A Graduation, 2 Weddings, and A Funeral

O.M.G.! My glass studio has been “dark” for about 2 months, except for a few small custom orders. And my online presence has been virtually non-existent! Ugh... I start a blog, post a few times, then disappear… typical, right? Well, this wasn’t an intentional absence, it’s just been a whirlwind summer… and the title of this post explains most of it!

So let me catch you up quickly. Starting with our son’s HS graduation in June, which to be honest we weren’t even sure would actually happen until almost the last minute. Can you say S-T-R-E-S-S?! He did have to re-take a class in summer school before getting his actual diploma, but he was still allowed to go through the ceremony (more of a relief for the parents than the kid!). So we held an open house for him later in the summer… that was just over a week ago... it was wonderful, but I’m still recovering!

There were also a couple of weddings, in June, and in late July. Both were beautiful... I wasn’t “in” either one yet still involved… My husband officiated the June one so I helped a little but that didn’t take too much of my time. For the July wedding, I made the bride’s & bridesmaids’ jewelry (pictured, right). The bride & I designed it together and I think it turned out great! It was a perfect fit for her Bohemian style and black & ivory colors. She ended up hanging her pendant (the all-ivory diamond-shape one) on a set of family pearls in ivory… very sweet!

Sadly, there was also a family funeral this summer. My dear Aunt Holly passed away. She lived a long, beautiful life, but I can’t believe she’s gone. It was so sad to say goodbye. And all the more difficult because she wasn’t even sick… she just had a bad fall that resulted in a head injury that she didn’t recover from. Ironically, her sister (my Grandmother) also passed away under similar circumstances almost 14 years ago. There's something about having a loved one ripped away from us so suddenly, it just leaves a wound that takes more time to heal than an expected passing. I will miss them both.

Outside my own little corner of the world, there’s plenty of stress-inducing stuff too, from psycho shootings to political battles, lots of stuff that goes beyond what my blog is about. Then there's the excitement of the Olympics, and the record-breaking heat & humidity we’ve had in the Midwest... I admit—I made time to watch as much of the Olympics as I could… and I’m not complaining about the heat—I’ll take humidity over sleet any day—but it sure does slow a body down!!!

So that’s my summer in a nutshell. It’s going by way too fast! But now the heat is starting to back off, the big events are behind us, I have some fun new tools in my glass studio that I’m itching to put to work, and I have a few local sales coming up this fall too. So I’ll slowly get back to creating some new glass designs, photographing & listing some online, and of course posting here as often as I can. ONCE A WEEK??!?! Hmmm… it's a nice goal, but I’d better not make promises I can’t keep!

Art Studio ~ Design & Organizing Ideas

Do you have a craft room that needs sprucing up? Maybe you're putting ideas together for your dream studio. That's great, but where to start? Then once you have the space set up, it can be a constant battle to get - and stay - organized. Believe me, I know!

I admit that I'm super lucky to have an awesome studio space, thanks to Dear Hubby... A few years ago, I had been complaining about always having to drag art stuff out then clear it away so we could eat dinner. Or worse, eat dinner around the stuff! Yup. Chaos. Usually, half my creative time was spent setting up & cleaning up. If you're a creative soul without a dedicated craft space, I know you know what I'm talking about! So DH helped me convert a storage room into an actual studio {squeeeee!}... and it's been wonderful.

BUT... lately that space is in desperate need of organizational attention, and I'm looking for great ways to calm the clutter & work more efficiently. And to spruce up the decor a bit. And ways to STAY organized. So I've been searching for inspiration... LOVE Google & Pinterest for that! Here are some cool studios I found from other people online:

These just might inspire me to get truly organized!

Just look at all those drawers and shelves and cool organizers... and how neat & tidy they all are (can anyone actually KEEP it that way?!)!! Check out my Pinterest boards for more inspiration rooms and actual links to the sites where I found these ideas here.

So, about that constant battle against the organizing demon? Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's the bane of all creative types. I tend to think it's the latter. Or at least that makes me feel a bit better about my own chaos!

When I have my world under a little more control, I will do another post about my own studio space. And maybe even inspire someone else! Until then, happy crafting, and stay organized, my friends!!!