Found Objects

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, 

so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up”  

A. A. Milne. 

Last week I cleaned and organized my studio. It was a good reminder of the volume and variety of raw materials housed in drawers and cabinets. I also reminded myself that the mere act of organizing does not override the weight of too much stuff.

I (re)found these things:

    Four drawers of reclaimed fabric- organized by type and color.

    Another cabinet drawer sectioned for wire, fasteners, rivets and grommets  

    A plastic tub full of stamping and engraving paraphernalia 

    Buttons 

    Tiny gemstone beads housed by type in small circular pinwheel boxes

    Trims, zippers, embroidery thread, elastic, clothing labels

    A jar of bakelite game pieces

    Leather and goat hair skins

They survived the downsizing.  

This is what I call My Good Stuff. 

The following Monday I started making things. Small things. Single earrings. brooches, bracelets and necklaces. Some of the pieces are in a style you would recognize. Colorful, chunky, asymmetric. It was fun revisiting what I did early on. Made a few bakelite button bracelets. A few beaded bracelets from those so so so tiny gemstone beads. 

I kind of got into a groove. 

When I ran out of good buttons I switched to sewing, I cut out several sets of reversible coasters. The top is fabric I designed, the bottom is printed oil cloth. Had fun working out a little packaging idea for them. 

Ready to switch gears and start fresh, I cleaned up my mess.( It helps me jump start the next thing.)

A couple days later I opened the stamping and engraving tub. Pulled out the brass geometric shaped pendants- solid and drilled. They were too shiny so I thought about how to fix that. The pieces felt modern so I made some kinetic brooches.  And earrings. A different style for me. 

Another cleanup then back to sewing. I paired a yard or so of cotton canvas fabric I designed with some cool zippers in unusual colors. Just enough for three small zip pouches. Thinking about doing a little embroidery on the front. We'll see.

I'm trying to make things without thinking too much about the next step.

Sneak Peek