8 Reasons Why I like the KonMari Method

All photos today are of my own house and belongings.
Perhaps you might think I have a lot of stuff?
But it was much worse before, trust me!

The KonMari method of de-cluttering has taken the world by storm in the last year or so, but in case you haven't heard of it, I wrote about it here and here. I'm more than halfway through KonMari-ing my house now, and I'm very pleased with how well the method works for me. Here are 8 reasons why I think that is:

1. IT ACKNOWLEDGES THE EMOTIONS
Many de-cluttering books and shows take a 'hard love' stance on the subject. They envision a frenzy of throwing things out, with garbage bags full of unwanted clutter lined up on the footpath. To me, it seems quite cold and heartless. Anyone who has seen TV shows like Hoarders can clearly see what an emotional toll the process has on the homeowner. In these shows, having an emotional reaction is usually depicted as a weakness to be overcome. Even when a psychologist is brought in to help the subject, his or her struggles to deal with the process are swept aside when a group of hard-nosed de-cluttering experts turn up armed with rubber gloves and a huge skip. In contrast, the KonMari method is gentle. Marie Kondo says it's important to acknowledge (she uses the word 'relish') the emotions that come up during tidying; this actually makes the decision easier, not harder. The decision to keep or discard is made by asking yourself whether the item makes you happy. KonMari asks: does holding the item make your heart leap and put a smile on your face? If so, then keep it!

I arranged my shawls in a box from Ikea so I can see them
every time I open my wardrobe door. Happy.
2. IT DOESN'T USE THE 'C' WORD
I found it interesting that in the title of her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, Kondo uses the word 'tidying' instead of 'de-cluttering'. This is the case throughout the book as well. Konmari never uses the word 'clutter' or 'rubbish' to refer to possessions, and she is careful to use terms such as 'discard' or 'retire' instead of 'throw away' or 'get rid of'. The book has been translated from Japanese, but I think this careful use of terms is very deliberate. As I learned from the Fluent Self method of self-care, the words we choose are very important. Words like 'de-cluttering' and 'getting rid of' tend to create an automatic resistance in people's minds. Gentler, more respectful and positive words make people more amenable to following the method.

Body wash and face mask samples are all grouped together in the bathroom.
3. IT'S NOT MINIMALIST
It seems that many people have misunderstood the KonMari method, thinking it promotes a lifestyle of minimalism. It doesn't. The method merely says to keep all of the items that make you happy. KonMari says not to feel bad if you want to keep something. This means the item sparks joy and you should keep it. Recently on NHK TV there was a special called Tidying in New York with KonMari (I believe it's on YouTube now). KonMari was helping a young woman with her apartment. The girl became visibly upset at the thought of having to throw a box of things away. I think they were drawings that she had created. KonMari then said to her, "but if you don't want to throw them away, you don't have to!" Her face cleared and she beamed. The drawings made her happy, so why get rid of them? The aim is not to have as little as possible, but to live in a space where everything in it makes you happy.

All of my books are unpacked now! And Husband's too!
4. THERE ARE NO NUMBERS
Many other decluttering methods focus on numbers: you should have no more than so many of each item. Articles on clothes are particularly big on this -- to build a 'capsule' wardrobe, you should have 2 shirts, 2 pants, 2 skirts, etc. The KonMari method doesn't put any limits or absolutes on anything. If you had 43 handbags and 38 of them spark joy, keep those 38. (Not that that's a specific example from my own life or anything, ahem.) If, for example, you don't keep any skirts at all because you don't like wearing skirts anymore, that's fine, too.

Makeup has been sorted, duplicate colours weeded out,
and arranged in trays and a basket from Daiso.
5. IT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT EVERYONE'S DIFFERENT
The 'does it spark joy?' method of deciding what to keep acknowledges that everyone is an individual. As Marie Kondo says, everyone has a different understanding on what the appropriate amount to keep is, so there's no point in specifying numbers. The important factor is whether or not you feel comfortable being in that room. Some people prefer a minimalist room, others love being surrounded by their treasured items. The KonMari method allows people to express their personality. If you have 50 kitten figurines and 48 of them spark joy, then it's perfectly fine to keep all 48. Keeping 48 kitten figurines might seem completely bonkers-crazy to one person, but totally normal to another. It's up to you to decide what's right for you.


