Organizing Craft And Art Space- Feng Shui Your Craft Space

Making art and nurturing creativity in yourself and others is fundamental to happiness.

I am a huge believer in creating with what you have and using recycled materials to make new things.

Having basic materials and tools is important to the creative process. 

Even spontaneous art requires having an organized platform.    

Here are some ideas I use to organize and Feng Shui our craft space:

1. Less is more- if you don't think you are going to use things, particularly stuff your monkeys have grown out of -or things you have been saving but not using- consider donating them to someone who will.  Don't be afraid to purge- giving new life to materials that you are not using, clears the way for your creative space and may inspire someone else's. 

2. Group like things together- String with string, glue with glue and glitter with glitter.  I also like grouping things with color.

3. Consolidate- As long as you have fundamental tools and material out- you can get started.  Keep extra materials or tools put away and remember what you have where. We have huge storage containers in the garage where we keep extra toilet paper rolls, fruit bag netting, jars, non- chemical spray bottles, flattened boxes, etc. 

4. This brings me to labels and lists- everything that you can't see easily- stick a label on it.
5. Finally make sure you have the basics.  If you are just starting out, make a list and go to craft stores when they have sales to get things like glue guns, fabric/glass paints, paint brushes etc. at 50% off.

I have a peg board in my office and make it my responsibility to keep it organized and stocked.
It is easy to see what we have and because it is in 'my' space- it is understood that these materials are to be used with permission.  

As monkeys get older they need less supervision but I like to know when fabric paint is being used and for what! 

I keep 'craft kits' in the monkeys rooms with scissors, water based paint, glue, coloring tools and papers.

We added these recycled cans to our craft corner peg board to hold some writing and painting tools

We painted them:

and then used clips and hooks to get them to hang on the board:

they worked out perfectly.

I like to keep some extra supplies in jars so it is easy to see-

I have this fold up table in my office beside my computer desk:

I try to keep it clear! To make it easier I make space for my sewing machine and unfinished craft projects on shelves in the office closet.  If everything has its place it is more likely to end up put away.

How do you manage/organize your art and craft supplies? 

Our Garden: Uses For Aloe And Lavender

Our garden is a sanctuary.  We love planning, working in and enjoying our space.  Most of what we plant and grow is with the intention of using it.  I love to use herbs in cooking and teas.  Over the next couple of weeks I will showcase some of the things we have in our garden and what their medicinal uses and magical  powers are:

ALOE: Aloe Vera- I don’t remember a time when I didn’t use this plant.  In Toronto we had an indoor plant.  When we lived in the Caribbean it grew wild all over and now in the desert have a plant I purchased from Trader Joe’s four years ago that is thriving with little maintenance, outside year round.  

There are two parts of this plant that can be used.  The inside clear, gel-like central leaf pulp, and the yellow-green juice from the green part of the leaf. The gel is used topically to soothe, heal, and moisturize the skin. It cools the skin, protects it from airborne infections, reduces scarring and speeds cell regeneration.  The yellow part can be scraped from split leaves for first aid treatment of  sunburns, cuts, chapped skin, acne, eczema and Poison Ivy rash. 

In the summer when my plant is at it’s plumpest I snap sections off and store them whole in my freezer.  It can be stored, already scrapped, for short periods of time in a glass jar in the fridge.  

Aloe is also used as a protective houseplant. It guards against evil influences and prevents household accidents. I keep ours in a large pot directly beside our front door.  In Africa aloe is hung over houses and doors to bring good luck and drive away evil. 

LAVENDER: (Lavandula species) This perennial comes in several different species all with small, linear leaves and spikes of fragrant purple or blue flowers.   Aromatic oil glands cover all aerial parts of the plants but are most concentrated in the flowers. The flowers can be used to flavor jams, sweets and stews.  Dried flowers can be used to make potpourri.  You can make flower water to use as a skin toner to treat acne and to speed cell renewal.  Lavender tea treats anxiety, headaches, flatulence, nausea, dizziness, and halitosis. The essential oil which you can purchase online or at a heath food store is used as an antiseptic and painkiller. It can be used to treat insect bites, burns, sore throats and headaches. Lavender can also be added to bath water or foot soak tubs to ease anxiety and produce a calming, sleepy affect.  I used this often when the monkeys were babies.  

