Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Still temporary - but new location

I previously shared that I was playing with miniatures again in my (master) bedroom. This is due to my son moving back home to save money and pay on his student loans. He is doing that wonderfully.

I was fine in the bedroom using a tv tray to work on. However when my husband decided to join my fun, I upgraded. I lured him in with a western theme.

It was an easy transition since I was already mobile with the drawer cart. Moving to the dining room table did help with issues with the cat. She does unfortunately still get on the table, but not like she does in the bedroom. 
When Gene (my husband) started playing with miniatures with me, I kept tools on the table for us to share. We were using mugs and that was fine. But for Christmas I decided to purchase a pair of lazy-susan style organizers or spinners. I got them from Amazon but similar could be found elsewhere.

The biggest reason for using this versus my small toolbox is that the toolbox is sitting further away. This is more accessible and I am more likely to put things back. It is easy to get lazy when you don't have a cat pushing things off to get your attention.

The green cup is for water. When I have water in it, it pushed down in that section. Having a smaller cup forces me to change it more often. I used a smaller cup in a mug before. The cup is too lightweight to hold up a paint brush if I leave it to sit.
Another reason I like this spinner is the short sections.

The one thing I don't like about being at the dining room table and why I didn't switch there before the studio became a bedroom again - is dining. Some days I don't have a big mess and we could eat at the table anyway, but others we all went other places or just a couple of us would eat there. 
It isn't a huge deal to me obviously since we are doing so. However when I have more family visit, we definitely have to clean off the table of miniature things. That's where is important to have places to put what is on the table. As in the table shouldn't be where to store anything. This is where a side table like a tv tray may be a solution or just have to put things away in another room.

I also finally decided after nearly two years that I prefer to have the paint back in my bedroom from the studio. Yes, I can go to the studio, but sometimes I hated to bother my son who might be sleeping or whatever. So the shelf of paint was moved back to the bedroom under my tv. It was a good thing the lower racks for the shelves were still in place or this wouldn't have been possible.
This lead me to once again try using larger boxes (other than the small priority boxes) like a photo box. I just don't like the larger boxes because the paint falls over and then it is a mess. Not a paint mess just the bottles laying over.
I did consider purchasing a rack for paint. The best solution I found was some wood ones on ebay. Ultimately I decided not to purchase anything. But I may reconsider it when I am able to have my studio back. Then I could mount them on the wall.

Monday, April 12, 2021

Video of my Organizing Solutions

I was asked recently to do a 'Lunch and Learn' for the createminiatures.org. Their theme for April was about Spring Cleaning and Organizing.

I shared my organizing solutions and answered questions via zoom meeting.

The video can be found here.

Happy miniaturing!

Preble