WARNING: the contents of this blog posting are somewhat scary. Yikes.
This weekend I knew I had to start tackling my re-organization project. See, there’s a guest bedroom off my craft room - it’s a great room. The problem is that it’s been sort of a catch all for my crafting CRAP. In other words: this past season on Craft Fair Madness was NOT kind to this room. LOTS of things were dumped here. Various unfinished craft projects, craft mistakes & disasters….unused boxes…shipping boxes that I *might* use someday…random unused craft materials, etc.
This shelf was the worst. It was where most EVERYTHING got thrown. To add to the madness, I still had Christmas wrapping paper & accessories sitting in this room - just hadn’t gotten around to lugging them back up to the attic. ARGH.
So this weekend I tackled the beast:
*shudders*
So, what did I do? Well, here are a few tips that I can pass along from my weekend:
THROW THINGS OUT. Seriously. Are you going to use that? Have you touched it in the last 6 months? Take a long hard look at that crafting project that you THOUGHT you could salvage. Chances are you should cut your losses & move on - it will allow for a new spiffy project to make it’s way into your crafting life…
Boxes - do you really need them? I was saving some empty boxes for potential shipping purposes. But really - all they do is take up LOTS of space - and looks really ugly. The Post Office has boxes - so why am I saving these?
Wasted space: certain items were taking up silly amounts of space - simply because I didn’t have them sorted properly. I took all of my “Craft Fair” type alterables & materials & placed them all together. I grouped them into baskets & boxes so they are all in one place. Now I know what I have - and they are easy to find. (ex: wooden purses, little clay pots, chipboard books, etc.)
Sell old items you no longer use. I have a whole box full of stamps & other crafty tools that I no longer use. They were great - but I’m ready to make room for more new stuff. I hope to post them on here soon so if any of you are interested in a good deal on stamps - check back soon!
The above strategy produced A LOT of trash. This is just a small sampling…
And after all that…I give you…the newly organized shelf that I so bravely tackled:
TA DA!!! - I’m so proud!
I really hope to keep it this way. You do not want to even know how many bags of crap I really had. There was a lot more: so much more that we couldn’t fit it all in this weeks outgoing trash. LOL. (in my defense - what started out as my one shelf turned into my shelf, plus the closet…plus the computer desk, plus another closet….Pete got into it too!)
So there you have it. I cannot believe I’m actually showing these photos on my blog - but at the same time I want you to know that I’m a real person & my craft space does NOT always look clean (in fact, clean is pretty rare). I don’t think it needs to always be 100% clean - but it does help to have some organization.
While we’re on the topic - I thought I’d share this again. I twittered about it last week but wanted to post here too in case you missed it. The lovely ladies over at the Crafty Storage Blog have a great thing going. They feature all kinds of creative rooms & ideas. I’ve seen some really neat things on there. They were kind enough to feature my space last week. Be sure to check them out & leave ‘em some love! (my FAVE was this idea that I saw HERE.)
Thanks to everyone for participating in my Blog giveaway. I think it’s super fun to do & hope to do more very soon You guys are such awesome readers…it’s the least I can do!
OK, so here it is - the winner. I used Random.org to pick a random number. The winner was #34 - Deanna King. Congrats Deanna!! You will have an email very soon from me
Hi everyone - thanks SO much for all the comments you’ve left this week. I read each & EVERY comment - especially the ones that contain things you’d like to see more of on the blog. (sidenote: you have ONE DAY left to leave a comment HERE if you haven’t already…for a chance to win a prize!)
I’ve already started acting on some of your feedback - so with that, I give you some fun Treats for Valentine’s Day - plus a video showing you how I made them!
These are great because you can stick anything inside them - and adapt them to ANY holiday or occasion. I had a few people say they would like to see things that are more practical - things that can be used…instead of just candy. This sort of combines the 2. I had some fun pencils lying around so I thought I’d find a way to creatively wrap them up as a fun little gift.
And to respond to even MORE awesome feedback from my readers, I thought I’d whip up a “boy version”. These are some robots from both Cosmo Cricket (paper) and Hero Arts (stamp). What boy doesn’t love Robots!?!!
I added a wooden heart from Martha Stewart to give it a small Valentine’s touch…but nothing too girly. (the Robot was colored using Copics). The pencil has motorcycles on it. Very “boy”.
OK, here’s the “how to” video! If you can make it through listening to my corniness…then I give you credit. LOL. I HATE listening to myself on these videos, ugh!
Thought I’d just do a quick update on my craft room (which happens to be a bit of a disaster lately, yikes!)
This is how I film my videos. It’s super sophisticated ehhh?? Basically I just attach my Flip Camcorder to my Tripod & angle it downward onto my work surface. I film the video & then I use iMovie 09 to edit. I have to flip all of my videos around so that you aren’t watching me work upside down…!
Sometimes I have enough natural light when shooting a video so I don’t need any lamps. But mostly I use 2 desk lamps & just angle them down so they are giving me enough light for the video.
(notice all the CRAP surrounding my work surface?? Yeaaa….that’s mostly how I roll. I’ve convinced myself that I’m just so darn artistic that I can’t be bothered to put stuff away as I craft…yep, that MUST be it!! )
And here’s where I shoot 99% of the stuff that I make. Normally I have my Cricut on this table & do all of my die cutting here. When it’s time to shoot photos, I just take my Cricut off the table.
