Tag : art space

16 posts

It appears that this is how things may be for a while…slow to update…such is life these days. Time keeps ticking away and I’m finding less and less time to be creative. So many fall projects to tackle before its too late.

I’m scrounging for canning lids as I keep getting more green beans. What do you think of my carrots? LOL  I had to pull them up because the squirrels were trying to do it for me.

I also have a couple other canning projects I’d like to try but I either need more regular lids or more wide mouth jars…neither of which I can find anywhere.

I did can some bloody Mary mix and somewhat appropriate sized containers.  It is a homemade, never be able to reproduce since I didn’t measure anything, type of mix. Hopefully its not the best ever. (Please excuse the poor photography and chaotic pantry.)

School is going well. We all seem to be finding a rhythm…although I really should not have said that since I’m likely jinxing myself.

One crafty thing that I actually completed during the past week was this paper garland. Our resource room is tiny…white cinder block walls with 6 doors but no windows…I can’t even make that up. It was originally a storage space of band instruments almost half a century ago.

I really want to dress it up a bit without spending money since we certainly don’t have a budget. I’m hoping that between the 4 of us that current use the space throughout the day, we can make it a like happier. Brighter. A place the kids actually want to come for extra help without being distracted or over-stimulated.

Last week, (I think…it’s a blur) we had some really interesting sunrise and sunsets. A high veil of smoke gave the sky a sort of post-apocalyptic look.

I’ve been suffering with a sore hip or sciatica this past week. Its so frustrating! Hurts to do anything for any length of time. Whether its sitting, standing, walking or laying…it all hurts. I’m sure it came about from my abrupt change in activity when I returned to work. I’d been used to walking 2-3 miles most mornings then puttering around the house and garden. Being barefoot on soft surfaces. Nothing like life now. More sitting, hard floors, shoes, standing, leaning over. When I spell it all out like that, it makes complete sense but it doesn’t make the pain any less.

I did get out for a walk Sunday morning. The trees are so beautiful. There was a slight crisp in the air. I love this time of year. Jeans and hoodies…my perfect outfit.

I’ve made a few more masks as well. I decided when this is all over I’m going to cut apart all the masks I’ve made and make a COVID quilt.

I have done a bit of art journaling as well….this is a current WIP. Of course this was what I should have been doing…but since I cleaned up my space it just had to be done.

As many of you know my art space is in the laundry/utility room. My crafty chaos tends to overflow my actual space and I end up putting things on the washer and drier.

But look…they are clean. Unfortunately there is a really lame reason for my sudden cleanup. The rubber gasket that keeps the water from leaking out the door of my front load washer ripped. Mr. G ordered a new gasket but the washing machine has to be taken half apart of replace the it. While waiting for that part Mr. G came across a video showing a potential hack to “rebuild the gasket with roofing sealant. We are giving it a go since…if it fails…we are right back where we started. I’ll update you next week as it takes a couple days of cure time.

I’m so thankful that he is able to tackle these projects. In the meantime, I had to clean and make a trip to the laundromat.

It’s certainly not perfect but trust me…much better. I tend to end up creating in a one foot square space. So dumb but I can’t seem to break myself of the habit.

This is also madness. All of the scrap papers I had laying about. Ok truth be told…half of this was in the bin to start but seriously. I have a problem.

What are you doing today?

Another week that has flown by. Not sure how it happens that I don’t even touch my blog for a week at a time. That being said, I have been working on creative pursuits whenever possible. Well that’s not exactly accurate…I did waste a bunch of time one day on YouTube watching other people exploring the great outdoors when we were cooped up inside. somewhat organized space

Getting organized has been a priority for me over the last few months. Trust me…I’m just scratching the surface. I’m sort of an organized chaos type of person. I want to change that so I’m working in baby steps.

scrap bin

I’ve gathered my paper scraps into this bin to make them more usable and visible.

scrap bin

But along with getting organized I trip myself up… I hate waste. Throwing stuff out really bothers me which is why I always seem to have a mountain of scraps.

creative space

With that in mind, I’m continuing my efforts to use scraps in creative ways. Mini-collages for cards and journal pages mostly.

organized sentiment stamps

Now that I have my sentiment stamps all in one spot, I have an easier time finding the words I want to use.

dark 30 coffee

I wasn’t sure I was going to get this posted when I started to write, find and edit photos etc yesterday. But I guess my brain had other ideas. I woke super early this morning soI was able to sit and finish my post with my first cup of coffee before getting ready for work.

