Organised ! Things I have been sorting out . Studio , house and Filofax .

Its feeling springlike ! It seems we have completely skipped winter in Kent and I have been opening the doors , letting fresh air in and starting that spring clean early . As i'm doing that I have been organising problem areas as I go . 

This is the drop zone . The magazine rack I got at a bargain price at IKEA and I love it . School letters go here . It is just inside the porch  and front door . the Calendar has all the school dates and appointments on it and school letters , medical letters and things that need doing go in here . 

The other side of the house , this is the backdoor drop zone . Here all my gardening supplies , seeds , gloves , magazines etc used to be  just stuffed onto shelves . The storage boxes I got from store 21 and a lot of them were on sale . Only a few pounds each .  Scrap booking papers and supplies are also tucked away on here since I use the dining/garden room as a craft room as well . Its right next to my studio  The kids can create right next to me .

Through the door and in my art studio . I found a cheap kitchen rail and pots at IkEA perfect for getting my paintbrushes off the table surface  . The table I rescued from my brothers garage and cleaned and varnished it up . It is paint splattered again now but I can see the fab grain of the wood through it and it is a studio right ?

The only place I could find for the wrapping paper supplies was in the studio doorway . Not ideal but at least its neat . IKEA carrier bag holders did the trick for this . The CD rack is from IKEA too . Perfect for my small rolls of tape  and other artist stuff .

Canvas storage ! finally . Now i know , this still looks a bit messy but it has freed up a LOAD of florspace which I desperately need in the studio and it stores my canvas safely out of my way . Paint does fly . This was made from old bed slats , wardrobe wood  and bits of old furniture we had stored in the shed . We never throw wood away it is far too useful .

The CD rack storage again closer . The paint chart Is not an artist paint one , i picked it up at Homebase and loved the colours . I will use it for reference when I am looking for a shade to mix .

I covered old coffee white tins with some Swiss srapping paper I picked up last time I was over there . I love the humming bird design .

Another rail and pots from IKEA on the canvas storage .

Then I moved onto the airing cupboard /closet . The fabric boxes are yet again IKEA and super cheap , much cheaper than all the other storage they have and a great size and colour too . I labelled them and organised them into bedding sets /sheets/towels etc to make it easy to find what I want and anything I didn't need got recycled .

My wardrobe ! The top shelf used to be stuffed (I do mean that ) with jumpers and piles of unorganised tshirts so I used what boxes and baskets I had and labelled them . Easy peasy to find my fave jumper now .

After all that hard work I just HAD to reward myself . I finally got the Martha Stewart stickers from staples that I have wanted ever since I saw them  . The colours are just perfect and as an artist colour is very important to me . So . had to have .

Thanks for joining me again :-)
Have fun and I would love to read your comments ,
 Sev :-)

Playing ahead with my Filofax Retro Bloom personal .

I got ahead of myself because I had some quite time and lots of new stationary goodies and I had an art moment . I went ahead to Easter in my Retro Bloom Personal and let my inner artist out a bit . I love playing with colours and layout .  I just LOVE the bunnies ! 

Then I went ahead to cherry blossom time and had a doodle . I love bright pages it makes me look forward to the week . Washi tape is so much fun . I really need the whole rainbow of colours .
I have found that I enjoy my Filofax so much I have used it for everything including clipping my shopping list into the front of it and walking with it perched on the trolley food shopping . Because I can keep sp much information in it . everything really , my family have started using it through me too .

This is a page divider I made myself and the following page is the start of the dairy section . I just love those big post its . So cute !

Apart from playing with my Filofax I have also organised the airing cupboard , photos STILL to follow and today my husband made me proper canvas storage for my studio . I cant believe how organised I am getting (though I am not getting any painting done yet ) and it is sooooo much easier !

Hope you all have a great week and happy organising and creating !
Sev xxx

Hi hunnez :-) 

Today I got to play with some paint chips we had collected whilst choosing colours for my daughters bedroom and mine , which are projects that are coming up . I cant resist a good colour chart and I wanted to reuse them . I punched them then bound two together with washi tape and found its the perfect size for a personal size filofax bookmark . awesome ! and I can write on them too . 

I wanted some charts for the kitchen fridge for cleaning planners and other charts , so i used up the remaining chips by sticking them onto stiff A4 card to make ombre style charts that the kids love to look at and use . and Husband can see what needs doing when i'm not there . Organising can be colourful and fun :-D I have to let my artist out in my daily life ! 

Hi all :-) Since the weather is so nuts outside I have been brightening things up making fun dividers for my filofax retro bloom personal . We are all on a tight budget this year and I love to use what I have anyway so I dug out some free samples of craft paper I kept from a paper craft magazine and used those instead of buying new and I really like these designs . I drew round the original dividers for the template,excluding the tag and cut them out . I then created a tab on top using some post it sticky tabs that I got from a stationary store . Possibly paperchase . I have a personal size filofax hole punch that is really easy to use and can attach to the rings in the filofax so you can carry it around with you if you feel the need . These papers had the benefit of being double sided designs , each one different so I get twice as much colour  for each divider . 

These were really easy to do and I can change them in and out for different designs if and when I feel like it .

