Happy New Year…plus 2 weeks!

 

Ahhhh…the best laid plans!

This was how it was supposed to go: Drive over to the eastside, get the house decorated for the Holidays, shop, catch up, celebrate, go home…that was the plan. Now, I knew that the weather might be a little tricky, but I didn’t expect to be snowbound for going on 3 weeks!

Luckily I brought my Advent journal along with a decent variety of embellishments. But, in my infinite wisdom, I packed most of my art supplies to the westside last fall, and now I have next to nothing but Christmas themed embellishments to work with.

I pulled all non-Christmas themed pieces out and have slowly added some new items to the mix. I’ve been toying with the idea of only working in one junk journal at a time and finishing it up before moving on to a new one for a while now, looks like that’s a go!

And since it is still winter, most of the pages in this journal are relevant.

The craft supply shopping in this little town we’re retiring to is extremely limited, so I’ve been sneaking in into craft stores to plump up my stash a bit when out looking for wedding dresses with my daughter. (that’s a whole other story!)

The other side of this story is trying to keep from accumulating more stuff right now. We’re going to have to fit our other house into this much smaller one in a couple of years, and I’m supposed to be downsizing!

Although I’ve managed to be very strategic with my purchases, the problem with organization reared it’s inconvenient head. These are some filing boxes I picked up at the local thrift store I thought might work.

I made little file folders out of cardstock. The larger files hold vintage ephemera and the smaller ones hold store bought ephemera. I haven’t committed to labling them yet, I’m not sure I’ll need to…I just really needed to clean off my desk!Some examples of what I’ve been able to accumilate.

Clockwise from the top: Tim Holtz ephemera from Amazon, mics. paper pad ephemera “Shake It Chic” from Michael’s, stickers from Hobby Lobby, vintage magazine images, and various book images.

So, the plan from here, as soon as the passes clear, is to divide up as much of my stash as possible between both houses. Then put some yummy de-stash packs in my shoppe at a reduced price and share the love!

Also, I will be hosting some giveaways throughout the year to help this plan along, so stay tuned for that and tell your friends!

As always, thank you for stopping by,

Thank you so much for hanging in there with me,

Talk to you soon,

~Patty

Thrifting, Wilhold Love, with Organization

It has been a long time since I’ve gone a-thriftin’, and boy were the thrifting angels on my shoulder this week!

I found three Wilhold sewing boxes, but only two came home with me. One of them was a repeat, and I only have so much room in my house.

The one in the background is olive green with a clear lid. I will be posting more about it when I find just the right use for it. The clear one at the front is already in use! More on that in a minute.

On to the rest of my finds…

Vintage office supplies. Another super cool, faux wood metal file box, I now own five. I have big plans for these and will be sharing that soon.

Dennison gummy things, various journaling spots, faux wood book ends, and an awesome vintage book on filing, swoon!

Stacks of sweet books for art journal makings, except for the green one, “The Good Earth”. That one will go into my classic movie collection, a great movie with Paul Muni, LOVE!

GAMES! What do you think of those round playing cards! I’m hoping to put together a “Games” ephemera pack sometime soon, I think I’m ready!

I’m always on the lookout for these retro flatware trays, they make great drawer organizers for the bathroom and office. That box with the red lid is a picnic container. A good friend of mine gave me some of those a few years ago and I love them.

Now to the real organization…

I had recently found a good use for the many wooden spools I have collected, organizing my jute and bakers twine. I had all this in about three or four different places. So, I was super tickled to have come up with this…but it gets better!

My new tag making kit!

This is probably the most excited I have been about organizing in a long time!

I make, and use, a lot of tags in my shoppe and art journals. Having everything in one place is amazing. I took what was in about 8 different places, and put them into one! Seriously, they were everywhere.

I may have a few more tags hiding somewhere around the house, but I still have room in there.

Now you know why I love these Wilholds so much, think of all the possibilities. So, if you ever run across one of these in the thrift store, I hope you won’t pass it up. Even if it is missing the trays, they make really cute storage boxes.

I’m still working on my olive green Wilhold, I’ll share as soon as it’s up and running.

Until then,

Thanks for stopping in,

Have a great week,

~Patty