6. IT WORKS FOR COLLECTORS
Speaking of kitten figurines ...
Many people who collect things for a hobby can't put their finger exactly on why they do it. There's no rhyme or reason behind it, only emotion. Other methods of decluttering often don't acknowledge this urge. Nobody needs 20 teapots, or 3,500 troll dolls. Sources that tell you to discard excess items or throw away things you haven't used in a year aren't helpful for someone who has a valuable and treasured collection of original boxed Star Wars figures. Asking yourself if this item really makes you happy is a much more appropriate way of going about discarding when it comes to collections.

Now my stud earrings are arranged in a lovely vintage dish instead of the
ugly fishing tackle box I packed them in to move house.
7. IT'S RESPECTFUL
For those who lean towards an animist view on life, the respect with which Marie Kondo treats her possessions will be familiar. Before she begins tidying a client's house, she greets the house and asks it to show her where it would like everything stored. She advises that when discarding an item, to thank it for its service. This allows you to discard it with a clear conscience instead of guilt. Finding a permanent spot in the house for the remaining items is also very important. She says: when an item has its own place, it's happier, and this vibe spreads to the whole room and its occupants.

I finally found all of my dangly earrings and the stand to display them on! So happy!
The stand is on an open bookshelf opposite my bed so I can see it all the time.
8. IT'S NOT FANCY
Marie Kondo doesn't give advice regarding particular types of storage systems. In fact, she advises against purchasing elaborate storage 'solutions' for the home. This, she says, only leads to acquiring more because excess items are out of sight and you may forget you have them. She herself uses old shoeboxes and other re-purposed things to store many of her belongings. What's important is that when you open a cupboard door, you can see everything you own, and it makes you happy. Your storage can be as elaborate or simple, expensive or cheap as you want it to be.

I have some more posts in the pipeline on the KonMari method, such as tips, how I deviated from the method (gasp!!), and how it has changed my life. Has it? I'm not sure yet. Stay tuned to find out!

My May

The weather really turned cold by the end of the month. We've broken out the extra blankets, and there are frost warnings already. There's been a lot more rain. I heard about the 30x30 Challenge, which is to spend 30 minutes outside every day for 30 days, starting on 1st May. I wanted to do it, but then it rained for 3 days straight, with barely a 30-minute letup, so I decided to wait until Winter is over before trying it. Of course, I want to spend as much time outside as I can, but at this time of year it would be quite difficult to do it every day.

What I've been sorting ...
My KonMari adventure has been continuing. I've almost finished my clothes, and most of my accessories. I've unpacked a lot of boxes in the last few months, but there are still quite a few things packed (or lost??!) which mean I can't gather everything in some categories together to KonMari them.

I'm also pleased to say that I've unpacked all my books now, which was No. 96 on my 101 Things in 1,001 Days list.

My hair decos. Not too many?
What I've been making ...
I finally finished this crocheted mushroom. I wanted to make one as part of the Mori Girl Challenge, and, I have to admit, this project did double-service. I had two Geocaching Travel Tags to send off. The Travel Tags can be attached to any small item you like, and the tracking code turns it into a trackable item. It's then placed into a geocache for other players to pick up and move to another cache. There's more information here for the interested.
One of the fun things about creating a trackable is to attach something to it that will be fun for other players. And that was the problem! I didn't know what to attach them to. Being me, something handmade was preferable, but I'd been procrastinating for months because I couldn't think of anything. Then an idea struck me: make amigurumi mushrooms!
I (quite cleverly if I do say so myself) embroidered the tracking code under the cap of the mushroom but unfortunately I can't show it to you. It's against the rules. Otherwise anyone could log the trackable when they aren't actually in possession of it.

At this stage, I've almost finished the second one. I used a different pattern so I might write a separate post with my thoughts comparing them.

I also started a new design for a knitted monster plushie. I've made crocheted ones before, but I wanted to see if I could design a knitted one. I ran out of steam though, when I couldn't decide how to do the arms.

What I've been dreaming of ...
Not so much dreaming, but meaning to get around to it. With the rainier weather, the garden is greener than ever. I've started to notice dandelions popping up all over. They're one of the few wild plants I can recognise and know to be useful. There's a wonderfully informative post on The Woman Who Married a Bear on the very topic, so it just remains for me to give it a try.

