It’s been a while since I’ve spent some quality time browsing Etsy, and while there’s no shortage of great products, I wondered how long it would take to find just one item that would make my my jaw drop, my posture perk, my mouse hand freeze in mid-scroll. The answer? Ten minutes. Figures that it would be this Kitchen Conversions poster from Sweet Fine Day‘s shop. I’m a real sucker for anything infographic.

Kitchen Conversions is available here as an 8 x 10″ print or a 13 x 19″ poster, in a few different color variations. What I really want to know is why they had to go and put it on a 30 x 30″ floursack towel. Because anyone who knows me at all knows that the second you combine anything infographic with anything kitchen-textile, I’m done for.

(Images © Sweet Fine Day)

It’s been quite a hectic holiday season here, but one that was chock-full of joy and inspiration. As always, I feel like I’m starting the new year with both feet on the starting blocks, ready to push off and sprint in a dozen different directions. Inevitably, I’ll start to run out of steam, so it’s important to start lining up resources for getting a quick creative recharge. That’s why I was delighted to come across the Wise Dice DIY, a free downloadable template from Moleskine.

Just print out the template on a sheet of US letter or A4 paper (they offer a separate PDF for each size), cut, paste, and roll your 12-sided paper die. Prompts like “Read a page of your old diary,” “Climb on your table and look at the room from there,” and “Draw the map of an imaginary place” will get those wheels turning again in no time. Heck, maybe you’ll even be inspired to fill in your own using the blank template.

Happy 2011!

I’ve tried time and time again to create an organized, efficient workspace. Tried — and failed, always wondering why my diligent efforts toward simplifying the space weren’t paying off. I’ve always been taught that the key to having an orderly workspace is changing my space to fit the way I work. I know how to organize supplies and file papers — and I’m good at it! So why can’t I find organizational success?

A clue came unexpectedly one day while talking to my math teacher of a husband. I unknowingly misused a mathematical term and, naturally, got thoroughly schooled on the jargon of improper fractions, mixed numbers, and simplifying. In the end I learned two things:

1. Avoid using mathematical terminology around my math teacher of a husband.

2. Turning an improper fraction, like 4/3, into a mixed number, like 1 1/3, is not simplifying. It’s just plain turning an improper fraction into a mixed number: you’re doing a lot of work to make it look different, but in the end it’s still a complicated mess.

It occurred to me, after my eyes rolled forward again, that my workspace “simplifying” endeavors have always been gilded with the same kind of illusion; ultimately, rethinking where I work without addressing the way I work is just like turning an improper fraction into a mixed number. Any effort to resolve workspace issues will be fruitless if the workflow isn’t efficient.

As a result, I’ve thought long and hard* and have narrowed down a few key habits that are keeping me from being the organized, productive art-making machine that I aspire to be:

• Beginning projects, but never finishing. It’s a chronic issue that certainly must come from having way too many fantastic ideas and not enough time to work on them. Certainly. Must. Getting bored or distracted too easily during breaks in the process — like waiting for glue to dry — contributes, too. Possible solution: notebooks for recording ideas as they come, along with a master list of ideas to choose from when I’m ready for a new project. Also, a little self-control.
• Shirking cleanup duties. It’s the dirty work, the unfun side of creating. I can’t think of any easy solution to this one, except to remember that by cleaning up after a project, getting to work will be faster and easier next time.
• Putting off documentation. I can think of a dozen examples where diligently labeling supplies, identifying works in progress, and making notes about each process would make it easier to repeat processes later on. Possible solution: personal assistant. Realistic solution: a fun and simple system for storing works in progress, keeping track of supplies, and taking photos and notes while making stuff.

* * * * *

* Bonus! A mini book review. Or a book mini-review.

I recently ordered a copy of Secrets of Simplicity by Mary Carlomagno — which I had saved in my online cart for well over a year, since Holly mentioned it on Decor8 — and started reading. And yes, it did feel a bit perverse, buying a book about simplifying. To my surprise, I found it insightful and enlightening — even without bothering to do the written exercises.

Instead of touting her own brand of simplicity, Carlomagno guides you through the process of figuring out (a) what simplicity means to you and (b) how to make it work for you. She offers the framework, but you do the work. Ultimately, what this means is that I’ve gotten a firm shove in my own direction, and since it doesn’t require conforming to a prescribed “plan,” it’s a path I’m more likely to stay on. With these lessons in mind, I should be well on my way to successfully changing those unsatisfactory work habits.

And here’s a major plus: Secrets of Simplicity is spiral bound and the brief chapters are tabbed, so that I can quickly find the section I want and don’t even have to hold it open to read while I eat lunch, vacuum, write a blog post, and check my e-mail.

