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*

Another Gal Who Uses Her Garage!

I completely forgot to mention this when I posted earlier. I found a crafter who uses her garage as her craft room! Oh my gosh...talk about inspiring! I love what she has done in there. You can check it out here. While my space may never look quite as together as hers, it's wonderful to know I'm not the only crafter who has taken over 1/2 of their garage. *Ü*

I found out about it through another blog I read called Crafty Storage. I've been subscribed to it for awhile, but posts were not very regular as the blogger was busy. She recently asked if there was anyone who would be interested in contributing to the blog and she got a terrific response. So, for the past week or so the posts have been pretty regular and it's so much fun to see all the different crafty spaces and storage ideas bloggers share. You might want to check it out.

Thanks, Shantaie, for sharing you lovely space!

Gloria (In Utah) *Ü*~Check Out Her Progress!

I got the okey dokey from Gloria (in Utah) *Ü* to share the pictures she emailed me. If you are wondering why I write her name that way, it’s because that’s how she always signs her emails and comments. I think it’s cute and I smile every time I see it.

I will copy and paste the information she emailed me.

You have inspired me!!  I don't comment often, but I sure do read your posts every day. Since I'm stuck inside just like you are at the moment, I thought I would take advantage of it. SO here goes... before and after pics... (smile)

I took the door off of my closet to give me more organizing room, but it was still not enough. SO..I used the living room as my staging area. I took EVERYTHING out, and started over.

I have the wire shelves, as you do, but as you can see, the connectors are completely different. SO..I have a question. I have 2 extra shelves, but no way to put them in because I don't know how. Did you use some special clips that I can't see in your pictures??  Please advise... (Jeanne here: I showed her the cable ties I use, will include photos at the end of the post)

This is my work table...

It seems to always look like this..different stuff, same mess. UGH!!  Only because I didn't have anywhere to PUT the stuff....WELL..... after a few days of concentrated effort  ( and the blessing of having an empty nest which is why I'm so amazed at what you get done!!!) ....

You can actually GET to the closet now.

I found a cool dresser in our storage and decided to use it. The top drawer is for packing material..envelopes and such that I had all over the place in the closet....the second drawer is for a collection I have, and the third is craft stuff that doesn't have a place.

didn't take a before picture of the dresser I have because I was too embarrassed...however, here is the after pic...

The drawer is always open because it has things that I use the most. I'm blessed with a room that is 10x12, so it's a perfect place to scrap...AND it's a perfect place for things to get stored...which was most of the problem ...I had a PATH to my computer..literally!!  NO MORE!!

I CAN SEE MY FLOOR!!!

My wire racks were a mess until now... oh, and the small mail trays on the top??  They are cat beds!!  We have 7 cats, and with a bush outside my window, I was fighting with them for space and not having them knock things off..so I compromised and put beds up there so they could watch the birds. ( actually, THEY WON!! because now there are THREE beds up there...LOL)

Anyway, I thought I would share what you have started in our little abode. Next, is the kitchen... YEAH... RIGHT!! We will see.

Thanks again for brightening my day every day.

hugs..gloria in Utah :)  <-------That’s how Gloria always signs off…*Ü*

Thanks for letting me share these Gloria. I’m so glad that you were inspired and your progress is terrific. It’s a buttload of work to do, but the results are definitely worth it!

Here’s a blurry close up of how I attach my shelves together…because I was a complete idiot when I bought the wire shelves and I threw the connectors away! Yes, I’m hanging my head in shame….

The pictures are wonky because I took them last night…ie, when it was dark out. And just to keep it real, that cable tie’s “tooth” broke when I inserted the end into the slot. Arggghhhhh….LOL You can find these cable ties in any hardware store, Walmart, Big Lots and even the Dollar Tree.

Thanks again, sweetie, for letting me share your awesome progress! Keep up the GREAT work!

Jeanne

Brace Yourself...I've Been in my Craft Room...

But I'm not quite ready to sit down and create just yet....

With the addition of the flat screen tv, we have an entertainment center that Steve no longer needed. There's no room for it in our living room, so the next logical place was my craft room. I resisted at first, because it meant I would lose one of my tables, but after thinking about it for a while, I realized I would also have storage space in the entertainment center. Steve decided to take the week off from work, so he was available to help me move the beast into the craft room. First though, I had to shift things around. That's what I did Saturday and this morning we made the move.

I thought I'd show you what my space looks like right now. It's not finished, but it is a space I can work in again.

