Before I get into today’s post, congrats to Olivia J., the winner of the DIY/Home book giveaway!
I did something big this weekend! I was back to oil painting again! At first, I just couldn’t physically paint. Well, it wasn’t so much the painting, but it was setting up the palette, opening the solvent container, washing the brushes after, etc. It was just too much. Even sitting upright for that long was too much, which sounds silly I know.
Then, I didn’t feel inspired to paint.
And then, I was scared to paint.
The more time that passed, the more distant it felt, and the more intimidated I became. I would look at my paintings and feel a bit like some other version of me had done them and the current me had no clue how it happened.
This weekend, I finally faced my fear. I started a new #indexcardartproject just to get myself started on something small. I gessoed some 5 x 7 vintage alphabet index cards I purchased on Etsy a few months ago and decided to paint landscape studies from my Europe trip. I put on my music, mixed my paints, and it all came back to me. I was mentally rusty and physically shaky, but it was all still there.
Here is painting A, based on a picture I took in France…
It’s a busy week, so I’m not sure how much painting I’ll be able to do, but I’d like to get back into painting a little bit each day.
I also made another chicken pot pie with Marshall. He has been obsessed with “Miss Cheri’s Chicken Pot Pie” lately and we’ve made it twice so far. This is prompted by an (almost) teenager who doesn’t even like making his own cereal! He will cook pot pie from scratch, though.
It’s been a fun thing for us to do together and then he eats it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack.
This weekend, I also cleaned the main floor of the house. I have had a lot of help cleaning from Jeff and my mom (when she was visiting), but this weekend, I really felt like cleaning. While I don’t always love cleaning, it often gets my ideas flowing. This particular cleaning really got my ideas going…so much so that I had to take a break, sit at my desk, and write them all down. They weren’t earth-shattering ideas, but little things I want to try and projects I want to add to the queue.
And I felt ready to clean and organize the whole house. After weeks of not being able to do much physically, I have had time to live with messy areas and disorganized spaces and now I’m ready to fix it all! This started a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been slowly organizing board games, one shelf here, one drawer there. I realize this itch to organize is about a month too early!
But, I took advantage of that mood and a semi-functioning right arm and tackled a few more things. On top of cleaning, I organized my recipe book and cleaned out one shelf in my wardrobe.
Some of the projects I added to my list were organizing the laundry room closet…
It looks pretty tidy in this photo, but that was taken about 18 months ago and it’s become a dumping ground. It needs to be cleaned out, organized, and I’d like to have Jeff add another shelf to make better use of the space.
My yarn is also getting a little out of control. It started overflowing out of this basket as I’ve been buying a skein here and there to test out…
So, I’d like to build a shelf to go under this window in the studio. That’s been a plan for a long time, but I didn’t have a specific purpose in mind for it. Now that I do, I am looking forward to designing and building it.
I am also going to organize my studio closet. I never properly moved into the closet after we built it and now it’s just messy! I already have some ideas for hanging things inside, etc.
Just writing about these projects makes me excited to get started on them.
I also want to weed out my clothing, organize my office, rearrange some furniture, do some sewing… basically, I want to do everything all at one time. But, I need to hold my horses and wait until after Christmas for the bulk of these. Until then, I’ll keep the itch scratched with little organizing projects here and there.
Anyone else getting a little ahead of the seasonal schedule?
So happy for you that you’re feeling more like your old self. The little paintings are lovely. Can’t wait to see all the things on your list. I hope you’ll share here.
Yes!! I started to sort through and organize my living room…boxes going to goodwill tomorrow…..but I need to get going on my Christmas decorations and leave the organizing to January. Im getting ahead of myself!
Marian,
Oh, yes!
I am ready for a complete make~over in Studio One!
Health issues have a way of making one re~think layout and order!
Enjoy your Holiday Season. . .and then it’s getting down and getting it done!
Pat
Oh my gosh, you hit the nail on the head. I am so anxious for all my pending projects and the possible dream of getting them done early next year. (but really don’t I think this every year….) But this is gonna be the year right, lol! Fabric on walls, painted desk, cleaning out the candle drawer, scaling down the wardrobe and on and on and on…..Looking forward to watching your ‘cleaning’…. 🙂
Yep, here I am, raising my hand too! I always get this way at Christmas time … already moving on to the organizing and changing things after the holiday decor is packed up. I’ve been so busy with other things (business related 🙂 that I have neglected my to do list. Thankfully K is getting his big project done – which means some new space to decorate!
