Thursday 21 April 2011

THE MAGICAL CREATURES I SHARE MY LIFE WITH

'Flykka'
My garden is full of them, they lurk in the dusty corners of my house, they tease the cats and play pranks on all of us...but i couldn't live without them.

The Summer Dawn Fairy

Some of them are naughty, some of them are nice. They put sparkle in my day and stop me from ever becoming TOO serious.
Gryndyl
If you would like to see more of my creations and creatures please visit my facebook page;
facebook.com/twist.of.whimsy


Tuesday 19 April 2011

MESSIEST ROOM IN THE HOUSE IS GETTING BETTER!

Now where were we? Oh, that's right, stumbling through my studio tripping over the overflow that parks on the floor for want of a better home. Now mind the cat - she does like to get underfoot too!


Now I was sharing a few of my clutter busters with you and the reference library is a good case in point. Previously teetering stacks of magazines and books littered the studio...and of course when I wanted one I had to trawl through all the stacks ( which took hours because invariably I would get sidetracked by a delicious looking recipe, or, project I'd forgotten about but now got all re-excited by)....not good. I would prop up these stacks with other objects which when removed (to be used) caused a cascade of mags all over the floor...sigh...start again. But thanks to IKEA, (God I love that store), I can now find the book or mag I want by reading the spines, grouped like with like, and nothing falls over. These mag boxes are very cheap and if they get a little worn, it's no biggy to replace them. Of course this is not the only place my beloved books reside but 'most' of the others are housed in bookcases...and on top of bookcases....and beside bookcases... and occasionally under bookcases....oh, I do love books!

So many things, so little space!
Now this is an area that needs some work but it's
not too bad. Reasonable order is imposed with an assortment of boxes(thankyou again IKEA - they should be paying me for the plugs), tins, and of course those trusty takeaway containers...where would we be without them?
Now just to the left of the pic you can see one of those areas the glitter has snuck into.





Now here I am trying to be orderly and the glitter just refuses to be good!


I'll leave you with one last tip. For those of you who work with marabou, NO, not the moosey looking thing, the fluffy stuff - it should always be hung, for optimum fluffiness...and don't we all enjoy a bit 'o' fluff, lol?
My marabou hangs on tie hangers. Now I don't remember where I got them, after all it's been about 15 yrs! But I do seem to recall they were not expensive. Of course I could probably do with about three more...but if I do that I will only buy more marabou so perhaps...best not.  ;o)

Till next time, happy crafting whatever your addiction is!

Friday 15 April 2011

THE BUSIEST ROOM IN THE HOUSE!


The Studio

Welcome to my creative space...known as the studio - although it could also be called the sewing room, the spray booth, the wing factory etc. So many things get done in this room and all of them creative, so obviously it's my favourite room in the house. At any one time half a dozen 'projects' will be on the go, so consequently it is often the messiest room in the house as well.


One of those troublesome stashes that needs the 'Cassie' magic!
 Over past months both my daughter and I have been working together creating our bits of 'whimsy' for our shop on etsy. Amongst the clutter I know where most things are...but have been known to waste precious hours looking for that 'thing'....'I'm sure I've got one (some), I'm sure I saw it last time I was looking for that other 'thing'....now where could it be.'  Is a common thread when I'm creating. Not so bad when it's just you, but when another person gets thrown into the mix - AND, she happens to be a mad de-clutterer...well no prizes for guessing what's been happening.


Cotton rack

Of course I do make an effort to be organised.
Let's face it, no-one can get much done amidst utter chaos.
Over the years I've come up with just one or two bright ideas all by myself.
My cottons used to be in a box...what a nightmare...you can imagine what happened everytime I went looking for a colour. Over time the tangles were horrendous! 
Now, I just reach out and grab the one I need. One important tip though, make sure the rack is away from sunlight or your threads will deteriorate.
Simple to make; one board sized to your requirements, large nails evenly spaced and there you have it.








keeping the bits in order
These little baskets, about $2 each, keep a multitude of usually messy items under control.
The white shelving unit was a great find at an op-shop. Can't remember how much but it has well and truly earned its keep.
Unfortunately the baskets were a tad too large to fit neatly, but they do the job and I IGNORE  their reluctance to sit absolutely straight...a girl can't have everything!

The glitter however, has never remained under my control. I love a bit of sparkle...A BIT OF SPARKLE.... the jars breed in the night, I'm sure. What started out as a collection that fitted neatly into one deep drawer has grown, and grown and grown! This shelf was a find for $5 at a garage sale but very quickly overflowed, as you can see by the teetering towers on top. So the glitter has ventured into two more shelves and a few other places (says she sheepishly). Mind you, I was proud to be able to say to a recent customer 'I can make your item with any colour you can imagine' and it's true. Not content with the range of colours available I mix and brew up my own dazzling concoctions...which leads to more jars....ahem.
Well, just a quick glimpse into my creative space...there's lots more...but that's for another day.
Happy crafting!