Monday Morning as Mini New Year

Hello fellow bloggers, readers, artists, geeks and computer addicts!  I hope the beginning of this new year has been kind to you! Monday mornings are like mini New Years to me.  I like to start fresh and Mondays give me that opportunity every week!  

I have been enjoying a few new things.  There is a brand new website called IndieJunction.
It is "a place where indie artisans across all genres form a synergy that helps each individual achieve their goals within the handmade industry."  It is a wonderful place to meet other artisans, show your work, network, support and learn from each other.  It is very easy to use and there are plenty of friendly and helpful people there that are more than willing to share what they know.  I highly recommend it!

We finally got the house clean.  There's nothing like having company over to get the house clean!  Well as soon as I had some clear and clean spaces in the house, I found some space in my brain to actually dig in to some of the old clutter that I've been needing to deal with for a very long time.  We hauled out many boxes full from "the back room", which in our house is that no-man's-land where everything that doesn't have a place yet, ends up!  If you want to see the back room, it's somewhere in the archived blog articles. 


I did struggle a bit with some of the things in those boxes.  For one thing, what about those items that I could sell and make some money?  My friend who was here for dinner and I talked about that one.  Yes, I could have a garage sale.  I had a garage sale once.  I made some decent money.  I hated every minute of it!  I didn't like strangers wandering around my place.  I didn't like it when some of them stole items that were priced at 10 cents.  I hated being stuck in a chair all day long.  So for me, it is not worth the couple hundred dollars I might make to go through that again.  Besides, Salvation Army really does need our generosity.  I give all of my stuff to them.  I also buy from them.  Sometimes I buy something from them, use it for a few months, grow tired of it and then give it back to them.  It's great for everyone - I get my stuff very inexpensively, they benefit from my purchase, and from my re-donations.  So I don't have to sell the stuff in a garage sale!  YAY! 



Next comes the hard-to-part-with-it-even-though-I-haven't-used-it-in-years items.  This is where I have to be brutal.  My daughter is a huge help (and a little scary) with this one.  She'll really push me on all those critical questions - How long since you used it?  How many do you have?  How many do you need?  It's ugly!  You really think you're going to go back to using paper organizers someday, in place of the computer???
Ok, so she really got me there.  BUT how can I just give away these gorgeous leather - I'm talking REAL LEATHER organizers that I paid good money for???  This is where the "decompression box" comes in.  This is the place where I put the things that I know I don't need, shouldn't keep, but can't quite get rid of yet.  Just put them in there and close it up until the next time I am dejunking.  I'll get there eventually.  And if those few things remain with me until the bitter end, it's not the end of the world.  At least they are not taking up prime real estate in the house any longer.


I'm so proud of myself.  Last night I actually put out 3+ boxes full!!!  I found some long-lost items in the process!  Today I will go through some more.  I'll just take a little at a time, so as not to overwhelm myself!  


I also plan on making new jewelry this week!!  I've taken a long break and I'm feeling the creativity in there getting ready to erupt!  


Happy Monday to all!!