Home Organization

Happy Friday! I'm so excited to be starting a four day weekend! In those four days, I'm going to attempt to finish up a ton of projects and work on more organizing, cleaning and sorting to prepare for the start of school next week. And, in case you're interested, I thought I'd share with you a little area I've set up at the end of my hallway to help my family stay organized:

The calendar is actually a vinyl piece that I ordered from Etsy. I simply adhered it to a large picture frame that I painted black. The calendar was cut out in reverse so that it can be adhered to the back side of the glass, which means you can write on the front of the glass with a dry erase marker. I love it! It helps to keep us organized at a glance. Just below the calendar is a stainless steel magnetic wall pocket (similar to this one) that I bought on clearance at The Container Store. I added some pretty file folders with the days of the week. Add some magnetic clothespins and you're done!

Do you know what else I'm doing this weekend? I'm decorating for Fall! I know it may seem early for some, but I love this time of year and can't wait any longer to get out the little pumpkins, leaves and the warm colors of Autumn. Okay, now I'm off to do some stamping. Wait, aren't I suppose to be cleaning?!

Halloween Noteblock...and a Winner!

Before I get on to the winner of my mystery blog candy, I thought I'd share another Halloween card with you, made for Purple Onion Designs:

If you've never checked out the noteblock stamps at Purple Onion, you really should. They are more versatile than you would think. For this card, I trimmed off a bit of the noteblock so that I could make a smaller, 4 x 4 inch card. I added background stamping with the skull outline image and then added a few embellishments made with my Silhouette. Yes, another glittery bat! And I love the grungy scroll stamped on the moon; adds just a bit of interest, rather than leaving it plain: Now, onto the real reason you're probably reading this post. The winner of my mystery blog candy is...And comment #56 belongs to Vera W. Yates (Ling) who said...

"Wow, your scrap room looks amazing! My cleaning tip would be to do quarterly purging. I do this, since I have limited space. And I love using Sterilite drawers & labels everything."

Congratulations, Ling! Please email me with your mailing address so that I can get your goodies off to you right away! And thanks to all of you for your great organizational tips! It was so much fun to read through all of them and to hear about your craft space. I've learned some neat tricks and I'm sure others have, too.

Stamps: Halloween Noteblock, Grungy Scroll, Skulls (Purple Onion Designs)
Paper: Soft Stone, True Black, Lemon Tart (PTI)
Ink: Vintage Touch Chai & Chamomile, Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise, Smokey Shadow, True Black (PTI)
Other: Simply Chartreuse felt (PTI), black glitter, small scalloped border die (PTI)

Finally...A Clean Craft Room!

So do you remember about a week or so ago I mentioned cleaning and organizing my craft room? Well, I lied. Just a little. I did clean and organize, but I got a little overwhelmed by the project and stopped short (way short) of finishing. Well, this weekend my daughter was away spending the night with her cousins and I spent all day Saturday cleaning, purging, organizing, sorting, dusting, and cleaning some more until it was done. Really done. And now I have some pretty pictures to show you! Fair warning, these pics are not great; I didn't want to use the flash and the light outside was dwindling. But, I didn't want to prolong this any longer, so I'm using these anyway. I also included some notes to explain my storage (click on any picture to view it larger). And, although this is a long post, you might just want to be sure you read it all the way to the end (hint, hint!).

So, here we go on the tour. My craft room is very small and does double duty as an office space, too (that part wasn't clean yet, so I'm skipping that half of the room and just sharing the crafty space). I have one full wall devoted to cabinets and counter top for me to do my thing:

My storage and work area is all about function. While I like the "look" of things on display, I prefer to keep most of my things stored away. I do have two open cabinets for my cardstock, patterned paper, books, etc. I prefer to store my paper vertically in clear storage boxes. The ones you see here are from Stampin' Up. And, this may be hard to believe, but the paper you see in the photos is all I have. That's it. I try very hard to not stock up or impulse buy. At least when it comes to cardstock and paper (wink).

