Workspace Wednesdays (#4)--Roller Stamps

Back in December 2012, I wrote about my roller date stamps collection.  At that time, I had 9 stamps (and added 2 more shortly after) and stored them in these glass square vases.

But like most of my supplies, this had doubled to 22 (currently) and they no longer fit in the vases.

I found a basket at Michaels in turquoise (my favorite) and they are still easy to reach for on my workspace.

But with 22 stamps, it is hard to remember or search for phrases, so last year, I started to stamp each phrase on an index card and labeling which color handle (and brand) it belongs to.  I also try to remember to write which year the stamps starts.

About a month or so ago, Studio Calico (via Nicole Reaves) posted a picture on Instagram that was similar...I was like hey, I have been doing that too!  Great minds think alike--hahaha.

Even though my current storage works, I would really like an antique stamp holder.

Like this one that Layle Koncar posted.  

If I don't find one, I know that Ranger Inks sells a similar one, but it won't be antique! ha ha ha

Thank you for looking!!

Workspace Wednesday (#3) Washi

Back in 2010, my friend Liz and I went to a Renegade Craft Fair and she was looking for washi tape...I was like I don't know what that is and I don't need another obession...fast forward to now...I have a growing stash :/

Here is my first storage (September 2012)

Shortly after, I started to store them in this (November 2012)

Then as my stash was growing, I bought this at Michaels...but that was so short-lived that I didn't even snap a picture with my rolls of washi on it :)

I was soon back at Michaels when these washi holders were on sale...I bought two extra for room to grow (July 2013).

But I hated this type of storage...it was really hard to tear a piece off.  And if I was taking a few to a crop, it was a pain to take them off the dowels.

Then a few months ago, I was looking for a basket or something...in turquoise and found this lovely platter at Michaels in the summer section.

I love how I can see them all at the same time!  And I still have a little room for some more, but for now this is my collection.

Thanks for looking!

Workspace Wednesday (#2)

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading Gleeful Things' blog and she was talking about yarn storage.  It reminded me that I have not shared my newest yarn storage!

So just as a reminder, when I first started crocheting in 2010, this was my storage...all my yarn fit into these two bags!

But because I am kind of a hoarder, that was very short lived.  I then used baskets and cute paper bags to help with the overflow.

Then it was starting to look too messy in the living room.

So back in January, I bought this Ikea Expedite (now they are sold under Kallax).  And because I am boring and am afraid of color, I bought the black cubes (which were on sale at the time).  

Since my Craft room is full (and also used as my husband's home office), the shelves are actually in my living room and I didn't want all the yarn to be seen.

All the cubes are full!

Here is a peek into a couple...

The cubes hold my different types of yarn, my finished items, and my tools :)

Thanks for looking.

Workspace Wednesday (#1)

Hello!!!  It has been quite a while since I've blogged.  Between my son's last high school baseball season and him graduating, I didn't have too much time to craft.  But this week I started to again :)

I'm not sure if I'll post a picture of my workspace every week, but I have seen other bloggers do this and I love peeking into their space!

Here is my table today:

I am currently working on one of my goals for the year--scrapbooking our 2008 trip to Oahu.  I am using the PL mini album.  I've been waiting to get my hands on one of these mini albums just for this trip, but waited in hopes that I could find one at a Big Box store and use a coupon, but no such luck and I finally bit the bullet and bought it full price (oh the horror!!) ha ha ha.

I did do something I didn't think I'd ever do...I took my PL cards out of the box!  Well I only had 2 boxes--the Amy Tangerine Plus One mini kit and the Maggie Holmes Flea Market kit.  I have a bunch of other cards from various kits.  (I started listing them, but the list became too long--ha ha ha.)

They are actually easier to flip through without having to take the 2 sets out of the box, then putting them back in.  I don't know how the ladies that have every set do it!  I was having a hard enough time going through the 7 sets plus 6 Studio Calico PL kits!!

Thanks for looking into my creative space...hopefully I will be able to be more creative this summer.

Paper Collection...

...aka Paper Hoarding!

My craft room organization has been going on for some time, but I really like my paper storage and don't plan on changing it.  I've had these Michaels cubes (turned sideways) and Cropper Hopper paper holders for some time.