 

What are you doing today?

We are temporary empty-nesters as my neighbor so perfectly phrased. The boy is off at college and the girl is traveling around Costa Rica. Crazy!

I’ve been keeping up with her through a few random texts and Snapchats…otherwise I’m using social media to see photos from their adventures.

Mini-me sent me this photo she took at the Irazú Volcano.

And this one of the La Fortuna waterfall. They rode horses to get to there then swam at the base. WOW!

Meanwhile in MN…we are watching the snow melt. :)

I am so excited that she has this opportunity..once in a lifetime.

AS far as myself…I’ve been knocking things off a todo list. Feels good. There just haven’t been enough hours in the day or week lately. I’ve been creating and experimenting with my supplies. I think these may become tags….or at least tag backgrounds…or starting pointsAnother thing on my list for this week is to clean up this chaos. I want to streamline and phase out some things that I really never use, are too old and junked to use or lets face it…never liked in the first place but hung on to it anyway.

It’s a big job but I think I’m up for the challenge.

Mini-me comes home on Thursday. Friday we leave for the state archery tournament. Well, at least she gets to sleep one night in her bed.

What are you doing today?

As I continue to recover from a neck/shoulder issue…which incidentally is doing much better… *quickly knocks on wood* …work has slowly progressed on the crafty zone. Over the weekend Mr. G replaced this old florescent fixture over my workspace

with a new energy efficient and natural daylight color LED fixture.

It not only gives me better light but really cleans up the space.

As you can see I haven’t only spent time cleaning and organizing…I’ve been doing a bit of creating as well. I just can’t help myself. There are currently two work in progress pieces on my desk.

Tuesday has an afternoon appt and a giant pile of paperwork to complete on my desk since I’ve been pretty much avoiding the computer for going on two weeks! Although it has seemed to help.

What are you doing today?

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday…grab a cup and stay a while.

Last week I had a scheduled post as the boy and I were on a college visit. It was a dreary day but we enjoyed our time on campus very much.

As we were eating lunch in the dining hall, J said “I could see myself going here.” That’s good sign. This of course was just the first of several visits to different colleges that we plan to see. It’s a tiny very rural college, in fact they have a horse barn so students can stable their horse if they like. I can’t even make that up! It feels as if you are driving to the middle of nowhere. This thought had me giggling when we opened the info packet. The slogan on their brochure was “Welcome to the middle of somewhere”. Very clever!!

The other thing I mentioned in last weeks post was that I was getting a new washing machine…here it is! I’m super happy with it so far. I’ve been working at rearranging and purging a bit in my laundry room/craft room first in preparation and now after the fact.

Here’s a work in progress shot. So much stuff and so little space! Time to make some difficult decisions.

Two bags of books and a box of misc was easier than I thought to get rid of. I also threw away half a bag of random bits and pieces that weren’t worth donating and brought a small stack of papers and supplies to my crafty neighbor to share with her extended craft circle.

Ah yes…looking better! But now we just learned that my in-laws want to give us their treadmill….that means my sew table will have to be taken down and all my sewing supplies will need to find a new home…somewhere. It seems that my quest of organization and pairing down has only just begun.

I have done some crafting and a bit of art journaling. My latest journal page is in the previous post. I’ll share my crafty bits I made at craft club in another post.

That’s it for now. I have some errands to run today including a trip to Goodwill with my donations.

What are you doing today?