First, the entertainment center (and a bigger tv than I used to have in here). I had to take down a shelf that was on the wall. It was pulling away from the wall anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal to take it down. I've got those bottom cupboards filled with what used to be on the wire shelf unit that was here. My albums just fit inside the glass doors and there's other miscellaneous schtuff in there. I need to go through and purge, but first I wanted to get stuff off the floor! You can barely see it on the right, but I hung my ribbon holder ON the door (which cannot be closed yet, because that office space needs to be cleaned out yet again. When it is, that telescope will have a new home. The door on the left side of the picture opens to the other half of the garage. I'm happy to report I finally got some weatherstripping for it so that it won't rattle like it has been. I had the heaters on long enough that it warmed up enough for me to put the stripping up. Whew~! I think I need something for the bottom of the door, but I can do that sometime this week.

Next up is the new location of the wire shelf unit. I had to take down the table that was here (and move all the schtuff that I had stored underneath it) to move the shelf unit and adjust the shelf heights, but I think it will work great. I managed to get my most used papers to fit on the shelves. My cardstock is in those plastic holders and on the bottom shelf, I found two plastic crates at the thrift store for $1.99 each. Sure beats having to buy more of the plastic holders. I put some shelf liner on the bottom of each to corral any scraps. My smaller pads are below my cd player and are in boxes I've had hanging around. I actually discovered the purple box fits the 8x8 size pads and I'm thrilled. On the left side of  the shelf unit is a white shelf I found at the thrift store recently. Originally I was going to hang it up, but it fits perfectly in this space, so I'll just use some of that putty stuff to secure it. I think it was a couple of dollars.

This table is directly behind  where I will be sitting when I create. I'm tickled that I  can have the sewing machine out as well as my Cricut and maybe I'll use them more! I had some wire shelves up here with my paper in it if you remember. The shelf behind the Cricut and the things on top are thrift store finds! I got the little basket because it has butterflies on it. LOL
The three tiered one might end up in the house unless I find a use. For $1.99 I couldn't resist. The heater is in front of the sewing machine. LOL

Here are some more thrift store finds...I can't believe I finally found one of these...for $7!!!

And this file cabinet, with two narrow drawers and one large drawer was $6! It may be sort of ugly, but it's sure sturdy! LOL










Thanks for the compliments on my Christmas layout. I will probably have a few more to share sometime as that doesn't encompass the photos I took on Christmas. LOL I still have to put away Christmas stuff, but there are a bunch of Steve's boxes in my way, I can't get to the attic to bring down the boxes I need to pack up.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Hope you like how the craft room is looking...I think I'll be pretty happy creating in there again.

Finished For Now...

Hi There!

It sure feels like it's been a long time since I posted, but I guess it was earlier in the week. My dad left on Tuesday and the girls and I have been keeping ourselves pretty busy since then. Add to that our internet has been going down intermittently. I think it's good we've been busy (and out of the house) so I haven't gotten too grumpy about the internet part.

I thought you might like to see the results of the moving and cleaning up of my "new again" craftroom. Remember I used to be in here, moved into the house (not all this stuff got moved into the house though) and just moved back out to the garage room because I was feeling too cramped in the corner I was allotted in the house. With my dad's visit, I wasn't able to finish up until yesterday. Well, I don't think I'm completely done yet, but it's done for now. Good enough to start creating again, anyway...

This is what you see as you walk into the craftroom.

Here's what you see as you step in and look to the left. You may notice I've done some shifting of things. I put two bookshelves back into this room, so I could have a place for books and things. You can see one of the shelves at the end of the table. To make room for the other shelf, I moved those tall modular shelves onto the table. I also moved the bulletin boards up to accomodate the shelf shifting. I'm hoping to get some shelves on the wall eventually. For now the bulletin boards fill up the space.

Here's the view walking to my work area.

What it looks like at my work area.

This shelf unit is what you see to my right as I'm sitting at my work table. The garage has a large window which lets in good light during the day.

And here's what I see from my seat. I've deliberately cut off the doorway into the little office (to the right of the metal shelf unit) because it's crammed with Steve's stuff. I need to move things around to be able to close that door. The shelf unit needs reorganizing(maybe even some fabric to make it prettier), but it'll do for the moment.

The other door on the left opens to the rest of the garage.

I'm relieved to have this heavy moving phase done and can modify and adjust as needed from here on out.

I even did some creating today...come back a bit later to see what I made.