{Two feet of water...this is what we came down to at 4 am. We grabbed all my scrapbooks we could but my husband was nervous, rightfully so, about being in the water. Honestly, too, my Cricut had been on the fritz as of late so I just decided to let it go.}
{Four feet of water at 5 am. That big white file cabinet is all my scrapbook paper. And you can see my hand made cards floating by the stairs. My 8 year old sat on the stairs trying to fish things out for me. This is when I absolutely lost it.}
Well, with some perspective on the situation I have come to realize that the flood was a blessing. I was able to go through all my remaining craft stuff (again) and make an even better space on our first floor.
Most importantly I now have a better perspective on "the tyranny of stuff". Stuff is just stuff...we spend so much time collecting, moving, sorting, donating, organizing, junking, shopping, and consuming stuff! And then, within 2 hours, it can all be destroyed just like that! I look back and see what a weight it all was, distracting me from my family, unnecessarily consuming my precious time. Don't get me wrong, I am a forever crafter! I derive so much joy out of making fun cards for others and scrapbooking our adventures. The drive to create before the flood, however, was mainly because I felt obligated to use all the stuff I had accumulated. It was no longer a choice! The burden of stuff was actually beginning to canker my relationship with my crafting.
So, when I took on the opportunity to start fresh I was happy to scale back and rebuild with a new motivation. This time I have been so careful with my consumption of stuff. And I went about rebuilding with purpose.
I will have to admit that the first trip back to Archivers after the flood was a rush! In all honesty...one great part of this hobby is thrill of discovering new lines and products!
I could go on for another 3 or 4 hours about what we learned in the process of recovering from this experience. But I will get on with the pictures of my new craft room right after I give a big shout out (again) to all of our great friends who worked around the clock to support us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We couldn't have made it through the ordeal without you all!!
{I salvaged two doors and had glass tops made for them. Probably the coolest desk ever! Excuse our archaic computer! It is next on the list if things to replace.}
{My favorite organizational element...my peg board! Mostly because I found these awesome acrylic accessories to give it an unobtrusive feel. The board is from Home Depot and the bins are from Azar Displays at http://www.azardisplays.com/ }
{I am a pretty tidy scrapbooker. I like to have my paper close. The baskets on the floor are from Target. And my essential supplies close. The whirly thingy is from Michaels. I keep my current project out until it is done. Right now I am trying to fix some of the pages I lost in the flood in our 2012 family album.}
{I had awesome drawers from Ikea (the Alex line...see pictures from flood above) to organize my odds and ends but I didn't want to spend the money on those quite yet. In the corner you can see my stack o' cheap craft storage from Michaels...it was an awesome 50% off! I really don't like it but it works until I can spend a little cash on the drawers again. That is why I have a lot of containers under my desk right now.}
{Little snapshots of my decor. I am still working on it but you get the gist. The wall color is Benjamin Moore Bali. Most everything is from Ikea, Home Goods, and Hobby Lobby. It is a little more girly than I prefer but I think I am over compensating for the fact that I have three boys!}
There you have it! I will post more on how I organize all the little stuff in another sesh.
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