Selections from Instagram

Mulled wine and drinking games for the Eurovision Song Contest:

I planted a tree! Well, more of a small shrub, really.

I also decorated the fernery a bit more with this gnome from Daiso:

My April

I spent most of the month at home, except for a few trips into the city to go to exhibitions or see friends. My focus has been on the home -- unpacking, sorting and setting everything up.


What I've been making ...
I haven't done a huge amount of craft, but at least a little more than last month. I made this small mat on impluse. Sometimes I get a random urge to knit something in a basketweave pattern for some reason. I'm slowly developing a small collection of little basketweave mats, doll blankets, etc.

I've also worked a bit on my Grannyland blanket. I have about 15 finished squares now, and the unfinished ones you see here. My aim is at least 25 before I even start thinking about joining them together. I'm having too much fun pairing up colours to stop yet!

What I've been playing ...
I've been on the lookout for new casual games to play. I found out recently that the style of game I like to play most is called 'god games' -- the ones where you control the little people/animals/etc and do things that affect their environment. I especially love the ones where you can name them. When I think about it, it's quite rare in life that you get to name things. Plush toys, pets, perhaps your car. Then there's the ultimate -- getting to name another person. In some of these games, you get to name a whole civilisation!

My favourite new game (despite the characters' names not being customisable) is Godus. In this game, you literally play a god, directing your followers to build a civilisation and sculpting the land to make it easier for them to do so. If you keep your followers happy, they generate belief (the pink bubbles) which you can collect and use for powers like Finger of God and Meteor.

As you can see, the game looks gorgeous. I love the contoured layers of land in different colours. Godus was designed by a team headed by Peter Molyneux, one of the greats of game development -- so great, even I've heard of him! Just to scare the rival tribe a little, I set one tree on fire, and ended up destroying their whole civilisation. Oops.

What I've been sorting ...
I unpacked enough that I was able to give the KonMari treatment to a couple more categories of my stuff: underwear, plush toys and knick-knacks. Well, some of the knick-knacks, anyway. I'm sure I have a lot more to unpack....

Selections from my Instagram ...
A new section, obviously, as I've only been on Instagram for a couple of weeks, this section features some of my favourite pictures from my feed for the month of April:

The KonMari Bandwagon

I'm sure almost everyone has heard of Kondo Marie and her innovative de-cluttering method by now. It's been all over the blogosphere for quite some time now. There are many, many, many articles out there which go into the method in more or less detail. In the last few days, it's captured my attention. As the second anniversary of buying our house approaches, it's been more on my mind that my house isn't the way I'd like it. In fact, much of my stuff isn't even unpacked yet! There's a story behind that, but I won't go onto it today.

Serene-looking Marie Kondo and her book.

When reading about Kondo Marie and her KonMari method, I have to admit that I was in two minds about it. I did go ahead and order the book, but in the meantime while I'm waiting for it to arrive, I thought I'd note my initial impressions of what I've read so far.

Not my house, but it could be!
Picture Source.

THINGS ABOUT THE METHOD THAT REPEL/MYSTIFY ME

* Minimalism. I've always had a lot of stuff. My family has always had a lot of stuff, and I grew up being used to that. We're not hoarders - we'll quite happily throw stuff away, and we like to have everything tidied away where possible. Admittedly though, that doesn't always work out in the bustle of everyday life.
* Working from items you're least attached to, to most. I think the concept is great, but Kondo suggests starting with clothes, then books, then other items. I'm very attached to my clothes and especially my books! I guess my concept of sentimentality is a little different to hers. If I haven't read a book, then I will not get rid of it.

THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE METHOD

* The main title of the book uses the words 'tidying up' rather than 'de-cluttering' or 'organising'. I've always had a resistance to those two words, but my brain can cope with tidying up.
* Kondo's method involves working by category rather than by room or area. For example, you need to collect together all of your clothes, no matter what room they are in, before you start deciding what to get rid of. That makes a lot of sense to me and appeals to my sense of completism.
* It's a one-shot prospect. Kondo says that if you follow her method faithfully, then you should only ever have to do it once - ever. In fact, she even says that once finished, you should give her book away, as you will no longer need it. I love that detail, as it shows that she is genuinely dedicated to her method. It sounds exciting but, to be honest, I'm a bit sceptical. I tend to buy a lot of stuff on impulse, which I then need to find spots for in the house. But I'm open to the possibility that this might change once I have a nice, tidy house.
* She's against buying elaborate storage systems, but she's big on putting things in boxes and trays. I do this a lot too, so it makes sense to me.
* She folds her t-shirts and socks the same way I do! We're folding twins!
* She acknowledges that people have trouble getting rid of things because they have emotional attachments or feelings of guilt associated with them. Her method turns traditional de-cluttering ideas on their head and looks at why we should keep things, rather than why we should throw them away.
* She has a spiritual way of looking at physical space and belongings, which I can relate to.

