, sticking it up on my web and Facebook page and if anyone wants more than I've got made up, I make it to order. Or I make it up in a different colour of their choice, but with a craft stall you need to have the stock ready and on display - so that's what I'm doing... making up a lot of stock! There's lots of stuff like this kicking around at the moment...