I forgot to take a photo, but there are a few more cabinets that my husband attached together to make an additional work space, with more counter top. Just like a kitchen island. It stores some of my supplies that are used less frequently and my daughter's craft supplies (like mother, like daughter!). We put it on casters in case I want to move it around, but it usually stays in one place. Okay, so continuing on, here is a bit more detail...

Okay, so I know you have questions now, right? I know this, because I always do when I look at someone else's room! The cabinets and counter top are all Ikea. Heck, 95% of this room is Ikea! Don't we just love that store? All along the wall under the cabinets is a rail system I bought at Ikea, originally used for kitchen storage. This system has several different accessories for storage, including the baskets that store my ribbon and the pen and scissor holders. The same rail was used to hold my punches, too. Oh and the button jars, got them there, too! The vinyl lettering was purchased online at Once Upon a Design. I believe these two designs are still available, but you'll have to check. The Copic storage cubbies I just bought online here. Am I forgetting anything? If so, feel free to email me and ask!

Now, here is the really exciting part! Like I said earlier, I cleaned and purged a lot of my supplies. Those supplies I've packed up into a medium sized flat rate Priority Mail box and have decided to give them away as mystery blog candy! There is a ton of stuff and it's all still unopened and unused (with the exception of a few tools). Are you interested?! Just leave me a comment and tell me your best cleaning and/or organizational tip. You have until Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. PST to enter. I'll select a random winner shortly after and post it on my blog. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

Black Bats

Hello and Happy Wednesday (night) to you! Wow, this week is cruising along for me. Try as I might, I just couldn't get on this little blog until now. It seems the closer we get to the end of summer, the more there is to do! School shopping, cleaning, organizing, last minute outdoor projects...it all has to get done. I haven't even spent a lot of time in my craft room lately, except to work on some projects for Purple Onion Designs. And this month I was inspired to create Halloween cards:

There's just something about Halloween that makes me so happy to create! I love that it can be cute, quirky, scary or all of the above. For me, Halloween is just a fun time to get crafty. And I think I must have caught the vintage bug, because I think this card is looking a little vintage-y, don't you think? The background paper was so great, I only added a few touches; the Halloween postmark in the bottom left hand corner and a few grungy flourishes around the edges. The bats I created using my Silhouette digital cutter. I simply cut out various different sizes, ran them through my Xyron machine and added black glitter. I made extras to have on hand for later. I create some other fun shapes, too. I think I'll be making more embellishments with my Silhouette very soon! I also love the little tag on this card. It's simple enough, but I think the vertical orientation is a little different. And rather than a sentiment, I added the date using the month stamp from the Date Me set and the year from the Holiday Postmark set:

And there you have a simple (but spooky!) Halloween card. It might seem early, but I'm really ready for Fall! I love all the things that come with the season, including decorating and crafting! I like to think of it as preparation for the big crafting holiday...Christmas!

P.S. Raise your hand if you knew you could buy candy corn in August...!

Stamps: Date Me, Halloween Postmark, Holiday Postmark, Grungy Scroll (POD)
Paper: True Black, Vintage Cream (PTI), Eclipse - Twilight Collection (Pink Paislee)
Ink: Antique Linen distress (Ranger), True Black, Vintage Touch Chai & Chamomile (PTI)
Other: tag die (Spellbinders), paperclip, black and cream striped ribbon, twill ribbon (SU!), black glitter

WMSC 11

Happy Saturday and happy Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge day! I've had to sit out the last few challenges, so I was happy I had the chance to participate in this week's sketch. It's such a fun one, too:

Ack, I love round shaped cards! And as you can see, I'm in an Autumn state of mind these days; I've pulled out some of my seasonal supplies:

The inspiration for this card was not only Autumn, but I was inspired by the swirly circle stamp from Faux Fun Circles and the sentiment from Blessed by You. It's hard to capture it in a photo, but the circle was stamped in Versamark and then I used mica powders to add color. I used a combination of gold and red, and in some areas they blended together to create an orange color. You can't seen any of the shimmer in this photo, but trust me, it's beautiful! I layered my circle onto corrugated cardboard. I added a silk ribbon that I died with Copics and pigment ink, to coordinate with my card. The leaves were punched out and stippled with several inks. And finally, the leaves and sentiment were outlined with my Stardust pen for some more shimmer. You can see a little bit of that in this photo:

I feel blessed that it's the weekend...lol! I actually took a few extra days off to help me get organized before school starts. I'm also working on my craft room and hope to have a few pictures to share soon. Until then...have a great weekend!





