The Chronicles: Workshops minus 36 hours

Okay, kids - we're down to the wire once again. I am going to spend tonight and most of tomorrow clearing off tables and finding homes for things so I can handle a full house for my classes this weekend. I am about 36 hours from when the first ladies will begin to arrive, and there is much to do yet.

I've left these photos small so as not to blind you with the clutter, but feel free to click on them (gosh, I hope Blogger cooperates this time and allows for that!) if you want to see any painful details.

This is the main table about 24 hours ago. I had carted off an armful of punches and put them away, so I stopped to take a shot of what was left. I did play some more last night, so this got messier before it got cleaner.

But then I got smart and started to put away the scrapbook stuff so it all stayed together. That way I can take it out next week and pick up where I left off. My plan was to put it all in the box from whence I'd retrieved The Book. You remember The Book, right? It's the horribly over-filled, detailed log of my road trip.

The Book.

Also note, however, that in the fuzzy background behind The Book are stacks of things that have been staged for the workshop projects. See? I've sorta kinda started getting ready. Um, that was a lie. I stage these things so I do not have to put them away. I tell myself it helps me to remember all the things I need to have out for each card so I do not forget something, and that works for me. Much easier than putting things away and then having to get them out later, don't you agree?

And this is The Box from which The Book was originally retrieved:

As you can see, The Box is no longer empty. In fact, it is fuller than before I started this scrapbook business. That is because I cleaned. I put all the scrapbook-related stuff from the tables into The Box. Unfortunately, (1) The Box is pretty full and I am not done cleaning, (2) The Book has not been placed back into The Box yet (and apparently now it cannot be ...), and (3) I now have a 50+ page scrapbook that contains half the s-crap from the Craft/Storage Room, and I need to store it somewhere.

Oh, but there is more!

This is the table tonight. There are remnants of my Tutorial photography session from last night, but most of it is stuff left from the scrapbook extravaganza. It just needs to be put away. Somewhere.

Also taking up valuable floor space near the tables is this box of merchandise from Papertrey Ink I simply had to have in an unfaithful-to-SU moment, and as things go around here most of the time, any box that enters the front door gets "stored" somewhere in the Dining Room until the workshop cleaning frenzy begins and I have to find it a home. This one will be tough. I guess I can stack it on top of The Box once I find it a place in the Craft/Storage Room.

Also sucking up valuable floor space is a huge box of shoes that I ordered (I have hard-to-fit feet, but that's another story for another day), and since none of them fit, they all have to go back. This means filling out the return form, packing everything back into the box and stuffing it with all the SU packing paper that currently litters the part of my floor I am too embarassed to photograph, then taking it to the PO tomorrow morning to return, thus freeing up all that floor space so people can get in here on Sunday. Sounds like fun, huh?

Oh, and can you see that SU box peeking out from under the huge box of shoes? That is part of an SU shipment that, once the big box has left the building, I will triage and distribute to the bags of SU merchandise waiting to be picked up on Sunday.

Here is a fuzzy shot of the side of my long table where I usually have my paper cutter. Also prominently displayed are two boxes of scraps that I have scavenged for the scrapbook. They will get put away within the next 36 hours, and the cutter will be stashed ... somewhere... After I make up all the kits, of course!

And the cutter cannot be stashed too far away, since I am The Crooked Stamper, and also The Crooked Cutter. At least one piece of card stock will need to be trimmed during a class this weekend...trust me.

Ah, here is the Kitchen Table, repository for all things postal. In that pile of mail are the usual suspects - catalogs, junk mail, all my sent-to-self Mini Catalogs and also my own copy of the SU catalog. And oh, look! One of the two hot-water bottles I bought over the Internet.

Hot-water bottle? Well, my massage therapist will sometimes have this large, flat bag filled with hot water waiting for me under the sheet on the massage table. I've gotta tell ya, when your back hits that baby - instant aaaaaaaahs! So I had to get myself one (actually two) so I can enjoy that aaaaaah between sessions. It is so nice to get into bed at night and lay on top of that. Sooooo nice.

And last, but not least, introducing The Kitchen Bench. This is where my customers sit to shop and place orders, so it MUST be cleared off before Sunday. This is where I stage all the retired stamp sets I sell online. They sit here to remind me to take them to the PO to figure postage, then they sit here again until payment clears. Lucky for me I have another bench to sit on, but right now it has cat supplies on it that also need to be put away before Sunday. Actually, I rarely eat at this table. I am a couch potato to the max, and that's where I eat, if I have dinner at all.

Speaking of which, it might be time to feed the hunger pangs so I have enough sustenance to do some cleaning and cutting. I'll report back this weekend on the remaining efforts to clear out the s-crap and getting this place ready to host The Ladies.