Thursday, December 20, 2007

Let's Get Organized, People!


Back in high school, I had a social studies teacher known for her, I don't know what to call them - I guess her epithets. No, they were more like catchphrases. Or rallying cries.


"Let's get organized, people!" was one of her favorites. She usually did this when the din rose to a level where you could barely hear what she was saying.

[Mark, my lifelong bud who is in town from San Francisco will know exactly who I'm talking about here!]

It had nothing to do with organization, but everything to do with imposing order.

My workspace is an atrocious mess at the moment. Between the holiday preparations. And the gifts I've been making. Oh, and the Etsy-ing.

So I'm in dire need of order right now. It's a matter of too much inflow, and not enough outflow.

Amidst all the creating of jewelry, I've been shopping and gathering materials during all the end-of-year sales at my favorite suppliers. There's just too much stuff. (My husband is nodding his head in agreement: hi, honey!)

But there's a method to the madness. Sometimes it takes seeing one item next to another that you'd never consider together . . . to really know that it will make a smashing series of necklaces.

Hiding it away in boxes makes it impossible to make those connections.

The photo above shows the latest group of colors I'm obsessed with. I'll let you know when I've come up with something.

4 comments:

Kitty said...

love the colors, especially the dark red!

I guess if you really, really get into it, then looking into color forecasting would be in order. I've been seeing deep jewel tones around, which I'm quite a fan of.

order is always good, as long as you have the time to do it! I hate cleaning in a rush!

Spandrel Studios said...

Oh, I knew I should have re-taken that photo, but I liked how it looks, anyway. The lighting was really dark... what I think looks red is actually a deep chocolate brown. On the gigantic, handmade pendant bead, there's a dark, opaque kind of cola-brown.

I hate the act of cleaning, but I love the post-organization feel. Last week I completely ripped everything out of a large closet, did a take-no-prisoners round of weeding out of stuff I admittedly don't wear, and the results are sublime. Looking in my closet is actually a calm experience!

Trying to take the same approach with the workspace organization is another matter.

Thanks for the suggestion about color forecasting. A while ago I read that article in The New Yorker about Leslie Harrington, the color consultant, and thought that would be the most fascinating job to have in the world -synthesizing all that's going on in society and design and come up with a color palette and direction for literally everything!

Like anything else, I'm sure it has its challenges. But still...

Anonymous said...

I LOVE to organize - want me to come over???

I saw this really cool earring holder thing called an EarNest at the Saturday Market in Portland,OR, last summer. The only thing that stopped me from buying it was the fear that I could not safely transport it on an airplane. Anyway, it's this handmade wooden thing that can be hung or free- standing and I've been meaning to contact the guy to have him make one for me - don't know what I'm waiting for!!!!

Spandrel Studios said...

Hey, Stephanie, the EarNest sounds like a good idea - is this it? http://www.ear-nest.com/home.ihtml The selection of stands that they have is fantastic! I'll have to check them out.

As for the workspace organization, it's slow going. With the jewelry, for me it's all about keeping the colors together, and being able to easily move them around. But they're all different sizes, different quantities. Such a nightmare! But thanks for offering to help... depending on how long this takes, I may take you up on that!