CLEANING UP THE CRACK HOUSE

I WONDER IF THERE WILL EVER BE

A MAGAZINE FOR MIXED MEDIA ARTISTS

WHOSE STUDIO'S LOOK LIKE CRACK HOUSES?

YOU KNOW, LIKE CRACK HOUSE STUDIOS

WHERE ARTIST'S CREATE.

the main isle runs through,

well, I can't really call it the major storage area...

but, L@@K, you can see THE FLOOR!

I DID *YET ANOTHER* MASSIVE OVERHAUL

OF THE CRACK HOUSE THIS WINTER.

IT LOOKS REALLY GOOD IN THESE PHOTOS

BUT I WOULD BE LESS THAN HONEST IF I TOLD YOU

THAT IT STILL LOOKED QUITE THIS GOOD.

I keep my sewing machine close - at the top of my work area.
I MEAN, IF I DIDN'T EVER WORK IN MY STUDIO

IT COULD ALWAYS LOOK LIKE THESE PHOTOS.

BUT, THE MINUTE I START A PROJECT,
COME ON, THE ARTIST IN ME DOESN'T HAVE TIME
TO BE NELLIE NEAT.I HAD A BRILLIANT IDEA AND TOOK THE DOORS

OFF OF THE FRONT OF THE THREE LOCKER STYLE

SHELVING AREAS IN THE STUDIO.

MY STUDIO MAY LOOK EVEN MESSIER,

BUT NOTHING CAN HIDE FROM ME!OH, THIS IS JUST PERFECT!

SEE WHAT I MEAN?? LOOKS LIKE NO ONE PLAYS IN HERE!

I THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE SOME OF THOSE STUDIOS

IN "THE" MAGAZINE BEFORE THEY'RE BOXED UP, PAINTED UP AND SPRUCED UP.

(OH, HUSH, I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR STUDIO)

I WANTED YOU TO SEE MY OLD YELLOW CHILDREN'S CHAIR
AND THE VINTAGE PINK WORK LAMP ON TOP.

I JUST LOVE THIS!
IT SITS BETWEEN THE SIZZIX AND SOLDERING SIDES OF THE 2ND WORK TABLE.
I'M GOING TO LET YOU ENJOY THE REST OF THE PHOTOS
WITHOUT ME YAPPIN' AT 'CHA.
YOU CAN PROBABLY FIGURE IT ALL OUT.
OH, I SEE YOU SHAKING YOUR HEAD IN DISBELIEF....

I MAY GIVE YOU A WORD OR TWO OF EXPLANATION IF NECESSARY.

OOPS! STILL WORKIN' ON THE 'LOOK'!
JEWELRY AREA
JEWELRY WORK AREA

WHICH, TRUTH BE TOLD,
YOU REALLY CAN'T EVER SEE THE TABLE TOP IN REAL LIFE.
MORE UNFINISHED WORK...PUTTIN' UP EMBELLISHMENTS...

I ADORE CABINET CARDS

STAMPS....ONE OF MY DRUGS.

LOTS AND LOTS

AND LOTS

AND HUNDREDS

AND LOTS MORE STAMPS.

PAPER, OH, PRETTY, PRETTY PAPER,

GOTTA HAVE MORE.
IT'S NOT ME, IT'S THE DRUG - PATTERNED PAPER.

VINTAGE LACE.

SO MUCH LACE IS NEVER ENOUGH.

I DISCOVERED VINTAGE SUITCASES THIS YEAR

FOR STORAGE.

VINTAGE BOOKS

AND LEDGERS

AND MUSIC, OH, MY.

I FEEL FAINT.

I HAVE MY PRETTY LITTLE AREAS

THROUGHOUT THE STUDIO

THAT MAKE ME SMILE.

I'M EMBARRASSED TO TELL YOU HOW MANY

VINTAGE BABY SHOES I HAVE.

BUT, IT'S NOT MY FAULT!

PAPER RIBBON - SO STINKIN' CUTE.

ORGANIZATION FINDS IT'S WAY TO THE GARAGE...

OR, STUDIO OVERFLOW.

I DELIGHT IN DRIVING INTO THE GARAGE AND

SEEING MY LARGER FRAMES HANGING IN FRONT OF ME.

DON'T FLIP OUT!

THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE ORGANIZING

WHAT HAS BEEN COVERING MY GARAGE FLOOR.

HEY! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!

I CAN SEE SOME IMPROVEMENT.

AND, I FOUND A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

AND MOST OF EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE

SOLD IN MY ETSY SHOP

JUST AS SOON AS YOU GET OVER HERE

AND HELP ME TAKE THE PICTURES,

FIX THE PICTURES,

UPLOAD THE PICTURES,

DESCRIBE THE PICTURES

PRICE THE ITEMS,

AND DETERMINE THE POSTAGE.

I HAVE A CRACK STUDIO.

I OBVIOUSLY NEED HELP.

UNTIL LATER,

I LOVE YOU AND

I'LL BE LOOKING FOR YOUR CAR

DRIVIN' UP THE LANE,

Jan

"MY NAME IS JAN AND I'M A HOARDER"

My sweet and precious fellow hoarder, Shell, of Bungalow Bling, is hosting this Hoarder's Event.

