Lesson? my ... My work space is almost done. What Tourists Don't See: Free running in Bruges!

What lesson?

Nothing much came out from the creative side this week. My faux fur tote is realizing slowly with lots of difficulties and unexpected problems and I have to remind myself constantly that I am not making a tote but a prototype. My work desire is seriously damaged. What do coaches say when you have a setback: what is the lesson in this? (😠😩😞😒). Now that I am venting my soul, the lesson idea comes to my mind, but really, seriously? I guess I can blow steam but in the end I'll have to reconcile myself with this situation, accept the fact and while ironing (👸☺) hopefully I'll find the lesson.

BUT  I created a cute heart shaped adornment in red leather that will brighten up every room or closet, hanging from a key, a closet button or on the back of a chair. It looks equally well on a white background as on a dark one.

Leather hart, light surface.

Leather hart

How or when to use this cute little heart.

The heart is a real chameleon: it is made so that you can change the ribbon easily according to the season: change the ribbon to a green or tartan one and you have a Xmas adornment; you could even hang it in the x-mas tree;  a gold ribbon to enlighten New Years Eve; give it a yellow ribbon and use it for Easter, a white ribbon in summer time.

Here is my workspace:

Way back, in January I posted about my work table. If you visit this post you can see a picture of my table in the space upstairs, in fact the attic that I share with my husband. (He is an author, composer, song-writer, plays the guitar and sings.) OMG, the attic, my table t are so empty, very minimalistic. I love minimalism but in other people's houses. I love stuff, I need it around me.

Anyway, the attic has changed since then. I needed storage for all my crafts supplies, my leather scraps, tools, fabrics, yarn, cotton yarns, books etc. Since a week my cabinet is finished. It took quite a while to finish it, largely due to the carpenter's full agenda. I still need to arrange my fabrics neatly, replace the ugly orange box with a cute one, find more cylinders in the right size for storing the big chunks of leather.

The white and empty space in the middle section is in fact a seat that I use when sewing.  I lose some storage space, but I gained space in the room. If I would use a chair or a small stool, the table would have stood at least 40 cm more to the center  in the room.

My work space and work table at the attic.

On the left side of the cabinet are my fabrics at the bottom, my yarns  at the top, in between my sewing supplies in boxes. In the middle section on the top are my big chunks of leather rolled and stacked in cylinders (no pic). To the left of the cabinet are my knitting and sewing books on top, below them skins that don't fit in the middle section. In the transparent boxes are my small scraps of leather and at the bottom are my files, art books and writing supplies.

Right side of my cabinet

Left side of my cabinet.

How I designed this structure? 

My son has very good and logic ideas, but he was too busy and I was on my own; but I had pinterest and at that moment I only pinned work spaces and cabinets styles. I studied all the images and there was 1 thing constant: the triangular formed spaces for yarn. I want my sewing machine ready to use and there was only 1 possibility: at the right side of the table. To save space, I wanted a seat in between the 2 closets. You have to ponder how you want your things organized: by color, size, material? When I made up my mind, I called the carpenter and I explained what I wanted and that the closets should be open to see at every moment what I have and keep the inspiration flow open.

Luckily the carpenter made lots of shelves and this enabled me to expose my skins horizontally 3 or 4 at the same time (to the right); my medium sized chunks of leather are rolled up and exposed perpendicularly next to each other by color (to the left). The scraps are in transparent boxes, sorted by color.

By listing what I wanted to craft in my work space and inventoring my supplies, with looking at lots of images, some advice from my carpenter and the big amount of shelves, my cabinet came to life.

Deatail of my cabinet

My table looks like a mess but I assure you, everything has it own place and I know my way blindly.

My work table at the attic.

What tourists don't see.

My sister emailed me this video: Free running in Bruges. Breathtakingly gorgeous! And it is true we 'll never see Bruges from this point of view. I love Bruges because it is my late mother's hometown and it is a gorgeous, old, historical city. Enjoy the video!




If you ever come to Belgium, check out Brugge or Bruges, an old and historically  important city. Take out at least a whole day: wander around, taste the atmosphere, listen to the carillon, watch how bobbin lace is made, visit impressive churches, the belfry,the chapel of Holy Blood, rich museums and many more.

Taste the real french fries, eat them with mussels or the authentic way: out of a point bag with mayonnaise, not ketchup. Eat a waffle (I use beer in the recipe, delicious!), drink a trappist (beer brewed by Cistercian order of monks) along with cheese and mustard and have something chocolaty as dessert!

And visit the beguinage, where widows stayed and no men were allowed till 1929! don't forget the Minnewater or the Lake of Love. Brugge lives up to its second name: Venice of the North.

By next week, I hope to have better news from the faux fur front!

If you enjoyed the video, please leave a comment, I like engaging with people and accidental encounters!

See you next week!


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