The beauty of socks.
Picture Source.

In the end, I decided to buy the book because I was intrigued by Kondo Marie as a person. She has been preoccupied with tidying and arranging physical space since the age of 5. She worked for many years in a Shinto shrine, where she became accustomed to thinking of physical space in a spiritual way. In some ways, she reminds me of myself. I've been known to spend an afternoon happily sorting hama beads into different colours, and can't wait for the day when I'll have time to get right into the compactus and get all those files properly sorted out.

Now ... when is that book going to arrive??

Spring Cleaning

I'm in the mood to get rid of stuff, to purge, to make lists and cross things off them. Starting with my stash!

I mentioned last week that I have a list of all my yarn stash on Ravelry. I printed that out and went through it, trying to make some decisions about what to keep and what to toss before even looking at the wool. It was 9 pages. Nine pages!! A bit of a daunting task. But I was really in the mood to get it done yesterday. My ideal goal is to have all of the stash fit into our upright cupboard. This will free up a lot of the storage tubs and drawers that I have it all stuffed in. I did have some definite ideas going in: after my experience with making the Fuzzy Lavender Scarf recently, I know that one or even two balls is not enough to make anything useful. So I wanted to be ruthless with those.
Any eyelash yarn - gone! I hate that stuff.

Anything black - gone! I don't have a lot of black yarn anyway, but I can't see myself making something in black for myself or anyone I know. Plus it's hard to work with because of the dark colour.
Anything that I can't think of a specific project to make with it within the space of about 10 seconds - gone!

So it was a tough brief I set myself. Soon after I got started, I realised it was going to take even longer than I thought. About 20 minutes in, my head started spinning and I needed a short break. I had the typical hoarder's voice in my head: 'But I could use it for something' and 'but it's so pretty!'. I had to keep reminding myself that I'm ruthless, that I won't regret this.

I got about two-thirds of the way through my entire stash before I could take no more and gave up for the day. I was quite proud of myself though, and I'm looking forward to finishing so I can count the number of balls in the toss-box and see how well I did.

All this motivational de-cluttering has spurred me on to more, and I've decided to embark on a Spring-Cleaning-A-Thon. I've already done a bit with my books. I used the LibraryThing to check what series I have. If I had any unread series where I didn't have book 1, I tossed the rest. I got rid of 6 that way. Some other things I've thought of are:

* Toss 10 old make-up products.
* Toss 5 jewellery items I never wear anymore.
* Toss 5 pieces of clothing I never wear anymore/I really can't be bothered repairing.
* Go through the 3 boxes of random stuff I still have from moving house, and toss, toss, toss!

I'll let you know how it goes.

30 Days of De-Cluttering : Debriefing

I mentioned a little while back that I was embarking on a project to throw one thing away (or recycle it, or donate it) every day for 30 days. I was going to blog about it, perhaps once a week, but my - how the time has passed! I did follow through on the actual project however, even though I got behind a couple of days here and there. And it really does feel good to throw things away! Once I've managed to work my way past that little voice in my head that says, "I might need that one day", "that was a good book, I might read it again" or even just "noooo!".

Even though it might be boring, I'm going to list what I threw away every day, just to prove that I really did it! And cos it makes me feel good about myself.

