Passions and Pennies

As we embark on this new stage of life with the expectation of our new baby coming in a few months, I have been on a mission to get more organized so I can enjoy my passions. Let's be honest. I'm one of those women that has many passions including but not limited to scrapbooking, crocheting, sewing, card making, and lots and lots of other things. So organization is a must...especially in a small space. No, I'm not nesting. I've been working on downsizing, organizing, purging, and whatever else is called for to accomplish this great feat for quite some time now. I would say this all started last year sometime and I have been doing an okay job. But, baby number 5 in roughly 1100 square feet is a challenge when you don't craft. Add that in and it can get overwhelming.

Currently our 4 daughters share a room. This room has just enough space for the 4 beds and clothing. Then our old bedroom is the playroom with guest bed and the smallest of rooms is what we like to call the 'bonus' room. "Bonus" in the sense that we get to store all the fun scrapbooking, crocheting, sewing, and office items in one space instead of out in the living room or bedrooms. Creating this bonus room came on the heels of moving our bedroom out to the garage. It was a wonderful idea that quickly turned crazy. As much as I adore my husband, he often uses my bonus room as a dumping ground for anything he doesn't know what to do with. Let's just say that is a lot of stuff. We are working to change that. 😁

Over the summer while we had our break from school I did some major reorganization of my scrapbook paper. I wasn't quite done but as the school year neared I ran out of time to focus on it. I was desperately trying to do this reorganization on a budget since we are always looking for ways to cut back. I bought a few new things but not too much but ended up getting stalled after a time. Then a friend of mine suggested I get involved with Totally Tiffany's Get Organized Challenge. It had me intrigued. It is a free 8 week course on totally reorganizing your craft space to make everything more accessible. I was optimistic that this could be the final push I needed. So, I plugged in last week, watched the video, and to my joy found that her techniques were right on the track I was already doing! What?! How amazing to find a group that encourages us to get things ready to go. But, does this push you to use their specific organization tools and supplies? Nope! Tiffany does share the products she uses at the end of each course but she does it in that way so that if you don't want them or don't need them, you can just turn it off. Wow...I am hooked. She shares tips on everything from how and why to organize in specific ways to purging... and all in great detail. Each week focuses on a specific area of organization. For that geeky organizer in me, well, let's just I am STOKED!!! Haha. So, I am full fledge in this movement. It is week 2 but you can join in at any time and I highly encourage you to do so. These techniques are just was the crafter in all of us needs in order to be able to craft with joy instead of stress and guilt (I should be cleaning,  I can't find my table, maybe I should burn this room down, ya know, that kind of stress). Once completed we can finally enjoy the freedom to craft when we want instead of the dread of looking for things...like the floor. 😳 Click on over to the link I included and get involved! Remember, it's totally free and gives fabulous tips. You don't have to do the whole thing but even just glean tips for future use. Plus, it's always fun to have others invested in the journey with you. In the meantime, enjoy these horrific pictures of my messy scrapbooking space...here's hoping I can find just the balance and space to really enjoy this room in the near future.

I'll keep you updated on my progress. You let me know if you join the group!

Happy Creations~
Jennifer