Reclaiming the Basement

Two years ago, we moved into this house. Things we didn't know where they were going to go or what was in the box ended up in the basement. I've chipped away at it periodically, unpacking a little here and there, but it's driving me crazy. There's space down there that's supposed to be for dancing (it used to be workout space, complete with mirrored wall, stereo and rubber-matted floor; previous owners had a home gym). Since it's full of stuff, I can't dance, which makes me sad.

I've got art supplies, craft supplies, miscellaneous sewing supplies, fabric, etc. strewn all over. I can't find things I know I have, and that also makes me sad. Part of the reason I have so many UFOs is because I can't find the things I want/need to finish them. (The other part is because I have the attention span of a caffeinated hummingbird.)

This weekend is WorldCon/ChiCon 7, and my husband (whose office is in the basement) is going. Since he won't be home, I won't feel guilty about making noise and playing music he doesn't care for, distracting him from whatever he's working on. (He's a mad scientist, who knows what-all he does in there...) So given this opportunity, I'm going to work some more on getting that space organized. Which will mean making a bigger mess as I sort. I may run over to the dollar store and get some cheap containers to sort things into, that way if I can't finish, at least the piles are contained and sorted instead of heaps on the floor.

Once the mess is contained, I can work on (not this weekend, LOL) getting the newly emptied and clean space decorated. I have Pinterest boards for the dance side and the lounge side. And I really want to get started... It's really the last space in the house that needs to be finished, and it's kind of important to me that I have a place to dance again, since I my classes are too far to reasonably drive for an hour-long class. I'll also be able to do yoga and tai chi in that space, once it's cleared out. Health, exercise and sanity are all hinging on me getting that done! Perhaps a small exaggeration, but only a small one...

SO... with the idea of stating my intention to the universe (and by "universe" I mean "internet") as catalyst for actually accomplishing something, here's the current "before" pictures...

Mirror wall on the left, lounge area on the right, mess everywhere...

Sewing area left, drafting table (for various projects) center, more mess...

The black floor (what you can see of it) is the rubber floor matting), the goal is to clear it all.

Boxes of toys that need to be dealt with.

The wall visible on the left will be lined with bookcases, and my action figures will move to there.
They don't fit my dance theme, but they belong more on the "feminine" of the basement. I'll make it work...

Drafting table, and one of the natural light sources from a window well. (Need a sheer to cover the "view.")

Sewing area. Believe it or not, I have been using the machine like that, for small felt food stuffies
for my daughter. Imagine what I could accomplish if it were cleaned up!

The mostly-done lounge. The wall on the left of the photo (which is also the mirror wall)
will be painted red. All those DVDs will be moved to...

...where the action figures are now.

See? I'm trying to keep it all organized!

I really am! It will be easier (I hope) when I have everything sorted so I can find it all.

So there ya go, my in-progress basement as it looks this morning (Friday, August 31, 2012). I will update on Monday with what I got done. I'm kind of hoping to be able to show a ton of progress, but when I worked on it a few weeks ago, it hardly looked like I made a dent, even though several boxes of children's books made it up to the new children's library/guest room.

Don't Take the Free Ride

I know a lot of people really hate Nickelback, though I don't really understand why. Whatever. Their song, "If Today Was Your Last Day" written by Chad Kroeger, from the album Dark Horse (2008), has a great deal of resonance for me. Here are the lyrics if you don't know it:

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had, if today was your last day?
What if, what if, if today was your last day?

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the price is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you're never living twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are

So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothing stand in your way
'Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

Some people might think that it's rather trite, but there's one line in particular that rings like a bell in my head: "Don't take the free ride in your own life." That single line makes me want to be better, do more, be daring, take risks. If you spend all your time analyzing if something will work, you may never actually find out if it does.

There's about 90 in that pile. I don't remember when I started saving them.

