Work, Work, Work and a Prize too!

Hello all! I'm sorry I have been away from the blog for soooo long! There has been much going on on around here! Between summer weekends away, Baby girl's FIRST b-day (I can't believe she is 1 now!) and creation of my new "studio", I've had lots to keep me busy!

We've been to Cambria, a gorgeous little seaside town, Santa Cruz, and several trips to the bay area, and the summer has just started! I so wanted to share some beautiful pics of Cambria with you all, but can you believe I forgot the camera at home!!

Now for the fun news! When we found out I was pregnant with my daughter, I had to give-up my precious office/studio space to make room for the new bundle. While I hated to lose my space, it was well worth the trade off! Itty Bitty (as my Dad calls her), has just turned 1, and the princess has made our lives so much more meaningful! We love her to bits!

It has been beyond fun to decorate her room, making it as girly as possible! But alas, my creativity has been a little stifled since becoming a "homeless" crafter! I have tried many options to get the juices flowing again. OK, they never really stopped, but the follow through of actually creating and finishing projects has majorly suffered! I tried toting everything out to the big kitchen table (which drove the man of the house nuts!), but not being able to see everything all at once drove me crazy. I felt I couldn't create to my fullest potential! And I had to clean up everything when I was finished, since I have small children, and wire, small objects, and toxic glue generally don't mix with small kids! I'm a very messy artist, just ask my husband!

Next I tried creating a little work area in my room, which mind you now houses the "office", since child # 3 took that space! I don't have to explain why that didn't work any better do I! So here I am with crafting roots. What I am to do? I need space! I need storage! I need sanctuary from little prying fingers! Where could I find such a place in a small home?
"How 'bout the garage?", my husband says. "The garage! The garage! The place where spiders and dust like to party?!" , I say. NO way, NO way, NO way!

But what other options did I have? So the garage it is! First step, cleaning out all the junk that has taken over (and I don't mean the pretty, I can find a use for this, type of junk we like!). After a week of cleaning, giving away, donating, and selling off junk, the place seems a little more manageable! I'm still completely overwhelmed with the amount left to do, to make the garage feel not like a garage, and more like my studio! Every time I feel I make a dent, I take a look around and feel completely overwhelmed again! I still have to paint, organize, paint and organize some more! I do think the final outcome will be pretty nice for a garage studio though! I'll keep you all updated as things come slowly along.

Since I'm still in the early stages of putting my studio together, I'd love to see all of your creative work places! I've decided to create a little contest out of it! Send me pics of your inspiring creative work places. I'll post all pics on the blog, and my favorite space will receive the vintage collage necklace pictured at the top of this post, made by yours truly! Please submit photos to me through the blog (links to your photos are fine as well), by Aug.4th. A winner will be chosen on Aug. 5th. I can't wait to see your spaces!
I'll leave you with some BEFORE shots of the garage studio!