This post was meant to be published last week. That just didn’t happen so I’m presenting it this week for T stands for Tuesday. I must also confess that I’m scheduling this as I will be on a college visit with J. AAAHHHH…did I just say that!?! My first born can’t be ready for this right?!? Time…whoosh.

Anyway….back to the post.

I wanted to share a journal page that I started with the intention of fitting a challenge theme. I quickly took a sharp left and did my own thing.

I used a preprinted background in purple and gold….everything else just seemed to happen over the top.

Little bits of this and that…napkin, ribbon, trim and found text.

In the end even though my creativity went in a different direction I was very happy with the result.

Shortly after taking the photos of my newly created page I turned around and spied this…

Now you know the secret of my backdrop. It’s a barn wood frame I picked up at a garage sale. It is a perfect backdrop in my opinion for the majority of my projects.  

Currently the barn wood frame rests on the bottom of the plant cart…and Marvin rest upon it.  Soon the frame will have to move as I will be starting my seeds. I can’t wait for gardening!! We got a new LED grow light in the mail the other day that should help immensely with a full spectrum set of bulbs. I’ll likely share that in a later post. 

Until then Marvin is enjoying his new found sunning spot. Just look at those whiskers!!!!

The other thing I managed to do over the weekend was the reorganization of my primary work zone. I won’t show the rest of the area right now because it’s still kind of crazy! And frankly will be until at least next weekend…did I mention my craft room is my laundry room? My washing machine is on it’s very last leg…as in, I’m afraid to wash another load. Mr. G has replaced several parts over the years to keep it in service but alas this last repair would cost nearly what a new machine would so I have ordered a new one…delivery on Thursday.

So as I’m off visiting a college campus…what are you doing?

For several years I’ve wanted to join in with Karen of My Desert Cottage for her annual blog party but have missed it due to busy schedules. This year I finally made it!

My Desert Cottage

So without further ado….Welcome to Halle’s Hobbies!

I’d like to introduce myself for you first time visitors. I’m Halle, which is pronounced Holly. I know..it’s different. I’m am a self taught mixed-media artist from Minnesota. I’ve been crafting since I was a kid. Over the years I had played around with a little bit of everything…plastic canvas, embroidery, painting plaster ornaments, quilting and even tried scrapbooking when I had my first child. It wasn’t until I discovered altered art in 2005 that I realized I had a passion for art. I started blogging in April of 2007 on Blogger then eventually purchased my own domain and moved my blog to WordPress. So here we are today.

On with the tour…

I have a couple of creative areas in our house. I’m am very lucky that the family puts up with my creative chaos.

I’ll start with my art space.

where this blogger creates

It’s not fancy or sweetly decorated but it’s mine! Although I do share my space with the laundry, deep freeze and utility room. Don’t get me wrong….I’m not complaining. I’m lucky because I have room to spread out and bonus, I have a sink to wash hands and brushes!  I also have tons of storage for all my bits of this and that. Somehow I still find that I’m running out of room!

where this blogger creates

This is the view to the left of the previous shot. I keep my guillotine cutter on the clothes dryer. It happens to be a perfect height. The top of the file cabinet and the deep freeze have become storage spots as well. I’ve been organizing and purging bit by bit.  Slowly but surely I’ll get it finished.

Remember I mentioned my family being patient with my creative chaos…

where this blogger creates

This is my sewing table that resides in a tiny corner in our family room. I tend to sew a lot so having a space that is constantly at the ready is key. Beyond creating and repairing basic utilitarian objects, sewing finds it’s way into my art as well. Currently, I have a feature article in Sew Somerset where I share my technique for collage cards.

And where would a blogger be without her computer…I love my big monitor. It makes photo editing a dream!

where this blogger creates

 My “office area” sits in a nice little nook in the game area of our family room.

where this blogger creates

Truth be told, my desk is usually covered with papers. It’s just how I work best. I can’t explain it but it works for me unfortunately it drives Mr. G crazy. Thankfully he is tolerant.

Thanks for coming along on this little tour with me. I hope you’ll stop by again.

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