The cubes are housed under my work table which is easy to get to and works perfectly.

So what do I have in there?

1. 8 1/2 x 11 Cardstock (mostly Recollection brand)

2. 12x12 Cardstock (Some Bazzill, CTMH, DCWV, and Recollection)

3. White & Black 12x12 & 8 1/2 x 11 card stock (Recollection brand)

4. Dear Lizzy, Maggie Holmes, Basic Grey, and Recollection paper packs

5. More paper packs (Amy Tangerine and DCWV) and some water color paper 

6. 8x8 paper pads (DCWV and Slabs)

7. more 8x8 DCWV pads and some 4.5x6.5 DCWV pads

8. 6x6 paper packs (Simple Stories, DCWV, and Basic Grey)

9. Christmas papers and pads

10. More Christmas, Halloween papers and some Valentine's packs

11. Disney papers (missing from photo) and Basic Grey papers (lots!)

12. Assorted CTMH paper packs and cardstock

13. Miscellaneous papers (sorted by lines--Love, Elsie, Rusty Pickle, etc.)

14. Miscellaneous papers (sorted by themes--baby, school, sports, etc.)

15. 12x12 DCWV paper packs and Slabs

16. 12x12 Michaels Slabs

As I am typing this, I am realizing I have a lot more than I remember.  I also have 3 more 4.5x6.5 paper pads in my Ikea Raskog cart!  But I am going to focus on the Slabs in this post.

What are Slabs?  180 pieces of thin paper that Michaels sold in a pack.  Now they sell "Paper Pads" which are a bit thicker paper (but not much).

When I first started scrapbooking, I was constantly buying the Slabs when they would come out…with the weekly coupons, it seemed cheaper that way…but I never used most of it--so it wasn't cheaper!  

A few years ago, one of our nieces asked for donations of craft supplies for her daughter's Girl Scout troop, so I took 2/3 of every Slab and lots of cardstock to her.  Well since then I still haven't used any of the Slabs!  (ok, I used 2 sheets on one card I made for my friend's mom, but that is it!)

Lately, I've been going through all my supplies and setting aside items in boxes to donate to a local Girl Scout troop--preferable a Brownie troop since I was a Brownie so long ago :D

So I will finally be donating the remaining papers from the Slabs 1-6

At least that was the plan…except for Slab 3 which I was never going to donate because I plan to use that paper when I finally complete our Honeymoon (to Mexico) album.

But then as I looked through the papers, I wanted to keep Slab 6 as well since it has always been my favorite Slab.  (Maybe I will only keep half of it.)

Then, I took out a few more papers from the other Slabs.

Shhh!!!

I actually thought I had sworn off paper packs a long time ago, but within the last year, I have been collecting American Crafts paper packs from Dear Lizzy (3 pads), Amy Tangerine (2 pads), some Recollection pads, and yesterday I added the Maggie Holmes pad!!!  eeekkk…I have a problem.

I so need to used them up and stop buying more paper!  

I am waiting on 2 deliveries though--one contains 50 sheets of Bazzill (got it for cheap through Blitsy) and the other contains Simple Stories Say Cheese line (again got a good deal).  

And I am drooling over the Amy Tangerine Plus One paper pack…and then that is it…I will quit paper! ;)

My "TO DO" board

This magnetic board has been on my wall for a few years now, but I recently transformed it from just a "mood" board that had a bunch of random pictures on it...to this.

What is it?  I had added a list to my blog at the beginning of the year of my scrapbooking goals I want to complete this year, but I thought if I seen them on my real wall, I might actually do them.

Luckily, I had the perfect turquoise blue post-its on hand to match!

I really hope to get at least 1 or 2 of the items complete this year…

Originally, this board was an all white board, but I repainted it a couple of years ago to match my black/turquoise decor.

*A couple of my 'L's (I have random L's in my craftroom--like Laverne :)
*the basket is magnetic, I found at Ross already in the perfect color
*the giant clothespin (also in the perfect color) was found at Michaels
*I can't seem to take my Amy Tangerine pens out of the cute box and they don't fit in my pen box...so they are displayed to make my area look pretty
*The flowery dress is a Cricut cut I made through the Cricut Craftroom and have been meaning to share...another "to do" post :)
*Usually that basket is full of random stuff (junk?)...I just prettied it up for the picture!