Stamps: Blessed by You, Faux Fun Circles (WMS)
Paper: Kraft, Vintage Cream (PTI), Really Rust (SU!), corrugated cardboard
Ink: Vintage Touch Chai & Chamomile, Dark Chocolate (PTI), Antique Linen distress (Ranger)
Other: Dark Chocolate vintage buttons (PTI), silk ribbon (PTI), leaf punch (Fiskars), classic circle, big scalloped circle and scalloped long rectangle dies (Spellbinders)

Vintage Halloween

Hello there and Happy Thursday. Okay, so it's almost Friday...even better! I'm taking a few days off of work and was able to spend some time in my craft room today. I started with cleaning and organizing, and then I had to stop so that I could create! Needless to say, I didn't get back to cleaning! I decided to get out my Fall and Halloween supplies and try my hand at another vintage card. I decided to use the same design I used here, but with a Halloween twist:

Different, right? I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it felt good to try something new and to use up some scraps. I decided not to go with the conventional Halloween colors. I love the notebook background paper from Pink Paislee. All I did to it was add a few stars and flourishes from the Midnight Feast and Halloween Party sets. I then started to experiment with various layers. I used a Kraft scalloped border that I had lying on my desk. I ran it through my Cuttlebug using one of my new BasicGrey embossing folders from Sizzix. I love the plaid design!

For my focal image, I used the great witch stamp from the Halloween Party set. I love her! I inked her up in Dark Chocolate and started adding background stamping to fill in the stark cream color. I stamped the "Nightmarish Nibbles" sentiment from Midnight Feast all over this piece. I picked this sentiment because I liked the swirly letters and, by using distress ink, it's very subtle and not too overwhelming. Next were some more star flourishes around the edges. This is where I added some of the only real color on this card. To finish it off I used my Stardust pen to add some Halloween "magic." I also outlined the entire card with it. It's hard to see, but it's there!

Like I said, I'm not sure how I feel about this card in the end, but I think it's growing on me! It may be because something about it reminds me of a root beer float...lol! Must be all that brown and cream! Have a great day and I'll see you here Saturday for the next Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge!

Stamps: Halloween Party, Midnight Feast (WMS)
Paper: Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Vintage Cream (PTI), Dream Big (Pink Paislee), Crate Paper
Ink: Vintage Touch Chai & Chamomile, True Black, Dark Chocolate, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest (PTI), Antique Linen distress (Ranger)
Other: brown satin ribbon, Dark Chocolate vintage button (PTI), rhinestones (KaiserCrafts), medium scalloped border die (PTI), BasicGrey Plaid embossing folder (Sizzix)

August Friends of WMS Blog Waltz

Good morning dear friends of WMS! It's blog waltz time! Today as you waltz along make sure you pay careful attention to the other design team members' blog posts, as each one contains a clue to the question posted on the WMS blog today: "What is the subject of one of the new stamp sets to be released in September?" Find all the clues and you might just figure out the mystery and win a prize! It's Blues Clues for grown ups...and you don't even have to have a handy dandy notebook. Although most of us do, I'm sure! Now onto my card...

