How do YOU organize new purchases?

During one of my many email conversations with my art soul sister, Mary who will be known as Road Princess or RP going forward, we were discussing how we deal with new purchases. I thought I'd share that convo with y'all. Of course, this has been edited for brevity!

RP: ... did find some of the Stickles glitter glue I like at Archiver's -- got another bottle of my favorite yellow and a very cool orange !!! So, do you do this ------- you bring home new "stuff" and you go ahead and open all the packages and think it's just great to take it all out, putting each category of stuff in a certain drawer or box or whatever............and then, since it gets to be such a mess every time you are looking for something in that particular box/category, you turn around and start putting everything back into ziplock bags and try to be organized again ?! No? Oh......that's what I've been doing tonight...

Cheeka: I like to open all my packages and find new homes for everything. I hate ziploc bags and usually dump things OUT of them when I get home. Somehow all my mugs from the kitchen have migrated to the studio to hold various pens and pencils. I have so many now, I needed to separate them because they could not get along. So the sharpies have their own mug, the Bic fake sharpies their own mug (and I put a bunch in my sister's care package - she won't know the difference bless her heart - you do know if you say something mean about someone, you have to say "bless her heart" to take away the sting?) my colored pencils and pastel chalk pencils in another - they are still getting along. And to think I was confident that the spinning pen holder would keep everything - ha! That is full, too, of watercolor pencils and pastel pencils (different from the pastel chalk pencils) and regular colored prismacolor pencils! And markers - the glitter markers are in their own cup with the micron pens, tombow pens, etc. I barely have a mug left in the kitchen!

So the thing is, I am very absent minded - I think it's because in my job I have to have a lot of things in my brain. Things left in boxes or drawers are things forgotten. So i want everything out and available! It makes for a messy desk, as I've mentioned before. I'm kind of focused on this because it's really bothering me! I mean, what is up with this?

I just don't understand...I really have to get a handle on this! On a happier note, I realized my distress inks are dye inks and not alcohol inks, so now I need to buy alcohol inks! yay! And I wonder where everyone is buying these lumiere paints I am lusting after? See, it just keeps getting worse...

Studio Time

Tonight I had fun creating some stuff in my studio. I can't share till tomorrow because I'd rather use the scanner at work while I can - it is so good for that! One project I absolutely had to do was to make 3 sets of dangles for the May "Not Just Charms" swap on Latest Trends group on Yahoo. Boy, does that group challenge me and help me stretch and tone my little artistic muscles! I challenged myself to make the dangles from the mess on my beadspace. Please, it was so easy because the mess on there hides infinite treasures - it's kind of like going to my gramma's house and turning over stacks of magazines and newspapers to find treasures. I take after my gramma evidently - see for yourself.

I am really kind of disgusted - the camera sees all! What is wrong with me? Seriously, I just moved my computer to my bedroom (long story I prefer it in my studio but got DSL [which sucks donkey BTW] and have no phone outlets in the studio) and moved my makeup table in there so now i have 2 more surfaces on which to create and they are all trashed in a matter of days. I had this grand idea of having a cutting station, a glueing station, etc., and now there is just mess everywhere. I can still find everything though! Perhaps that is my excuse - but i really want something a bit more inspirational! I wonder how I can manage this???? I hate, loathe, despise housework and everything connected with it. There's no one around to make me feel embarrassed about it and the dogs think it's great. So what's an artchickie like me to do? I really need to barter for some housecleaning services! I'm pretty good about keeping up with it marginally until some disaster befalls me (and that happens fairly regularly) but I need a new start AGAIN!

Till next time!

Cheeka