I Tried Stamping Today...

And I must be pretty darn rusty as I had the dickens of a time trying to create what is supposed to be a simple card. LOL I was inspired by this one from clean & simple.

Here's the card:

Would you believe it took me at least four tries to get this? Sheesh. The reason it's not finished is because after I finally got it lined up right, etc, I moved the card to think on the sentiment I wanted to use and it fell or hit the edge of an open stamp pad! It's not real dark, but I know it's there and so I quit stamping for the day. We just weren't getting along too well. 

On to the next!

This card was inspired by this one I saw on Just Dandy. I am loving all the doilies I am seeing on cards these days. Well, I was pretty sure I had some doilies in my stash in the garage room. But, could I find them? NO! Remember when I moved stuff into the house? I set up the rest of my stash for storage in the garage room. And after the weight bench and treadmill were moved into the same room, someone decided to rearrange what I had set up. In rearranging, my whole storage system went...poof...Sigh. If I want something in particular, I have to go digging and moving and possibly saying some not so very nice words. (who me??) Yeah, so I was pawing through stuff and I couldn't find the darn doilies. This was right after the stamping fiasco, so I was just about to cut my losses and quit for the day, but I looked through my cartridge stash and decided to try a doily on the Cindy Loo cartridge. Well, the image is called a doily anyway. I guess that's as close as I'm going to get until I can pick up some more (at the dollar store, hopefully). The butterflies are from Paper Lace. I adhered two different ribbons together and they coordinate better than the photo show. The flower is one from a package of three bunches I picked up at Michaels several months (possibly almost a year) ago. I think they are Prima brand, but the packaging is long gone, so I can't say for sure. I like the idea of what I created, but not so much the execution. Ah well, such is life.

And here's an idea (not mine, I saw it here) for those of you who are collecting cartridges....

I tried putting the keypads in that notebook awhile back, but didn't keep the booklets in the house. It was a bit of a pain to pull out and reinsert the keypads. Then I started worrying that the cartridges themselves might get messed up being out in the open and subject to dust. When I started playing with Paper Lace, I noticed I need the booklet to show me what each cut can do. That got me to thinking having the booklets handy would be a good idea. So, I picked up a photo storage box and put all my carts in it. I was able to fit the basket right in there for now. I still need to put some dividers with labeled tabs in, so I can see at a glance what the carts are. I like this much better (at least for now).

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope your weekend is off to a great start. It's supposed to be gorgeous and warm here (almost 80 tomorrow!). Ooooohhhh, I keep thinking at some point we will be paying for this lovely fall weather. And I won't be able to complain at all. LOL

More Organizing and a Card!

Well, I worked some more today on getting things organized in my crafty space. And I've got pictures! I measured again and the switcheroo of the bed and computer desk wasn't going to work, which is just as well because Steve wasn't too keen on the idea anyway. 

This is the file cabinet I moved from the garage into the house. I may end up making some sort of cover for the top as it is pretty ugly. I've been trying to figure out what to put in that two tiered basket. The vintage buttons in there now are the third attempt to put something in there. I got the buttons at the thrift store. They were included in a huge plastic bag full of all kinds of buttons and other notions. I think I paid $2 for the bag!

I initially put all these little containers in that two tiered shelf, but quickly realized that was a huge mistake. I would never rummage through all the containers. So, I took two old and very used cookie sheets and put them on those.These containers have magnets on the bottom. I had them on the metal door in the garage. The cookie sheets fit nicely on the keyboard shelf on this old computer desk in the corner. The desk is now acting as a tv stand. Anyway, the trays tuck away nicely.

Here's the left side of the hutch. I've put something in just about every jar I've picked up at the thrift store!

The shelf above my Cricut is where I had the boxes that hold the cartridges. I took the cartridges out of their box and put them in the white basket. Then I took the keypads and put them in the white notebook you see there. Right now, they all fit pretty well. And it all takes up much less space. Yay!

Here's the right side of the hutch. That top shelf has a ton of buttons. I need to start USING them!

Here's the current status of the left side of the closet. Lots of ribbon and more buttons. I don't need to buy another button in this lifetime!

In the garage, I organized, too, but it's not nearly as exciting, so I didn't take pictures.

When I was finished for the day, I treated myself to making a card. A simple card.

I was inspired by a card made by Kelley Eubanks (of the My Front Porch blog) that was published in the current issue of Papercrafts. I used the same stamp, but different embossing powder. I don't think you can tell very well, but I used glitter pens to fill in the spots on the butterfly. I am really pleased with how it came out. Maybe if you click on it, you can see it better.

That's it from me, today! Imagine that, two posts in as many days! Wow.