This month's theme is shabby chic/vintage. Now this isn't my area of expertise, but I do enjoy branching out and trying different styles. I know woodgrain is a popular look these days, but I wanted something more feminine, so I went with a soft plaid I created using Off Beat Backgrounds. I started with a light wheat color on cream cardstock, turned the paper, then stamped with a soft pink on the diagonal. After that, I just started layering, using mostly scraps that I had on hand. The sentiment was stamped onto a piece of die cut notebook paper. I stamped several single rose images from Roses in Bloom and colored them with Copics. To shabby them up a bit, I added some distress ink. This helped to soften the color and tone down the bright pink. I also like how they are tucked in with everything and not necessarily right out in front:

I really love the trims I used on this card. I added a scalloped border of cream felt and cream crocheted lace over that. Two pink buttons sewed on with crochet thread added the last touches. And I just love the soft cream silk ribbon. Note to self: Buy more once you remember where you got it!!!

There's my shabby/vintage creation to share with you all today. I love this very soft and feminine card and will definitely be trying this style again. Now I'm off to see what wonderful creations you have made! Don't forget to keep your eyes peeled for the clue words...

Stamps: Roses In Bloom, Off Beat Backgrounds (WMS)
Paper: Kraft, Vintage Cream (PTI), Upsy Daisy Designs, My Mind's Eye
Ink: True Black, Sweet Blush, Vintage Touch Chai & Chamomile, Hibiscus Burst (PTI), Black Momento and Wheat VersaMagic (Tsukineko)
Other: Copics, Lavender Moon vintage buttons (PTI), cream silk ribbon, crochet lace trim, Vintage Cream and Simply Chartreuse felt (PTI), small scalloped border die (PTI), crochet thread, spiral notebook page die (PTI)

Waltzingmouse Stamps News

I'm just popping in to make sure I tell you everything that's going on with Waltzingmouse Stamps. I wouldn't want you to miss out on anything!

1. WMS now has its own sketch challenge team! They are called the Mischief Makers and they are quite a group of talented ladies. You can "meet" them all here, on the sketch challenge blog. And while you're at it, consider playing along with this week's current sketch! There's a free stamp set at stake!
   


2. The August Friends of Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Waltz is coming up on August 17. You can read the details here. This month's theme is Shabby Chic/Vintage. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!
   
   
3. And, lastly, there's a little contest up on the WMS blog here. The challenge involves WMS templates, many of which are available for free here. There's a prize for this one, too, but you only have until Sunday, August 15, to play along.
   

Whew! I think that's it for now. Have a great day and I'll be back soon!

Just a Note

Hello my friends! This week I'm feeling a little mojo challenged, but, lucky for me, I have a few cards that I haven't shared with you yet. Here's one I made last month for Purple Onion Designs.

I'm not really a shabby gal, but I do enjoy making a soft and (kinda) vintage card every once in awhile. The stamps are what really inspire me, and this Late 1800s Script Background is very versatile and can be used in so many ways. I love adding the filigree around the edges, another one of my favorite POD stamps. For the sentiment, I layered a few simple shapes to make it really pop. The ribbon was adhered to the card and "scrunched" along the way to give it a messy gathered look:

I hope to get back into my craft room soon this week. I have some brand new stamps that need to be inked up, but I'm just not feeling it lately. We've had some unseasonably cool weather (and even rain!) and I think it's put me into a little bit of a funk. I don't mind cool weather, but I think it tricked my body clock into thinking I need to nap and nest. But the weather is suppose to warm up each day this week and will be in the 90s by the weekend! I'll be sweating soon!





Stamps: Late 1800s Script Background, Filigree Corner, Vintage Butterfly Set (POD)
Paper: Vintage Cream, Kraft (PTI)
Ink: Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Touch Chai & Chamomile (PTI), Antique Linen (Ranger)
Other: Sweet Blush swiss dot ribbon (PTI), Tea for Two die (PTI), circle punch

More Grade School Days

Thanks to all of you for your sweet comments about Olivia's scrapbook. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who struggles with these things! I worked on the book a bit more this weekend and managed to complete her Kindergarten page, complete with journaling and a graduation photo. I thought I'd try something different and made a little slideshow out of all the photos, including some new ones. Let me know what you think! Oh, and there's music, so turn on your speakers!