Progress or a BIG Giant Mess???

Welcome to some of my stamp room......this is just as you open the closet door....this cabinet houses a lot of my specialized 8.5 x 11 cardstock and most of my 12 x 12 CTMH scrapbook Level 1 & 2 kits.  As you can see I try to utilize every nook & cranny.....my scrapbooks are stored on the top of the cabinet, labels facing out so that I have some sort of clue of what's in those boxes.....

 

 

Just to the left of the paper cabinet I now have 6-foot shelving pretty much from floor to ceiling that runs the length of the rest of the closet.  As you can see I'm still fiddling around with how to space the shelves for maximum storage of stamps, accessories AND stitching AND crochet stuff (which is currently located in the hallway...sigh...).  I've got containers in a wide variety of sizes so it sort of feels like putting together a big  puzzle...

 

 

Another shot of the "long wall"....



 





A shot of the stacks of wood-mounted stamps that I've stacked into "categories".  Oh, and I'm pretty pleased with that stool from IKEA - that will allow me to sit and browse through my stitching charts, fabrics and fibers at my leisure (wellllll, once the charts & stitch stuff are actually IN the closet......)

 

Here's a view of the "short wall"...  and the wall to the left will eventually have 2 or 3 stamp cabinets (they mount to the wall) that my Dad made years ago.......they hold "loose" wood-mounted stamps that I use frequently like background & texture stamps.  I still need three more 3-foot shelves to complete this short wall but I'm pleased with how it's going so far.  Obviously the label maker will be getting a good work-out once all the containers and stamp sets are on the shelves.....

This stuff is pretty much blocking the closet doorway.  Bob is loving the easy closet access - he likes to keep up on the nearly constant changes in the stamp room.....

Yet more wood-mounted stamps that will be housed in the closet, right now they're just hanging around the closet door.....waiting for their "room assignment".  Oh look - could that be an open space on the yellow bookcase my Grandpa built (it's probably older than me....yikes!!)???  Nooope, I'm just a piggy-girl and haven't put the embossing folders back in their proper place.

Ok, now we're getting to the nitty-gritty.....the HUB of the stamp room.....my desk.  Yessss, there is a desk there - somewhere.  It's rather a Sherman Tank of a desk - something I purchased at a garage sale at work....it's huge and metal and clunky and you just about need a crane to move it......but for $25.00 it was a bargain that we couldn't pass up (and could barely get into the van)!! 

Obviously I'm all about adjustable shelving.....while they're not the prettiest storage option, they're VERY functional AND affordable.  I have both 6-foot AND 2-foot shelving on the wall behind me & my desk.  I also have two paper racks and a couple of additional 2-foot shelves that fit PERFECTLY in this space.  I've surrounded myself with the stuff that I use most often so when I'm in a creative frenzy, I don't have far to go to get what I need. 

 

Most of my CTMH acrylic stamps are in CTMH containers that fit on the shelves (stacking two containers makes them easy to get to and utilizes space most efficiently).  Of course NOW I'm converting to the larger containers that CTMH has so the shelves will be changed a bit AND will look much more uniform when this conversion is complete.  The very top shelf holds holiday-themed stamps and two containers of roller stamps from Stampin' Up (I'm definitely an equal-opportunity stamp procurement specialist!!)

 

 

And while I'm sitting at my desk, I have a 4-foot shelving area to my right - this houses my most-used inks, punches, scissors, adhesives, etc.  The top shelf will eventually be filled with decorative items as it's a scary scene to try to get up to those top shelves.......  In the  lower right you can see where most of my clear stamps (other than CTMH) are kept (by category & on large binder rings and then housed in a few plastic containers to keep control of the chaos).  I also have most of my larger Marvy & Stampin' Up punches on towel rods/racks from IKEA directly under the corner shelves.

I didn't take any photos of the view from my desk, but I have another large window and a TV along the opposite wall that are positioned well for getting inspiration from nature and for watching our favorite DVDs......there's also a loveseat, an ottoman. two tall paper racks and a narrow folding table that Creepella has commandeered along with her section of 2-foot shelving.  Once things are a bit tidier, I'll continue the tour......................

Whew, that mini-tour just about wore Bob out.......after all, he's also the keeper of this blog and oversees the creative efforts that happen in this stamping/crafting room!!



 

Thanks for visiting.....now we're off to get busy stamping!!!

Happy 4th of July!



Happy Independence Day to all.  Here's to happy, safe and sane celebrations for everyone! 