1. oil burner - as I've already discussed, it was broken and I told myself to turf it instead of trying to fix it!
2. sneakers - they were old and dirty and the padding was all gone. They were uncomfortable to walk in. Plus I'd already bought new ones a few months ago!
3. bathroom things - some extra bath puffies and a wire soap rest (rusted).
4. cardboard boxes (2) - old tissue boxes with pictures on them that I was going to use as covers for recycled paper notebooks. I just knew in my heart that I'd never get around to actually making them, though. So out they went! (Into the recycling!)
5. plastic bags - a few years ago I'd been planning to cut them into strips and knit with them. I had cut a few, but geez it's a pain! I can't see myself ever doing any more. So I chucked them out.
6. makeup - threw out some that were out-of-date or colour repeats. I'd rather use powder eyeshadow now than eye pencils. They drag less on my skin.
7. work drawer - some ziplock bags and other things I probably won't re-use.
8. crappy yarn - it was so bad I just threw it in the bin! Not even the charity shops deserve yarn that bad!
9. coffee table - it used to be a TV stand, but now we have a rear projection TV so we don't need it. I put it out on the nature strip and it was gone soon afterwards.
10. tea ball - I have about 3 and this one was rusted.
11. work papers - I went through and weeded a bunch of papers at work that I no longer needed.
12. blogs - I decided to shift all of my blogs from Bloglines to Protopage. Any that hadn't updated in over 6 months or were no longer about topics that I'm interested in, didn't make the cut. (This actually took way, way more than one day!)
13. Facebook games - I decided to not play any Facebook games for one week. It's been 3 weeks and I don't miss them at all. I feel like I've taken some leisure time back in my life that I can use for more productive and satisfying activities.
14. shoes - the shoes I wore every day in Europe. Ohhh, so comfy! But now when I hold them up, there's a hole in the sole so big that I can see light through it. So sadly they had to go.
15. shoes - another pair that I've had for ages. They were some really cool loafers that had a pink argyle pattern on them. Rather than try to find a similar new pair, I just kept wearing them until they were all dirty, until they had holes in the toes, until a friend said she wouldn't speak to me if she ever saw me wearing them again! I saved my friendship and turfed the shoes.
16. nail polish (1) - it was all gluggy and gross, so I used it in my art journal.
17. socks (2) - big holes in the heels! I bought some new ones.
18. nail polish (6) - ditto to nail polish from Day 16. Also there were some very similar colours, so I weeded out the ones I didn't like so much.
19. yarn (gave away) - I was sending some yarn to someone for charity knitting, so I thought I'd add a few extra balls.
20. mobile phone book - While I was waiting for a friend, I just happened to have my mobile out, so I went through and deleted anyone I hadn't spoken to in 3 years.
21. used envelopes - we get a lot of mail at work, so I save spare envelopes with cool security patterns on the inside for my art journalling, but I'd collected more than I could ever possibly use. So into the recycling they went!
22. old clothes - I found these in a bag as possibilities to take to the Op Shop. I do have to admit that I went through them and took a couple back out again!
23. handbags (4) - I ordered one on Etsy to replace an old one that's looking a bit shabby. Then I decided to donate a few more as they weren't really my style anymore.
24.egg-shaped containers - Boy and I got them for Easter a few years ago, filled with lollies. We were going to use them for something, someday, but can we really be bothered? No!
25. hair wrap - the elastic had gone on it, but I couldn't be bothered fixing it. I've discovered that a normal towel works just fine to dry my hair anyway.
26. used diffuser sticks - I was going to use them in some kind of art journalling experiment, but I use diffusers quite regularly so I'm sure I won't be short of them if I want some in future.
27. spare backpack - I bought a backpack on Ebay, but I didn't realise it was a two-for-one purchase. So I put one in the Op Shop bag.
28. pink sneakers - More shoes! These were worn out ages ago and I kept them - why? I don't really know! Did I think I could fix them or recycle the sparkly pink bits from them in something else? My life is too short!
29. toiletries - Actually, I mixed some together that were just taking up space, e.g. coloured hair serum and frizzy hair serum. It saves time too because now I only have to apply the one mixed product to my hair instead of both whenever I've washed it.
30. toothpicks - every year Boy and I receive 2 packets of toothpicks in our Christmas hampers. This year we decided to chuck them in the bin as we still had about 3 packets left over and we don't use up a whole packet in a year! (Though I did keep one packet for mixing small amounts of paint together, etc.)

All in all, this project was a good exercise in confronting an issue that I've always had, and has gotten worse over the last few years. I remember a couple of years ago making a pact with myself to clear out the hobby room, get rid of any stuff I no longer need and make it all pretty and inspirational. Yet somehow I managed to accumulate more and more stuff and the situation became worse instead of better. And still I look at the pretty, crafty, neat and tidy rooms on other people's blogs and sigh and dream.