Lavender is a traditional ingredient for love spells. Lavender in the home brings peace, joy and healing. You may use it in your home to encourage more: Love, Psychic Awareness, Happiness, Creative Work, Money, Harmony, Peace, Healing. The odor of lavender is said to be conducive to long life.

Do you enjoy using Aloe and Lavender?

What do you grow, to use, in your garden? 

On Living Life

When things are trying and ever day seems like a test in not letting the mind wander and every night a battle to settle below the surface of worried wakefulness, I remind myself that nothing matters except the four of us.  We can’t control others, their reactions or even more frustratingly, their lack of reactions and willingness to move forward.  

What you can do is focus on the things that matter.

Do things that make you happy- everyday.  Then focus on your loved ones and those who depend on you.  Just like a happy wife is a happy life, in the words of Jackie Kennedy Onassis the best thing a wife can do for her husband is ‘be a distraction’.  

A husband lives and breathes his work all day long. If he comes home to more table thumping, how can the poor man ever relax?

I practice Feng Shui in my home as it gives structure to my ultimate goal of creating a harmonious home.  I put things back where they belong.  I seek and execute healthy meals.  I run errands so that everyone has what they need.  I plan things that I know will make my family happy.  I water the plants and feed the pets.  I invite good chi (energy flow) into our home. Most importantly I schedule time to do things that make me happy.

Another famous Jackie quote is: 

 If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much. 

How true and yet hard to gauge.

I was talking to a friend who is expecting her first grandchild in the fall.  She told me that her gauge is that both her children want to call her.  

My goals in terms of what kind of relationship I want to have with my monkeys now and well into their adulthood is:

• I want us to enjoy spending time together.
• I want to continue to learn from them- children are our teachers and in the words of Kahlil Gibran:  You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.  For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
• I  want us to continue saying I love you and hug each other every time. 

What do you do to make yourself and your loved ones happy?

What are your gauges? 

Japan Wabi-Sabi

What a terrible tragedy the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.  Just like the footage from 9/11, I find the images mesmerizing.  I find the destruction devastating yet to look at it from a purely environmental perspective there is an element of elegance in the movement of the water.

Wabi- Sabi is (not unlike the theories of Feng Shui) based on the ancient art of finding beauty in all accepts of life including imperfections.  It is based on the elements: that nothing lasts, nothing is finished and nothing is perfect.  In Zen Buddhism it is about finding perfection in imperfection.

I find this a reassuring way to run a household, host a dinner party, enjoy our garden, be a wife and probably most importantly raise monkeys.  Of course so much of life's moments are about letting go of the preconceived notion that there is a way things 'should be'.
Control is an illusion and nothing is permanent.

Characteristic of maintaining a wabi- sabi home and life include: asymmetry, simplicity, economy, modesty, intimacy and appreciation of natural objects on processes.

Some snap shots of my life that fall under these characteristics:

A creative space that is never going to be finished or perfect

Beauty in a pool that is covered in pollen

Bringing garden flowers inside and appreciating the petals that fall all over

A guitar playing husband who doesn't put stuff away

Creativity with no regard for neatness

Unmade beds and monkeys playing video games, in their PJ's well after noon!

Laundry- hanging to dry inside

How do you practice Wabi- Sabi?

Plant Feng Shui

I love having flowers, plants and herbs in my home.

Not only is it great Feng Shui to have many living things in your home but it is also deeply spiritual to give them the care they need. I find that when I am in ‘good space’ or need to be, that working with plants- either watering them, trimming the leaves or moving them to a sunnier spot- makes me feel rejuvenated. Obviously plants are forms of positive energy and they are also givers of life. Naturally when one works directly with plants one is privi to receive life energy.

Good space exists exclusively with good air. When one has good air in the home one has a good starting point to achieving further Feng Shui success.