I've been saving fortune cookie fortunes for years, with no real clear idea of what I wanted to do with them, but saving them nonetheless. Now I know. If you read the lyrics, some of them are short and pithy: "live like you're never living twice," "it's never too late to shoot for the stars," "the hands of time are never on your side." Don't those sound a little like fortunes? Here's some from my cookies: "Rely on your own good judgement to lead you to success." "Nothing in the world is accomplished without passion." "Be quicker of mind than of tongue."

As I was poking through them, I noted that there are some duplicates, and I suppose I could omit them, but I don't think that I need to or should. I'd be astonished if there aren't more, given my horrid habit of stashing things everywhere, but this is the majority of them, and I think sufficient for what I have in mind. I'm going to take that single, resonating line and superimpose it over a canvas covered with fortunes. The size of the canvas will be dictated by the number of fortunes, but it looks like I have enough to cover an area 14x18 inches (leaving some space between fortunes), and leave space at the edge for framing.

Unfortunately, I have really lousy handwriting. (Really. Lousy. Handwriting. People have asked me if I was a doctor upon seeing my signature -- true story!) Putting a paintbrush in my hand isn't going to make me a calligrapher, so I may attempt to recreate the above text with cardstock and an X-acto knife. Dunno, I'll see when I get there.

Also, I will be at the Salt Fork River Art Festival again this year, at the Sleepy Creek Vineyards in Fairmount, Illinois (just outside Oakwood, in east central Illinois). It's a lot of fun, there are lots of wonderful artists and artisans, live entertainment and demonstrations, plus... WINE!

Organization

It's really the bane of the creative mind, isn't it? Inspiration strikes and a mess is born. Or maybe that's just me... I like to work on small things at my desk, because that's where my computer is, and where I reference ideas, chat with friends, and obsessively check my email. My desk is a disaster.

For Christmas a couple years ago, my husband and mother-in-law got me two incredibly useful things: a sewing table and a drafting table. The sewing table meant I could have a dedicated place for my sewing machine, which would mean I could actually use it -- and I have! The drafting table meant that I could work on a nice clean surface on a variety of projects and not work at my desk. That hasn't quite happened, even though all my art supplies are in the basement, I still haul everything upstairs and clutter up the main floor to work on things at or near my computer. My wonderful husband also got me a small netbook that would be perfect for using at the drafting table. I could still access all the things I need to from there, and I would have a much larger space to work on with the table than I do at my desk.

Currently, the basement is a much larger-scale version of my desk: random stuff everywhere. I've been working on the basement, trying to get it unpacked and finished at long last, after having been in the house for three summers now. For some horrible reason, since childhood, my method or cleaning up a space has consisted of making a much (much) larger mess, sorting it all out, and eventually putting it all away. That's sort of what's happening downstairs. I have to see what-all I have before I can figure out where it needs to go. Plus, there's a ton of stuff down there that either needs to be pitched or given to charity. (Trash day is Monday, and I am motivated.)

We had to replace the furnace yesterday, because the circuit board that runs the blower (which the air conditioner needs to work) failed. Fortunately, we found this out before it was -20º and after our wretchedly hot July. The space where the installers were working is where I store all my stuff. I had to move things out of their way so they could work. This morning, I worked on getting things put back, as well as organizing a little as I went. I found a small pouch that had things in it I'd stashed for safety (fragile components for necklaces that haven't yet happened) as well as a sandwich bag full of more beads and more unfinished jewelry pieces I've been sitting on for ages, because I didn't quite have what I wanted for them.

I've been trying to find the best way of organizing various UFOs* so that I could lay hands on them easily. Want to work on the Jacket Project? No problem, here's all the stuff for that. Find a component that would be perfect for that purple necklace? Here's the rest of the pieces. I do have some of that done. There are boxes for the Jacket Project, and there's one for the Christmas granny squares I want to make, one one for the altered book I want to get back to, but there's so many little projects, like the necklaces, that really need smaller storage. I'm thinking that a small parts organizer -- one of those things like for holding screws and washers and whatnot in the garage -- would be perfect. The little drawers could be easily labeled with what's in it, and a lot of related things could be stored together without getting jumbled up.

