Pages

Sunday, November 11, 2012

This might be a record

People often wonder how I manage to do all the things I do.
First of all, I'm a well known spaz.
Second, I have the attention span of a flea, so I always have a lot of projects going on at once.  When I get bored with the one I'm working on, I can reach over and add to something else.

I want to give you a glimpse of what my art room looks like right now:
There's a lot going on.

So now let's take a closer look at the works in progress.

 I'm painting more tissue paper so that I can make more paper cloth so that I can make more covers for my long-stitch journals.


Here's a stack of postcards that I just finished.  They are sitting on the couch to remind me to actually write on them and mail them.

Next is the beginning of a challenge set forth by a friend many months ago:

Liz told me to keep one of the three duct tape journals she sent for the MMSA swap.
I started slapping stuff down in it while waiting for paint to dry on another project.

and look, here are some leftover squares from the "cubomania" swap:
 Here's the finished postcard that I mailed yesterday:

 To the left of my newly made long-stitch journals is a painted book cover that will be used for a duct tape journal:

and speaking of duct tape journals, I sent this one to a swap-bot partner yesterday:
I used an old text-book for the cover and I love that the school property stamp is the first thing you see when you open it.

Here's a stack of papercloth, begging to be used:
("please turn us into journal covers, Karen!")

and look, the procrastination queen is finally finishing her inspiration deck.  The one she started in August that has to be in Texas in about 4 days.

On my work table is the junk journal from the paper swap:

Jake takes the mess in stride and just curls up at my feet. 
I nuzzle him periodically.

This is a pile of mail that needs to be answered.  And snacks.

The lap top is always nearby so I can blog in between layers of paint:

Pop Quiz: which of these baskets are trash and which are collage fodder?  Not always easy to tell the difference.

Haven't quite finished cleaning up the beeswax supplies.

I used the wax to make this "no glue" collage for a swap:

Over here on the "easel" is day one of the 40 day creativity experiment:
 

There, behind the door, are my needle-felting supplies (squashed between a basket of MMSA swaps and the bunched-up rug that I moved so that I could paint those pieces of tissue paper on the floor)
And here are my first two attempts at needle-felted ATCs
(for a paper-less ATC swap)
This first one is too big and will have to be used for a different purpose:

This next one is the proper size and I rather liked where it was going, but then I lost my head and glued it to a piece of cardstock to strengthen it (forgetting about the whole "no paper" rule of the swap).

So I can't swear to it, but I think this is the most things I've ever had going on simultaneously.
Everything pictured has been created since I got home from work at 4:30 on Friday.  (and yes, I have slept this weekend).
I'm not sure how I do it either. 
I even make my own head spin.



24 comments:

  1. Now I don't feel so bad since my cards are laying out too. Whose do you think will make it to Texas first?

    ReplyDelete
  2. A dizzying list of ongoing and completed projects.....makes me absolutely sloth-like in comparison...haha!

    Got my tags done, finally! So, I'll be mailing those out on Tuesday :)

    Jake is so cute in his little bed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. To the naked eye you must look like a blur! Thank you for the guided tour around the wonderful madness that is your art room ;D

    x

    ReplyDelete
  4. I need to be more 'spaz' like LOL, wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Even with the guided tour I STILL don't know how you do it. I'mgoing to have to sit down now for half an hour just to recover from reading it.
    Lovely stuff though. Enjoyed looking at all of it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I always like to see what you are up to. It inspires me to move my sloth like body into action. I absolutely love those long stitch journals. You truly are an art force, freak of nature. :) You know I'm teasing you right?!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love your studio and your cat. I have a cat twin to yours. Only mine like a sheepskin rug to sleep on. I have to step over my "rugrat" on the way into or out of my studio. I love your works in progress. Love them. I volunteer for a postcard if you need a place to send one. :))) I can send you ATCs in return. Okay, enough of my soulless begging. I have plenty of art... I did enjoy your tour. Was that wine a snack or a project? LOL

    ReplyDelete
  8. I want to come over right now. Plus I see a bottle of Ravenswood Zin to share.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think you might need just one more thing to work on!! That's a lot of stuff going on but you seem to have it under control. And at least you actually finish things which is more than I can say about myself.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Holy moly woman! We all know how productive you are and that you are the queen of projects, but sheesh, this is a little crazy! I know I work on multiple projects at a time too and maybe if I actually looked around my room I'd find several tucked away awaiting further inspiration, but to have created all that in one weekend is impressive. Yet, each project looks like you slaved over it, poured every ounce of creativity into it, finished it beautifully..... Sigh. I want to be like you when I grow up :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Even the crazy part! Maybe that's what enables you to be so productive. hmmmm

    ReplyDelete
  12. Makes me feel quite at home Karen...just after I've tidied up. I wouldn't dare show my workspace as it is at present...and, yes, I also have two trash cans..one for collage and one for rubbish. Only I know which is which so don't anyone dare throw one away!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I now have hope. My office is officially not that bad and I now have a reference for KIM!!

    Thanks Karen..

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think you better hide the coffee! Wish I could see your card deck bigger. 40 Day yeah me too again...a day late but life happens.....making paper cloth this week....xox

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm glad I'm not the only one who hasn't mailed out my inspiration deck yet! I really meant to get them in the mail on Saturday, but just couldn't get them finished in time. Then I forgot Monday was a post office holiday, so I thought I'd send them UPS instead, but they wanted $24 for 3-day service! Uuuhh, no! So I'll go to the post office today, send them Priority Mail, and hope they get there in two days!

    ReplyDelete
  16. You are the master!!! I had a nice leisurely day off yesterday and was so happy to complete 2 projects and clean about 1 square foot of the dining room...progress, right?

    ReplyDelete
  17. What THEY said! Amazing energy. I'm needing a nap after reading this post, girl. I have a few swaps to work on myself...I better get busy. (thanks for the letter.. by the way).

    ReplyDelete
  18. Holy Mackarel! THAT is the best organized chaos I have ever seen (I totally mean that in a good way). Can I step inside your brain for a little while ? :D Can you promise it'll rub off?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Karen, I don't even know what to say about all the amazingness that you do. Wow. Colour me super impressed! xx

    ReplyDelete
  20. SO COOL ! this makes me feel better about my various projects and piles!

    ReplyDelete
  21. WOW-ZER...that is pretty darn amazing. I thought it was amazing BEFORE you said that you had done all that in one weekend. You want to know the first two things I noticed about the first photo? The open bottle of wine (of course) and the paper cutter set up in its full upright position (that would be an invitation for my younger daughter to lop off one of her hands!). An amazingly creative space!

    ReplyDelete
  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Great to see your work area! Very inspirational. I'd love some of your spaz - if you could bottle that, it would be a best seller. But seriously, all your projects look great.

    ReplyDelete