Craft Room update

It has been a few months since I started to rearrange and paint my Craft room.  So far, I have only completed about 1/2 the room.

Here is a look at the first completed wall.

All of the items hung on the wall are repurposed (hopefully I will blog the transformations I made on the boards).  The desk was here but I did finally add some handles.  My husband uses the desk sometimes when he is on a conference call for work, but for the most part it is all mine (and most of the time it has mail piled high--the magazine holder isn't usually as clean either :p)

Here is the before...

The calendar white board and cassette (now stamp) holder did not change, but were moved.  I have previously blogged about how I repurposed the cork and magnet boards from Target.  Gone is the fax machine, but now we have a much larger desk hogging printer that has fax capabilities as well, as you can see from the 2nd wall that is completed.

Unfortunately (fortunately?), this wall has the door and my tiny window, so it didn't take too much time to complete this wall :D  {I didn't shut the door because the back of the door has not been painted (it should have been painted way too many years ago, but we always forget it isn't painted on the back).

It feels so much cleaner and less cluttered.  You can see from the before picture that the right wall doesn't have all that stuff on it--woo hoo!  But that wall has a few more touches to add before unveiling it.

My weakness for Magazines

These are the piles of magazines and idea books I have compiled over the years.  And these are only the scrapbooking and card making magazines.

So far, here is my organization of magazines.

In this corner, we have my Scrapbooks Etc. (with more space to add to), PaperKuts (RIP), Simple Scrapbooks (RIP), Scrapbook Answers (RIP), and all my various idea books and special ideas magazines.

It would be perfect except for the fact that I still have all these Creating Keepsakes magazines!  These date from June 2003 through April 2010--I have actually been good with this magazine and have stopped buying them.

I also have this pile of Memory Makers (RIP)--I have gotten rid of some of them and I plan on getting rid of all the rest as soon as I look through them again.

All of my Paper Crafts magazines are in a different area of my room (with my card making supplies) along with my Cards magazine and various card making idea books.  I have gotten rid of a year's worth of Card Making magazine--so I know I can edit myself--it is just really hard to toss magazines.

And finally, these were not in the photo of my piles of magazines.  These are my photography magazines and photography books.

My problem with magazines?  I love buying them, especially if the cover pops out at me, but I really don't read them.  I like looking at the pictures and scanning the titles and subtitles, but I rarely read them and sometimes I am so bummed out and disappointed after I bring them home.

Over the years, I have collected Latina magazine and Health magazine--both have been recycled years ago.  I received a free year subscription to Better Homes and Gardens--after the year was up, I gave them to my friend because I had no room for them.  Right now, I am receiving Weight Watchers magazine (it was also free).  I might clip some of the recipes, but those will be toss in the recycle bin soon (I hope).  

I also have a small collection of Crochet Today magazines, some crochet books, and a couple of knitting books (even thought I have yet to learn to knit).

I know that I don't need any more magazines or idea books and I try not to subscribe to any more, but I do have such a weakness.

My purchases after the magazine organization.

I mean who can resist covers like that!!!!

(and just to be fair, my husband has subscribed to Sports Illustrated for over 15 years and we have boxes in the garage of those!  Are we hoarders or what? ha ha ha)

Being Crafty and peeks into my new space

I am finally using my craft room for it's main purpose, to be crafty!

While I am redoing my area, I am trying very hard not to spend that much money to revamp it.

Years ago, I bought 2 cork boards and 2 chalkboards from Target (only 1 of each pictured).

In my yellow room, I used black and white accents.  But I figured in my white room, I wanted a pop of color.  I have seen lots of turquoise rooms and that color just went well with the white walls and the already black items I had, so I decided to use some of the acrylic paints I had on hand (maybe someday I will share that collection of paints!).

First, I took off the hooks on the back and unhinged the cork & chalkboards from the frame.

