Thursday, August 13, 2009

Inspiration Junk Piles


My house is neat as a pin. My office/workroom usually looks like it was hit by a tornado. That tornado would be me! I have piles of junk on every chair, table top, and cabinet, and in every corner of the room. Inspiration junk piles!

I pull curious scraps and pieces out of bins for projects and when I'm finished...I can't bear to put them back in the bin out of sight. I need to just look at them for a while. Interesting junk comes home with me from the flea market and I automatically add it to a junk pile. The right pile, mind you.

My inspiration piles have been known to take over my office. Today I will show you just one inspiration pile. I don't want to scare you off before you know me better.











Not sure why my inspiration junk comforts and delights me the way it does and would never try to explain my piles to a non-junker. I know you understand. What's in your pile?

Heading to Oronoco MN tomorrow (August 14th), one of my fav flea markets! We will have a Junk Bonanza booth on Minnesota Avenue next to the Community Building in downtown Oronoco. Stop by to visit if you are in the neighborhood!
Peace,
Ki
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33 comments:

  1. MargoAugust 13, 2009 at 9:57 AM

    Love your pile Ki. I have piles too, but yours is prettier than mine.

    I so wish I could go to Oronoco, it sounds like fun.

    Margo

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  2. ChristineAugust 13, 2009 at 10:47 AM

    I do the same thing. I just hit a flea mkt this weekend and the stuff is still on my crafting table, not to mention the box of stuff still in the trunk of the car. Most of my things are country decor and fabric. I keep wanting to make some things out of the fabric but havn't gotten in the right mood yet. You can see some of my stuff at christinescottagegardenhome.blogspot.com
    Christine

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  3. Prairie Girl StudioAugust 13, 2009 at 10:54 AM

    i so know what you mean about not wanting to put things away cuz you just really, really love to look at them ... and they do, unexplainably exude warm fuzzies and offer inspiration ~
    a kindred junk piler,
    prairiegirl

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  4. The Whistle StopAugust 13, 2009 at 11:03 AM

    I agree with Margo... your piles are pretty and much prettier than mine. Our garage is the dumping ground for junk. We just cleaned and organized my work room and the garage so we can begin working for the Bonanza! Now all the piles are organized in like categories !!!

    Have fun at Oronoco! Cammie said she'd take lots of pictures! I will pick up the bags for you this weekend.
    Laurie :)

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  5. AnonymousAugust 13, 2009 at 11:18 AM

    I must be a sister-from-another-mother! I have junk piles invading my living space!!I keep thinking what am I doing but then I can't part with my good junk. Thank goodness I have a store to put some of it in.

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  6. KarinaAugust 13, 2009 at 11:19 AM

    STuFF is GooD! A neat house is a sign of a crazy mind - at least that's what I keep telling my husband (the neat freak who puts up with all my STuFF). As long as I don't end up on one of those shows about hoarding, I consider it all GooD! Love you STuFF!

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  7. the undomesticated wifeAugust 13, 2009 at 11:40 AM

    Those crystal disks (are they from a lamp?) would look really cool hanging in a window from fishing line.

    My house is really neat and tidy, too, but my craft room is a total disaster. I barely have any visible floor! ha!

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  8. NicNacManiacAugust 13, 2009 at 2:04 PM

    Putting things away so that you cannot enjoy them just sounds crazy!
    Your 'piles' are fabulous and I am sure you have the best around!!
    Have a fun road trip to Oronoco!!

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  9. JillAugust 13, 2009 at 2:16 PM

    I find comfort in my piles too!! all kinds of things in them. However, my house is NOT neat and tidy these days!

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  10. KelseyAugust 13, 2009 at 3:49 PM

    OH my gosh!!!! I'm so excited to have found your blog via Lettered Cottage. I have been a fan since the first day I saw you in Country Home and have missed you since its demise! Can't wait for your new pub but in the meantime I can follow you here. YAY!!!!!

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  11. Rebecca LewisAugust 13, 2009 at 4:24 PM

    I can so relate! I too love piles of junk (treasures) and hate to put them away ~ all inspiration of course (or fear of never finding them again) full of fabric, tarnished silver, glass, ironstone, old photos, medical items, on and on.
    Recently took photos of "My Room" for before and after photos to post when I get it finished. Meanwhile I just keep adding to the piles..... It's so nice to have people who understand!

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  12. juanitaAugust 13, 2009 at 4:46 PM

    Your pile looks very pretty compared to my pile.

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  13. TennilleAugust 13, 2009 at 6:04 PM

    Love your blog AND your piles!!!

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  14. Sammy GirlAugust 13, 2009 at 7:12 PM

    Yummmmm! Junk piles ARE comforting. You hit the nail on the head with that one, girl. (now is that an old cut nail from your junk pile?? lol!
    So nice to have others who "get it"!
    Hugs!
    Betty :)

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  15. ElyseAugust 13, 2009 at 8:46 PM

    that is one stunning pile! i am very inspired by millinery flowers lately. i keep them in a small paper suitcase from punch studio. pretty pretty

    enjoy your trip!

    xo

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  16. AnitaAugust 13, 2009 at 9:34 PM

    My piles of junk seem to escape from their home in the garage to my dining room table...where I look at them and think about what they could be...and then I put them away for awhile until I have the details worked out. Have fun in Oronoco- my friend Polly from PollyAnn's in Mt Vernon sets up there and also Barb Conner from Simply Iowa...I'm headiong to Bloomington IL...

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  17. KiAugust 13, 2009 at 10:35 PM

    My good friend Tom, from Muscatine Iowa, took me to Bloomington...I got some great junk! One of my best finds was a tub full of match books! I dig into the tub every so often for a smile!
    Peace,
    Ki

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  18. AnonymousAugust 13, 2009 at 10:57 PM

    i have the same problem you do except my inspirational junk piles are missing the inspiration, they are just junk piles of paper, pictures and stuff i don't know where to put, until i am fed up and it goes to the trash!

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  19. Artsy Fartsy Junkin FindsAugust 14, 2009 at 12:16 AM

    LOVIN all of it!!! U can just pack it up(ALL) and send it to me!! Tootles, Janna

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  20. maría ceciliaAugust 14, 2009 at 12:18 AM

    Just found your blog, I´m also a totally addicted to junk, flea market, and "ferias de la calle". I have collected enamel (fierro enlozado) for years. It´s great to see you over all that junt in the right side pictures, you look like me looking for some treasure in the garbage (??) (sorry for my english)
    Cariños from Chile, Southamerica
    María Cecilia

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  21. misselaineousAugust 14, 2009 at 5:22 AM

    HI Ki You gotta have an inspiration pile...or 2...or a shed full of inspiration...or the stuff in your truck inspiration that you have yet to unpack cause your hubby may say "So now we're complete?" as you haul another box of inspiration across the hall to your studio...Heehee! *elaine*

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  22. AnonymousAugust 14, 2009 at 9:55 AM

    My work area is also a mess. I've tried to keep it tidy in the past, but have accepted that it's simply pointless to attempt to apply order and neatness to an artistic space.

    My pile of inspiration currently consists of some drift wood, a chunk of bark shaped like a bird, some glass tiles, shells pieces, film negatives, dried maple seeds, and a blue glass bowl.

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  23. Kari from Meadowview FarmAugust 15, 2009 at 9:18 AM

    Hi Ki...
    First off, I was the lady who hollered, "Ki, look at the windmill I found" at Oronoco. Thanks for your extra warm welcome on an extra steamy day!

    I did make it over to Goldrush at Rochester too and even found a citywide sale on my way home. I had a wing chair hanging out of my trunk and a wooden windmill in the passenger seat all the way home to Wisconsin.

    I call my inspiration piles - "my alters". They offer me great comfort - as well as ideas.

    Kari

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  24. AnonymousAugust 15, 2009 at 8:08 PM

    When your home is for sale, it is cleaning up the "inspiration" that takes me the most time! The upstairs of my house is anally organized and clean...my ofice is a MESS! Scraps of fabric, paper, beads, glues, paints, books, magazines, clippings of tag sales and upcoming church rummage sales, ribbon, glitter, maps,buttons, cookie cutters, unfinished crossstich,unpainted Furniture...I could go on...When I actually sell something on Ebay or Etsy...it takes me longer to find it than it did to make it!!!! Jeannine

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  25. KarenAugust 16, 2009 at 1:31 AM

    Now you're ALMOST making me feel guilty for cleaning my messes up today lol. Imagine that! I'd be embarrassed to tell you how much stuff I took out of the room! But now it's waiting for me to mess up and I'm feeling a lot more inspired!

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  26. sassytrashAugust 16, 2009 at 4:44 AM

    I am so glad to give the disarray in my workroom the cool title of "inspiration piles" ! That is exactly what I do, but never realized I was doing it---I'll never make the "where women create" issue! Thanks for all the inspiration--and I love the alligator photo!

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  27. Angela CarlsonAugust 16, 2009 at 7:19 PM

    The bonanza booth at Oronoco looked fantastic! :)

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  28. CoraAugust 19, 2009 at 8:51 AM

    Oooo how I can relate to this...Junk pile...mine is more like a Junk Room, which should be our actual mud room coming in from the garage. It is filled with boxes, open boxes, of junk. They are open so I can see my loved junk and get that inspiration as I walk pass or sometimes I just stand there and stare until something hits me! Love, love, love!

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  29. Beki - TheRustedChainAugust 19, 2009 at 5:07 PM

    My studio is always covered in wonderful junk!

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  30. BruttinaMarch 1, 2012 at 2:55 PM

    You have a special eye to make your inspiration piles and you have delicious junk! It is comforting to know other junkers and to know "my disease" is a gift:)

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  31. Just JApril 1, 2012 at 4:59 PM

    It is nice to know I am not alone in my junking...beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I am surrounded by beautiful junk!

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  32. Just JApril 1, 2012 at 5:03 PM

    Miles and miles of special piles! I share your need for junque. Thanks for letting all of us know we are not alone!

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  33. TinkiJuly 9, 2012 at 7:10 PM

    I'm snagger..grabber & bling sparkles , even tiny lights I feel like a little kid!!!! Ideas running through my head and my eyes twinkle with delight.My husband is cute...he may not always see what I do but is always a long for the thrill on my face when I find my gem among the faded past. Its always a great find!!!!!!

    Please tell me how to blog our join you or follow you along ur
    Journey! Thanks!!!!!:")
    RaveonaTabu

    ReplyDelete

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