Have a good one, and thanks for stopping by.

Organizing Garage Room/Crafty Space

Last night, the hubby asked me if I could work on clearing out some space in the garage room  this week for the soon to come weight bench. I got to work right after my breakfast.

I needed to clear out under the table that was positioned like a peninsula in the garage and tuck it away. To do that, I needed to clear off some modular shelves I had sitting on it. I got an idea to use those shelves in the closet in the house for storage. Okay, for more efficient storage. I took some pictures of the closet before I got started and again as I finished up for the morning. And I'm willing to share the ultra embarrassing photos, just in case it might inspire someone else.

Before:

Top portion of the closet. Sort of had some organization there, but stuff still ended up getting stashed haphazardly

Middle/bottom of wire shelf unit. All of those milk jugs with water are for the fish tank (20 gallon, I think) when Steve cleans it. He changes the water every single week. It used to be just one shelf, but for some reason, he needs a lot of water for the task. Oh and he warms the water up, too, before he puts it into the tank. Spoiled fish, huh? LOL

Okay, the shelf above all the water had Steve's rockets on it and a couple of kites that belong to the girls. Oh and a pair of ice skates for Steve. All of this stuff got moved out onto the same shelving unit in the garage.

Other half of the closet. Stash and dash, what can I say?

Too much stuff in too small of a space, for sure. It has been a bugger to get that ironing board out, I can tell you. Good thing I don't do much ironing or I might have to break it in frustration. LOL Steve irons his own shirts. Am I a good wife, or what? LOL

And now some after, but not quite finished pictures:

Top shelf area.

Mid shelf, where all the rocket stuff was.

Other side of the closet...I think the ironing board will be easier to get in and out of the closet now. 

Yay, for Steve!

And the top portion of that side.

I also moved into the house another filing cabinet I had under the table that is now tucked away in the garage. I took the drawers out and lugged it into this room. Then I had to keep it on its side so I could put the drawers back into it, before tilting it into position. Why did I have to do that? Because the bed that is also in the crafty space got in the way. I can't open the drawers all the way, but enough to make them functional. I need all the storage space (preferably hidden) I can muster in the room. I took a picture, but it's super blurry, so I'll have to take it again later.

I'm going to ask Steve if we can move move the bed to where the computer desk currently sits, and move the desk along the wall where the bed currently resides. Then that file cabinet will be fully functional. I'd do it myself, but I don't want to mess with the computer stuff. She says, with the voice of hard learned experience. 

And that's all the time I had today to devote to the project.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I hope you have a great week.

The Floor is Passable Now!

I took a quick trip to Goodwill just a bit ago with 5 trash bags full of stuff and a box full of books I no longer want (novels, not crafty), oh and a rolling cart. I then stopped by the school and dropped off the load of pattern paper to the before and after school program. I was told by two sweet ladies in the office that they would make good use of it and with budgets being the way they are, they could use any donation. I have about 5 large bags of trash as well. But I can walk in my room now! Yay!

See...

And I cleared out the area by my rolling chair.

Ahhhhhhh, blissful walking room.

And I cleared off my worktable...yay!

This is the stuff I still have to decide what to do with. Do I want to have some sort of sale? I dunno. I just boxed it up so I wouldn't trip over it anymore. *Ü*

Remember that jar of cut up sponges I showed you yesterday? Well, I thought I'd take a picture of how I store the ones in use.

Here are two craft boxes (can hold DMC floss, or beads) One is open and the other is closed.

I have all the CTMH stamp pad colors that were available at the time I was a consultant. They've since added some new ones (that I don't own) and most likely retired some of the colors I have.

I cut the round sponge into quarters and fit them in the craft box. I then used my label maker to add the color names to the top of the box.

I labeled the sides of the boxes too, so I could pull out the one that has the color I want to use.

I

This is one storage idea that I really am glad I took the time to do.

*Ü*

One more happy surprise (sometimes it is good to be a packrat) I have this somewhat smaller size notebook that I was going to use for contact information when I was a consultant. At least I think that is what I was going to use it for. Well, it's not needed for that function and I almost pitched to a Goodwill bag, but held off for a bit. This morning, it suddenly popped into my head that it might be the right size for those Cricut cartridges that don't come in a box. Well, not the actual little cartridge, but the key pad and cover. I was thrilled to see that I could slip the items into the sleeve and they fit great. I'm almost tempted to put all my keypads in there, but am not quite sure yet, if I really want to. It might be easier for me to get to the stuff I wanted if I did. If you have a Cricut and lots of cartridges, do you store them in the original boxes or what?