My studio kit has been sneaking out onto my desk whilst  it has a refit and my Caran D'ache Swiss colour artists pencils are perfect for adding some illustrations to my diary pages . More to show on that in later posts .
I am also loving my washi tape storage , which is a storage box for sewing threads and craft bits . It fits the tape perfectly and allows me to see instantly what I have . I did show my husband and explain to him that it was woefully understocked and he actually agreed !  Amazed but happy that I might in the near future get some more :-D

New stationary

I have new stationary . How cute are these ! Ebay is a great place to find washi tape Kawaii stationary . I love Rilakkuma (sleepy bear) and I have my eyes on a pink and cream pen , also a brown and cream one some day . My watch list is huge . I also have an Amazon list and a staples list..... :-) 

Receiving something nice in the post gives me a great lift in my day and using it keeps me happy and organised . Yes , so far the organising is working ! its great to see things ticked off and have a visual mark of achievement . 

Here is my new stationary and stickers being used in next weeks page setup . The highlighters are from Paperchase and I couldnt resist them . 

I will end up with a million highlighters if I keep finding ones as cute as these . My girls have started looking at my desk with  sparkly eyes and edging closer .  These are really easy to use and feel great in my hand , not fiddly at all .

I decided to store my small collection of washi tapes in a glass storm lantern because I don't have enough (yet) for bespoke storage for them  but I have plans in that direction for sure . I love to be able to see them and I want them all lined up in colour order looking gorgeous one day .

My first filofax !

I have a filofax !
A beautiful retro bloom personal .
I have no idea how I managed without it before . I plan to use it for just about everything . To organise my work life as an artist , my mum life , the cat , organising , meal planning , diet and exercise , everything . Never again will I lose track of things . This is heaven . For someone as scatty as me this is the answer to everything .

I am personalising it to make it fun to use so I actually do remember to use it  and as I love colour so much I am now also addicted to washi tape and stationary . I have a previously undiscovered desire to organise me life . Perhaps it was hitting 40 that made me decide to get with it . Just look at that cover ! I smile each time I see it .

I personalised it with a charm with my initial on it , just because I could and that makes me smile too . 

Inside it has post it notes because I can easily change appointments by unsticking and moving the post it note to another page . With three young children this is a must . Nothing ever stays the same and I love the flexibility of that .

I bought some business card holders for my personal business cards , I used to store them in my handbag pocket but they didn't fare so well in there . Here they will stay nice and crisp and perfect .

Because I am , after all , an artist I couldn't hold back from personalising my dividers . I love blue butterflies and really like how this turned out .

My first week ever using a filofax . My week was almost filled before It even started . How did I keep all that in my head before ?

The other side of my business cards and my inspiration page to keep me feeling positive and on track .

I bought some clear pockets from paperchase for filofax to hold my page fun page markers , more sticky tabs and some stickers that I love to personalise my pages with . In the back I have clipped a school timetable so I know when the term dates and teacher training days are .

I love my charm :-)

I have a red pen in today . I will change my pens around just for variety . I love to make things different for myself every day .

I found these magnetic flower page clips in a Tiger store . I think . I love the bright colours .

Flicking through my filofax gives me a sense of being organised , and I feel that I am managing things far better than I ever did which takes a lot of worry and stress away from being a busy mum .

Tiger store has many packs of stickers and I came out with some really nice ones . My favourite could be this russian doll . Could be . Because I love the rest too .

I am really looking forward to 2014 being my first organised and tidy year ever . with less stress , more relaxing , healthy eating and exercise . Life is starting again at 40 and I love it ! 

Hi my name is Sev and I am an unorganised mum of three mad but amazing children,at least  one with ADHD and Aspergers .
I am also a triple international award winning wildlife and landscape artist . I get to play in the Mall galleries and support the David Shepherd wildlife foundation and sell my work .
This blog is all about how to manage the crafty side of me , the professional (but untidy) part of me , the mum/wife/sister/daughter part of me and make 2014 an organised ,clean,tidy productive and most of all happy year .

My house has been in desperate need of some TLC for some time , my artist studio I couldn't get in to do work , my kids wore me out , my dad passed away and my mum got ill . I felt the pressure .  I realised life would be  whole lot nicer if I got ORGANISED . Thats when I discovered Pinterest and had a cascade of AAHHH's .  Whilst getting myself impossibly addicted I found myself falling in love with filofax's (you know where this is going ) and now I am also a stationary addict . I am not sorry !

This blog is about my life , my work , my studio and my filofax and how I plan to turn things around . get organised , productive , inspired and in control . I have learned to appreciate the beautiful things in life . The special moments  the hot cup of coffee or tea , a perfect bath , and studio time where I can let my inner chaos out onto the canvas .

I started with my studio .
I had baskets full of paint that were heavy to move and I could never find the colours I wanted , nor could I see if i ran out . My studio is only tiny so I needed  floor space urgently , it is approximately 9ft x 10ft . My canvas is often large so bespoke storage will be made for that .
I was walking past a second hand furniture shop and saw in the window the perfect white slim shelving unit for my pots of paint . I repainted that again for a better finish and added some hanging paint tube storage next to it . Instant happiness !

This is the start of my journey into being an organised artist . I will keep posting my progress and hope you will enjoy following along with me . Comments are welcome , I would love to get to know you and what you think :-)
If you are curious about my artwork please check my website www.sevinayates.com
I also have two Etsy shops that I will link to in later blog posts , they need organising too !
My next post will be about my new ( and totally gorgeous) filofax , just because I cant resist sharing ! Have a great start to your new year .
Sev :-)