One day! I swear!

30 Days of De-Cluttering!

Right. I decided yesterday on the spur of the moment that I'm going to do some spring cleaning around the flat. Getting home from a series of well-organised and minimally decorated hotel rooms to my little abode last weekend was a little ... how can I put it ... disappointing. I love my home beyond words and I love spending time there, but it's never been at all how I'd like it to be. Boy and I just have so much stuff! I get very attached to things, and I find it really hard to throw things away (not to mention saying 'no' when things are offered to me ... hello 8 new books!).

Yesterday I went into the hobby room to find that the cat had knocked over one of my oil burners and broken it - thankfully it was empty at the time. My first instinct was to keep it and try to glue it back together. Then I remembered that the bowl had already broken years ago and I'd bought a replacement bowl which didn't match the burner. Then I remembered that, between us, Boy and I have 3 other oil burners! So I decided to chuck it in the bin. It felt good. I decided to do a bit more. It's kinda scary to a hoarder like me, so I thought that one item per day for a set period might be manageable. A month is good. We're already half-way through October though! (As an aside - um, how did that happen?!) Oh well, I'll just start where I am. That's all we can do, isn't it? So I declared 30 Days of De-Cluttering!

So, on Day 1 I threw out the oil burner (yeah, yeah, I know it was broken, but a girl has to start somewhere!). And on Day 2 I'm throwing out a pair of sneakers. They're old and dirty and yucky and I never wear them because I have a new pair now. There! That felt good!

This picture is not my house, sadly. I chose it because it's full of stuff, just like my house. But the stuff is arranged artfully, all the ornaments are on display and the artwork hung with some kind of sense. It helped me to realise that I can have a well-ordered, aesthetically pleasing space without having to emulate a blindingly-white Scandinavian box with nothing in it.*

---

* If you like Minimalism, that's fine. I have no problem with it. It's just not to my taste. I'm a Maximalist. =)

Saturday Morning

I've spent all morning de-cluttering my laptop. According to Mike Nelson's Stop Clutter From Stealing Your Life, there is such a thing as computer clutter! I've organised all my craft patterns and stationery downloads into folders. Now, with only 4 clicks, I'm able to tell you that I have 7 different gift tag PDFs to choose from, so there's no need to buy any. I have 3 types of To Do Lists, but no Thank You cards. (What does that say about me??)

I was feeling pretty proud of myself! A few months ago, I cleared up my email and set it up to automatically sort different types of emails into folders. That was immensely helpful. Except for one little thing:

I really need to cut down on some of my email subscriptions!
Hope everyone is having a relatively stress-free pre-holiday time.

[Later:] I walked to the post office to pick up a parcel (I'm a complete advocate of online gift shopping!) and I happened to walk past the Wool Shop. It has 'traditional' opening hours and it's not normally open when I'm in that area. But it was today. I'm glad I travelled light, and I didn't have my credit card on me, or else it could have been a real disaster. I didn't go in, but as I glanced through the front door, I noticed a basket full of handmade hats and scarves with a sign on it saying "$15". Fifteen dollars?! I don't know much about selling through shops, but I imagine the maker would probably get $5 to $10 after the shop takes its cut. I'm more certain that each of the items in the basket would have taken at least 3 to 4 hours to make, minimum. That's practically sweat shop wages! I was a little outraged. I would not buy an item that I knew was handmade for that cheap. I have heard of sellers on Etsy having a lot more success after they increased their prices, and now I'm starting to understand why. If you want to feel good about buying something handmade, then you want to feel good about paying the maker a decent price for it, too.
Just my thought of the day.

Mini Zine Fun

As promised, here are some pics of the mini zine I made, which I am giving away free with every order until the end of August. My aim is to eventually write a trilogy, and make a snazzy envelope type deal to present them in. One day soon.

Meanwhile, I just finished reading this book which arrived in my mailbox the other day:

The Decorated Journal, by Gwen Deihn.
It tackles art journalling from a technical as well as an inspirational point of view. A wide range of materials and techniques are covered. There are many styles and themes of journal, many of which I hadn't thought of before. It's an amazingly helpful book, and I'm really glad I bought it. I'm sure I'll look at it again and again.
I've also been doing some writing, mostly exercises, and trying to get my head around the insanely large number of craft projects I have, and how to reduce them and sort them out.

