My sewing studio, aka my sewing corner

Its been sometime since I blogged... Had a little writer's block here..
Anyway, here are some pictures of my sewing area.. :)

Here is my sewing corner.. I feel really comfortable here, as it is in my living room. My daughter can play and even chat while I sew. I use 2 standing lamps and 1 table lamp to lit the area as there are no permanent lighting in this part. On the right, there is my antique safe and our gohonzon. On the left, there is a pillar which holds our pool cues. My ironing board sits folded in front of it. I do my cutting on the pool table. It is just right in front of the chair on the left bottom corner.

My iron sits right on the sleeve board for light sewing jobs. A tall plastic drawer holds my crafty stuff. My fabric are kept in another room as there is no other space for it here. The pink pail? That is my dustbin.. I got it in France for just 1euro.. Love the color!! And, I only have 1 little sewing machine right now.. Now, I mostly work around my sewing machine's capability. Maybe thats why I was able to come up with those sewing patterns which uses short-cut techniques. Hhaha.. So there, the reason why I can think of all those sewing methods is because of my sad little sewing machine which cannot change the width and length of the stitches and has limited sewing foots, with limited type of stitches.... But no, I am not changing it yet... :)

Time-Saving Housekeeping Tricks

These days it seems we all have such busy lives, especially us moms! Those of us who are moms AND are trying to be creative and/or run a business at home are especially challenged. House cleaning is not my favorite task to do, though I like being in a clean, tidy space. I just don’t want to spend huge chunks of time to do what it takes to keep it clean. It is a dilemma I am sure a lot of you experience.

I want to share some ideas I have found and things that I do to keep the cleaning time to a minimum while still accomplishing what I want.

For me, the key is multi-tasking! An example: If I am cooking a meal, while it is cooking I will put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher or the drying rack, or I will take the broom and quickly sweep the floor or wipe down the microwave or oven or refrigerator door.

In my bathroom, I keep a sponge and some cleaners under the sink, so right after I am out of the shower, if the toilet or the sink needs a clean, I do it before I leave the bathroom. I do the same thing in the shower stall / tub: Sponge it down while I am still in it anyway, so it doesn’t get to be a big job later on.

Since my laundry room is next door to my art studio room, I usually put in a load of washing while I am creating rather than make a separate trip downstairs to do it.

Also, I am a procrastinator about folding the clean laundry – it tends to sit in the laundry basket for days, getting more and more wrinkled. An idea I have is that I spend even 5 minutes folding as I am getting dressed – even if I don’t finish. At least I am one step closer to having everything folded and put away.

These are some of the things I do, and when I looked up the topic in a Google search, I found this article and was surprised to find that some of what I already do is listed here in some form. There are other good ideas here too: Remember Heloise’s tips for cleaning, etc.? I used to see her column in the newspaper when I had time to read it. I found her online hints and there are some great ideas there too.

I know that if I can do a few extra things each day towards keeping our living space tidy and comfortable without making it a big production, I am satisfied. Hope you find some helpful tips here. Happy housecleaning all!

Arlene
www.SpiritEssenceArt.com
www.SpiritEssenceArt.artfire.com

20 Things to Blog About

     As I am sitting here contemplating what to write about this week, I am aware that I have procrastinated with starting this today.  In fact, I almost forgot that Wednesday is my day to write a post for our ACT blog.  It is the same for my own art blog.

Whether it is because I find it difficult sometimes to come up with a topic that I think our readers will find interesting, or I am just struggling to find the words to express my thoughts, I am not sure.  I just know that often writing does not come easy to me.

Perhaps others have the same problem and can relate to what I am saying.  I do know that updating a blog regularly is important to attain a good page ranking as well as to keep the interest of the people who do read the blog.  There is nothing worse than enjoying the posts of someone’s blog and suddenly there is nothing new to read for days or weeks.  As a reader of many blogs, I have experienced this for sure.

I decided to brainstorm here with ideas for topics to blog about – anything that pops into my head for those of you who have a blog, have wanted to start a blog, or who have been avoiding starting a blog for this very reason.

Here goes - You can write about:

1. An activity you were doing today or in the last couple of days
2. A problem you have been struggling with lately
3. Some new work you have done (for those of you who are artists, crafters, have your own businesses, etc.)
4. An interesting article you have read or blog post you saw
5. A great new movie you saw that really touched you in some way
6. A news article that you feel is important to talk about
7. Any seasonal activity or fun experience relevant to the season
8. A new technique you learned from someone or discovered yourself
9. Some family issues you encountered that you resolved or feel are thought provoking
10. An event you are looking forward to
11. Instructions or suggestions on how to do something – a “how to” article about something you are good at
12. A new recipe you have tried and found to be delicious
13. A housekeeping tip that saves time and / or money
14. A gardening tip
15. Some ideas on how to grow your business – what has worked for you
16. Sharing some things that have NOT worked for you in business or in other aspects of your life
17. A funny story from your life
18. Reviews of great books you have read and can recommend
19. Explain some computer skill that you finally have mastered and can share with those that are still struggling
20. Sharing some artwork that inspires you

Well, that was 20 to start with, and I haven’t even struggled with it.  Hmmm – guess I am going to have to keep this list in front of me every time I need to update this or my own blog.  I have no more excuses!  Nor do you!

Good luck and have fun with it.

Arlene
Spirit Essence Art