From Harbor Freight

If I had something like that (above) not only would it hold individual projects, but also a great deal of my beads... maybe even all of them (well, ok, most), and tools in the larger drawer. Having all (most) the beads in one place would certainly simplify my storage, which is currently pretty scattered and non-uniform. I think I could also rig it to hang on the wall, and that would be perfect.

At any rate, I have some ideas which should make my life easier and undoubtedly my husband happier, since it means that all my crap won't be scattered everywhere. Imagine the creativity that could flow if I could actually lay my hands on the stuff I know I've got but can't find! The mind boggles...

*UnFinishedObject

Fashion Statement

I am not the girliest girl around, and I haven't been fond of pink since I was 10... but sometimes, exceptions must be made. I've been lusting after some superheroine cotton fabric for ages, and today I finally broke down and bought some, because I also found what I think will be the perfect skirt pattern for it.

I bought this from eQuilter, but it's also available from Indygo Junction.

With a little luck, this will be as easy as it looks, and I will have a fabbo "Girl Power" skirt for my efforts. Here's the fabric I bought, by Camelot Cottons (featuring DC heroines Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Supergirl):

The scale of the top right pattern is considerably larger than the other three, if you note the ruler.

It's a lot of pink, particularly for me, but that's kind of the point. It IS pink, it IS girl-centric, and when you claim it and own it, it's powerful. Or maybe I'll look utterly ridiculous and be too embarrassed to leave the house... There are more coordinating fabrics in the "Girl Power" set, but that would have made for a far pricier skirt that I was willing to stomach. I would also love-love-love to have Castle Corsetry make a matching corset or waist cincher, but corsets (being a work-intensive thing to craft) aren't cheap. Don't get me wrong - I don't begrudge her a dime! - but that's a chunk of change for something I won't be able to wear often. (But what the hell, I sent her an email asking about it. I can either swing the cost or I can't, doesn't hurt to ask.) Perhaps I will find another way to complete this very pink outfit...

UPDATE: I contacted Castle Corsetry, and she told me that I could put half down and pay the balance on completion, which makes it easier, financially. Of course, I still need to come up with the first half...

What I'm Working On

At any given moment, I have tons of UFOs (UnFinished Objects), but really -- doesn't every creative person? I'm not sure what it is, but I have a dreadful habit of bouncing between projects. Inspiration strikes, and I drop one thing to start another.

This summer has been kind of a rough one. I had some health issues that put me in the hospital after ER visits. My daughter didn't have summer school this year, so we've been sort of on top of each other. Stress levels (which may have contributed to the health concerns) have been pretty high, and to make things worse, my anticipated summer trip to Ontario disintegrated, in part due to those same health issues.

But what, you might ask, does that have to do with projects and UFOs? Well, earlier this month during a visit to my parents' home while Dad's sis was up, we got to talking about family history. When I got back home, I dug out a CD of scanned genealogy notes, sent to me by someone who's probably a cousin somewhere. I'd printed out maybe a quarter of them, and I finished (yay!) that, and comb-bound them. Once that was done, I started inputting that info into my genealogy program (Reunion), in a new family file, since I'm not sure where all these people connect. As I'm working on all this data entry, some familiar places keep popping up; these Loyalist cousins (at least, I think they're cousins...) were settled near where my friends live in Ontario! And there's a museum with researchers who know the line. So now my desire to get back to Canada is even stronger, since now there may be some research links there, and I might be able to tie myself to the original family that emigrated from Germany, pre-Revolution! But that's not creative, you may say, and I suppose you'd be right. "Creative" research is not the sort you should engage in. So even if it's not a creative endeavor, it IS a work-in-progress, so I mention it here.

Another semi-(un)creative project is my selective catalog of superheroines and villainesses; I've made it to the Rs. For someone who hates data entry, I sure have a bunch of it going on. Anyway, the point of that started out to be a more inclusive list of female action figures than the best one that existed online previously. The writer of that list stopped updating it (life goes on) and I thought I'd pick up the slack. But I went a step further and included the good and bad girls of note, regardless of whether they have an action figure. Why? Because I'm insane, clearly...

I still haven't finished my Flame Jacket, and all that needs doing to it is putting on the sequin appliqués. It's been sitting on Mathilda in the basement for months... *sigh* And if I'm going up to Ontario this fall, I might actually want a jacket. Better move this one to the top of the To-Do list.

I did finish one of the skirts, and am happy with how it turned out. I started working on a second, but stalled on that one. Hemming the dress is probably the easiest thing to finish, and if I hurry up and do it, I'll be able to wear it this summer. (Heaven knows it's been too bloody hot for long dresses!) I mostly finished one of the shrugs, I just need to get the right color of ribbon for the tie. (And that's another thing that's been sitting for ages, and would be so easy to finish!)

I sort of finished the t-shirt necklace, but I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with it, so it may not be finished. It's set to the side, while I consider.

I have a wall quilt planned and material purchased for the foyer. I have decided how I want to do the wall quilt with the Hawaiian fabric I bought on Maui (5 years ago...). And I want to make a wall quilt using material from my wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses (Mom made them, so I have scrap material from those, will not be cutting up my dress).

I want to finish redoing my closets, but I need to consider the second space carefully, since I learned things on the first space. This is a more back-burner project, although fall is a good time to be working in the garage.

I've sort of taken the year off after the gallery where Shattered Photos pieces were sold closed. I'm trying to regroup, and haven't been very diligent about picking myself up from that and moving on.

I need to do a revised edition of my book, and that's sort of stalled, too. Really, all that needs revision is one (important) chapter, but I'm having trouble getting started. I'd also like to do a new/revised family cookbook, since so many children have gotten married and started their own families since I did the first one 12 years ago. Those two things go hand-in-hand, or would, if I could jump-start the process.

Plus there's various other small things, ideas, planned projects, etc. I have materials to make various things with, and haven't gotten started... Not to mention the basement, which is one huge UFO -- have the paint and the plan, need to finish reorganizing the space (still not completely unpacked from the move 2 years ago).

I'm exhausted thinking about all this. Maybe I'll go take a nap...

Closet Redo: The Home Stretch

I'm a bad wife -- I put my husband to work on Father's Day. (I made it up to him with the dinner he requested.) Saturday we built the tower. It's made with sanded plywood, MDF and wood veneer tape. I ran into some slight issues when I trimmed the veneer tape. In cutting off the excess, I bit into the wood in a few places -- oops! So I sanded those places smooth, and I'm calling this "technique" unintentional antiquing. Instead of a new-looking piece of furniture, this one has dings on the edges, just like if it was an older piece! Woo! (Lemons to lemonade, people... besides, it's in the closet, not the front hall.) I stained it and let it dry overnight, and this morning we moved it upstairs.
 
I scrubbed the scuffed paint in the back of the closet with a Magic Eraser. He suggested I might want to repaint the walls in there since everything was out, but I wasn't keen on that. The Magic Eraser worked as advertized and the scuffs and smudges are gone, and I didn't have to paint (huzzah!).

Blank slate, before I cleaned the walls.

I removed the strip of baseboard so the tower fits more snugly into the space and flush to the wall. We got it in the closet, put up the cleat to support the shelf, and went to put up the closet rod... and discovered that I miscalculated. The rods I got are too long. *sigh* He had to cut them down so I can still use them, because I'd really rather have metal than wooden rods. Since I already miscalculated once, we got the first rod up, hung stuff on it, measured measured measure, then hung the second rod. Once this closet is finished, I can look at the other one, and see about redesigning it, as well.

Baseboard removed

The edge of plywood isn't pretty, but veneer tape fixes that! Looking just at the edges, there's no difference
between the the plywood and the MDF shelves, because it's all got the veneer on it.

 I am just stupid-excited about this. I am not a girlie-girl. I don't have a massive shoe and purse collection. But for some reason, this project is just firing up both those Xs, and making me want to Squeee! with girlie anticipation. Maybe it will inspire me to embrace style and femininity in a way I haven't before. (But I'm not holding my breath...)

For the organization part, I put my hat boxes to the top shelf, which is high enough for me to need a step stool to reach. Since I don't wear my hats that often, not a big deal. I had a couple of baskets already, just the right size, that I used for socks, which are now mostly in laundry baskets because my sock drawer is full. (I have tons of socks!) I bought clear plastic shoe boxes to keep what shoes I do have dust free.

Both baskets contain socks. The shelf above the basket is purses
and hair things. The very top shelf is mainly hats.

Shoes!

Years ago, I made the handiest thing ever for organizing my barrettes, but it's too long and the material has yellowed, so I made new ones.

Just a strip of corduroy with a large split ring at the top --
the texture of the material grips the barrettes and holds them in place!

I used robe hooks to hang the new barrette strips. They fit neatly there in an otherwise unusable space; that wall they're on is only about 8 inches wide.

There's one more space in this closet that I'm customizing...

I'm going to add shelves to that awkward space below the barrettes and the jewelry board. Those shelves will hold my Orphanware™ pieces, and organize more jewelry. The space will be stylishly designed to both hold and display the pieces, making them an attractive feature that's more than just utilitarian.

So there it is! My nearly-completed closet redo! I'm so pleased with how it turned out, and plan to put even more thought into the other closet, and measure more meticulously. This was an excellent learning exercise.

UPDATE: Here's the rest of what I did with the closet.

    





















The shelves are supported by (and glued to) small cleats nailed to the drywall. Each shelf is a little narrower at the pointed end, so that the shelves sort of "fan out" as they go down the wall. I did this because I wanted the bottom shelves to be a little more visible and not be completely obscured by the shelves above. They're white so the focus is on the Orphanware™ and jewelry, not the shelves. It's a dark corner, having shelves anything but white would have been really dark and distracting. Penelope was my able assistant while I worked on this. I am insanely pleased with how it all turned out.

What Is Old Can Be New Again

When I was in high school, a summer vacation trip to see family in Mississippi usually also meant a shopping trip for school clothes. One year I got a tie-dyed t-shirt and matching leggings. The leggings were ok, but the t-shirt... oversized with really bright, rich colors, a saturated rainbow with black on white cotton. In spite of many washings, the colors have stayed bright, though the black isn't as dense as it once was. That t-shirt went to college with me, it moved to Chicago with me when I got married, it moved to the 'burbs when my baby was born, and moved again when we needed to find bigger digs. That t-shirt is older than my daughter, older than my marriage! The collar was stretched and fraying, there was a small hole in the front that my previous dog put in it with a toenail, and the seams in the underarms were giving way. Its condition wasn't good enough for donation to charity, but I had seen a way to recycle t-shirts that I wanted to try. Today, I cut up my beloved t-shirt, using a tutorial I found at Polka Dot Pineapple.

Top left, cut and stretched "yarn;" top right, cut but unstretched t-shirt;
bottom, the rolled up skein.

I also saved the sleeves and the shoulders. The pieces are too small to make yarn from, but too big to toss. I have an idea for some of it, but that will only use a small rectangle. It won't be wasted.

My plan is to make a necklace with it, something along these lines but in reverse (multicolored necklace with white embellishments), and not as full; more like this:

I think I want plastic or wood for the beads. It needs to be lightweight, and glass beads would be too heavy. Too, the holes are going to need to be sizable, and I'm more likely to find what I need in wood or plastic. I'll need to browse to see, and if I can't find what I want, I'll just make my own! I might make a bracelet to match, and earrings? Hmm..