It’s the best spot in the house - mostly because there’s lot of windows in this room & lots of natural light. I almost NEVER shoot with artificial lighting - photos always turn out best with natural light. See that shade that’s half down? I usually pull that ALL the way up - as high as it can go - letting in as much light as possible. (sometimes I forget to close it though, and it’s a little creepy b/c I’m sure my neighbor can look in & see my disaster craft room…so yea, I try to remember to always close it! Privacy is key people!)
That black cloth is just a black sheet that I threw over a board. (the board came out of the back of a large poster frame - so it’s almost like a hefty piece of chipboard that’s roughly the size of a poster). This makes for a decent backdrop - one that I can lean most anything against, such as matching designer paper, etc. If I don’t find anything that I like for matching paper I simply stick with the black.
Oh and that project currently sitting there being photographed…? That’s a Valentine’s Day project that I created - I haven’t shared it with you yet…so ssshhhh I will be sharing soon. They are fun & cute for kids.
as promised, here is a quick video on a few coloring techniques. I focused on Prisma Colored Pencils & Copic Markers. Please note that I am NOT by any means an expert on either of these…I just watch a lot of YouTube and see what works for others…in this video I show you the quick & easy way that works for me. If you have any questions just leave me a comment. Thanks!!
EDIT: Yaneri had some great questions. Thanks Yaneri! I wanted to answer them for everyone:
I am using Memento Black Ink because I find it to be the best ink for coloring with Copics. Staz On ink will BLEED with Copic Markers.
EDIT: the contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone for commenting & congrats to the winner!!
Hi everyone - I was going to wait to do this post until after I finished a video I’m working on… but I can’t contain my excitement - so I’m just doin’ it. (by the way, the video focuses on some coloring techniques…like Prisma Colored Pencils & Copics - so stayed tuned)
I love my Copics - and I love things that are quick & easy. So when I saw this technique by the lovely Jennifer McGuire, I knew I had to do it. I stamped a bunch of butterflies using some Hero Arts Cling Stamps and went to town. It’s so much fun to use the Copics & blend colors until you get the result you like.
Now for the real fun…I’m doing my FIRST ever Blog giveaway - the winner will receive these 3 cards below, plus the envelopes. All you need to do is leave me a comment on this post & tell me what you’d like to see MORE of in 2010 on my blog. Lay it on me! Tell me what you’d like to see - do you want a video on something? More info/pictures on a certain technique or product? I’m leaving it WIDE open…so comment away. The winner will be chosen randomly one week from today: Friday 2/5/10. Be sure to leave me your email address or some way I can contact ya!
Also - those envelopes are custom made. I got some questions on what to use for envelopes for 3″x3″ cards. Well, I’ve purchased some through Stampin Up - they are nice. But I also make my own sometimes using my Cricut. I cutout a pocket using the Tags, Bags Boxes & More cartridge - and then just trimmed the upper part of the pocket off, then punched a semi-circle with a 1.25″ circle punch.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. It’s CHILLY up here in MA - so I will be locked in my craft room w/ the heat on full blast being creative. Sounds like heaven to me!
sorry guys. Things have been slow here lately on the blog. I promise I am working on LOTS of fun things, including several videos - it’s just been tough to get things done during the week - I hate winter & how cold & tired I am when I get home from work. Yuck!
Starting next week I will have more free time to attend to my blog, as my job schedule is changing around. I’m very excited about it - hoping to be able to devote more time to being creative.
I just wanted to add a big THANK YOU to all of you for the kudos on my publications. It’s very fun & exciting. If any of you out there are thinking of submitting stuff, I STRONGLY encourage you to do it. It will challenge you & motivate you to try new things - and it feels super cool when they select a card of yours! What do you have to lose? NOTHING! Do it!!
I created this card this past weekend. I was inspired by the card & color Combo that I saw in the recent Sale-A-Bration catalog from Stampin Up. These colors are super fun together - I will definitely be using them more often. I believe they are: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Crushed Curry & Rose Red. (I stamped the heart using non-SU chalk ink). I also stamped those dots using some background stamps from PaperTrey Ink, along with their white ink - which I love by the way!
Hi everyone - just wanted to share with you a card that I had published in this months issue of CARDS Magazine. If you have purchased the magazine, my card is featured on page 99
I believe this card was posted before on my blog but I took it down due to publication. So I’m sharing it with you again!
The cardstock on this card is all from PTI - and the embellishment is from K & CO.
Also, be sure to check out the February & March issues of CARDS, because I also have cards being published in those ones too
I cannot help but think of Homer Simpson when I look at these stamps. One of my fave characters, too funny!
Here’s a quick card using this stamp set - love how yummy the donut looks. Makes me want one….*drool*
The base cardstock is a Stampin Up current In-Color. The glitter paper is super fun & is from Martha’s Stewarts Valentine stack of paper. I colored the donut using my Copic Markers & added some glitter to give it a bit of bling & match that background paper. The ribbon is from PaperTrey Ink - I love how their ribbon feels - it’s so easy to tie too. I used the Apron Lace Fiskars Border punch to add that white border along the bottom.
Hope everyone has a great week, it’s a short one so that’s good!