Thanks to the magic of Netflix instant play, Keith and I had the opportunity to watch an enthralling and inspiring documentary about the lesser-known side of origami, called Between the Folds. Says director Vanessa Gould:

For as long as I can remember, the driving impulses behind art, science, sculpture and math have felt deeply connected—all ways of interpreting our experiences in a language that’s universal. When I first learned about the curious phenomenon of fine artists, scientists and mathematicians from all over the world working in the very same medium of origami, I knew there had to be something special about it—that in the simplicity of a paper square must be hiding some untold potential for new connections and ideas.

As we watched the one-hour film, we couldn’t help but let our fascination unfold — quickly realizing that this was about much more than just paperfolding. We were enthralled by captivating characters and ideas layered as elegantly as the exquisite paper sculptures being created before our eyes. And it only gets better the longer you watch. It felt like a special treat to have witnessed so much richness born out of such a simple medium.

If you ever have the chance to watch Between the Folds, I highly recommend that you do. You won’t be sorry.

…my dining room table eagerly volunteered to assist with the drying portion of the invitation reply card printing process, while the office/studio continues to undergo a lengthy organization and neatification improvement project. Special thanks also to the living room floor.

We’ve just had a week or more of short summer thunderstorms. Every year, I find it harder and harder to bear the heat and humidity and just so much sunshine. I can’t help but feel that these thunderstorms are my temporary relief from summer, when I can huddle up inside near a window to listen and watch the weather flex its iron fist — even though the brief showers never seem long enough. So the morning after a particularly mighty evening thunderstorm, I headed out to the garden to enjoy the temporary dip in temperature and humidity and admire the post-rain spoils: beaded up water on the leaves of my satiated plants.

And then, well, I started noticing raised dots — like perfect water droplets — all around the house.

…I took a cue from the Good Look Cookbook and finally got around to creating some of the various information tracker/organizer forms that I’ve been intending to do for a long time, including a fridge-worthy household chores schedule/organizer/checklist. Instead of actually doing chores.

For anyone with an eye for design, stepping into a bookstore (or wine shop, or stationery shop, or soap aisle) might as well be stepping into a diverse and awe-inspiring art exhibition. An art exhibition where almost all of the works fall within your budget. And you want to take everything home because it just looks so good (although your husband informs you that you can’t). The bookstore is a designer’s inspiration heaven, brimming with spectacular typography, illustration, composition, and storytelling — all charm and wit. So yes, when I compulsively buy books, I always choose the ones that I like to see sitting next to me on the couch (when I’m not reading) — that way I can enjoy them all the time, inside and out.

Plus, you have to hand it to book cover designers. It’s a job that I imagine is extraordinarily challenging, but incredibly fun. Because — whatever our mothers tell us – it is human nature to literally judge books by their covers, and that means the cover design has to say everything that you need to know to subconsciously decide whether it’s even worth considering, while trying to stand out from all the other covers.

For example, I don’t often gravitate to the Mystery section, but the spines of this series offered a stark contrast to your predictable dark cover with foil-stamped serif type. That contrast drew my eye and my interest with it. The synopsis and early paragraphs carried them over the finish line to my wish list.

I carried Of Bees and Mist around the store for a good thirty minutes until I realized that I couldn’t go home with a half dozen new novels (somewhere between Keith begging me to stop getting distracted and threatening to restrain me from dashing all over the store) it came down to a battle of synopses and first pages, in which Bees lost out to Mathilda Savitch. But I still love watching those rose vines come to life with all the little images hidden in plain sight. In the end, four good-looking books have earned a new home on my bookshelf for ogling, and ahgling, and feeding my imagination.

Good Morning Sunshine (8″ x 10″ or 11″ x 14″ print)

When I was growing up, my mom kept a large cupboard full of arts and craft supplies that my brother and I could get into whenever we felt like creating. She would stock it with your typical supplies — paints, glue, markers, pencils, scissors, construction paper, etc. — and any other sorts of cast off materials and objects that might become useful for an afternoon craft project: things like tin cans, empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls, film canisters, frozen orange juice can lids, newspaper, old bowls, rocks…anything that might one day have potential.

Old sheets of packing paper from one of our Navy moves became a favorite of mine. They were big sheets of smooth, white newsprint that were wrinkled and creased from cushioning delicate household items; but despite the flaws, to me, they were simply enormous fields of possibility. I would use whatever paints — poster paint, tempera, watercolor — were in the cupboard, sometimes even crayons or markers, and spent my summer evenings on the cool, cement garage floor impulsively creating big, colorful, abstract paintings.

Citrus Zinnia (8″ x 10″ or 11″ x 14″ print, 12″ x 12″ or 18″ x 18″ canvas)

When I finally had a sizeable collection of works, I’d spread them out around the perimeter of the garage. They were laid on the floor and over boxes and tools — anywhere there was room. Then I set up a small corner reception desk for myself and invited my neighborhood friends (and their friends) to view exhibitions of my paintings. Eventually, my dad offered to purchase everything. I agreed excitedly, and he plunked down the generous sum of five dollars for the entirety of my “Garage Period” paintings.

