January 2012 Comes To A Close

January 2012 is nearly leading us into February already. Have you gotten the itch to organize or started any big projects yet this year? Did you make any resolutions to put things in order in your studio and just haven't gotten around to it yet? I've added some links below that will take you to some blogs with lots of inspiration to help get you started! Remember you don't have to take on the entire room at once. Just choose a drawer or shelf or box or something and go through it. Maybe even declare you will do one spot a week or even a month. Take that first step...baby steps. Don't think of cleaning and sorting the entire room, you will wear yourself out before you even get started! Tell a friend or get a friend to help. Send your friend home with some of the goodies you are getting rid of (giggle). Let me know what you are up to and how this works for you.

After a dry spell of organizing posts over the holidays it is always fun when they start popping up again on various blog posts throughout the Internet. It seems the New Year brings out the urge to begin fresh, and what better way than with a clean and organized studio! I wish I could say mine was clean right now, or that I even had time to give it a thorough cleaning, but I do know where things are and as soon as I find a couple of chests for my fabrics and embellishments things will come together. I took my advice from the last paragraph and cleaned a spot on my floor. I can't believe how much of it was outdated and ended up in the trash! In my defense however I will say this room is in pretty good shape considering the small size of about 10 feet by 10 feet (I'm definitely not complaining!), the number of projects I have ongoing right now, and the multiple functions this office/studio serves. Lets face it, sometimes (hopefully often!) a studio is going to get messy! It is when it is both messy and unorganized that it gets frustrating.

I happened on this site which has a little about how Jane organizes in her studio…
http://merelyasuggestion.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/organizing-whatever-needs-it-2012/
and her post had a link to this site in which Julie offers an ‘Organization Week’ of posts…
http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/organization-week.html

Here are a couple of cute ideas from Lucy. One is a way to keep track of fabric on a current project.
http://lucyslampshade.blogspot.com/2012/01/organizing-in-my-craft-studio.html

Shelley offers a look into her studio via video on her blog post at this link…
http://singlestonestudios.blogspot.com/2012/01/organizing-my-art-studio.html

Here is Everything Etsy’s most popular organizing post for the past year and I can see why! There are some wonderful and practical ideas for storage here (and lots of other great stuff on this blog – look around while you are there)…
http://www.everythingetsy.com/2010/06/organize-your-craft-supplies

About.com gives help on starting up your arts and crafts Office here…
http://artsandcrafts.about.com/od/startingyourbusiness/a/Setting-Up-Your-Home-Based-Arts-And-Crafts-Office.htm and also directed us to this site offering 10 ways to fashionably stash your arts and crafts supplies:
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/1083872/list/Fresh-Start--Organizing-Your-Craft-Room

I’ve talked about portability when it is necessary to transfer art/craft supplies. Here is an idea you might like…
http://dirtandboogers.blogspot.com/2012/01/getting-organized-monday-portable-art.html

A nice area for an artist here…
http://stilllifeeveryday.blogspot.com/2012/01/art-studio.html#!/2012/01/art-studio.html

There is some great info and inspiration here…
http://www.everythingetsy.com/2012/01/the-fancy-farmgirl-studio