Organization - Get Creative with BreeLeeD

Welcome to my first endeavor into the world of doing features! I'm very interested in how people organize their things, what kinds of creative solutions they come up with, and what kind of creative environment they create for themselves. In this series, I am exploring creative and/or thrifty organization solutions.

Today's interview is with Bree, of BreeLeeD, who is a fellow Etsy artist who makes quality fabric headbands, adorable zippered pouches, and a variety of other tidbits.

1. Tell us about your creative or thrifty organization solution.



I enjoy making upcycled pencil holders out of old cans. They're very simple and fun to make! Just clean a can very well and dry it with a cloth. Set it aside for several days; this ensures that the food scents are completely gone. Next, get some pretty scrapbooking papers, ribbon, Mod Podge, E6000 glue, a paintbrush and a toothpick. Using a light coat of Mod Podge on the can, attach the paper. You'll need to hold the paper in place for a few minutes. Once the Mod Podge is dry, use a toothpick and E6000 glue to attach a ribbon around the can. If you'd like a bow, just glue one on the top of the ribbon. That's it! It's a very thrifty and beautiful way to make your workspace more organized.

2. What motivated you to use this solution? Function, price, artistic appeal, going green?
I first started making pencil holders out of cans when I was in kindergarten. However, I used to cover them with rocks, lol. My new upcycled pencil holders take that same idea, but the level of creativity has been taken up a notch. Today, craft stores have such a variety of lovely papers and ribbons, that the idea of replacing rocks with paper just popped into my head. Upcycled pencil holders are very functional, super inexpensive to make and help the environment at the same time!

3. How does this solution compliment your creative space? I have several upcycle pencil holders - one on my sewing table and one on my desk. I even switch them out every now and then. The one I have on my sewing table helps keep things really tidy, as it holds my pens, pencils, seam gauge, seam ripper, and any other little things I can fit in it. The one I have right now, matches my teacup pin cushion.


If you'd like to learn more about this artist, please visit her Etsy shop, blog, or Flickr account.

Do you have a creative or thrifty organization solution? I'd love to hear about it! Perhaps you found a great old cabinet at a flea market, made a table from an old door, or use old hardware promotional baskets for sorting your wares. Please leave a comment, and I'll send you my short interview.

Direction

I find myself wondering what direction to go into lately. There are so many things that inspire me, so many things I am capable of, and so little time to do ANY of it! My mom recently (okay, not THAT recently) sent me this great comic that says it just right:
In case you can't read it, it says "There was a time when I couldn't wait to get married. Then I couldn't wait to have a house of my own. Then... for children, - I couldn't wait! ... Now that I have all the things I couldn't wait for - & can decide what & who I want to be... I've got to wait."

I couldn't say it any better!

Interested in being featured?

I'm thinking of starting a weekly feature to discuss creative spaces, organization, inspiration, anything really. I need a few ideas to get started. And people, I guess. So, if you are interested, or have some ideas, leave a comment!

I should have tied a piece of string to my finger...

I woke up this morning and realized that I promised a custom order last week would ship on Tuesday. Yep. Today is Tuesday. I thought I was giving myself plenty of time with doing the mailing to the magazine and all. "I could ship by Tuesday," I said on Thursday, thinking "that will be lots of time for me to get my act together."

It's a great thing that today is Tuesday, since my Shirley comes on Tuesdays. She got here at 8:26am, apologizing that she was late (she starts work at 8:30am). She is awesome :)

So, even though there is a mountain in my laundry room that is threatening to overtake the kitchen, I tell Shirley that I must make a custom order first, and to UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, ENTER THE LAUNDRY ROOM. You see, Shirley aims to please, and tries to clean up everything when she is here. This makes me feel a tiny bit guilty when there really is a BIG mess when she arrives.

8:32am - I hunker down in my workshop to make a fish shaped eye spy bag from scratch. I didn't even have the pattern cut out or anything. Huh, not what I wanted to do today, but hey someone has to support the Shirley fund.

Done. Shower. Go to post office. Eat lunch.

and just like that, it was time for Shirley to go home. No time just for me. I guess that's what I deserve for forgetting to make my custom order.... At least I didn't let my customer down!

I better get some laundry done before Thursday when Shirley comes back.

More on my new products!

Well, my baby rudely interrupted my last post LOL, so I'm back now! Hmmm.... I was going through my latest and greatest.

