Flower pincushion

I finally got to handle the REAL sheep wool. Having grown up in a city, it was an unforgettable experience! During our trip to Ireland, Beara peninsula, I saw children playing with sheep wool. I didn’t know exactly what I could use it for, but I wanted some anyway, and a kind farmer gave me a whole bag.  What I hadn’t realized was that the wool was in its most native state and needed some work before it could be used for anything. On the way back from Ireland it felt like we had a live sheep in the car, even though the wool was sealed in two layers of plastic bags... But a thorough washing (according to instructions found on the internet) turned it into something soft and fluffy and very pleasant to handle. 

After washing

Yuk!

I read somewhere that sheep wool is the best stuffing for the pincushions, as the residual oil on the fibers lubricates the pins and prevents rust. Don’t know how much oil is actually left after washing the wool, but I wanted to try. A new pincushion was on my “to do” list for months. A piece of an old green sponge that I used as a pincushion was an eyesore, and it was tiring having to crop it off the photos. Here is what came out of it:

It’s too early to say anything about rust, but it’s definitely better than sponge, cotton wool (both too hard) or polyester wool (doesn’t hold the pins well).

Crafts corner

For the last few days the mess at my workplace has been in the way of any possible creativity. It's like a swamp: the creativity just drowns after the first couple of steps. So I decided to tidy up and organize. This is the «Before» photo:

Br-r-r.

I've searched in the past for the crafts corner organization ideas (see this link), and almost a year ago I came up with this system:

Better!

I am rather proud of it, because it survived for so long, which means it's functional. It uses PAPPIS boxes from IKEA, 79 p each. 

The dimensions of the boxes are really convenient, they can be stacked under the table (which is a former dining table), and there is still a bit of space to stuff an odd piece of paper of cardboard on top (until it's time to tidy up again). I've made the labels for the boxes using leftovers of natural brown hessian and white linen fabric. The hessian part measures 12 x 17 cm, linen part is 8.5 x 12 cm. First the picture is painted/embroidered/glued onto/attached to the white part of the label, then the white part is machine-stitched onto the the hessian part. Finally, the labels are glued onto the boxes, on the same side of each box. 

The label has to be well thought through for the system to work well. In fact, the whole system has to be thought through before the labels are made. From my experience with my children, the system must be intuitive, convenient and easy to use, otherwise it will just create more mess rather than helping organization. 

                                                                                                                                                                                      

 I've made the following categories for my supplies: felt pieces, yarn (two boxes), embroidery floss, paints, stuffing (polyester wool), wadding, nature objects (twigs, bark, pine cones, shells), blank notebooks, finished gifts.  Then I just let the imagination take over. The label for embroidery floss is embroidered with the said floss, and the label for paints is painted. 

The labels for the yarn boxes feature fluffy yarn spirals, while the label for polyester wool box has a 3D picture of cotton made of cotton wool and a piece of an old T-shirt. (Unfortunately, the photos are not very good: what looks black on the label is, in fact, green).

Now I have a problem. For several months now I've had a box which I named «miscellaneous». 

It contains zip-lock bags, cellophane bags for finished products, product tags, cut-up threads for the tags, supply of glue sticks for the glue gun, some patterns for my creations, my business cards and receipts from the crafts shops. This is after I removed from there chains from the hanging baskets (I used the chains to make a hanging pouch for our chinchillas), balls of string and twine and some other stuff I've been hoarding. The question is: what should the label for this «miscellaneous» box look like? Will really appreciate suggestions!