August is Sort It Out Month!

Art Journalling - Ur Doin It Wrong!

About 18 months ago, I started an art journal. About 12 months ago, it got lost in the hobby room somewhere. I did about 10 pages, but it slowly petered out. I wanted to journal, but it just didn't happen. It wasn't for lack of ideas or materials: I had plenty of both. I had logistical difficulties, you see. I would cover a page with layers of lovely, luscious glazes, and the page would just warp and go wrinkly. I would colour in an area with black crayon, and it would end up marking half the other pages too, even when I inserted a piece of tissue paper. The cover went all floppy when I tried to put a base layer of paint on it. After a while, it wouldn't lie flat when it was open because the previous wrinkled, warped pages were so bulky. It drove me nuts, and I gave up. Then, over time, my painting station slowly accumulated mounds of unrelated junk - receipts, doctor's letters, magazines, souvenirs and other random stuff - making it completely impossible to do any painting or drawing without spending hours moving and sorting all that stuff first. It was all just too hard. I was sad, but I didn't have the motivation to do anything about it.

Last weekend, motivated by an urge to write, I cleared off my painting station (converting it to, as I thought at the time, purely a writing station). I had the smart idea of putting all the junk in a box, so I could go through it at my own leisure. Here is my writing painting creating station now:

1. Mug with gel pens, scissors, smaller paintbrushes.
2. Vase with larger paintbrushes, foam roller, pencils with Star Trek toppers, mirror.
3. Glue caddy. A wire caddy that was originally full of hot sauces.
4. Bizarre purple ceramic thingy that I got at an op-shop, which I think might be a pen holder. I'm using it as a brush holder.
5. Chinese ink and larger paint pots.
6. Organiser drawers which I installed just yesterday. They contain my art journal, writing journal, spare writing journals, and pencil case with special writing pens.
7. On top are my rubber stamps, another pencil case with my special drawing pens, and a dinosaur figurine.
8. Window. During the day, there's a nice view of a tree and courtyard of my building.
9. Lamp. Hanging off it are beaded book thongs and elfy Tree decoration I bought from Jelli Bat last December.
10. Spools of ribbon and candle holders with sponge and aloe vera gel in them. That's just stuff I haven't gotten around to tidying off yet.
11. Box with acrylic paints in it.
12. Inspirational dragon plaque and kapibara-san coin purse that I got in Japan. Also a lip balm. I have stashes of them all over the house.


When I sat down to do some creative writing exercises, my metallic textas and rubber stamps were still on the table. After I finished the exercises, I found myself spending just as much time decorating the borders of my pages as I had writing! And it felt good. So what's wrong with decorating my writing journal if I feel like it?

It got me thinking about my old art journal, and what had gone wrong with it. For a start, I'd bought the cheapest scrapbook I could find. It needed to be sturdier, with a real hard cover. It needed thicker paper. It needed to be bound like a proper hard-cover book so it would lie flatter. Basically - I had to stop being tight for a minute! Secondly, I hadn't done any research on materials. I had just used whatever I had lying around. But I didn't know anything about what the best paints were for laying down backgrounds, what the best markers were that didn't bleed through to the other side, what glue was best for adding collage. No wonder it went wrong more often than not! This time, I'm going to try to keep in mind that it's important to observe and learn, not just to do. My perception has changed - I thought that a tutorial on 'how to make art' is a bit beside the point. You just DO it. You just ... be creative. But then it occurred to me - when I was a little kid and I learned to knit, I had to actually learn to knit. Then I learned more techniques and practised and I got better. Singers learn how to sing, writers learn how to write. They need to get to know their instrument or medium before they can get the most out of it. So I would like to do some research (as an information geek, I have no issues there!), start over again and make a better art journal. No, not better, just more appropriate to my needs.

Yes, I'm proud of some of the pages I did in the old one, this one for example:

but overall it just doesn't inspire me to get it out and turn the pages, reminisce over old ones and be excited about making new ones. And I think that's what's important.

