I suck ... No photos yet.

Well... I have yet to upload any photos and the workshop is nearing completion. I have started moving in my supplies from their various hiding places in the house and I am fast realizing that I have A LOT of stuff.... Well, all the more to craft with, my dears!!! And craft we will ... I'd like to have a get together sometime in November ...

Construction Ongoing ...

NO PHOTOS YET!!! Sorry, things at home are very hectic right now with the ongoing construction of the workshop, my friend Jenn and her girls out from Arizona for a family wedding, and Em's recent skin graft and I haven't been able to get the photos of the progress on the blog. I hope to do so this week. Due to a few unforeseen time issues, the initial deadline for completion has come and gone. I anticipate completion (hopefully not jinxing myself in the process!!) that the construction will be complete by the end of the upcoming weekend and I can set about putting things away and getting organized.

It's oficially begun ...

The workshop has begun !!! I bit the bullet (or the wallet) and started construction of the workshop on Monday. After what seemed like hours of messing with insulation ( I hate that itchy stuff!! ) the handy dudes are rocking with the sheet rock. It is amazing how different it looks already ... I'll try to snap some pics before they get going in the A.M. to post. I anticipate that the major construction part will be done by the end of the week and then I'll need a week or so to put up my IKEA shelving ( Broader - love this stuff!! It is sooo versatile!! ) and organize the plethora of supplies I've crammed into the house ...

Cost/Benefit Analysis

Okay, well, I got a quote from Joel the handy-dude to finish the workshop. The good news, is that it will take about a week and he can start on Monday. The bad news ... it's going to cost about $1800 in materials and about $2900 in labor. So, I am now pondering whether I am motivated enough to spend the next 3-4 months working my ass off on it every waking minute or whether I should just add it to the "home improvement" box and figure that it will increase the value of the house when the market improves ...

I think my lack of delayed gratification and the fact that I have spent almost the entire last 10 years renovating this house will mean that I could have a completed workshop by the end of the month!!!!

Workshop ...

Work on the "workshop" officially started a few weeks ago with some new electrical wiring completed for outlets and lighting. I've started to really look at the amount of hours that are going to be needed for me to do the insulation, sheetrock, and texturing and am a little daunted. With work and the kiddos I fear that it'll be after the New Year before the thing gets close to being done. I've begun to look at the option of hiring a handyman to help with some of the more time intensive tasks ... I should know in the next week whether or not that will be financially feasible.

ORGANIZE IT!!!

Okay, so my supplies have offically outgrown there space in my house... I have taken over not only the "art space" that I created in my living room but also the buffet and dining table as well as setting up a portable 4ft table in the dining room. The kids are tired of not being able to all sit down for a meal at the tabel. Solution? Well... I decided that I would finish the interior of the garage (in 11 years I have parked the car in there for maybe 6 weeks total!) and create a GIANT studio/storage space. Yup.. so that's the current plan. Electrical should be done in the next two weks, followed by insulation and sheetrock, texture and paint and, last but definitely the most important, shelving ... I am using the BRODER shelving from Ikea....very heavy duty industrial steel stuff with total versatility as far as layout ... plus it's pretty inexpensive. Photos to come as this thing gets moving ...

Shopping Spree!!!

This weekend was a BLAST! My aunt and I went on a 2 day, 15 store bus tour of Northern California scrapbook/rubberstamp/art stores with a local store, Green Tangerines in Rocklin. I had never done the whole group trip thingy and my aunt and I have never travelled together (without extended family going along)...Very cool trip... lots of time to talk about our art and families as well as AMAZING places to shop ... and boy did I shop!!!! I got some great rubberstamps and inks to use with my assemblage/collage projects as well as some awesome papers and fibers ... now I just need to get my space remodelled and I'll be in art heaven!!!!