Category: Every Dayness
Fun Prayer Journal Spread With A Confession!
Right now I’m going to cling to the old saying that no one is perfect! I had all the opportunity to choose the right thing to do and I blew it. I decided to listen to my selfish natural self instead of listening to the crystal clear voice of the Holy Spirit. Here’s what happened!
The Minimalism Game Days 26-29
Today I have 4 days of the Minimalism game to cover. I admit it was getting hard finding stuff in my house, however, I hadn’t hit my craft room yet! I could probably do another whole month just with items from my craft room but I decided to add some here. These are all items out of my house so it’s not cheating if I include items from my craft room too. So let’s see what is going for these four days.
For day 26 I have 9 tops, 2 scarves, 4 pairs of pants, 3 books, 3 sticker sheets, 2 pumpkins, 1 veggie holder, 1 makeup brush and 1 small house decor.
On day 27 I have 2 pairs of pants, 1 pair of shorts, 2 tops, 2 scarves, 1 egg collecting basket, 1 alarm clock, 1 lamp, 1 package of oil pastels, 10 decorative tapes in dispensers, 1 cosmetic bag, 1 ink refill bottle, 1 squeeze bottle and 3 small vintage diaries.
On day 28 I’ve included 5 sets of washi tape, 1 bag of sheet protectors, 1 stack of hanging file folders, 5 colors of chalk ink, 3 packages of confetti, 6 colored ink pads, 2 craft storage bins and 5 books.
Okay, my last lot to get rid of in this post contains 29 items. They include 9 plastic photo storage boxes, 8 yards and threads, 7 packages of paper flowers, 4 boxes of seed beads and 1 bag of paper sentiments for card making.
Some things I am learning from doing this is that clothes are almost always included because I see what I’m not wearing every time I go into my closet or drawers. I have to get real about the projects I’m really going to do versus the ones I want to do someday. Sentimentality has little room when you’re decluttering your life. I do keep some sentimental items but not everything anyone I love has ever given me.
Now that I’m working in my craft room, my last post with 30 and 31 items should not be far off. I hope you are playing along and finding some breathing room in your home!
Minimalism Game Continued!!!
I’M BACK!!! I’m so sorry I had to take off so long but life gets in the way sometimes. I desperately need to keep up with purging items from my home and could not wait to get started again. I left off with 21 items so today I will be showing you days 22 and 23. Please excuse that the items are a real hodge podge, but I went back to some areas and gathered more stuff while hitting some new areas of the house. So without any further ado, here are my declutters.
Day 22
4 purses, 2 wristlets, 1 notepad, 1 cup, 1 bowl, 1 tin, 1 soap dispenser, 2 pillowcases, 1 sheet, 2 more pillowcases, 1 box of light switch covers, 1 pair of gloves, 3 tank tops and 1 key hiding rock.
Day 23
1 bag of straws, 1 wicker basket, 1 soap dispenser (we have three of the same ones so you saw one of the others on day 22), 1 wood bee skep, 1 candle, 1 beanie baby, 1 Chinese calendar, 2 Victorian journals, 1 Wreck this Journal, 4 small plastic gift bags, 2 pieces carpet padding, 1 scarf, 1 shirt, 1 package party picks, 1 pillow, 2 packages Christmas napkins
I warned you that it would be totally random but I think it’s fun. I intend to keep up with the game, however, my posts may be bi-weekly instead of daily.
If you don’t know about the minimalism game, please check out my earlier posts. I hope you are playing along and finding some relief in your less cluttered space!
Minimalism Game Days 16 Through 20
I am not going to lie, this is getting harder and harder. Not because I don’t want to get rid of anything, but rather that I just don’t have tons of stuff to get rid of. I’m not including my craft room because I will be doing this all over again there in January. Maybe more than once seeing the over abundance of craft supplies I have that I never use!
So here are the items leaving my house from this post.
If this isn’t an eclectic lot, I don’t know what is. Everything from a handbag to hair color to more cat toys.
You’ll be seeing a lot more Christmas ornaments once we put up our family tree.
Plastic tote bags of all sizes, wall decals, doilies a purse and some more holiday items.
I got into the linen closet here. Notice there are still more Christmas items!
All kinds of wrapping items and three random floral picks.
As you can see, I just pick up items as they catch my attention and add them to the pile. This stuff is all leaving my house so I don’t really care how it’s grouped.
I’d love to know if any of you are playing along or if you plan to do this in the new year.