Probably should have had a background other than blue but I didn't think of it while taking photos of my 4th of July paper crafting.  I think you can see it well enough though - it's a 3-D foldy sort of decoration...I punched out 10 of the blue stars, and SHOULD have edged them in blue chalk ink BEFORE putting them together but I always seem to forget that step and have to ink the edges AFTER putting it together!!  The red baker's twine is well-suited to the "feel" of the B&T design and finished product.

Here are some of those cool rosettes that you see all over the place now.  I made several small ones (2 strips of 12 inch paper that were 1.5 inches wide (the red one).  I pre-scored the strips using the half-inch guide on the original Scor-pal.  By keeping the width at 1.5 I was able to make 4 rosettes from one sheet of 12 x 12 B&T paper which was way cool as I handed out rosettes instead of a traditional card.  Again I used the red baker's twine for a loop to hang and some stardream CS and star brads for a little center decoration and ta-dah, I was done!

I had so much fun making them (and they were pretty darned quick too), I think I'll make some for Halloween this year.  Since I have a boatload of Halloween B&T, I won't be spending cash-o-la in the way of Halloween decorations this year - wahooooo!!!!

And finally, here's the card that was created from all those bits & bobs from an earlier post.  Very simple design (based on a card that was on the PTI blog) but I tweaked it to fit the supplies I had on hand and the amount of cards I needed to make (I ended up needing 27 to mail and 1 to keep).  Little to no stamping and NO coloring made this a pretty easy card to make.  There were several steps but luckily they were broken down into the easy and manageable steps.  The best thing?  I was able to finish the cards and get them in the mail several days before today (that's a MAJOR accomplishment for me, let me tell you...).

Here's a close up of the star & banner portion for more details and in better lighting:

Sparkly Celebrations to you all!!

Supplies for all items:
B&T paper - CTMH, various others
Cardbase - unknown, it's something I've had for years...it's a rustic white with "specks"
Stamps - CTMH
Inks - Memento, Colorbox chalks
Punches - Marvy (large & mini star); A Muse (smaller pointy stars)
Misc - buttons (sources unknown); Making Memories (star brads)
Embossing Folder - Cuddlebug
Red Baker's Twine - A Muse
Scor-Pal

Heart on a String

YOU MADE THIS FOR KARLA??????

That's what I heard from Creepella when she saw the one that I DID make for Karla. Dejection and just a tinge of green had me punching MORE and LARGER hearts to make this one.

It's not that it's difficult to make, it's just time-consuming. I tell you I nearly poked my eye out while making the crochet mini-heart (found it and the pattern on the Attic24 blog - lovely stuff!!). Granted I was using cotton thread (the stuff you make doilies and table cloths with....) and a #10 hook (really can't see the hook part) - so basically I was crocheting by FEEL. Even under two Ott lites I really couldn't SEE what the heck I was doing.

Bottom line, Creepella was happy, Karla was happy and I was able to continue on with my V-day cards.

NO stamps!!

B&T Paper - CTMH

Marvy Heart Punch

Ink - Colorbox Chalk Ink

Newly Acquired Equipment...

Ok, these are the new prizes that I've been clutching tightly in my hand......and you know which one is my VERY favorite?? "Pearl White".....I know it doesn't look like much, but experience tells me THAT'S the marker that I'll be reaching for again and again and..........again. Of course the other ones aren't bad either - I'm finding that I'm quite drawn to "Anise" as well - it's a funny little color but one that I think will be used up dry in no time at all.

And how in the hey did I get a hold of these luscious NEW (well, at least to me) colors?? Well, I'll tell you!! I'm sure I've mentioned a few times that I consider myself to be a lucky woman - I've met some remarkable business women in my life and wow, knowing them has really given me some unique opportunities. For instance, Stephanie - owner of the Paper Garden (a LSS) asked if I was available to be "teacher's assistant" when Linda Carnell (owner of A Muse Art Stamps) was doing a stint as Guest Instructor. [Sadly, when Linda's classes were first announced, I knew I wouldn't be able to take them so I kind of ignored the whole thing (yep, I'm a mature one....)]. A deep intake of breath, a very high-pitched squeak later and then seconds after that a frantic call to Chef Bo-Bo Head to see if the class times were clear on the family calendar (obviously I was beside myself with glee and couldn't possibly think in a reasonable fashion) and oh baby - I was SOOOOO THERE!!! As I told Steph in my email response, "I will ALWAYS work for stamps & accessory items!!". Because the offer was to assist Linda in her two Copic classes and in exchange I would take her other two card classes AND obtain 8 new (or new to me) Copic Originals......The Stamping Fates were smiling my way!!!

