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 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 :-)