S-I-M-P-L-E Organization Strategy

I'm posting this because I struggle with staying organized and am always working at it.  I'm sure I'm not the only one out their with problems in this area, so I thought maybe others could benefit from this great article!

S-I-M-P-L-E Organizing Strategies


S - SELECT THE AREA

Select the area you will organize by deciding which space in your home or office causes you the most stress. This is the area you should attack first. Select one space at a time. Breaking goals down makes them easier to accomplish.

I - IMPLEMENT A SORTING STRATEGY

After you select the area, you will need to implement a sorting strategy. Use small multi-colored stickers to sort the items in the area you have selected. Designate one color for the items you are keeping, one for those items you are not sure about, and one for those items you will purge. Do not move the items--just sort.

M - MOVE OBJECTS TO SPECIFIED AREAS

Now that you have sorted all your items, it is time to move them. This step of the SIMPLE process takes the longest. If you attack it in three sections, it is easier. First, move all your purging items to bags/boxes to either throw away OR to donate to charity. Act today. Second, go through the items you are not sure about. Purge as much as possible from this group also. If you decide to keep it, then move it to the keeper group. Do not keep guilt-related family/friend items if you don't use them. The last step is to move all the items you are keeping to assigned spaces. The key to organizational maintenance is everything must have a place. Some of these items will not have assigned spaces yet. Time to go to the next step!

P - PICK AND PLAN THE SPACE

Spaces should be designed based on the needs of the individuals using them. Based on the specific space (garage, kitchen, home office, closets, etc.), there are a number of techniques you should use.

L - LOCATE AND SELECT ORGANIZING CONTAINERS

Containerizing is crucial to the organizing process. Containers come in all shapes and sizes. They help you group and separate your belongings with ease. Retrieval and cleanup are much easier when you use containers. They also limit the amount you can accumulate.

E - EXCAVATE CONTINUOUSLY

Just like archaeologists, you must excavate continuously to unearth your treasures. Time will bury your belongings if you don't get a little dirty at least once a week and throw away all unused items in your home and/or office.

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Article by: Sheri McConnell

Sheri is the CEO of Sheri McConnell Companies, Inc. and the president and founder of two global organizations, the Smart Women's Institute of Entrepreneurial Learning (formerly the National Assn of Women Writers-2001) and the Global Institute of Associations-GIA. You can visit Sheri, access her free article archive, and grab lots of free stuff at http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com
Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband, their four children, a weenie dog, and three hermit crabs.

More Recycled Dryer Sheet Art!

I spent the last few days creating more mixed media art cloths using the fabric softener sheets that you throw in the dryer.  I recycle them after they've been used.  Awhile back I created a video tutorial on how to create these versatile little masterpieces.  If you would like to view it you can see it here.

Here are the cloths I made recently, the only difference between these and the ones on the tutorial are that I glued and collaged multiple pieces of dryer sheet to make larger works of art.  I plan on making a clutch or bag of some sort with this first one.  This piece was made using 2 rows of 4 dryer sheets each.

This next one was created with one row of 3 dryer sheets

And this one was created using 1 row of 4 dryer sheets

I can't wait to post the finished hand bag, but I'm not much of a seamstress, so it may be awhile!  But my goal is to create a class teaching you how to create larger cloths and assembling them into things like bags, journal covers, wallets etc...

A Mother's Love...

Mother's Love

Here's another one to share with you.  I finished this one this weekend and was a little disappointed with my lettering and spacing, but oh well!  I like it overall!

Wake Your Dreams

Many of us have dreams that we've kept to ourselves, dreams that we thought weren't possible, or dreams that other's wouldn't support.  It's time to wake those dreams from their deep sleep and start to make them a reality.  Believe that you can...and you will!

Here is my latest entitled "Wake Your Dreams"...hope you like!

I am the QUEEN....of unfinished art that is...