There are plants that are better than others at cleaning the air. If you are looking to start to ‘clean your air’ in the home, a good plant to start with is a Lady Palm (Rhapis Excelsa) which is a great indoor plant known to remove many pollutants. This is a very common plant and extremely easy to care for.

http://www.rhapisgardens.com/rhapis-excelsa/

For many years I had the most lovely Peace Lily which I inherited from a 'cross country mover'. Peace Lily’s (spthiphyllum sp.) are a beautiful lush plant that is very easy to care for. Truth be told I did not give this plant the best of care when it was first thrust upon me. I can attest that this plant can survive weeks without watering. Once I did start watering and appreciating this plant it rewarded us often with the most elegant, delicate, exquisite white flowers. Apparently it is good for removing such inpurities as formaldehyde, acetone, benzene and trichloroethylene from the air. Unfortunalty when I made a cross country move and packed all my wordly possessions into a truck (that I would not see for more weeks then I originally thought possible) I too had to pass it along.

Would You Step Out On To This?

A living bathmat- that takes the Feng Shui element of surround yourself with living things to a new dimension.  Made from imputrescible foam called plastazote, the mat includes ball moss, island moss and forest moss. The humidity of the bathroom ensures that the mosses thrive.

Check out Yanko Design: http://www.yankodesign.com

Do you think you would welcome stepping out of the shower onto this?

Unstick With Feng Shui

We are all creative beings.  There are times when we are mentally sharp, clear and can attack projects with vigor.  At other times we feel stuck and unable to take the next step.  Depending on what your creative outlet is, there are various methods that you may use to unstick yourself- Feng Shui has methods that are applicable to all areas of the Bagua.
If you ever feel in need of an over all 'lift' I would suggest doing these two things:
Wash your air vents.  There is nothing more symbolically linked with being 'stuck' than a blocked air flow. Vents should be cleaned-unscrew them, take them down/out, get them in water and soap.  Filters should be replaced every 3-6 months-
Secondly, wipe down light fixtures and light bulbs- replace any burnt out light bulbs.  It is impossible to see clearly when there is dirt and dust to cloud your vision.
I would also like to add- if you didn't change the batteries in your smoke detectors during day-light saving do so now- Especially before you put up your holiday lights.

I took down every vent on the first floor today- I washed them, took the dust buster to the inside of the air vent and wiped them down.  I did the same with the fans and the light bulbs and light fixtures- Tomorrow second floor-

Are you inspired? 

To learn more about the Feng Shui Bagua Map: http://openspacesfengshui.com/resources/Residential-Bagua.pdf

Feng Shui-This Much I Know Is True

Part of what appeals to me about Feng Shui is that it is a philosophy that is seeped in common sense.  Common sense stipulates that if you have a cupboard filled to the brim with 'stuff' then if you get more stuff- you will have no where to put it.  Thus, you need to get rid of things that are of no use, little use or less use- in order to invite new things into your life.  Furthermore, common sense stipulates that when everything has it’s own place then you spend less time looking for it.

Every few months I like to take sections of my house and purge, reorganize and redefine them.  I also use this time to do a deep cleanse.

Here is the kitchen cleanse

I like to keep the items that I use the least but enjoy looking at at the top

We live in a hard water area so I give all my glassware a rinse in a white vinegar solution

Because we have monkeys who graze on food- I have an abundance of 'little dishes'. 

Easy to cut up an apple or toss a handful of almonds into.

Dr. J is a saucier so we also use them for condiments.

Tupperware without a lid drives me nutz. 

I love coffee and tea and am particular about which cups I use for what.

We call this the sharp things drawer- if it can cut you it goes in here

Metal drawer and Wood drawer

Cutlery- again I gave it a rinse with vinegar

My 'junk' drawer is a mini office in the kitchen- easy for homework supplies.

When the kids bring home papers I recycle them by cutting them into fours 

and making a note paper pile that is easily accessible.

In my plastic drawer I have one carton that holds all the ziploc bags that are washed and ready to reuse

I am much happier when everything is in order- keep in mind I do this every few months and that I would never imagine posting the before photos.