Living the Pantry Lifestyle - My Arts & Crafts Pantry

I was looking through some photos this morning and came across this one of Victoria "helping" me do some crafting.  I do miss my Study Buddy!  It has been over a year and I have come to love Florentine but animal lovers know how each pet we love has their own space in our heart.  No kitty can ever fill that space.

One of the areas I haven't talked about in a long time is that of having an Arts & Crafts pantry.  It was especially important when there were kids at home but now it is mine.  All mine.  My pretty stuff.

What brought up the subject of an Arts & Crafts Pantry was when I was sorting washi tape recently to decide what stays in the antique wooden case and what can go into separate containers.  The Christmas tape has its own home now as does some more "architectural" choices (not shown).

Someone commented once that they would enjoy just looking at the tape and I quite agree.  Although I do use it, art is created by them simply snuggled up together in old wood.  The photo above was taken a few years ago but shows the wood container off better.  I bought it when my daughter and I attended the Brimfield flea market in New England together.

One of the reasons I've been looking through my own Arts & Craft Pantry (which consists mainly of shelves and a couple drawers in the dresser) is that I plan to start working on my scrapbook journal again.  I will write a post about it when I have something to show.

My right eye is still not completely healed, everything is a little fuzzy from that eye.  However, it is good enough that I can enjoy making some art without my eye hurting too much.  Thus... the scrapbook journal.

I have a lot of magazine and calendar images cut out and filed already.  They reside in a couple different kinds of files, taking up about half of the desk top file basket.  I've also collected original Victoria magazines through the years and they have a home in a couple vintage suitcases.

Quite a few years ago, when my son still lived at home so it has been awhile, I sorted through all the magazines to find duplicates.  Those duplicates are kept in one of the vintage picnic baskets also in the Family Room and they are what I use for cutting more photos.

Yes... I figure if my clutter is hidden in something pretty then it is not considered clutter.  ;)

All of my scrapbook journal and card making art supplies reside on these three shelves.  It helps to have them in full view when I'm looking for something.  My poor card making supplies are feeling neglected, I'm sure.  However, once again with the eye problems half of last year, they were literally put on the shelf for awhile.

I was inspired by Marie Kondo's books, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy to eliminate stuff that I do not need and keep what is making me happy.  While her first book offers more how-to, it was Spark Joy that really spoke to me about keeping only what brings joy and does not add a burden.  It was also written more for the non-Japanese audience.

For some reason, the books gave me permission to get rid of so many items I had been moving around for years, some for decades.  I gave a friend who still loves to sew my fabric, another friend knitting needles, and to charity other items like yarn.

I kept some of my needlework craft items since I may still use them.  Also in the dresser drawers are accessories used in baking such as cupcake liners.  However, when I made that final decision that I was no longer holding on to sewing and knitting supplies because I absolutely no longer wanted to sew or knit... what a burden lifted off my shoulders!

I highly recommend that if you are past having fun with any arts or crafts... let the "stuff" bless other people.  Either by selling them or giving them away.  I found giving away better so I didn't have time to change my mind as I remembered their original costs.

We do tend to live in phases and sometimes what was once fun is not, anymore.  That is okay.  Let. It. Go. 

I will share what I am doing with the Scrapbook Journal when I have finished a few pages.  However, listed below is a link to what I was working on before my eye problems.

Mentioned in this Blog Post:
Scrapbook Journal here.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up... here.
Spark Joy... here.

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