ZooTZmomma

My Creative Space!

And by that I mean my sewing studio where I create things, because goodness knows I haven't gotten it fixed up too creatively. I tried to but I'm afraid I like organization and all of the things that I think up, may get in the way of that.

First let me say, that I thank God everyday for my creative place and a home in which to keep it! All of my married life(this one and the practice run before it) has been spent in apartments. We were given a great opportunity last year to purchase a home and we jumped right in. Our home had sat vacant for months and hadn't been taken care of properly before that, so we just started it all over!

I can still remember walking in and saying okay, just tear it all out. So my creative space was a shell of what once was and what could be. Here is a picture after the carpet(if you could call it that) came out, oh and the baseboards came off. Told you blank slate!

A fresh coat of beautiful pale robins egg blue paint, some new baseboards, a new wood floor, and a couple of shelves later and I had this.

The whole process was actually a lot of fun, a lot of sweat and work, but fun. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something or that it can't be done on a budget. This was my first time installing bookshelves, installing wood floors, baseboards and counters! After I finished I felt like I could conquer the world!

The floors I carried throughout our 1st floor, but I searched the internet and found an amazing deal, really the bulk of the cost is in the install and well let's just say "sweat equity" works for those on a budget! The shelving is actually 3 premade bookshelves from Kmart. I found them at the bargain price of $35 each!! Reduced from about $100 each. Can't beat that for a wall full of storage! And the counters, a Martha Stewart farm table that I bought at Kmart, reduced from $200 something to $35!!! I brought it to my grandfather's workshop and we sawed it lengthwise to make 2 counters, which I then bolted to the walls. Pretty cool, huh?

The curtains I made after searching high and low for that perfect fabric. I knew that I wanted retro, and I wasn't sure about matching the colors of my walls. I drove like an hour away to a mill store and there it was! More money than I have ever paid for fabric to make curtains, but I think it was so worth it!!

A few months after my creative space makeover, I added "Norda". Norda is my Singer 500A Rocketeer Slantomatic Sewing machine. Oh, how I love her! I found her on Craigslist and drove 2 hrs one way to pick her up! The woman I purchased her from was over 80 years old and still worked as a secretary. Can you believe it? She was the sweetest little lady, so I named my first vintage machine after it's previous owner. That way I won't forget where this part of history came from. Doesn't she look like she was just meant to be in front of my funky curtains?? And yes, that is Flea Market Fancy on my stool that I sit my butt on! Ha! I know it clashes with my curtains, but I wanted it in my space. I am thinking of redoing the stool and adding that piece to my wall somehow.

And then there is "Rosey", my Atlas Deluxe. I "thought" when I bought her off of Ebay that she was light pink and I was "told" that she worked. Well she arrived and is a little rosier, thus the name and doesn't work really well. But like I said in a previous post, she makes great eye candy on top of my shelves!!

I uncovered this treasure last week. It had gotten misplaced in a box of fabric that I had stored away. This was the first Little Quilt that I ever finished and handstitched. I was about 17 and I gave it to my grandmother, Clara, my source of inspiration to start sewing in the first place. After she passed my grandfather made sure that I got it back. So today I hung it in my creative space so that I can think of her while I sew. I can't believe she has been gone 11 years already, seems like yesterday.

And that is my Creative Space! My little slice of a Heaven on Earth!