I made this cheery word yesterday. The 'l's aren't the same but I don't mind
Oh my stars! I am so touched by your wonderfully supportive responses to my change of career plans. You Planetarians are such a fabulous bunch - it means a great deal to me to have you as cheerleaders. I'll keep you updated as developments occur. So, switching to intellectual property law is my long-term plan. It could take a while. In the interim, one of my other plans is to open my long-dreamt-of Etsy shop to sell my wire and wood letters, words and symbols, wrapped with Liberty fabric and ribbon. I have been plotting and scheming for months but now I'm concentrating on it more earnestly. I thought I might share with you my discoveries on how to open an Etsy shop - are you up for it? Maybe it might encourage some of you to open one yourselves. And perhaps you might be able to give me some tips along the way!I'll deal with some of my formal preparations in another post. Today I thought you might like to see inside my craft cupboards. I've been a bit shy about this to date. I guess I'm mindful of how incredibly lucky I am to have *my room of my own* and don't want to be seen as boastful. That's not my style at all. But a number of you fabulous Planetarians have seen inside and urged me to post about it. I hate to disappoint people so here goes! Hopefully this is not against my better judgment...
See the golden sunlight streaming in? I love it.
First off, here's a view of both cupboards. My room is in the back extension of the house which cleverly took advantage of the high ceilings to ensure this brilliant amount of storage. I pinch myself every day when I see these cupboards. Let's look at the right-hand one first. I'll save the left for another post ☺.
Here's a full view of what's inside. Hmm, yes I am *a bit* of a neat freak! And yes, symmetry is my strong suit ☺. I bought the water hyacinth baskets at Officeworks. They're very sturdy, deep and so easy to move about with their handles. The other woven baskets with the blue handles were on sale at Spotlight. I also bought the cloth covered boxes there, on special. You'll notice my preference for blue and green - quelle surprise! The salmon pink isn't a color I'd ordinarily choose, not being a pink girl, but they were great value.
Remember my first mood board? I had a photo of it blown up so I could still enjoy it. It makes my heart sing when I spot it.
Let's start our close-ups from the bottom left shelf. Here's a selection of my Mum's old sewing patterns she no longer needed, dating back to the 1960s. I haven't had time to look through them yet. I doubt I'll make any clothes with them (that would require learning how to do so first!). Since Felicity made me a paper corsage from one, I've had a hankering to make some myself. So that's what these little beauties are earmarked for at the moment!
In the middle is my sewing box. It contains my Bambi sewing basket my godmother gave me for my 10th birthday - I'm still using it, 32 years later! One day I'll upgrade to the Cath Kidston version I have my eye on and Miss India can inherit it. The box also houses my handmade crochet basket containing my Liberty squares and other haberdashery and UFOs.
Then we have my fabric basket. There'd been a bit of rummaging around to find something before this but I resisted the urge to tidy it up for you. Just one tiny step in my recovering perfectionism ☺. My stash is small as I'm only starting out. I try to keep it all arranged in stacks according to color. But I'm finding they get muddled up quickly. I'd love any tips from you crafty mavens out there on how to best organize fabric - please!
Let's move onto the middle shelf. On the left is my box of paper supplies. I have folders and pads of scrapbook paper, rulers and my guillotine. That pretty cloud paper you can see on the top there is from the fabulous Sam and Maya at Hideyo. I'm enjoying using it to make origami at the moment. I adore papercraft. It makes me so happy. I may add something papery to my Etsy shop down the track.
In the middle is my box of craft punches, rubber and plastic stamps, flower press, paint chips, ink pads, scissors and confetti. One day I'll post more about its contents as there are some real pretties in there.
And on the right is my miscellaneous box. It contains my roll of galvanised wire, pliers, Divine Twine, wire hearts, buttons and much more. There's so much magic waiting to be made in that one!
Then on the next shelf, we have another combination basket on the left. It holds my plastic gloves (essential when I'm using glue), modelling clay, lace doilies, hot glue guns, glues (including my marvelous Mod Podge) and Christmas stamps.
On the right is my wrapping paper basket. It mainly contains large lengths of tissue paper which I plan to wrap my Etsy shop products in. You can also see spray-paint cans on the side.
The blue, green and salmon pink boxes contain my cross-stitch projects, envelopes, envelope templates, wooden words, paper doilies and shipping tags. I can't wait to use the latter in my shop.
So there you go, *gulp*! I hope some little details caught your fancy. Does my Bambi sewing basket make you laugh? Are you aghast at how neat it looks?! Do share your thoughts. And any tips on organising fabric stashes, please. Oh and a little hint about the other cupboard - it looks nothing at all like that inside! Ah, I'll keep you guessing for a while longer...
