Looking up - A craft room gone crazy

I'm burned out.  I admit it.  I haven't had a real vacation (more than 3 days off in a row) since last June.  I know it may sound like I'm whining like a spoiled brat, but I need some time to just "be".  Of course, "being" for me is still fairly active.  BT (Before Troy), I had gotten into the habit of taking the week of Labor Day off of work.  It was great because I could get 9 days off in a row and it only cost me 4 days of vacation.  Besides, my birthday usually falls during that week.  Sweet!  I would use the week to finish/start projects around my house, sleep in, veg, work on any craft projects I had going, etc etc etc.  It was fabulous.

Since Troy came on the scene, my vacation days have been scheduled to make the most of motorcycle riding season and spending those vacation days on ACTUAL vacations.  Go figure!  While that has been wonderful, I've really been feeling like I'm neglecting my house.  A LOT!  For instance, I started laying tile in the basement right before I met him and that project STILL isn't finished.  We'll just say that was over 6 years ago.  YIKES!

So, I took the day off to make some headway at home.  My craft (aka JUNK room) is bulging at the seams and sending me to a not very nice place mentally, so it's time to get rid of some crap stuff.  I've been scouring the local thrift stores in search of containers to store my supplies and I've been pretty lucky in what I've found since most everything has to fit into a shelf I have from Ikea.

This morning I started the sorting and dejunking and so far I've rounded up 3 BIG boxes and 1 HUGE bag of stuff to donate and I feel MUCH better already, so things are definitely looking up!  The problems I'm having now are that I (1) have waaaaay to many interests and hobbies and (2) I am trying to fit too much furniture in what is essentially a fairly small bedroom.  So I need to find new homes for a bookshelf, a chair and my treadmill (maybe the treadmill should go somewhere I MIGHT actually use it, huh?).  I thought I was going to move the bookshelf to my back room, but I got rid of enough books that I don't need to use it back there.  Whew!

In the process of dejunking and reorganizing, I'm taking the time to label everything.  I just have to say how much I LOVE my labeler.  It's fantastic.  For those things where I want the labels to be a bit more decorative, I'm using my Cricut and my sewing machine.  Once I've finished them, I'll show you the old (1950s and older) suitcases I'm in the process of redoing to hold all of my extra photos.  I take a LOT of photos!

Stay tuned!