So I've enrolled in an online course run by Dawn Sokol of the art journalling blog D'Blogala (among many other projects). I find her blog very inspiring, so I'm sure it'll be good. It consists of a weekly e-mail every week for 10 weeks, with attached tutorial, tips, etc. It's US$15, which seems very reasonable. The only problem is - it doesn't start until 12th August! That's a whole month away! I bought a lovely sturdy journal from Riot Art n Craft yesterday and I'm ready to start! I'm the kind of person that wants it now, cause I know that tomorrow I'll have moved on and be all excited about something else. But the thing about art journalling is that you can put it aside and come back to it later. It's as finished as you want it to be. And there's such a huge scope with what can be done with them. Why couldn't I write in it instead of paint sometimes, take some photos and stick those in instead of draw, if I felt like it?

I started already, last night. Here is page One, a declaration of intent:

[The text says: "ART JOURNAL No. 2. Yes, I know the first one isn't finished yet, but I really feel I need to start afresh."]

P.S. I also wrote a Tanka poem tonight too! I'll post it next time.

Spring Cleaning

Hi!

During last week, I mostly worked on my Art Journal and laying down a base for painting on my art book. I used this journal entry to let out the stress and frustrations of the week, and it's pretty moribund. I did most of it while I was either drunk or hungover. So I'll just show you a detail:

This corner shows how I've taught myself to always find something positive in the bad and try to draw it out.

Materials include: acrylic paint, scrap fabric, scrap clear plastic, sticker offcuts from Kinder Surprises, scrunched up tissue, wine (applied with fingers), glitter glue.

My next entry will be all about Spring! If only the weather would co-operate....

Then on Saturday I made a display board showing all my projects with a bar showing how far off they are from being completed. Basically it has the same info as the sidebar of my blog, except it has the handy bonus that I don't have to log on to look at it! Now when I can't decide which project to work on, I have it all there to help me decide. I laminated the backing sheets and the project cards so they can be written on with whiteboard markers and erased. (The marker I stole obtained from work says erasable on it but geez, it takes a lot of rubbing and spitting to get it off! I wonder if it might have something to do with the laminated surface. Or possibly karma. The concept is solid anyway, even if the details are a bit wonky, I think). I'm finding it handy already.

It helped me decide to rip this:

Yup, it's all gone! Sparky's lovely dress that was reduced to a tunic (due to a shortage of yarn) that was reduced to a funny-lookin, half-finished, shoved-in-the-back-of-the-cupboard bit of a woolly mess. I loved the feel of the yarn, the colour, the lace pattern that alternated with columns of reverse stocking-stitch. It was the human element I didn't like - the wavy hem, the crooked column edges, the wonky stitches around the lace, the atrocious-looking join between the body and the yoke. So in the spirit of spring cleaning, out it went! Sorry Sparky, I'll make you something smaller but much nicer for your birthday this year.

I'm already utilising my rescued yarn to make this crocheted headband. I'm experimenting with a design that pushes the top of the crocheted stitch outwards and turns it into a design feature. (Sorry, no pictures, I can't be bothered. Next time, I promise!) I really like how it's turning out, and I might make a few in different colours. I might actually mean it this time, too!

Meanwhile, I was having a really serious think about this knitted sleeveless top (I believe they're called a shell in the U.S.) that I started about 2 years ago. I'm about 1/4 of the way into it:

[This picture was taken a while back. It's about twice as long now.]

At first I thought, "are you serious, girl? What were you thinking? You're gonna look like you're wearing a Muppet-fur vest!" Then I thought some more and I think it wouldn't be so bad as a cardigan. This piece could be the back; there's still plenty of leeway to make two fronts, a collar and some cute cap sleeves and have plenty of wool left over for making matching accessories. Rockin!

I also completely cleared off the table in the lounge and made it into a painting/drawing station, leaving plenty of room in the hobby room for a sewing station on the big desk. I don't have a picture of this cos - well, how boring would that be?
My only concern is that the light isn't as good in the lounge. You see, the slat blinds are broken in both rooms (long term issues with the landlord, grrr!). They won't go up and down, but I can adjust the angle to let some light in. I keep the one in the lounge permanently down so that when Boy and I are out, rudey people can't peek in at our stuff. The one in the hobby room is permanently open because there's nothing for said people to look at; it's tied open with an ingenious system of cords and old lanyards. I have a small lamp on the painting table in the lounge, but it doesn't help much. I'm thinking of getting a natural light lamp because - well, how cool would that be?

Anyway, bye!

P.S. Monstrous Muriel is in the shop!