Reacquainting Myself

I spent six or seven hours in the Crafty Nook today, sorting, cleaning, shredding, tossing.  Three daily planners gutted and disposed of.  Addresses taken from Christmas card envelopes and put ~finally~ where they belong: a trusty address book.  Desk drawers cleaned out, professional journals and trade magazines sorted, with a pile ready to go to the classroom.  New goodies taken out of shopping bags and introduced to their new home, a glass jar here, a bin full of wooden stamps, a drawer packed with ephemera.  C.D.'s spread hither and yon are finally sorted.  Who knew I had a half-rack of blank DVR disks, and another half-rack of blank c.d. re-writeables?  And the pens, oh, the pens.  They're sorted.  Black and blue ink, red ink.  Markers.  Pencils no longer invade their territory.  I'm OCD only occasionally.  It works for me.

Crafty items...

I love ledgers and account books...

Stamps, new and old (the black cat is my favorite)...

Paper cutters, ink pens, and lovey dovey illustrations...

... and an expanding file for who knows what.

Sometimes I just need to put my hands on every object, every envelope, notepad, paper punch.  I need to change the displays, excavate the desktop, and re-sort the doodads, bits and bobs.  I need to become reacquainted with my treasures, and listen for what might speak to me.  I'm fairly certain the fabric and pressboard forms are dropping hints that I should make a wreath for our front door.  The denim is a bit more blunt than the red and white gingham:  "Have you SEEN the front door?  BLAH, I'm telling you, Dullsville."  The gingham quietly agrees.

Other thoughts that crossed my mind as I cleaned:

~ Looking at a page I created in a journal last week, I'm convinced that while Christmas in July has been the norm for me for decades, Halloween in June has become one of my new crafting tendencies, leaving me to wonder, where, oh where, will Thanksgiving end up?

~ I think I'd like to make some mini-bunting kits this summer, with directions to be found here at the blog in the form of a photo tutorial.  Who knows how many insomniac or night owl crafters there might be out there who would enjoy putting together something and adding their own personal touches.

~ I have two laptops' worth of documents and photos to sort through and delete tomorrow.  Wish me luck!