I’m not sure who determined that spring is when deep cleaning takes place, but in January, when wind chill temperatures dip to -14 degrees, I feel more like cleaning than when the daffodils are poking up their heads and the walking path has my name scribed in chalk. If this is the image that greeted you when you woke up in the morning, my guess is you’d dive back under the blankets, or you’d definitely decide to stay indoors and be productive. I did both, but not at the same time.

No, my camera is not out of focus. This is what fog and drifting snow look like together.
No, my camera is not out of focus. This is what fog and drifting snow look like together. And yes! It is definitely freezing.

Really cold temperatures motivate me to get organized. My earlier posts this week showed how I reorganized my acrylic and rubber cling stamps. I applied the notebook system to my brass stencils and plastic templates yesterday, and am well on my way to finishing this project. Temporarily, I have adhered sticky notes to the pages to identify the categories. You’ll notice that some of the stencils are over-sized and extend beyond the top of my notebook. Is there such a thing as a legal-sized three-ring binder? It probably doesn’t matter, though. I simply raised the shelf on my bookcase to accommodate the height needed. Who would have guessed that I had collected so many of these?!

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In an exchange of e-mails this week, I whined to Edi, one of my fellow Blogging Business Artisans teammates, that I need more space in my studio. She shared with me a blog post in which she shows how she hung shoe organizers on both sides of the entry door to her work space. Of course, Edi doesn’t have shoes in them, but instead some of her supplies. I thought this was an excellent way to reclaim some space! If you visit Bed, Bath & Beyond, they sell clear vinyl shoe organizers for $14.99, complete with door hangers. I hung one up and filled it with Tim Holtz cutting dies, border punches, specialty hole punches and decorative-edge scissors. This worked so well, in fact, that today I returned to the store and picked up another one to hang on the opposite side of my closet door. Now, if I could just figure out where to put my clothes, I’d be able to use this narrow closet for my paper. A girl can dream, can’t she?

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The best part of using a shoe organizer is that I was able to empty some boxes that had been sitting on a bookshelf, giving me a nice, open space for the three-ring notebooks I’ve been working on all week.

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I love it when a plan comes together!

© 2013 Judy Nolan. All rights reserved.

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8 thoughts on “Getting organized when the chill is on”

  1. Wow! Now that’s what I call being organized. You’re amazing!
    The cold makes me want to snuggle under a blanket with my cats… 😉

  2. Trina (Trina's Clay Creations)

    Great snow picture!! Looks a lot like it does here right now! Burrr! I agree, this is the perfect time of year to clean and organize… While staying inside where it is warm!!! I would much rather be outside come spring!

  3. Paige @ Little Nostalgia

    I’ve been reorganizing this week, too. Really, what else am I going to do when it’s 4 degrees?

    I like the shoe-organizer-for-tools idea. It’s the perfect size for scissors.

  4. This worked out great! Those shoe organizers sure are handy! And to have the open space on your shelf worked out perfectly for your newly organized binders.

  5. I love when you can empty out a box and re-claim space! Reminds me to get busy doing more of this in my studio.

    Boy that photo almost makes you shiver!

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