More Minimalism Games
Okay I have to admit the Minimalism Game is getting harder. As I already stated in my first post about the games, I don’t like clutter. This means I don’t have tons of stuff to get rid of. I’ve had to go through all my cupboards to find this stuff. Never fear though, I will have enough to get rid of 485 items. So here are days eleven through fifteen’s worth of flotsam and jetsam.
Some CDs, a cassette tape and two random frozen Charlotte dolls.
I realize this is more than 13 items but I just wanted to get rid of them and be done with the cd cabinet.
Okay, so here I really get random. There are some Easter decorations, a silver plate bowl, two concrete candle jars, some laces, a handbag shaped box, a book and some wire stuff I was going to craft with.
I had to hit up a cabinet in the laundry room for all these cat toys. We used to have two cats but now only have one. There are so many more toys it’s ridiculous. Our cat, Holly, doesn’t play with toys like this so out they go!
I figured out that I have now gotten rid of 120 items. Tomorrow is a new day of decluttering. I’ll be back in five days to show you more items that will be vacating our house!
Minimalism Game Days Six Through Ten
Okay, I haven’t even been playing the minimalism game for a week and it’s getting hard. I’m mostly through my clothing, although I may have a few more accessories to go through. So now I attacked my bookcase and that is where I find it get’s difficult to decide what to keep and what to let go of.
I have lots of Bible study guides, sermon notes and personal improvement notebooks that just sit on the shelf. My thought on keeping them was that I would go back and reread them. The reality is that I have not touched a single one and they are just piling up. Please note, however, that this does not include my junk journals and December Daily journals because I do go through them frequently.
The five days I’m showing here contain a lot of books and personal writings. I asked myself honestly if I would ever read any of them again and the answer is “no”. It’s a nice thought but I am always at church taking new notes and in new Bible studies. I’ve decided to review my sermon notes one time during the week they were given. I will allow myself one year of sermon notes and then they will have to go.
Two random Christmas tins among the books.
The Christmas tree added to these seven books is day eight.
I even decided to get rid of my Clever Fox planner from this year. It was a tough decision but I need to get real with myself about ever going back to look at it again. I do have my junk journals from this year which have the interesting bits and bobs I’ve collected, so the year has been saved.
Stay tuned for the next area of my life I am simplifying. I’m not sure what it will be but books are done now.
End Of An Era
Moss Cottage Vintage has just gone through a major change. Due to the sluggish economy these last years, I have felt that my profit margin at the Fredericksburg Antique Mall isn’t were it should be. I am doing well on Etsy, but that is because my overhead is so low.
I like having a space in the mall because I like to “play” at displaying my items. But the space I was in was just too big and too expensive to make it worth my while.
So, out with the old…
And in with the new!
I love my new space! It’s surprising how much stuff I was able to fit in there and my sales have already increased!!! If you come to the Fredericksburg Antique Mall, my booth is the third one on the left on the ground floor, right before you go into the back section. Send me a message if you are coming and I’ll try to meet you there.
Now onto some arts and crafts. Here are two cards I made recently. One for my nieces 16th birthday (she loves anything Tudor) and one for a gentlemen who loves fishing.
Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. Moving the shop was quite a big ordeal and I’m also busy with some household renovation projects. I hope I’ll have a chance to “art” again soon.
I’m Not Buying It!
I’m writing this post so that I will feel accountable for my next sentence. I am NOT going to BUY any new craft supplies in 2017 unless they fit the two specific criteria I have laid out here. First, I am ALLOWED to buy the NECESSITIES if I run out. By necessities, I mean things like paint, glue, artist pens and pencils, gesso, etc… Second, I CAN BUY art supplies if I find them ridiculously CHEAP at thrift shops, yard sales or flea markets. That’s it! I am not going to go to Tuesday Morning, Hobby Lobby, Michael’s or any other store just to browse and see what they have. Browsing usually ends up costing me a lot of money!
So why am I making this bold statement? When I was crafting for Christmas, I found I had so many Christmas items in my stash that I didn’t need to go out any buy anything. I made lots of December Dailies, cards, tags and embellishments without purchasing a thing. The amazing thing is, I still don’t need to buy anything for next year either. I have so many supplies I’m drowning in them. Ditto for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Summer, Fall and you get the idea.
Now here’s where it hurts. I’m going to expose my shame and show you all the stuff I have to craft and make mixed media with. Ready?
Shelf full of card stock, stencils, journals, and books and files of ephemera.