And here are the cards we made in the two card classes. It's too tough to pick my favorite card - I really like them all. It was TONS of fun using some of the stamps from A Muse's new release (really hoping one day they'll be a set of CLEAR stamps for those of us who are really trying to cut down on our wood-intake.....slivers, dry rot, termites and all that.......)

A close-up of the cards.........I didn't take a photo of each individual card because I'm a weird-O and I feel funny about doing that.......I know, I know........hey, I've already admitted to being slightly odd......

And a photo of the rest of the cards.........see, it's too tough to pick out a single favorite!!

I haven't taken a card-making class in several months so I completely luxuriated (been watching waaaaaay too much of the Firefly CDs lately......) in the classes. I was able to see and visit with a lot of stamping peeps that I hadn't seen in too long - that was wonderful. Since A Muse stamps are one of my top 3 most favorite stamps, the classes were pure heaven. Linda is a fun teacher, encouraging, low-key but steadily handing out nuggets of stamping gold and hey, it's LINDA - from A MUSE!!!

Did I mention how very lucky I am??? Thanks to Stephanie and Linda for this wonderful opportunity!!

Unbiased endorsement (I make no money, earn no extra pens, etc - just sharing some stamping info): if you have the opportunity to take Linda's Copic Class - especially if you're a bit intimidated by the whole Copic scene - take the class. I heard more students say it was SOOOO worth the class price. I personally love Copics and have been slightly fanatical about gaining every last ounce of info on them but I actually picked up a couple of tips in the class as well.......there, I have spoken!!

Bogged Down

Here's part of the mess of "loose" ribbon

A close-up of the the oranges & yellows

A close-up of the purple

A close-up of the blues

A confession...............I was busy stamping and as I was wrapping up the card, I thought, "Hey, a couple of loops of ribbon would look good here....." and that was the last conscious thought I had for the rest of the day. I spent the rest of my weekend "wrapping" ribbon. I guess I'm a bit on the compulsive side in regards to certain aspects in my stamping materials - apparently ribbon is one of them. I had the ribbon mostly separated by color and some of it was wrapped nice & tidy but some of it............wasn't.................it was loose, wild, tangled, creased and I just couldn't take it any more - AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHhhhhhh.

So this is most of my "loose" ribbon - ribbon that I've purchased mostly by the yard at a couple of LSS and from Michaels too. I have other zip-top bags that hold my A Muse sheer ribbon and stitched ribbon and then there are larger bags that have spooled organza ribbons, holiday ribbons, "textured" ribbon and printed ribbon - let's just say over the years, I've acquired a healthy supply of ribbon. Of course NOW I realize that I'm partial to the skinny ribbon (i.e. A Muse sheer ribbons) - but since I've got a ton of other stuff, I need to get busy using it up.

Now that my loose ribbon has been sorted and tidied up, I can really "see" what I have available so I'm certain I'll be adding ribbon to pretty much every card I make.......aaaahhhh, ribbon frenzy - what a way to go!!

Another Shelf

From the top to bottom photo would be going from left to right on another shelf that's just to the left of my desk. Now while I would much rather have the shelves on my right hand side (as I am right-handed), I'm still pretty thrilled that I can have this indispensable set of shelves within arm's reach. I have 5 shelves (but I think I have enough space for 6), they're as shallow as we could find - 8 inches deep - and 4 feet long (I had to leave room for one of my stamp cabinets that will be attached to the wall). With those cool little mini metal shelves from Ikea, I'm able to pack a LOT of tools into this space and The Best Thing: everything is accessible!! Aside from the MS punches being stored in front of each other (I rotate them as the stamping season demands), pretty much everything else is right out there, ready to use.

While I can do a bang up job of organizing and making things fit, I found that when I packed things too closely together, it was a chore trying to GET to the things to use - so I'm keeping things close but I allow for a "working margin" of space. It's been a great help.

Yes, I know that I have a lot of ink pads (remember, I've been a CTMH consultant for nearly 15 years!!) and believe it or not, I've used all but two of them in my stamping history. Each set of inks has it's own specialty. During the construction of my stamp room, I started to weed through my stamping "stuff" and I actually trimmed down what I needed to keep. The inks on these shelves are my absolute "go-to" inks of choice (in the last tin on this shelf are my stacks of cats eyes chalk inks - hidden gems!!). I remember the first time I time I saw a Kaleidacolor ink pad.........they blew me away. I started my "collection" of Kaleidacolor over 12 years ago - I still love them!!

