Where Bloggers Create 2015

Greetings from Oz (Kansas!), fellow creative souls!  

My name is Michaele, and I've been looking forward to sharing with you the nooks and crannies that keep all of my treasures and I-know-I-can-use-this-in-some-way items organized yet within reach in one of my favorite places ever: My Crafty Nook.  Seeing the beautiful photos of Karen Valentine's creative haven reassures me that I'm not the only drawer/cubbie/container addict out here.  I can't wait to visit you all!

Please, come in:

I should explain: it's not really a "nook."  When I first carved out a space for myself years ago, it was no bigger than a five foot by five foot corner in a basement, and I used extra bedroom furniture for storage.  It came to be known in my family as "Mom's Crafty Nook," and the name stuck.  When we bought our forever home, the nook became an entire spare room, but that cozy, self contained feeling of being surrounded by tools, paper, yarn, ephemera and tchotchkes remained.  "Nook."

My creative space is downstairs, which receives plenty of light first thing in the morning, but not on rainy days like yesterday when I took photos.  Late afternoon, evening, and rainy weather make lamps and lights necessary.  You'll see little lamps, twinkle lights, and an Ott light in here.

I crochet, cross stitch, and paper craft mostly.  Needing to keep two cats out of my yarn, a tall basket lets me pile up my stash, with perforations letting me see what I've got. 

I like to keep samples of the charms I've made, so they're hung in a shadowbox.

I love Russian lacquer boxes, platters, and matryoshka dolls. 

Cubbies for paper and ephemera storage, and fabric drawers for all sorts of goodies: sheet music, book pages, bulk garland, bottle brush trees, photos of adopted ancestors, adhesives... so many materials, so many possibilities.

If you've visited me before, you know about my "meant to be" chairs, one discovered in one small Kansas antique shop years ago, the other found a year or two ago here in town in yet another antique store.  

I like to see the materials I most often use when making bunting, altered art pages, or when I want to pretty up a gift.  Glass jars and dishes are some of my favorite storage items.

My cupcake stand is filled with ceramic tea cups from Starbucks and glass votives.  Sometimes it looks like a tiered cake, but other times it resembles a Christmas tree!

I love working with twigs and tulle to make wreaths (which is how my blog's name came to be), so of course I have to have some twiggy branches in my space.  Paper garland, twinkle lights and ornaments are changed out seasonally.

My crafty nook is the perfect place to read, enjoy coffee, and nibble or ~devour~ cookies.

The day I discovered why my husband loved Harbor Freight Tools so much was a magical day for our marriage indeed. Bins, drawers, storage g-a-l-o-r-e there, I'm telling you.  I had planned to paint everything softer, less utilitarian colors when I first got them, but didn't really felt the need to change them once they were filled.  Funny how that happens.

My soldering and charm-making bits and bobs can be found here, but also in another set of drawers near my worktable.

Push-pin boards allow me to tack up buttons, cards, and artwork:

The internet is FULL of arty, crafty inspiration, but so are books and magazines.

 I have a worktable and a desk in my crafty nook. Here's where I blog and pen correspondence:

I covered a metal filing cabinet with wrapping paper, yes, wrapping paper. Apparently I didn't feel like spray painting it that day.

More cubbies, nooks and crannies for my treasured gifts from friends and family:

A lacquered mug and lazy susan keep my pens, pencils and markers corralled.

Another lazy susan keeps my jewelry making tools and scissors within reach on my worktable.

Ribbons, rick rack and trim are tucked into this fabric craft tote, which sits atop a second set of bins full of beads and jewelry findings.

An old card catalog houses spools of ribbon, and my paper cutters are stored nicely under my worktable.

Do you remember my bunting bars? I love them, but they're going to be empty soon: out with the old, and in with the new.  I've found new bunting patterns that I'm looking forward to making, so these colorful friends will be sold and given away.

I love my paper rack.  I keep cardstock on it, with all of my patterned scrapbook paper stored in drawers in the closet.

 Last year I noticed so many of us had the exact same lazy susan in our creative spaces.  Maybe I'll count them this year as I make the rounds!

 Thank you Karen, for hosting yet once again, my favorite online eye-candy event, and thank YOU, dear visitors to my blog and creative space!  I'm on my way to visit you next!

~Michaele~