So, I decided the jellyfish wasn't all that great, and I moved on to the starfish. It wasn't that great, either. I guess there's nothing too special about them - I couldn't really think of a way to give it any personality. Starfishes don't have faces, do they? Or maybe right in the middle, but then where would I put the window? Anyway...


So, we get down to the ones that I DO like! I made some whales. I just love whales. My first prototype turned out alright, but not much personality. I worked on him a bit, and then came up with this guy:
I think he is pretty special, don't you? His spout is made from white embroidery floss, which I knotted/sewed on like doll hair. Inside of each little knot is a spot of fabric glue. I hope this will hold up to wild hooligan children. Or at least normal children (if there is such a thing)...

Ah, then I moved on to my shark. He is a lot of work. a lot lot lot of work. My first prototype had a fish-shaped window. I decided that this was 1) too much work, and 2) didn't look proportionately right with the shape of the shark. My next prototype made use of the same eye pattern I use on my small basic I Spy Bags. Here was my final design:

And, who can have a sea-life collection without a seahorse? At least a try at a seahorse? I took a stab at it, but it's just not quite right yet, either. The pink unfinished one I made first, then the aqua one (which still hasn't been stitched up yet as you can see the straight pin in it still). I burned out a little on the seahorse as it wasn't coming together, so maybe I'll get back to it if there is any interest.

I've been quite absent, I know!

I swear I have a good excuse! I have been in "the zone" designing new products. My poor little Etsy shop has been totally ignored for the past few weeks, and I've been buried in bits of fleece and poly-pellets for days! Thanks for my wonderful husband, who kept the kids out of my hair long enough to develop some WONDERFUL new designs!

I began by thinking of different groups that I would like to see developed. Some ideas I had were sea-life, space, farm animals, wild animals, aviary, and insects. I started in aviary, and thought about how I could further develop my chick and to come up with some other birds. My mom found me some perfect yellow fleece to create a duck, and I thought I could simply make my chick in red with a black beak and call it a cardinal. Of course, I've already made it in blue, but I (duh) never thought to call it a bluebird! It didn't hit me until a customer requested a bluebird - then I was like... hmmm... I could have a whole line of birds!

Then like magic, I went to my mom's in Indiana for Easter, and while there I received an email from Real Simple Magazine. It's like they were reading my mind - or at least on the same wavelength! She said she was interested in my chick, and could I send her a sample for their editorial review, where they would consider it for inclusion in their special issue gift guide! I emailed her back and let her know that the chick was part of my aviary series, and I was also working on these other series... She emailed back that they were interested to see what I had in space and sea-life.

So I got to work developing those lines. First, space. I already made a simple spaceship. Mostly, it was born of the love of the space fleece and desire to do something other than the norm with it. Unfortunately, my supply of the space fabric was dwindling, so I needed to think outside the box. I redesigned the ship. Prototype #1 turned out looking like one of those water beetles that I hated seeing in the pool as a kid. Failure. Prototype #2 got stuck in my machine and was ruined as I cut it out. I invested in some stabilizer. My final design was almost perfect, and my good friend and neighbor suggested some flames coming out the back... so here it is:


The wings and the flames are made from felt, and the stripes are embroidered on with my fancy schmancy new sewing machine. I think it turned out quite cute!

I also created a flying saucer. This was a bit more difficult to develop - I had to figure out some kind of legs, and make sure it didn't look too much like a hat. My first prototype, which is now in my sale section on Etsy, looks a bit weird - kind of like some crazy space monster. The legs turned out looking like teeth or something! A few prototypes later, I ended up with this:

I think this one is especially cute! I photographed it on a piece of sky poster board that I found here. It was a lot of fun to make, and I love how the antenna came out crooked.

I also made a round bag with a moon shaped window, which was okay. My mom really liked it, but I don't know. It sold already, though, so I guess it was good enough. I'll make more. Someday! I tried making a shooting star, which was a failed attempt - maybe I can expand on my space collection another time.

Next, I got to work on my sea-life collection. This was a really fun genre! I drew up plans for a jellyfish, seahorse, starfish, shell, shark, whale, and octopus. I really tried to make the jellyfish work, but something just wasn't right. Here are my attempts:

I'll be selling them in my sale section soon!

Oh, baby is crying, so I will post more later!