I absolutely love it when I get the itch to organize…nothing is spared. most recently I went through my closet and all of my drawers to weed out stuff that never sees the light of day. then it was on to the spare room closet where all of my linens are stashed. I made a big pile of extraneous stuff there too. then the hall closet…I filled a paper leaves bag full to the brim and we dropped it off at our favourite thrift store. they give you a 25% off coupon every time you donate, so I will be in line for some discounted furniture for my painting projects and I might find some collectibles…everyone wins.
So glad you’re back to painting and feeling better and better. Love the picture from France. This year I decorated my house for Christmas like never before, and I’m enjoying living in a Christmas wonderland. So I’ll wait until January to organize, something I really like doing.
I’ve been making a pile of stuff to give away on top of my dryer. I have enough stuff there that it’s getting in my way when I use the dryer. I’ve also got my sewing room closet cleared out so that I can actually see the floor. I’ve also been working on my bead storage. Next up….The dreaded hall closet! If you don’t hear from me in a few weeks…send a search party! 😉 Merry Christmas everyone!
This past weekend there was a Christmas decorating explosion in the house and it looks beautiful, cozy and sparkly! Fast forward a few weeks to January…the attic is in the queue for an all out organizing, clean out blitz…can’t wait!
So glad you are back to painting. Hoping you’ll be able to share the tutorial you mentioned a while back on the basics of oil painting. It’s hard to find videos out there that aren’t incredibly boring and far too technical for a newbie. Your tutorials on furniture painting and upholstery have always been so easy to follow, informative, and always engaging so I’m sure what you have in mind for oil painting will be perfect.
Yes, I am still working on that project. I had to set it down while my shoulder was healing, but I’m looking forward to picking it back up again in the new year.
Glad you are back to oil painting. Hope to see the tutorial you mentioned a while back about the basics of oil painting. Your past tutorials on furniture painting and upholstery are always informative and engaging so I’m sure what you have in mind for oil painting will be perfect.
We are getting new flooring installed in our kitchen and dining area, but due to it being the hub of the household, a lot of things couldn’t be moved until the last minute. Lots of stuff put in boxes and sent to the garage with me thinking “why did I keep this or why is this here and not there??” Yes, there will lots of organizing when things make their way back to their proper homes. I feel your frustration. Glad you’re doing so well!
Oh yes… I’m always jumping ahead in my mind. I’ve got my house project list ready to start in January. I’ve got the organizing itch as well. Did our master bathroom drawers, now I can’t wait to tackle the linen closet in our daughter’s bathroom. Love organizing and purging! Glad I’m not the only one always a smidge ahead.
It’s wonderful news that you can get back to your painting, slow but sure. Funny you mentioning organization. I pulled out all the plastic containers of Christmas decor and i started to set aside items I no longer use in a donation box. Next I was pulling out recipes for a cookie party we are going to and I noticed that my habit of pulling recipes out of magazines and copies of things I wanted to cook found on Pinterest were taking over so I started tossing . I find the more stuff I’m surrounded by the more stuff I want to be free of.
I love your file card paintings. The colors are what really strike me.
I always, always have the organizing itch. I have it even more whenever I look at your photos, isn’t that ironic!?
I live (with a husband and two cats) in a teensy tiny 2 room (not bedroom, but rooms entire) house, so I have to constantly weed out and organize. (Which I find therapeutic.) I just had to do a shuffle for the Christmas tree, and the things I so carefully tetrised into nooks and crannies, had to be moved around.
I am not like what seems like on trend of simplifying and minimizing. I’m not into capsule wardrobes. A friend just asked if anyone wanted to pare down to a minimalist wardrobe, and I was like, ohno. I love a variety of styles and prints, and would be miserable wearing black and white every day. (I did that in college one year. Been there, done that.)
What I’ve been doing this year, which I think you may be able to relate to, is looking for the “clothes that got away” on eBay, and selling all the pieces that I may have bought trying to replace the elusive pieces. I feel good about sometimes buying used, and sometimes splurging on something that makes my heart sing. I also have to have multiple wardrobes, as my weight has fluctuated dramatically and I hate to give up pieces I will grow in our out of. I know me, and I know I will like the piece that is too small today, or too big tomorrow.
Now, back to purging. *Oh! one other thing…when I’ve looked at your home in the past, I’ve literally thought how nice it would be to not have to worry about cats jumping on the table…because I cannot keep my cats off. When I saw your kitty on the table, I felt totally affirmed that it’s all okay.
Yes! I love the idea of buying used clothing, too. You can often find great deals on name brands or, as you said, those pieces that you missed last season. I think I’m going to put some clothes up on eBay that are name-brand to see if I can get some money for them!
And yes, we had cats for 10 years of our marriage and it was always hard to keep the cats off the table and the counters, even when they knew they weren’t allowed up there! We’re working on it with these two and they are catching on.