Welcome! If you're here on your way along the organisation blog hop, you should have arrived via the fabulous Rinda's blog. And if you're not on the hop, then why not check it out? You can find more details at the end of this post, and over on the lovely Jennifer's blog where loads of exciting things are going on celebrating all things organised. And just to whet your appetite, there's a giveaway too :D
Organising my stash has never been my strong point. I'm almost sure it never will be. But I'm OK with that, and so as part of the Organisation blog hop, I'm going to share why.
In my job, at work and indeed, in life, I am a list fan. I'm a died-in-the-wool Filofax girl with a schedule and a routine and things that I can tick off when I'm done. I keep things tidy, well organised and, frequently, labelled.
This is not how I scrapbook.
If my flat looks cluttered, it's because my stash is all over it. On the coffee table, the kitchen table, shelves... and large areas of the floor are also given over to works in progress. I sit on the sofa to eat or do my marking from school. When friends come round for dinner, they largely sit on the sofa to eat too. Sometimes I will clean off the coffee table, but they are now resigned to the fact that they won't be sitting at the kitchen table. I'm not moving my stuff.
It's not organised or labelled. It lives in boxes with no rhyme or reason and it's everywhere. And you know what? I LIKE it like that. When it's spread out, I can see my stash and tinker about with it, shuffle bits and pieces round. It inspires me and it's always good to go.
This page was made almost exclusively from bits and pieces left on the table. I wouldn't have included a little piece of lace, a border offcut, a slip of leftover banner or a fabric yo-yo if they hadn't just been there. And the world's cutest, smiley washi tape would not have got a look in. It wouldn't have occurred to me. Without the odds and ends, I find it hard to see the bigger picture. I don't need a craft room. I have a craft flat. A disorganised craft flat. And I make not apology for this.
So, back to the hop. Each blog along the way has a letter for you to collect. Once you've got them all, and reached the end of the hop, you can email Jennifer the phrase you've collected. All entries must be received by Monday the 2nd of July at 11.59pm BST, and all the correct answers will be put into a draw to win a gorgeous prize package of October Afternoon 9 to 5 and Studio Calico Take Note items, worth over £25.
See? It really is cool :D For some more organising inspiration, you can continue on the blog hop to Daphne's lovely blog
Kisses xxx
P.S. It's M!
Your layout is beautiful and I love your honesty!
ReplyDeleteI applaude your conviction. I on the other hand would steady be apologizing "for the way everything looks" and feeling guilty but secretly feeling the same way you do.
ReplyDeleteI love weekends when I get to spread out around my house, too! Happens a few times a year, and I am really productive.
ReplyDeleterinda
Ah, you reminded me of the advantages of living child and husband free ;) I enjoyed the glimpse at your process (even if it is messy!) :D
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your 'method' (or lack of it). I find having all the 'bits' around me gives me more ideas.
ReplyDeleteI think dining tables yearn to be scrapping tables - so much more fun!
ReplyDeleteLOL! I love it! A craft flat! I think I would be the same if I didn't have children pilfering my stash so I keep it shut away but I admire your laissez faire approach. I adore the layout too and I love the way you scrap. I saw your stuff in the Scrap365 mag and I thought, that looks like Miss Smith's, and of course it was!
ReplyDeleteOh I am so happy to meet you, I am a messy scrapper.
ReplyDeleteThank you:0)
Ha ha, I love the idea of a craft flat. I like it that I can picture you sitting in piles of papers when you're scrapping! You are right too, those little bits that get scattered around are often the good finishing touches.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for joining in with the blog hop! I have that tape too and I love how you've used it! x
All those tape faces....cool! Nice post and i'd love to have more of a carefree approach to scrapping x
ReplyDeleteLove your page - and love your attitude to scrapping too, it should be fun after all. I tend to totally trash the place, then have to tidy up before I start the next thing. I do keep a little basket on my desk with stuff I don't want to put away because I want to make sure I remember to use it, but when it starts overflowing ... :)
ReplyDeleteClutter leaves me feeling claustraphobic so your methods would never work for me. I don't mind my scrap room looking that way but draw the line when I leave through the door! LOL
ReplyDeleteBeautiful page! I'm not sure I could leave my supplies lying around as you do, but lately I do leave my favourite little bits and pieces in a basket on my work table so that they're in plain view and will be used.
ReplyDeleteYou blog continues to be one of my favourite places to read fabulous stories. Thanks for another one here, as well as another great layout!
ReplyDeleteI love how you made your page from what you had out on your table!
ReplyDeleteyour work is so pretty, thanks for the letter =) hugs from México
ReplyDeleteBeautiful page. I wish I was more of a list maker - I am a piler. Piles of things to do, piles of bills to pay, piles of photos to scrap. But once in a while I managed to completely clear away a pile - and that's a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteLove the page :) Am totally a list maker but not quite as totally organised lol
ReplyDeleteI love to spread out all my stash though I am not always as creative with my scraps!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful layout !!!
ReplyDeleteAnd what a beauty of a layout that came out of such disorganisation! I think that, as long as it works for you, it doesn't matter if you live in chaos or organised clutter!
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Perhaps you should have your bed in the main room (covered to look sofa-ish during the day!), with a folding table slid underneath it, ready for when friends visit. Then, you could move the dining table and all the Stash into your new, empty, ready-to-be-occupied Craft Room! After all, if you only sleep in the "bedroom", maybe you don't need it to be separate - or not as much as you obviously need a craft room!
ReplyDeleteI do love this scrap page. How lucky that the right little bits & pieces were left out, so you found them and used them so well. I like this idea of a busy background, with a small, titchy photo in the middle... I might give it a try, though I'm not sure if I could make it work as well as you have. Great colour scheme, fun lettering, lovely page all round.
BTW, came looking for your blog, as I saw this and thought it might appeal to your, or one of your teacher friends: http://bookzoompa.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/more-books-to-fill/ (she wants to send books to students "not so local" so that could apply here).
I always think your scrapbooking clutter is too pretty to be Real Mess.
ReplyDeleteOh Kirsty, I LOVE this layout (but then again I always love your layouts), and about your disorganised scrapping, it sounds like my idea of heaven! I still live at home so I don't have the luxury of spreading my scrappy stuff everywhere, though I have been known to leave things all over the place and take over a few rooms with pretty paper and the like:D xx
ReplyDeleteawesome layout.
ReplyDeleteOh and another thing: congrats on getting featured on Two Peas! Highly deserved, I might add! :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful layout!
ReplyDeleteI had a laugh at the craft flat idea. The only reason I don't have a craft house is my DH would freak out but I have claimed the dining room table. Luckily our friends don't mind eating on their laps. Lovely LO that paper is one of my favourites.
ReplyDelete