Side Note: Creepella recorded "300" (yes, she's a little warrior), and I've been watching bits and pieces of it for the last hour or so..............yuck............I don't like "war" movies, no matter what the age, no matter what the history. While I LOVE Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings", I still cringe during the battle at Helmsdeep......again, yuck. It's not that I'm squeamish - on the contrary, a lot of medical "stuff" is completely fascinating to me - it's just battly stuff is just gruesome and sad (yes, even when it's happening in Middle Earth), and there's already enough sadness around, I don't need to watch it on purpose.

Below The Bottom Shelf

Ok, I'm really NOT a spokeswoman for Ikea.....I just happen to have a few organizing items that they carry. This towel rack was actually going to be used as a towel rack but it was too long for the space and then we lost the receipt and then lost the rack itself in The Pit that's the garage......once we found it, Chef Bo-Bo Head put it up under the bottom shelf so that it was in easy reach and quite a few of the punches fit just perfectly!! Again, I put the punches that I use very frequently on the "rack of honor".....hee, hee, hee!!! Can you see the 2 Fiskars paper cutters lurking underneath? Although I have a nice heavy-duty paper cutter on my desk, I usually have "stuff" on top of it. I grab one of the Fiskars cutters - they're quick & easy (and readily available).

The Bottom Shelf

This is the bottom shelf of the shelves that are just to the left of my desk (yes, within arms reach). These are the items that I pretty much use on every card that I make. My Memento Inks are used in everything I do since I color with my Copics about 99% of the time. I have all of the Memento colors in the little Dew Drop size - depending on the stamp, I can "color" with those pointy tips. I've stored my Stickles upside down to avoid air bubbles AND to get every last drop of sparkle!! I love those little metal mini-shelves (again, another Ikea find) and as you can tell, I have a lot of adhesive items (variety is the spice of life!!). I have a good selection of brads and eyelets (I mostly use brads because I'm lazy and I don't want to drag out my Silent Setter). Love those buckets from Target too (found periodically in the Dollar Bins). And of course the remotes are right there along with the phone (when I might need to make an emergency stamping call???).

My Copics

A couple of people have asked about my stamp room. Unfortunately, it, in its entirety is nowhere near ready for an unveiling. I do have bits & pieces that I can share....so every once in a while, I'll pop in a few quick photos of my most favorite room in our home!!!

My Copics are housed in cutlery containers, yes, like you see at restaurants. I got mine at Ikea (VERY good price)....all three styles of Copics fit quite nicely (I like to see the tops of the pens). I've done a little pyramid display to show how I've sorted them by color....the first photo shows how they sit on my desk normally (yes, literally within arms reach). The Copics lying flat are the ones I used for Dee's card....I liked it well enough to make a few more to sell. I'm slowly investing in Copic Refills, currently they're in my oh-so cool orange bucket (from A Muse), and yes, it too sits on my desk along with my big paper cutter, 2 lamps, my acrylic blocks, a stack of scrap paper, 2 pencil/pen holders, a small bucket (it holds my glue sticks, Liquid Glass, stamp cleaner, 2 bottles of tacky glue, a water spritzer, a mini flash-light a few other things that have fallen below my line of sight), 5 small punches (that I use a LOT), a few of my "signature" stamps for the backs of my cards, a couple of photos of my family, a snap-ware container that holds some stamps. My desk is a battle tank. It's pretty large, EXTREMELY heavy, is nearly all metal (so it rattles and shakes when I'm getting into drawers). But it was a steal...............I purchased it at a local utility "garage sale" about 10 years ago - it's the best $25.00 I've ever spent!!!

Memento Heaven

OOooooohhhhhh - look at all of the pretty, PRETTY colors!!

AAaaahhh..........and they're all MINE, MINE, MINE!!!

It's a scientific fact that even if you're viewed as an "adult", if you were raised as an Only Child........you are considered an "Adult Only Child" - and you operate on the same mind-set of being an Only Child (only now you can stay up as late as you want and watch ALL of the TV your eyeballs can handle). Technically, I have siblings (a half-sister & 3 half-brothers - although one died before I was born), but since I wasn't "raised" with them (i.e. didn't have to share), I consider myself an Only Child. When I first met my friend Lia, I was a mere 22 years old (and not nearly as mouthy as I am now!).....but I thought enough of her to give her this warning: "Look at me, I'm an Only Child - if you don't have any more children....YOUR child could turn out like ME!!" Well, Courtney is indeed an Only Child and every once in a while (apparently when Courtney was being VERY MUCH an Only Child), Lia would look at me and with a little half-smile, shake her head and say, "Yep, you warned me and I didn't listen to you...." she'd giggle (a desperate little sound) and just wander away. Hey - I really did try to tell her.......

