Where Bloggers Create 2013

Hello, and thanks for stopping by! My name is Sue and I love mixed media art, particularly any venue that uses vintage photos, lace, fabrics, buttons, ribbons, papers, and well, you name it! I enjoy using any kind of timeworn materials and giving them a new life in my art.

Welcome to my creative space! This is a first for me, so most of all, many thanks to Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage for putting this together for all of us. You can click on the "Where Bloggers Create 2013" button near the top of my sidebar to reach all of the other bloggers who are participating in this event.

Come on in...

My space is in one of our attic bedrooms.

I am very fortunate to have a space that is about 700 square feet.

It is here that I get away with displaying my chippy paint belongings,

which would likely not fly with my husband in the rest of the house!

This room also doubles as a third guest room when we need it.

Though this room has two windows, there are a lot

of trees outside, so I don't get much light.

I try to use accent lighting wherever I can.

My husband also installed track lighting over

the work table, which you will see later.

This is an old dressing table and mirror,

repurposed as my sewing table...

The dormer window houses my computer, desk, and printer.

Sorry for the bad lighting...

In the dormer space I also keep my inspiration board

that displays recent finds in the way of vintage photos...

Meet Miss Grace.

She bears that name for two reasons.

She is named after my mother, 

and the name suits a lady wearing a collection

of vintage rosary beads. 

To her right are a couple of bins

that store scrapbook paper... 

I have a lot of shelving in this room. It is mostly composed of

those cheap little two-shelf units that you can get in WalMart

or any office supply store, and they have been added to over time.

In some areas I stacked them upon each other,

and in some areas I did not... 

This section of shelving below is backed with shelving

of the same size, and it divides the right side

of the room in half to maximize storage space,

and make the room a little cozier.

I have a lot of art stamps stored

in large plastic box frames.

They are grouped and labeled by category.

Books and magazines are stored on each shelf

next to the trays of stamps.

I also collect old books that have interesting

pages. You see some of them on the floor,

here used for pressing flowers!

The covered photo boxes on the floor to the left

house part of my collection of vintage photos,

grouped by subject, such as girls, women,

babies, families, etc.

The tin boxes on the top of the shelves

house unmounted stamps...

Below is the reverse side of the shelving you saw above.

I'm sorry to say that this is the junk that you see when you

enter the room. Here I store everything from fabric collage books

to gardening and computer books.

You can also see my little Janome sewing machine,

which I sometimes take when I am away from home...

Below are a couple more photos of the other side of

this shelving...

To the far right of this section are yet more boxes of vintage photos.

I guess we all have our weak points!

Below are some freestanding stock cabinets.

If you can believe that I have even more "stuff" than you have

already seen, here is where it is hidden in all of its messy glory!

Inside of the larger cabinets I store painting materials,

and larger gadget-type stuff.

I once attempted to get rid of all plastic storage,

but it never happened.

The little drawers on top house ink pads,

card stock, pens, markers, and glitters...

The drawers in the above cabinets hold fibers...

...various embellishments...

...and other things that I can never seem to find a

real home for...

To the side of the entrance to the room

is this old hutch, used to store ribbons, fabrics,

lace hankies, and other pretties.

One of these days I will add the rest of the glass

handles that I bought many moons ago!

On the left side are a couple of round hat boxes

 that hold my vintage glove and millinery collections.

Gertrude, or what's left of her,

reclines on top alongside a

vintage sewing machine.

Here is some more plastic drawer storage,

in which I keep glues, stencils,

and envelopes in various sizes...

                                                                   

Another view of my small sewing machine

and photo storage boxes.

Also some old dishes for "future" art

projects...

A close-up of the photo storage...

On the trunk at the foot of the bed, seen earlier, are two covered

boxes (the kind that you can pick up at Michael's for a song).

In the first are more vintage photos, but organized in zip lock bags

by subject so that I can pull them all together easily if I want to

do a themed project. The ones below are part of my collection

of patriotic photos...

...and the box below it stores my vintage lace...

And below, my friends, is the junkiest part of

this space. It stands between a pine hutch,

and the white cabinets you saw earlier.

It is stacks of plastic boxes that store

ribbons, beeswax materials, and a lot

of old jewelry pieces that I bought for

a song on eBay and have not yet had a

chance to use.

You will also see two rolling carts from

the laundry department of WalMart.

Sometimes I roll them over the the work

table for easy access to frequently used

items. This room has no closet, so one of

these days I am going to hang a rod from the

hutch to the sloped wall above the cabinets

and cover this mess with a curtain!

What would a studio be without some of our favorite collections?

Whether we use them in projects, or just stare at them and love them,

we all need them. Here are a few of mine.

Trinkets...

     

Baby shoes...

Chippy stuff and salvage,

stored in a large old wire basket

recently named "The Salvage Saloon",

just waiting to be used in assemblage projects...

Old books...

Old millinery...

Vintage gloves...

Victorian photo albums...

Inspiration for assemblage...

Beautiful papers...

Lovely old buttons...

Vintage wedding photos and

gorgeous old sheet music...

Who doesn't love ballerinas?...

I try to keep some inspiration on the work table...

And things gathered together to take on the next trip...

...along with stuff already packed in bags...

I like to keep frequently-used materials easily

reachable on the work table...

And if you've made it this far,

here is the big picture!...

I can't thank you enough for spending this time with me. I hope that I can visit your work space soon! Have a creative day!