Preparing for the Swift and Stealth Attack of the Holiday Season

Every year about this time I get hit with excitement for the approaching holiday season, AND anxiety over the approaching holiday season. Ack! So much to do and so little time. WHY OH WHY did I not start earlier, say... July?!? AND WHY do those infernal stores have to put out the Christmas decorations the day after Halloween?!?!

This season, like so many before, will prove difficult for a lot of folks (not just us) in juggling pocket book and family. So I would very much love to come up with even more free goodies to post under our "Free Stuff" tab.  I hope, as well, to have a few tutorials posted over the next few weeks, but it would be helpful to know what you guys might want to see (or have in the way of downloadable printable goodies). So let us know how we can help make this holiday season easier/nicer/more pleasant/more fun for everyone.

And, as you're shopping be it in the virtual world or the real one, don't forget to breathe... and smile (because a smile can go a long way to improving not only your day, but the person's who might catch a glimpse of it as well).

Best,
.n & .t

The Cutting Table

If you're following our studio reorganization, here are some 'in-progress' shots.  


As we do a lot of cutting (either fabric or paper), we thought it'd be useful to have a 'cutting area.' We also thought it would be nice if the cutting surface were raised up a bit, to save our aching backs. For this section of the room, we spent $3.54 for pvc piping to help us raise our folding table to a better height. (This area will also double as a photo shoot table.)

What it looked like before:

Stage one:

This section of the room previously had Tracy's Art Therapy bookshelf (which we moved into the other room).  In order to utilize the vertical storage, we put up some shelves (that were scrounged from our storage locker). Notice the empty, clear bins? These used to house my bookbinding and print making tools (newly residing on the adjacent peg board). Now we can use them for the bits and baubles that are hidden away in the closet. We still need to create mounts for the photo lights and storage for cutting implements. We have large plastic drawers for under-the-table fabric storage, but those are still in the nether regions of the closet (there's only so much you can undertake in one day)

Here's a shot of the cutting table legs. We bought 10 feet of 1" diameter pvc & cut it down. The pvc slid right over the table leg & raised the surface about 8 inches. Because the inner diameter of the pvc equals that of the table legs, it's as sturdy as it was sans leg extensions.

Cost breakdown, if you had to go out and buy all this stuff:

3, 24-inch shelf rails: $8

9, 8-inch shelf brackets: $18

3, 8-inch by 24-inch shelves: $6 (for particle board shelves) to $16

4' Folding Table: $30 (at Lowes, Wal-mart, or Home Depot)

10' of pvc pipe: $4 (we bought ours at Lowes)

hack saw to cut pipe: $10

small white storage boxes: $8/set of 4 (at wal-mart)

Clear Sterlite bins: $1 each (on sale)

Totaling: $90-$100