What an intro - don't you think??? But OH HEY YOU GUYS - do you see them?? They're practically waving at you!! I've obtained (sounds better than purchased) the new Memento Markers (yes, all 24 colors - have I mentioned how pretty they are???). They work really well on my clear stamps and since Memento Inks are my first choice when using Copics, I'm absolutely thrilled at having the versatility of the markers. There's a lovely brush tip and a very precise bullet tip (sorry, I should have taken photos of each end - but I was simply too enthralled with posing them for these photos). I ALWAYS love having a marker that matches my inks EXACTLY just in case an emergency "touch-up" is required (and with me, it usually happens at the very last stage of making the card.....grrrrrr).

And before anyone makes any grumbling noises similar to that of Chef Bo-Bo Head......NOOOOOOO, these are NOT a replacement of my rather pricey (yikes!!) Copics........these are merely another MUCH-NEEDED tool in my stamping arsenal. Well, I don't think he really "gets it"......but he didn't have anything snarky to say (although he did blow back my bangs with a whopper of a sigh - powered by a massive eye-roll).

But oh, oh, oh......these markers make me so stinkin' happy, Happy, HAPPY.......................they are soooo cool and I'm still pleased as punch that I obtained them (lots of saving, abstinence from a certain favorite stamp store and passing on [with great amounts of teeth-gnashing] other MUCH-needed and oh-so important items have been involved.......but it's definitely worth it).

Today, Heidi and I (and possibly Creepella) will be skipping off to the Rubber Stamp Convention. We'll hang out for a couple of hours and then it's off to Chevy's for an oh-so tasty luncheon. We've pinkie-sworn to each to remain strong and true..........we'll be making EVERY attempt to steer clear of any rubber/wood stamps. Serious browsing is to be done in booths housing CLEAR stamps only - I want to make a bee-line to The Cat's Pajama's booth (hopefully they'll offer a show special) and then over to Printworks (they offered a show special last year). I've been hoarding my bits & bobs of cash for a couple of months now - all in anticipation of this show. If I run out of money - I'm done with the show.....period.....I'll just walk away (I may have tears in my eyes, but I'm resolute in my decision).

Mom's Day cards sales went surprisingly well this year (no matter how long we sell cards, I don't think we'll EVER be able to predict what the customers want!!). The MB Penguin in Curlers cards had everyone laughing. Next year I'll make some of the Child-Proof Home cards to sell - this year they were just for sending. Everyone loves Fluffles too. Other cards (that I didn't post) went pretty quickly.............it's all good!!

And once again - Happy Mom's Day to you!

Dragon Daze Revisited

Remember when all I had to show was a few stamped images and a lovely grouping of Copics??


Well Ta-Dahhhhhhh........

Stamps - Stampin' Up; Inky Antics; Stamp In The Hand; Inks - Memento & Versafine; Copics & Spicas & White Gel Uniball; Washi Paper

Whew - well FINALLY this poor dragon has a home.....in a nice cozy cave....because she's feeling puny and just needs to rest.....and smell the wind blowing through the pine trees (remember when Hagrid was talking about how much Buckbeak liked that?? I totally "saw" that in my head...). Before you know it, she'll be defending her Golden Egg from all of those Triwizard Champion Pests...........hey - maybe THAT'S why it's taken me so stinkin' long to finish this card - maybe I was just waiting for the perfect Harry Potter image for some inspiration???

Dragon Daze - Part 1

Stamp - Stampin' Up; Ink - Memories; Copics

Hmmm - I don't remember what YEAR I stamped these images (it was actually a couple of years after this particular set was released). But in my attempts of getting my stamp room "organized", I've stumbled across several packets of stamped images. Now I'm sure I had a rip-roaring great idea when I stamped this dragon, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. Since I stamped him on several different sizes of cardstock, that tells me my plans included cutting the image out (thank goodness for sharp pointy scissors). Perhaps I was just waiting to discover the wonder of Copics?? So here are the colors I've selected and I'm happy with how he turned out. Once I finish coloring all of the images (there are 8), I'll cut them out and THEN figure out what in the heck to DO with them - that will be Part 2!!