The Beebas' Bottoms

Why, Yes, I can.

I am actually in the middle of 2 seperate “re-do” projects right now.

The first is online. I am re-doing my website for Crystal City Fibers, in an attempt to lower my bounce rate. (for those not web savvy, bounce rate is the percentage of people who click onto a site and right away close the window)

I worried that perhaps the links were not clear, or maybe people could not find that they were actually supposed to buy something… So, I added a nav bar across the top of the page for the links, moving them away from the side, and replaced the single photo with an etsy mini.

Now, I am trying to decide what to do to avoid that feeling that the page is “floating in space”.  I tried an image in the background (here, if you want to see), but several people have told me they think that might be too busy…  I used to have a border, but apparently it took away or distracted from the main text…  So… I am still working on this one.

My other “re-do” project is much more solid based.  I am re-doing my craft room.  I want to totally overhaul it, organize into stations, and reduce the amount of non-crafty things in there to a minimum.

Want to see how badly this needs doing?  I know you do… So here is what my craft room looked like a couple days ago:

My Craft room as of Feb. 1... and why yes, that IS an inflatable ball pit in the foreground...

You can see that I actually have a nice big space, with lots of potential.  (this actually is the living room of our house… we moved our living room to the dining room, though, which used to be my craft room, since I can put a gate up on this room to cut off access better.)

I have no closets, and no hidden storage, though.  And I have this little problem where the room keeps getting used as a dumping ground.  Plus, its the first room you see on entering the house. (directly next to the entrance).

So I really need to work on this.

So far, I have removed at least 90% of the toys.  not including DH’s (the dead computer).  I have switched 2 tables (the one that the drum carder was on with the one under the window) allowing me to turn the drum carder out further into the room AND increasing my surface space because the table that is now under the window has a drop leaf that  gives it an extra 2 feet of length. (it is technically my sewing desk, and, I am happy to say, my sewing machine is once again at home on it)

I have a long way to go though.

I’ve been spending hours everyday (the ones where I have been too sore to move after DOING other things, lol) searching online for inspirations and Ideas how to organize this room.

I am planning on those wire cube storage things or on top of the long dresser on the wall, and I found these cool Clip Rails on another blog… I want to put some up on the wall above my carding station to hang kid art and inspirational pictures.

I also want to buy or make a cool clock to hang on one wall, which would be so much nicer to glance up and look at than always looking to my watch or the computer…

I’d like to get some pegboard to mount above my sewing desk… to hold things like my thread racks (I have 3 full ones), scissors, and jewelry tools… not to mention small items like pins and needles (in small bins of some sort).  I want these things to be within MY reach, but Out of the kids reach, and NOT ON the desk.

You see, this small station, I think, will be used for 3 stations.  It is where my sewing machine lives, and the serger, underneath… it is where I have chosen as a docking station for my new little computer, and it is where I will likely do most of my beadwork.

I have moved all my carding supplies over to the other table (before, the carder and supplies were across the room from one another), so that table will be nothing but Fiber prep.

The round(ish) kitchen table in the center of the room is temporarily off to the side, and will be used as temporary workstation for anything that comes up… fabric cutting, ironing, or a place for the kids to do crafts.

I still have a long way to go.  But I will continue to write about and update how the progress goes on.  And if you have any ideas for me, any little craft room or website inspirations, or any words of advise, please feel free to post them in the comments.