My Secret Creative Cupboard

First of all, welcome and thank you, to all the lovely people I  met through GYB and who have been kind enough to follow me here! I am so pleased to have met you  all - and I've found some wonderful new blogs to follow too.

Secondly, on a very sad note, please spare a thought for all those  in the UK who are dealing with  devastation of having their homes flooded; between the heavy rain and the coastal storms, there seems to be no let up. My heart goes out to them.

This week I've hardly had time to  turn around! I've been doing a lot of writing - which I'll tell you about later ( 'Hmm, how mysterious,  what is she up to now?'.....)

Meanwhile, since I  posted about my teeny studio - I have seen a lot of other people doing something similar. Now, while I now this is nothing what so ever to do with my post :) - many of you  did seem to enjoy it.  So I thought you may like to have a more in depth look inside my secret store cupboard....

 

It's actually shared with someone else's old board games and boxes of old comics - above and behind my things. These are apparently 'far too important to be got rid of'.

Being vertically challenged (5 ft) the cupboard's  too deep and too high for me without using steps! I have to manage my storage carefully,  and try to make sure I can reach everything I need regularly. It has to be useful - or it can't stay.

OK then,  oft we jolly well go, starting with that rather unattractive, but oh so useful, plastic drawer unit......

 All my stranded cottons are held by colour, in clear zip lock bags. I tried sorting them into shades within colours, but it got way too complicated.

Cotton Perle,  Cotton a broder, silks,  rayons and specialty threads, plus all my odds and ends of thread take up another drawer.

 

Being limited on space means I'm always looking for useful and attractive containers I can leave around. My sister in law Rosemary bought me this sweet vanity case,  full of honey toiletries, for my birthday. The smellies were very nice - but,  star that she is, she really bought it because she thought it would be lovely for me to keep threads in!

This means my treasured Valdani over-dyed threads get their own case. I love them so much after Shell introduced them to me last year with her wonderful gift. I have managed to find a UK stockist for Valdani, but sadly only for their stranded cottons.

Back to the plastic chest for buttons and beads,  and in the centre - my family heirlooms! Victorian shoe buckles,  keys, old brooches and vintage earrings  - waiting to  be recycled.

 Another  plastic box holds wool roving, felt  and my dyed mohair fleece.

The big plastic crate contains all my fabrics for embroidery and doll making.  A smaller crate holds Vilene,  fusibles, wadding, and useful stuff that you don't really want to see a photo of.  Ditto the large bag of fibrefill stuffing.

My fabric box holds more family items; old doilys and lace. These pieces range in age from Victorian to the 1950's. All  the Victorian crocheted lace items were made by one of my ancestors, but unfortunately we're not sure exactly who.  If you've been here before, you'll  know that I always try to include something personal in the characters I make.

This little hobby box holds all my useful stitching items. I use it to take to class. There are more beads and threads tucked away inside.

Finally, my sewing box originally belonged to my mum,  and I kept it to use in her memory. My brother and I  clubbed together and bought it for her in the early 70's, so I suppose it's now vintage. Ooh,  that's scary, where does the time go?

That's about it.
So how about you -  any stash revelations you'd like to share? Do tell!
If you enjoyed this  - let me know and I'll share the other half of the cupboard with you !x