Understand the Whys

TED Talk: Susan Cain--The Power of Introverts


Now I understand.....


why I always only had one best friend at a time growing up.


why sending me to my room was never an effective punishment.


why I didn't enjoy VBS as a child, or day camps, or Girl Scouts.


why I have no interest in helping or even going to the ladies Christmas celebration at church or volunteering for VBS, or doing group Bible studies. 


why quilt group works for me.


why I both enjoy and get frustrated with talkative people.


why the idea of community both draws and repels me.


why few people really get to know me.


I knew I was an introvert, but now I am making the full connection.  With that understanding, I find it is easier to deflect the pressure to fit into a world geared towards extroverts and to accept that I can add to the world in quietness and solitude.  


Introverts and extroverts--we were made for each other. :-)  

Keeping Things Straight

Organizing isn't just about sorting and arranging, but also making a space simple to use.  After the sifting and sorting, the keys to making organization actually work are keeping things easy to find, easy to use, and easy to put away.

Apart from the kitchen, the most hardworking place in my house is my studio.  When I walk into that room I want it to invite me to be creative.  Organization allows me to keep my projects accessible and under control.  Knowing what materials I have and where they are helps me avoid unnecessary purchases or duplications, and gives me an idea of what to look for when I am ready to buy.

Welcome to Elzbee's Place:

I love that these shelves (Eurway) have cubby-like sections rather than full shelves.  They are stronger and easier to arrange.  

More baskets...:-)  Stacking baskets are especially great since they give vertical storage as well as containing smaller items.

I found these stacking baskets at Walmart not long after I started card making.  They ended up being very versatile since they hold well three different sizes of stamp sets.

Standard stacking file trays make paper storage easy and attractive.

File boxes for index cards help me keep card verses sorted by occasion.  

Elfa baskets are wonderful for yarn and fabric storage.  Plus, since I have mine on wheels, it is easy to move for cleaning.  

Since I have two sewing stations, small baskets enable me to move my supplies to wherever I am working.  

The wire pencil holder makes a great mini trash can.  

A wooden rack keeps my acrylic rulers in order.

Drawings and info for my current quilting project are posted on a magnetic bulletin board for easy reference.  

In the closet, hanging my quilting projects keeps them neat.

Labeled shoe boxes store the project leftovers.

Hooks contain my totes and a two-sided spinning rack makes grabbing the ink pad or marker I need a snap.  

Elfa baskets store fabric, miscellaneous supplies, and gift wrapping items.

Bundling sets of fabrics together help when planning a new project.  

 All these various storage items allow me to quickly and easily assemble my project supplies, and then quickly put them away.  And when I next stand in the doorway of my studio, it says, "Come on in!  Let's create!"

A Tisket, A Tasket

How I love my baskets...


The two other places in my kitchen that I tend to get comments on are my refrigerator and my plastic container storage.


When the children were little I had a lot of leftovers that would work over several meals.  To keep organize which container, say of rice, was oldest, I started dating the containers with some masking tape and a Sharpie marker.  Now we just eat the previous night's dinner leftover for lunch the next day, so I don't bother to label those containers, but since I have a continual supply of my starches going, the labeling and dating are quite helpful.

Recently I bought some sturdy plastic baskets for the freezer to make my meat storage more manageable.  Huge help!

One thing I don't want to be doing is spending time trying to match lids to containers when I am putting up leftovers.  I keep containers group by size and the lids in baskets.  It is so easy to find sturdy, inexpensive baskets these days, and they make such a difference.  

And thus concludes the kitchen tour.

Backing Up

Knitting teaches a life lesson:

Current project:  Shawl with a lace edge.  

Progress:  About 95% done.  

Status:  Knitting along, realize my stitch count is wrong, determine where the mistake is, try to correct it, make a mess.  

Response:  Wonder why I enjoy doing this.  Try to determine which would be worse--starting completely over or undoing what looks like could be ten (long) rows and hoping I will then be back on track.  

Decision:  Decide that starting over is too drastic at this point.  Settle in and start tinking (tink--knit spelled backwards, thus describing the unknitting process).  

Results:  Was able to get past the mess after tinking back just two rows, and I could see that the mistake was just a couple of more rows down from there.  

Conclusion:  Sometimes issues can look worse than they are.  Taking a deep breath and working on resolution a little at a time can make the process bearable.  The first emotional response is probably not the basis for the best decision.  And I do really love to knit. :-)