German Alphabet poster (11″ x 14″)

It’s because I have those memories of that time as a kid, when making art objects was such an enormous source of joy, pride, and purpose, that I become so easily enamored with shops like Children Inspire Design. Rebecca Peragrine, artist/designer/CEO/founder of CID, operates her company with a mission to inspire a sense of global awareness and responsibility. Her words, “Inspire children. Change the world,” speak straight to my heart as a fellow artist/designer with an innate drive to use her creative skills to serve the public good.

The bright colors and stylized representations she uses have an undoubtedly youthful appeal that would look equally at home in children’s rooms and in ”grown-up” rooms that don’t take themselves too seriously (and no room — or grown-up, for that matter – should, in my opinion). And by relying on scraps and leftovers she demonstrates a tremendous knack for the same sort of resourceful creativity that had once been a source of inspiration for a little girl digging for treasure in the art cupboard.

Wild Flowers (8″ x 10″ or 11″ x 14″ print)

“Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon.  A happiness weapon.  A beauty bomb.  And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one.  It would explode high in the air — explode softly — and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air.  Floating down to earth — boxes of Crayolas.  And we wouldn’t go cheap, either — not little boxes of eight.  Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in.  With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest.  And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination.”  – Robert Fulghum

It’s probably safe to say that the need for a neat, organized, and attractive workspace is universal. But with restrictions on time and energy, lack of motivation or direction, or just sheer laziness, making (and keeping!) a tidy workspace can be an effort to say the least; for some of us, it’s an insurmountable task.

My perfect space would be a 400 square-foot room, with lots of built in furniture and storage, a wash basin for washing hands and rinsing out screens and brushes, and a freestanding worktable in the center. A nice tall ceiling. Lots of windows. Unfortunately, the space I have is slightly less than my ideal. About 300 square feet less. So I’ve had to be creative with my use of space; I’ve been brutal about what supplies and materials I really, truly need, and how many books and magazines I keep. And yet, it’s all still hijacking my space.

More brutality, more creativity!
I’m sure there are plenty of other artists, designers, and/or crafters who can relate: we just have a LOT of stuff! A lot of stuff that we need. Whether it’s books, supplies, tools or equipment, everything has to have a place. Maybe that place is in a studio, an office or spare bedroom (like mine), or maybe it’s just a desk or corner of your dining room. Wherever it is, having an orderly, efficient workspace is critical for creativity. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had a great idea, but by the time I find the supplies and carve out the space to work on it, the creative spark is gone. I’ve tried and failed (or lost steam) to solve my workspace problem many times, yet my office/studio is as epic of a disaster as ever it was. The chaos is clearly holding me back.

Still, every time I’ve gone through and re-organized the same space I’ve discovered more books, supplies, and tools that I can easily do without. There’s always something I trick myself into keeping. But I don’t think the key is simply to cut it all down to just a few items — this space serves many purposes (which I’ll elaborate on later) and, like I said, artists need a lot of stuff; rather, by eliminating the excess and managing the rest, mine could be a useful, harmonious environment that — instead of quashing creative urges — serves as a nursery for creativity.

So! This summer, I’m determined to resume the fight against the haphazard office, and I’m determined to win. Whatever it takes. Do you hear me? WHATEVER it takes. I aim to be a ruthless (but just) warrior fighting to free my beloved workspace from the autocratic tyranny of disorder.

The plan
I’ve already spent some time evaluating how I like to work, what functional spaces/needs I require, and I’ve got a few ideas for how to keep my various tasks organized and on track. This isn’t meant to be a typical Sarah-style one day purgeandorganizefest. Instead, this will be a longer project that is more focused, planned, and meticulous — because I’m in it for the long haul.

What I want to do is share my process, inspirations, and progress with you. And if you see or think of something that might help me, or if you’ve embarked on a similar journey, I hope you’ll share, too!

In the meantime, let’s start by visualizing the end result — and all the blissful, tidy possibilities – with a handful of links to inspirational workspace before and afters:

Hooked on Houses — A small room with “issues” makes a well-appointed office. Oh, cabinetry…

Jessica Claire — While LA photographer Jessica Claire’s studio (here, in progress) is much cooler than anything I would probably do in my own home, the Awesome Wall? is one awesome wall. (I could use an awesome wall.)

The Crochet Dude — Simple, but remarkable what a little cash ($300), a lot of elbow grease (50 hours), and someone who knows what he’s doing can accomplish.

From Single to Married — “Some people collect stamps, others collect coins.  I collect paper products.” Enough said.

Centsational Girl — My office will never look this glamorous, but I admire the creative vision and hard work that went in to achieving this much tidiness and style with precious few resources. (I really dig the scales — maybe it’s a Libra thing?)

Design*Sponge “Sneak Peak Best Of: Offices” (parts one and two) — How timely! Not before and afters, but still an excellent round-up of 20 home offices with plenty of practicality and personality.