There's a second part to this party (party??) for

Crafts Gone Bad.

Yeppers, she covered just about everything.

She and I are recent blog buddies.

She's the sweetest thing and we hit it off right away.

Though a bit skeptical at first,

I believe she was sincere when she told me that,

no, this event was not created to mortify me

in front of my fellow bloggers and dear friends.

*Anyone know different??*

So, it is with a wee bit of trepidation that I show you the photos of my studio, aka "the crack house".

Won't it be nice to finally understand why I would nickname my studio "the crack house"??

The photos tell the story.

I just have to tell you first that none of this is any of my fault.

The main area of my work space where I work.

This is to the right of my work area. I try really hard to keep things

out of the front of my sewing machine so I'll actually use it.

 Darlene on the floor. Horrors.

And, she's under foot. My foot; feet.
Right where my chair is

supposed to slide under the table.

Dar' thinks she's pretty hot and can land where ever.

Ahhh, yes, everyone needs an orderly jewelry making area.

See the stamps?? I have about 750 more.

NO, I'm not kidding.

Look at the good use I make of my second work table.

Makes you wanna come and take a class doesn't it?

The Sizzix area on the left and the soldering station on the right.

It's great to have all this room to spread out.

The corner to the left of the second work table.

The paper??

Oh, it's okay, don't feel sorry for me.

I have at least 700 more sheets of printed paper 

and I'd guess about 150 pieces of card stock.

I have a bit of a weakness for Paper Whimsy collage sheets.

I have hundreds of them and her newer digi sheets.

The overflow into the "workroom" of our house.

I like tall paper and messes a lot.

I have tons of the best fabric and lace.

You're seeing about a third of my stash.

OMG, this is so cool.

So I was at this estate sale and I bought a king size

chenille bedspread for 25.00 - a steal in itself.

I cut all of the really large poms off of the edges

and I still have all of that fabulous chenille fabric.

I adore trims.

One could say I collect it,

but that would be snippy.

And though I have a really lot of trims,

it's the fancy, elegant ones that I treasure the most.

If I was sitting at my work table and looked to my right,

this is what I would see.

Oh, hush. I'm talking about Baxter,

dumbest dog on the planet.

If you came for a visit tomorrow

when you walked through the door into my studio

and looked to your right, this is what would greet you....

an amazing dressmaker form that I just bought at a flea market.

If I'm busy or sick and can't work

I make piles.

Lots and lots of piles.

Walking into the studio from the garage

you would look to your left and see treasures.

Bottles.

I've been sick and haven't been able to work.

I'm doing so much better now that

I'm going to get these bottles

and the rest in another big box,

all fixed up so beautifully that you're going to

buy at least two.

That's what I told the Tank would happen.

Blah, blah, blah....but look at those vintage clocks.

The rest of them are scattered throughout the house.

I love, love, love collections of vintage clocks.

More crap.

Oh, come on!

 It's crap.

I'm way past the "stuff" phase.

I have three isles in the studio.

This is the one that runs in front of the built-ins.

We haven't been using this isle; just Maytag.

I still buy Scrabble games at garage sales for the pieces.

I want more.

The neatly stacked ribbon is a lie.

The rest of my ribbon is.....here somewhere.....

Oh, yeah, my sister reminded me that I have

boxes full of ribbon in the built-ins. *sigh*

After being forced to photograph and validate my hoarding

I have come up with some wonderful ideas how to

make groupings of supplies that you haven't even seen

and vintage pieces for you to purchase in my Etsy shop.

Except, I am going to have to give some real thought

about sharing my vintage jewelry.

I'm just sayin'.

We're working our way up to the best vintage jewelry box;

my favorite pieces.

My best vintage rhinestone pieces...

They're even more spectacular in person

and I love each one of them

as much as I love my children.

Oh, good grief, wipe that look of horror off of your face.

I'm just sorta kidding.

Mmmmm, pearl wanna bee's and vintage pearls

living in harmony in the crack house.

The garage takes care of the overflow.

Keep scrolling.

Oops. Turn your computer or your head sideways

to check out this pile.

Junking, the art of it, is what drives me.

......and drives me.

Oh, for heaven's sake!

I am exhausted after taking all of these pictures

and I have to admit that you really haven't gotten a realistic

look at the Crack House.

I have much more that I'm too worn out to share with you....

my creepy baby doll head collection, all of my trims, vintage flowers,

millinery pieces, ephemera, embellishments;

oh, the stacks of boxes full of my jewelry makings

............I'm sure I know there's more.

So, here's what I'm going to do.

In between helping my son set up his classroom for his first teaching job,

and helping Brat set up hers,

and Craig's wedding *rehearsal dinner* invitations, place cards, center pieces

and gifts I'm making for everyone that attends,

and spending two days at the Round Top Antique show,

and out of town company,

I'm going to get organized, take pictures of all that will be listed in my Etsy shop,

get it listed *gagging*

and I'll post pictures of that process and show you what a

decent Crack House should look like.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog!

I appreciate my readers so much - please let me know you were here

by leaving a comment (don't be mean).

XXXOOO, Jan

Baxter - spook