Where I create

Okay, I don't know if I know any of you well enough to show you my creative space, but I'll go out on a limb and hope you don't think any less of me for this space.

This room is my "office."  I keep my fax machine and two printers up here, a phone line and a laptop computer.  No desk top for me.  Way too confining.  Usually when I bring people up here (only those in my inner circle) my first words are "please don't judge me by this room."  The fact of the matter is this is who I am, and for me this is totally organized and functional. 

This following photo is of my beautiful leather topped desk with the ball and claw feet.  Do you love it?  Yeah, right.  I covered it with a plastic tablecloth and what else?  Oh yeah, a drop cloth.  That's appropriate since I keep my paints here.  I have snippets of projects and books that were waste basket bound that I rescued and notice all my Springer Spaniel art?  I love all things Springer because I love my beautiful dog Cindy.

 I found this armoire at a garage sale for $100.  I decided the reason my floor was always cluttered was because I didn't have shelving.  So I promptly filled up the armoire (even the top) and the floor just collected more junk junque.  It's cleaned up for these pictures.  What?  You can't tell it's cleaned up?  How do you think I have a place to stand to take these photos?

 Here is my fax machine and all my old shoe boxes and magazine holders and boxes.  Like the fancy labels?  Yeah, they are seriously cute.  I designed them myself with blue painter's tape and a permanent marker.  They are not hard to duplicate.  I'm sure you could let your creative self recreate some just like these.

 This is only half of my decorating, art, and inspiration type books.  Yeah, I have an addiction.  Speaking of addictions, I am thinking of starting a 12 step program for magazine-a-holics.  Hi, I'm Maggie, and I am seriously addicted to subscribing and hoarding collecting decorating magazines (like back to the beginning of time).  I just got rid of six boxes of magazines.  I only kept Romantic Homes, Victoria and Country Living.  Everything else had to go and subscriptions will not be renewed.  This is the first and second step in my program by the way.  Oh, let me ask you your opinion.  Does Pottery Barn catalog count as a magazine?  Because I did keep those, but only the last year's mailing and I put them in their own little bin.  Of course, that's because I'm so organized.

 Here's my new sewing machine.  Don't you just love it?  I bought it 3 months ago.  Good thing I got the extended warranty.  The box is still sealed.  I will use it soon.  I promise.  It was on sale and that's why I just had to get it when I did.  It was the last day of the sale.

 This is my little work horse.  This is my OLD color copier/printer by HP.  I use it to copy onto fabric and spray-adhesived tissue paper to make my homemade tissue paper and sometimes I even copy paper on it.

 Here is my wonderful computer.  Look, the table got emptied for the party so now I have a place to sit and write.  Of course, my plastic tablecloth is nearby so I can paint something new this week.

Now look at these very petite pieces of furniture.  These belonged to my husband's grandmother and he actually remembers her running her hotel from these very pieces when he was a child.  Yeah, you guessed it.  He's considerably OLDER than I am.  I'm sure it was a very small hotel, and he was just a smart Alec young boy then.  His memory may be a little faded with time.  Nonetheless, these pieces stay because they are his family heirlooms and I'm a sentimental romantic at heart.  That's why I'm addicted to Romantic Homes magazine and that's why I am letting him keep them!

This room is as large as a three-car garage.  That's why it's full of my junk junque.   Doesn't that sound so much better?  It's classy junque after all.

This little dream sign is probably the prettiest thing in the room.  I didn't make it, but it reminds me to take a deep breath and let my creative juices flow and my imagination run wild.  Thanks for enduring this tour.  I hope you didn't trip over any of my treasures.  Have a wonderful day!