Setting goals and finding balance in one's life isn't ever an easy project.  I know, I know…January is either well past or well ahead of me, depending on how you look at it, but things get too busy around the end of any year with Christmas, family, parties, baking and all, for me to work out my resolutions for the first of January, SO…since a new school year is about ready to start, I think NOW would be a fabulous time for me to set goals, make changes and get organized, which is just the vicious circle I need to make better use of my time and there is so much to do and so little time!!!

I have a family, a calling and a hobby.  Family will always keeps me busy in one way or another.  There are daily tasks, but there are also things out of the ordinary like big baking days, helping with costumes or projects around the house.  It's more than trying new recipes.  Food storage is great, but knowing how to cook with it is equally as important. 

Responsibilities with church change.  Right now, being the Relief Society President means that there is a lot to do, but the demands on my time fluctuate.  Even when this opportunity to serve ends, there will always be something to do.  There is always a need of willing hands.  But for the past 15 years I have made time for this hobby that I really love – scrapbooking…with paper crafting coming in a close second.  

This was not the first brush with creating that I've done.  When I turned 50, my mom gave me a doll that I made when I was 8 or 9…I think she calls it the "Lady from Spain"…probably from the type outfit she is wearing. 

 
 
I think I embroidered her eyes and nose with yarn and her mouth is felt.

 
She is rather primitive, but I am actually quite impressed with my little project.  Not bad for such a youngster!  I'll admit that it has taken great restraint to keep from at least trimming the hair evenly in the back! 

I remember making doll quilts and I started sewing my own clothes about the same time…on an old Singer treadle machine.  I've been sewing for decades.

After I had my fourth child, my sister-in-law Diane's mom, Barbara, taught me how to to paint on baby bottles – I realize that doesn't sound like anything super special, but "back then" the manufacturers weren't making bottles with cute little designs on them, so this was unique and fun!  This was the first time I bought acrylic paints and I limited myself to white, black, brown, red, yellow and blue:  I would mix the primary colors to get the colors I wanted.  It was fun project and before long I expanded my repetoire from paw prints and hearts to balloons, teddy bears, flowers and bugs.  The exciting thing was that people wanted to buy them and that gave me confidence to pursue other mediums and crafts.

Quilting became an interest, but I discovered that the hand quilting part would cause my hands to go to sleep…it took forever to even get through a small project because I would constantly have to shake/wake them up!  It was about the same time that I discovered, through my friend Lauren, the art of scrapbooking.  Think 1995: the basic supplies included cardstock, very limited patterned paper, stickers and die cuts…like the kind you would find on a bulletin board at an elementary school.  Fast forward to 2010 – it would currently, in my opinion, be impossible for any single store to carry all the different scrapbooking product available.  

Here in lies my dilema: I probably have it ALL in my own personal collection.  You laugh and doubt me?  Okay…you're probably right.  I only buy what I like and quite honestly, there are  patterned papers and embellishments that I don't like AT ALL, some that I don't like ENOUGH to take home with me and some tools that I can't justify buying when I don't use what I already have.

Having all this "stuff" isn't an entirely bad thing.  When I need to whip up invitations or school projects, I NEVER have to go out and buy anything.  The only things that I need to replace are reams of 8.5"X11" white cardstock, A-2 envelopes, adhesive and an occasional re-inker if my pad dries out.  When we want to gather for a card-making night with Relief Society, I can easily teach a class for 40 without needing to go shopping.  That's the good news.

The bad news?  I'm seriously afraid that if I'm in my workroom WHEN (they tell us it's not if, only when) the BIG ONE (earthquake) HITS, it will take them weeks to dig me out of my "stuff".  You laugh?  I'm not laughing…I'm totally serious!  Here is what is directly above my computer!

 
Don't be fooled into thinking that this is the extent of my ribbon collection…I probably have 20 times this much.  Buying it on the spool seems to be so much easier!  Do I really need that much?  Probably not.  But I have really good reasons for this and maybe someday I'll tell you.

Have I talked about this before?  I'm almost positive that this is a repetitive theme in my posts, but unfortunately the problem still exists and I still need to address it.  I am hoping that my new school year's resolution will take hold and there will be progress.

Scrapbooking is like keeping a journal with pictures; so is blogging.  I want to be able to do both.  I have taken photos of my workroom so that I can do a before and after…once I get to the after stage.  I won't show you everything now because someone might turn me into the Hoarders or Hoarder: Buried Alive shows and I really think I can remedy this on my own:)  But when organizing, I think it get worse before it gets better.  And before it gets better, a lot of purging has to happen.

Just like a productive garden needs fertile soil in which to plant the seeds, my workspace needs room for the ideas to grow.  I am going to "weed out" all the "stuff" that is "choking" my ability to create.  Hopefully then I will be able to maintain a healthy workspace and learn how to manage my time more successfully.