And for now, I am done. I went through the dresser and pulled out stuff I no longer wanted (mostly it was trash, sigh). I still have my stamp sets to go through, but at this point right now, I'm so done with the project I don't have the heart to go through them. I'd likely get rid of them all just because I am tired (and would totally regret it later). LOL So, I'm going to take a break from this before I completely burn myself out and avoid the room because I'm so tired of it! LOL

Now, I must close. I just heard the plaintive voice of Jessica, who came home sick from school a little while ago, asking me to sit with her. She doesn't have a fever, but she feels sick to her stomach. So, I'm going to  help her feel a little better by snuggling with her.

Found the Link!

This is the link to the idea for the rubber bands....http://triplethescraps.blogspot.com/2009/09/organizational-friday-6x6-paper.html

I found the link on Mel Stampz blog. She just posted a huge organization post yesterday filled with links (her before pictures make me feel a little less overwhelmed.)...
http://melstampz.blogspot.com/2010/01/missing-with-migraine-craft-room-before.html

Laurel's link to her craft space http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n110/loveflowers1967/?action=view&current=038e638a.pbw

Thursday's Progress!

Can I just say, I wish I was D O N E with this? LOL Unfortunately, I'm not quite there yet, but I got a couple more things done today. Thank you SO much for the wonderful and encouraging comments you are leaving. They are helping me tremendously in staying motivated to see this massive project through. Although, if I don't start getting some of the stuff I don't want OUT, I might just hurt myself. I have little paths I can take, but I'm stepping over this and that and a couple of times I've almost lost my balance. That would not be a good thing! I have a feeling no one would be able to find me. LOL

 
First up is an idea I saw this morning thanks to Laurel. I'd asked her if she'd ever shared her space and she sent me the link to her photobucket page with pictures. They looked familiar to me, then I realized I'd seen the pictures before and had even left a comment. Yikes! My memory is horrible sometimes. And I'm a complete and total dork. I freely admit that!

Anyway, I really liked the picture where she has her embellishments from CTMH on a magnet board. And it got my brain to working overdrive. I had to pick up a couple of things from Walmart and checked out their cookie sheets, thinking I could use those. Then I had the most awesome D'oh moment! The door that leads out of the craft room is metal and magnets will stick to it!! The girls have hung their various pictures and markings up for a long time. I just took them all down the other day. So, first you see what I used for magnets...I bought two packages, just in case. I cut strips about 1/2 inch or so. And adhered them onto the backs of the My Accents jars I had.

Let me tell you, I had thoughts of sticking up all the little plastic holders I have in my cropper hopper cases, but I stopped myself. Having it all out means that hubby everyone can see just how much stuff I've accumulated over the years. And I really don't need to be reminded that I have too much stuff. I already know this! LOL

I worked on this unit, too. I really liked Tresa Black's idea of using PVC pipe for her reinkers, but that would mean I'd have to buy, cut and  glue the pieces together. I had these pink trays from the Dollar Tree in a stack and loaded up all my reinkers onto one tray and adjusted the shelves (meaning I took off the shelves that were one inch apart all the way down to the floor) to fit the trays. Some are still empty, but that's okay. I had some empty plastic bins too, and put my felt into one and the fabric I've collected into the other.

I found a bunch of circular sponges in my purging and decided to cut them up and put them in this jar I used to use for candy. I have plenty to use for all my ink colors. I keep the ones I'm currently using in craft boxes (like for DMC floss) labeled with each color. These are ready for use when one wears out. Yay!

I moved some of my papers into white bins. They fit the Basic Grey pads perfectly. The purple box is holding 8x8 pads and the white cardboard box is one I received in the mail from Erin G. It fits those DCWV packs perfectly! I was thrilled I hadn't thrown that box away! I just cut off the lid. I didn't take any measurements of the box, but all but two of my pads fit in one box. Yay!

Last, but not least is another idea I saw around the blogosphere, but I neglected to note where I found it. If I come across the post again, I'll add a link. Anyway this gal showed how she used tubs to hold her Basic Grey sized pads and to keep the scraps in the pads, she used these large rubber bands!

See what I mean? Oh so cool! 88 cents for a bag of rubber bands means a lot less headache for me in trying to keep track of the scrap pieces. Now this may be a no brainer for some of you, but me, I never would have thought to do this!








That's it from me today! Have a good one. The weekend will be here before you know it!

It's Overwhelming!

I'm sure by now you are sick to death of me talking about my purging, and you can just move along to your next blog if you like, because I'm gonna talk about it again. And show you the very sad state of my room at the moment. I didn't have as much time to work today as it is Wednesday, which is my volunteer day and early release day at school.

