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

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 !