Storage cubby filled with everything imaginable under the sun!
Rolling cart filled with punches, oil pastels and TWO drawers of stickers.
The surface of my desk. There is so much stuff on it I only have about two square feet to work on!
Under my desk are paper collections, paper pads and suitcases full of embellishments.
A Raskog cart from Ikea filled with paints, markers and more embellishments.
A metal shelf from Ikea filled with stamps, scrap paper, beads, lace and other “stuff”.
A vintage cabinet stuffed to the gills with items for making Junk Journals and Christmas projects.
More books for ephemera.
Another Raskog cart filled with Junk Journal fodder and a plastic drawer unit filled with jewelry making supplies.
Sadly, this is not all. There are some drawers in my studio and other places all over the house that have craft supplies in them. Now you can see why I don’t need to go shopping anytime soon. Everything I have I liked enough to purchase or save, so now it’s time to use it all up. I’m excited about the thought of actually having room to breathe in my studio.
Okay, so it’s confession time. I already did buy something this year. This is what I bought.
Two old reference books.
My justification is that they were cheap (only $1.00 each) and….
They are filled with pages and pages of these beautiful nature graphics! I can use these for so many projects.
So there you have it. I feel better after this photographic confession and goal for 2017. Hopefully you will be seeing a lot of posts showing the stuff I have been making.
If you feel like you’re suffocating in your supplies, or you want to save some money, craft from your stash and have fun with the supplies you already have on hand. Good Luck!
What’s Up?
It has been a couple of weeks since I last wrote a post but that doesn’t mean nothing has been going on here. In fact, it is because so much has been going on here I haven’t had a chance to blog.
Moss Cottage Vintage was supposed to participate in our very first barn sale, however, six straight days of rain changed our plans. We had a little problem with all that rain outside deciding it needed to come inside.
This is not good!
Across the ceiling and down this wall too.
We are still not sure where this water in the laundry room came from!!!
We have had the outside situation taken care of and now we are waiting on some bids to redo the ceiling and drywall. Like they say, “If it’s not one thing, it’s another”.
After taking all the merchandise that was supposed to go to the barn sale to our shop in Fredericksburg, that freed up some space in our sun room for me Martin to drag out all the boxes and totes containing stuff to make my Christmas arrangements. The problem was that I boxed up the stuff as I bought it and not in any particular order. Last week I spent half a day sorting through every box and re-packing them by category so when I actually start making the arrangements everything will be easy to find. The sorting and re-packing process made quite a big mess.
A great big mess.
More of the great big mess!
All sorted and ready to be used!
I have also been working on making some cards for another YouTube challenge. These cards are going to be distributed to women who are in the hospital battling breast cancer. It took me forever to come up with these because I really am not a good card maker.
Cards for a YouTube challenge.
The worst part about making the cards for this challenge is that each had to have a message written inside! I came up with a pretty good message and then printed it for each card. That way I could be sure the person was able to read it. My chicken scratch writing can be a little iffy. I did personally sign each card though.
Other than that I have also been working on a few little secret Halloween crafts that I cannot show because some of the recipients read my blog.
Forgive me for not writing sooner, but this time of year is super hectic for those of us who “make”. I will try to have my camera at the ready so you can participate in my next adventures!
Goodbye Old Friend
It is with great sadness that I have to say goodbye to the companion I have had with me everyday for this last year. If you check my blog post from exactly one year ago titled, “The Humble File Folder” from January 5, 2014 you will see the organizer I made for my coupons, bank deposits, shopping lists, to do lists, etc..
Pretty brand new organizer
Sadly, she has become a little tired looking and worn around the edges over the past year (but haven’t we all?)
Just tired
Ripped embellishment
Bent side from elastic closure (which went missing).
I even felt bad using it, sort of like wearing old worn out undergarments, if you know what I mean. Well with a new year ahead of me and an urge to “scrap my stash” I made this little beauty last night.
Brand new organizer with charm and elastic!
Inside pockets full of deposit tickets and note pad.
I mixed up all the papers to keep it interesting although they are all from Crate Paper. So today my new organizer went out with me and we accomplished everything on our list without forgetting a thing. If you would like to make and organizer for yourself, there are instructions on my original post as well as video how-tos on YouTube.
I confess that I did throw out my old organizer in the trash and then fished it back out because I have become attached to it. I will use it at home to organize other paper items. I will treat it with kid gloves as it has been my faithful companion for the last 365 days!
glitteronmyface 