This is what it looks like as you stand at the door to go in right now (I just stood there and took this picture). I know. Oh. My. Gosh! Please remember I've been collecting scrapbooking since about 1994. And some of the stuff in here is THAT old. (hanging head in shame, but also keeping it real!)

On a happy note, I did empty the shelf unit that was on this dresser enough to REMOVE it from the space! I don't know if those black wire shelves are going to stay or not. The basket is a thrift store find.

I cleared this area off, too. I'm debating on whether to put shelves or a makeshift hanging grid thing to mimic a pegboard with some extra grid shelving I have. I still have to figure out the best way to hang said make-shift grid pegboard thingiemabob. I'll share if I get what I'm thinking to work. But for now...blessed empty space!

Today's job was to go through my magazines/books. I bought the majority of these while I was working and had the money to spend. I'd hung on to them for years and always felt kind of bad that I didn't USE them. So I purged and this is what's left. I still need to consolidate and relabel the holders. Still, seeing some empty spaces feels darn good. Too bad I'm tripping over the piles on the floor now. LOL

My sad, sad, sad worktable! You don't know how bad I want to sit down and create something. Which always happens when I am busy doing something else.

Took a picture of my butterfly hook with a pail on it. Oh and look above it on the shelf....more empty space! Whoo hooo! Dang, you can't hardly see it. If you look down below the pail on the table you can barely see my newest find...I saw it on that crafty storage blog, the one where the gal uses her garage. Anyway, she puts her Cuttlebug plates on a napkin holder! Omg...I about slapped myself with the duh moment I had. Why didn't I think of that? Because, very simply, my brain does not work that way. I went to the thrift store and found a nice wooden one for a couple of bucks. I could have waited until it went on sale, but sometimes, I just gotta satisfy the I want it NOW impulse. This was one of those times.

A couple of years ago, when I was dropping of some donations to the Goodwill donation truck, some guys were there unloading stuff as well. They GAVE me a box full of mason jars. I've used some and tucked some away. Today I pulled them out to consolidate my flowers. Holy crud...do you think I have enough flippin' flowers?? In my defense, a bunch were gifts from Archiver's. Some were from CTMH when I was a consultant and the other stuff was purchased at 40% off. Daggummit, I don't need to get another flower as long as I live! LOL I DO need to use them more!

And more mason jars that are holding the CTMH chipboard shapes from the other day. My hope is that by SEEING it, I'll remember to USE it!

So even though it looks like a wreck in the room, I AM making progress (right?)

Sigh...

Today's Progress in the Craft Room

I didn't get done quite as much as I'd hoped, but what I DID get done makes me smile.

I got this plastic pegboard system on clearance at Home Depot several years ago. They don't carry it anymore, which is a bummer, because I'd like to find some more hooks. For a very long time it held my old edger scissors. The ones that were all the rage back in the early 90s I think. Well, I'm being very tough this time around in my purging and asking myself if I've used something within the last year. Most of the scissors had been hung there, untouched for more than a couple of years. I decided it was time for them to go. Around the blogosphere I've seen several craft rooms where the punches were hung up using curtain rods. I liked the idea, except I wasn't sure where the curtain rods would fit in my space, or if they'd truly hold once I did put the punches on. When I stood in my space looking at the pegboard I thought....dowels! That might work...I have peg hooks that would hold a dowel. So, I headed over to Michaels and picked up four 1/2 inch by 36 inch long dowels. They were 99 cents, I think...the total was $4 and some change. My first thought was to cut them to fit the width of the pegboard, but I'm glad I didn't jump on that. I was able to fit quite a few of my punches. Yay! The few scissors I'm keeping are hung up as well as baggies filled with chipboard shapes. I don't know why I have so many, but I do. The white ones are CTMH ones, the rest I got on sale at Joann's a long time ago. I just popped them into baggies and punched a hole in the corner to be hung up.

And I finally tried this idea I've also seen around. Putting shelf liners in the drawers (well, I only had enough for one drawer out in the craft room) But I think it will work great to keep them  in place. And yes, I know I have a ton of punches! What can I say? I love my punches!

These are in the top two drawers of the file cabinet I picked up at the thrift store.

I also re-hung the butterfly hooks around the room and put a matching little pail on the hooks of some of them. They aren't filled yet, so I opted not to take a photo just yet. Well, you can see one of them next to the pegboard (minus a pail...they are good for hanging extra gift bags, too!).

I cleared out another file cabinet near the door of my room and put the pool chemicals in the bottom drawer (Steve always kept them on top of this file cabinet and now they are out of the way for now) and my big Xyron machine along with the cartridges in the top drawer. I never liked it hanging out on that shelf I had them on.

That's it for today, friends. Slow and steady progress will ensure I actually get this finished someday! *Ü*