I moved on to phase 2 of the great decluttering of the creative space this weekend. There is no photographic documentation this time because I think I’ve publicized my slovenliness enough for now. I rearranged furniture in my guest house, laid down a shabby yet still appealing rug, and found hanging space for the two prized paint-by-number still life’s I snagged at the antique mall for a mere $18 for the pair, framed no less! I do have pictures of those little treasures: 

I can only show you a corner of the rug, as the rest is covered with piles of stuff, which brings me to phase 3.

Phase 3 consists of major organizing of Stuff*, much of which will be tossed in the trash or donated to the local library’s rummage sale. And then on to phase 4-paint and window treatments. The plan is to cover the walls and ceiling and mismatched bits of wood trim with the same pale pink I used in the work room/closet (Harmony from Dunn-Edwards, if you are curious) and make some curtains out of natural linen with a wide border at the top of a pretty floral-something from Amy Butler, perhaps. Why oh why were the walls painted in four different colors by some previous owner? All of which are hideously ugly. I do not understand. Then again, this was were they grew some "mystery plants", so I suppose I should not ask such questions.

*including but not limited to: books, fabric, paper, knick-knacks, and junk that I don’t know what to do with but feel that I ought to save for some later need.

I worked like crazy on my work space over the weekend:

How beautiful is that floor? It just needs a little sweeping. I still have to tackle that pile on the end of my desk. Well, that and the organized piles I made in the other part of the guest house as I pulled all the junk out:

There are a few more piles that you can’t see too. I’ll go through a stack every night and it shouldn’t be too painful. It feels so good in my little room. I just sat in there for a while last night going through a magazine and tearing out pages and planning new projects and feeling creative.

Also, Bear would like you to know that he has a stick:

And Spring has come to Pine Valley:

I haven’t spent much time in my creative space (studio/guesthouse/craft closet) lately. How long has it been, you may be asking. Let me give you an illustration:

Do you see that orange thing on the ground? What is it? If you guessed a pumpkin, you’d be half right:

Give me a break, it’s been raining every weekend since December. I can’t go out in that kind of weather to pick up rotting pumpkins.

I use this little walled off area (used by the previous owners to grow, uh, hemp or something) to make stuff that’s not knitted or sewn or electronic. I wasn’t cleaning up after myself for awhile, and things have been piling up:

I actually managed to clear off a little space on the top of the desk, so I can try to do some painting. The floor, however, is scaring me. I’m setting a goal right now to have this mess cleaned up by my birthday, which is the end of March. I’ll post the after pictures then.