Clean House... Kind Of.

My sweet mom got me fitbit flex that recently arrived in the mail. I wear it on my wrist and digitally keep track of how many steps each day. Yesterday was my first day using it which also coincided with the day I declared to be my "clean everything out" house cleaning day.  I reached my goal of 10,000 steps by 4:00 pm.  I did not, however, clean everything out of my house. I have been super slow going with this process. Mostly because I hate cleaning. I really really hate it.  It's always easier to clean when I'm procrastinating something else. I guess I'm procrastinating taking photos for my etsy shop - another thing I hate doing. I cannot win!

 My living room is taking shape, though. I have been dusting and vacuuming, and swiffering and rearranging like crazy. My inspiration point now looks like this. Pretty minimal for me.

I got some great feedback from several people about ways of dealing with clutter in an organized way and not feeling like I have to give up a lot of stuff.  I know I'll never be someone who only has five things. I love things. I'm an artist... I make things! But I really like the idea of only having things that are truly special.  I'm trying to go through all my stuff and really think about what I have and why I have it and if I really need it.  It feels good to clean out and to move things around.

These two little cones were made by one of my best friends, Janey.  The one on the left was a unicorn horn she made for herself one Halloween. I loved it so much so she gave it to me. It goes perfect with the little conical art piece from her BFA show.

I'm in love with this little collection.  Jessica Robles drew those bunnies and I used them on the programs in my wedding. She then gifted me the drawing in a beautiful frame.

Janey made that little box house for me one year for my birthday.  Those books are Nicole Georges's and the kaleidoscopes make up my mini collection. The one on the left was handmade by Joanna Goss. The shell was from another best friend, Cameron.

I'm kind of a crystal and rock junky.  I love them. They are the most beautiful things ever made and it blows my mind that they are natural gifts from the earth.

This shelf is the bane of my existence. This used to be my favorite thing about the house... a built in shelf! Just like my childhood bedroom!  But once I started filling it up I could not stand the clutter it was creating.  It started to feel like it was too awkward of a space to put a lot of things so I am constantly rearranging.  I would love to take the whole shelving unit out and paint the inside with a pop color and then maybe add only a couple or three shelves back in, only I want them to be wood floating shelves.  My husband is not in to doing cosmetic changes so if I want to do this it's all on me. I'm a bit intimidated by the idea which is why I have done nothing so far.  Anybody want to come over and help me paint? I'm scared.

I've been hemming and hawing all day today over cleaning my kitchen and finishing up the living room. Can't someone else do it? My goal is to get my 10,000 steps in while finishing up these rooms and having free time tomorrow to get back into my studio.  The life of a housewife... ( :

Happy Tuesday toooooo yoooooouuuu.

Home

I don't want to jinx anything but we are making an offer on a house!! And This is a picture of the livingroom/dining room. I'm super duper excited and scared and a million other feelings at once.

All I can think about is how I want a space in the house that looks like this:

Source: odetteny.blogspot.com via Ann on Pinterest

Yes, I joined Pinterest, finally, so I could get house ideas. I originally saw this beautiful picture on the beautiful blog Jikits. Pinterest is not as overwelming as I thought it would be. Follow me on there at abeautifulparty.

Anyway, back to the house. My toes are antsy with anticipation. I hope to know soon soon soon if this beauty will be mine. More pictures to come when things are more real.

I'm off work tomorrow, paper terrariums are in my future.

Exes and Ohssss....

Wake Up!

Forever ago I made this green and blue banner and knew I wanted to put words on it but I couldn't commit to what it would say. Finally last night I caught the crazy crafting bug and made myself pick something. Our bedroom has always been the eyesore of our place. We once had plans to frame a bunch of art and hang it above our bed but that's been over a year and I'm not sure if it's ever going to happen so I decided to hang the banner there. And what better for the bedroom then something encouraging you to Wake Up? My boyfriend said I should have hung it on the wall in front of our bed so we would see it in the morning but I think I will instead make another one for that wall that says Good Morning. Or, I'll wait another year and maybe we'll finally have framed art.

Want a banner for your place? Write me at abeautifulparty at hotmail dot com.

Some Things To Look At

Yesterday I had the day off and spent it as creatively as possible and took pictures along the way.

First of all, check out this bunny. I have had Luxie nearly a year now. I should have a birthday for her soon. What do you get the bunny who has everything?

Over the weekend I worked on these small tissue paper pom poms and used them to decorate Lux's cage. Since her space is a bit of an eyesore I thought I could do something to make it prettier.

I also decorated these little corners of my world, too. Notice those rocks from a recent photo shoot?

I worked in my studio for a while...

and did this.

I made these, too. I love these little plaques and want to make more. Maybe instead of photos of rocks I'll draw my own.

Now I'm off to work. There is coffee that needs to be served.

Have a great day!