These are some of the unfinished pieces I have laying around here and there, and this isn't even half of it!  I don't know why, but I constantly get "stuck" and don't know what to do next, or I loose interest all together!  Luckily I do revisit my pile of unfinished business and occasionally I turn out something really cool.  I'm just wondering if anyone else out there has piles of half finished artwork laying around, and if you do, what do you do with yours?  Any hints on how to rid myself of this unfortunate pattern?

A few of these were really just practice pieces done for fun, but quite a few of them were also meant to be real artwork, but never made it to that status!  I could seriously use some ideas on organizing your artistic life (not to mention the rest of it! Ha!)  If you have some tips of your own to give, or know of any good blogs or websites with info on this topic I'd love to hear from you!

Creating a Signature for your blog posts: A tutorial from Shabby Blogs

Have you discovered the tutorials over at Shabby Blogs?  I've been playing around with making a personalized signature that will display with all of my posts.  What fun!  I'm sure my little signature will change again as I try to get it just right, but I've run out of time for the day so this will have to do for now!  If you would like to add your own signature to your blog posts try Shabby Blogs tutorial here.  And a big thank you to Shabby Blogs for providing such fun freebies and tutorials to make our blogs more personal and unique!

My New Business Cards!

I'm so excited to have received my new business cards I ordered!  The image isn't the greatest from my scanner for some reason, but they turned out beautifully in reality!  I had them printed on a heavy cardstock with a UV protected glossy finish!  Another step completed toward getting my business up and running!

The Out Cast

Here is a new watercolor I did while watching the news last night.  This was done in my moleskin watercolor art journal, using sparkling H20's and my  Koi Watercolor travel kit.  I also used Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens in black and grey, and a white gel pen here and there.

Let me know what you think!  I love to hear your comments, feedback and/or gentle critiques!

3 Ways to Assure You Are Always Growing as an Artist, by Patricia Watwood

Inspiration,  Digital Collage by Kristen Watts

3 Ways to Assure You Are Always Growing as an Artist 

9 Jun 2011 by Patricia Watwood 

Believe: You’ve got to have faith in something bigger than what is on your canvas. Art is how you express it, but the idea has to be bigger than yourself. One of my favorite spiritual quotes is, “I know not where He leadeth, but I know who is my guide.” You cannot make good oil painting art for the long term without a constantly renewable source of inspiration and support. So believe in something that will give you a foundation no matter what successes and failures, triumph and heartache land at your door.

Eyes on the horizon: Don’t chase previous moments of inspiration—Go to the Source. Great art happens when inspiration meets effort. And inspiration has to come from the source and not by trying to repeat previous conditions of inspiration. So, this also requires continued growth and development and forward thinking. Inspiration is the opposite of doing something by rote. It is by nature original every time. Inspiration happens most readily when you are working at the edge of your comfort level, at the moment between competence and risk. Now, art galleries always want you to do the same thing, and to give them consistently marketable material. However, the best art gallery dealers also know that genuine feeling cannot be faked. So, try to find a balance between consistency, integrity and growth.

Always improving: Never stop trying to improve your work through study. My friend John Morra, a well-known still life painter, recently spent a few months working on Bargue plates because he wanted to sharpen his drawing skills. The best artists are never too proud to go back to square one. Take a year and copy old masters, brush up on your oil painting techniques, draw the figure from life, learn cast drawing. It’s never too late. Long term career planning includes taking stock of your abilities, and taking time for          acquiring the skills you need to succeed.

NOTE: to see the entire article click on the title above to take you to the original post

What are your ideas on continuing to grow as an artist?  Do you have any ideas, tips or suggestions?  Would you like to share the things that keep you moving onward and upwards?  Please share with us in the comments section!

Spare Time Sketching

I've been working so hard on getting my various Art Play Today pages up and running (Facebook and Web Page) and everything that goes along with them like organizing and formatting images! I haven't had a whole bunch of time left over to actually make or finish any art.  So when I finally get the kids to bed and have a chance to sit down and chill, I take out my sketch book and just draw for the fun of it.  Here are a few of my recent sketches...

Broken Heart

I love drawing faces! But I never know what to call each one.

I finally decided to try and draw the whole figure (so what if it's not proportional right?)