I painted the cork board turquoise (just the normal "flat" acrylic).  I use foam brushes (cheap and reusable, but disposable).  Depending on the color you want to obtain, you will need to let the first coat dry before applying the next coat.  I used 4 coats to get the color I wanted.

The frame around the cork board was going to stay black, but I added 1 coat of black gloss since it was kind of dulling.  (good thing acrylic paints are water soluble and that will wipe right up from my desk.)

The chalkboard itself is going to stay black, but the frame was painted turquoise.  This frame takes a few coats.  First with 2 or 3 coats of the normal "flat" turquoise, then 1 final coat of a gloss turquoise. (I swear this paint isn't as blue as it is coming out in the pictures!)

The final result

(blah!  The color cast in this room still sucks.  I could have taken out my SLR, but I just took this quicky photo and did a little editing--close enough)

I also took this shoe box out of the recycle bin last week before it was pick up day...

I painted the box black and the lid turquoise.  Each took a few coats of flat acrylic then 2 coats of the gloss.

It now holds all my "Works in Progress"--see I know items will come in handy one day!  My problem is one day never comes ha ha ha.  

I thought I would take a break from showing the stuff I got rid of and do a sneak peek of my new room!

On this episode of Hoarders... (Part 1)

Hello, my name is Linda and I am a Hoarder.  No seriously, I think I am on the verge of being one of those people that keeps everything.  Ok, maybe I won't ever appear on an episode of Hoarders, but I do every so often have to edit myself and unhoard things.

4 years ago, I got my own craft room/office.  The original plan was that it would mostly be a craft room, but there would be a home office desk for my husband--well he didn't use the desk and I pretty much took over.  

Here are the before pictures

Notice the wall shelves and stuff everywhere.  This also is the catch all room.

My Michaels cubes (this door leads to the Garage and a glimpse of my tiny window.

Here is the desk area that is supposed to be for my husband.  In the left hand top corner you can see the ancient fax machine.  The copy paper boxes do not have paper inside.  I take the boxes from work and store things inside...because I have too much stuff!

The garage door again and the corner that has a bunch of boxes--in case I ever have to ship anything...I like to keep boxes from orders I have received.

I hated coming into the room and working in here.  I thought it was the yellow walls (which my husband told me 4 years ago not to paint), so the plan was to remove everything so I could paint it white.  I know so boring, but I have one 35 wide by 58 tall window in this room and I love light!  Even with the 4 can lights and fan light--I hated the color cast.

As I was taking everything out of my room and removing the items from the walls, I realize that it wasn't really the yellow that made the room so dark it was all the clutter!  Well I had to cover up all the holes with putty, so I had to paint the room regardless.  I just went with boring white called Paparazzi--I loved the name!

Well like the title of the post, I am going to show you a bit of my hoarding...I have plenty to share, but I will break it up.

These are 8 4-packs of Starbucks Frappuccino bottles (that is 32 bottles)

I had seen the cutest altered bottles on 2peas and planned to do the same.  A couple of examples can be found here and here.  Well I never altered them and now that I think about it, why would anyone want to eat candy from recycled bottles?  I know I washed them through the dishwasher, but still.

They went into the recycle bin...I suppose if I ever want to do this, I could just go get another 4 pack--my arm doesn't have to be twisted that hard :)

These aren't that bad...only 6 folders, but my kids are now 16 & 15...they have not liked or wanted to use these folders for over 5 years.  Why did I keep them?  A few look new, so I am donating them to Goodwill and tossing only a couple.

Now these...again, I seen the cutest projects on 2peas.

What are they?  Years and years ago, AOL was sending the boxes with trial CDs inside.  Well the talented ladies at 2peas came up with this and this (among others).  I mean look at the inside of these puppies.

I will never alter these and I know that I will never see them in the mail again, but they went into the recycle bin where they should have gone years ago.

Last picture for today.

These are nice sturdy boxes!!!  But for what?  What am I going to do with them?  Toss them into the recycle bin.  I have to.  They are just taking up space.

I don't know if I could ever have anyone help me do this like they do on TV, but I am letting go of a lot of items.  I am taking the "if you haven't used it in 3 years, you don't need it" approach.

I can't wait to share some of my other collections of items :)