In 1997, my husband’s mom and my mom sold their homes where they had lived many decades, and moved into much smaller apartments. It was such a task sifting through all the ‘stuff’ that had been accumulated. Especially all the big items like furniture and appliances. After the ordeal was finally over, we both adopted the philosophy to ‘replace’ rather than ‘acquire’. And I have to say that we have pretty much been successful at that. It’s pretty easy to do since we live in a small house and there is limited space.

However, my studio is a totally different story. Being a mixed media artist makes it even worse. I kind of purged once after deciding to become a papermaker after being a weaver for quite a while. I sold a large Macomber floor loom and a ton of yarn. But I kept my eight harness portable Macomber and a cedar chest full of wool and linen.

But twenty-five years later, I feel like I am being swallowed up by what is filling my work space. So, these past few weeks I have sifted through every section of my studio and have boxed up all the things I have not used in years (or never used at all). I also am going through all the polymer clay canes that I have had for a while and no longer want to include them in any future work. A friend who is an occupational therapist in a nearby school system uses them or gives them to art teachers to use with their pupils. They are always so very appreciative of anything I give them. And it’s pretty neat that components I have made get a fresh purpose.

So here is most of what I have sifted out of my studio for a ‘yard sale’ this Saturday: 

And yes, I am selling all of this to make ‘room’ for something I need and have been wanting.It is the D.R.E.A.M. machine from Polymer Clay Express. And the word out there is that it is totally worth it!