De-Cluttering Update & OPAM Winners!!

WHEW!! Sorry it's a bit later than I originally intended to pop back to let you know who the winners for the OPAM draw are ... I've been buried in the sewing room ... literally! :0)

All the guides to de-cluttering tell you that before you can clean up your mess, you have to make a BIGGER mess ... by dragging EVERYTHING out of its hiding place. Well ... step one successfully accomplished, then!! :0)

Here's how the sewing room looked after EVERYTHING was dragged out of the cupboard that was marked for demolition. WOW! Who knew I'd managed to fit that much stuff in there?!?! Nah ... some of it was already piled on the floor waiting for new homes, but most of this was from the cupboard. Since this photo was taken, I've been plugging away at it and have taken out three garbage bags of rubbish (mostly paper ... sorry to all the trees that were sacrificed!!) and three bags of 'stuff' that are either going to other friends (so they can claim anything they want before things are tossed out), or to charity. The ugly built in cupboard that was marked for demolition (the other one will go once we can afford to buy something to replace it) has gone and the new sewing desk has been picked up to put in its place ...

The previous owners hadn't painted inside the cupboard, so there's a 'feature wall here now! :0) The desk is just what I wanted and fits nicely in this spot now. It will get a shabby chic/French provincial make over when we're painting ... the walls will be a cornflower blue with white trims. The old sewing table has gone from this ...

... to THIS ...

So ... some progress ... though it seems to be taking a LOOOOOONG time to see any difference!! Now ... a lot of gals confessed that their sewing rooms could do with a make-over and de-cluttering campaign too ... how many of you are game to show brutally honest photos of your sewing mess and join me in cleaning up?!?! It's a bit like a 12-step program ... "My name is Kris and I have a sewing room clutter problem". Tee! Hee! Hee! If you're brave enough to post some 'BEFORE' and 'AFTER' pics of YOUR sewing room clutter, let me know when you post some pics ... we'll cheer each other on! :0)

Now that I've showed you my reason for being a bit later than expected with my OPAM winners, I'd better tell you who was chosen by the random number generator thingy. :0) First, can I say a huge ..

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
... to all of you OPAMers!! There were

708

finishes registered for February! WOW!! Maybe a few of you are also trying to clean out your sewing rooms ... one project at a time! Tee! Hee! Hee! That is FABULOUS ... especially since February is our shortest month for the year. Well done, too, to those gals who may not have registered finishes, but made some progress on a few projects ... I know quite a few of you are working on quilts BOMs and other longer-term projects. If you managed to take a bit of time to stitch and make some progress, then you've done well, too! :0)

OK ... the three winners for February's random draw are ...

JOANNE

RAIMAREE

MARILYN

Congrats, gals! If you can email me with your snail mail addresses, I'll pop a little surprise into the post for you. Now since this was a double-whammy prize draw for January AND February ... you'll be wondering where the January winners are ... well, you'll just have to hop on over to Peg's blog (if you haven't already!!) where she posted her three prize winners this morning ... Peg's an early bird and I'm a night owl! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Oh ... and keep an eye on your OPAM badge in the next few days ... my Beloved Geek Boy will once again update the total number of projects completed since OPAM began ... the smaller writing at the bottom of the button (which should currently be green) will change to BLUE. If your smaller writing is still red, drop me an email and I'll give you some super-simple steps to follow to get the button loaded up properly so your button receives the monthly updates automatically.

Well ... I think that's it from me today and after all that cleaning and counting, I think I've earned a cuppa before I cook dinner. Hope you're all having a great start to your week. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS