What I learned this week

First of all ....

Truth! 

Ok, I could list a LOT of things I learned this week {like .... don't let son park RIGHT in front of your car in the garage, lest he not be able to start his car} but I'm talking paper crafts here. Card making. Stamping. The thing I used to do a lot of but haven't in recent years. 

I had some free time on Monday & made a card. And I enjoyed it. I only was frustrated 8 or 9 times. I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. But I still enjoyed it. Actually, maybe it was the peace & quiet I enjoyed. Regardless, it was fun having time for myself again. 

So here's what I learned: 

1) Everyone was right. Once you are a paper crafter, you are a paper crafter for life. You may give it up for a few weeks or years, but you will always come back to it. I miss it. 

2) A paper crafter can sell 3/4 of her supplies & still have so much that she is overwhelmed trying to find that one "thing" she needs to finish her card.

3) A lot has changed in the last few years. New papers (did you see the gauze paper I used on my card?? Gauze paper!) .... new supplies .... new techniques. I now know nothing about stamping. 

4) I need a new cutter. I have a Tonic, which I love. At least, I loved it until I tried cutting a slab of cork with it. Don't do that. It's now just ok. And I have no idea where I bought it. Heck, they probably don't even make it anymore. But now there are SO MANY cutters out there, I don't know what's good & what's not. 

5) I also need a new Cuttlebug, or something similar. My handle broke. Like, a loooong time ago. When I used it on Monday, I wondered how I dealt with a broken handle for so long. But like the cutter, there are now sooooo many different embosser/ die cutter thingies out there, I have no idea what to buy. I do know it's time to give my Cuttlebug a proper funeral & burial. 

6) It's definitely time to browse the forums on SCS again. The only time I've been there the last few years was to upload my few cards to my gallery. I like to have them all in one place & I love the format of the SCS gallery. So easy to see all my creations at a glance. But the chat boards are awesome too. I learned everything I know knew there. Time to reintroduce myself.

7) Paper crafters are still my favorite people in the world. Well, besides my kids of course. My kids are my favorite people. Most days.

My son & I were discussing redoing the basement so that we each have our separate space. Not that I don't like being practically on top of him when I'm down there. But it would be nice to have my own corner. I took pictures of our basement the other day. Not only am I way too tired right now to load them onto my computer, but I am also a bit embarrassed by the state of affairs down there. It is BAD. The catch all for everything that doesn't have a permanent home. I do have a plan though, & with his help I hope to have it functional & pretty-ish in the next month or so. Paint .... a new futon (the 70's sofa bed has GOT to go) ... some storage .... because now is the time to do it, when it's zero degrees outside & we all just want to hibernate. 

Ok, well I have some searching on Pinterest to do .... hope you all have a great weekend! If you are in the midwest, stay warm!! 

Patterned paper dilemma

Good morning!! Thank you so much to everyone who commented about my space!! Some of you shared your spaces with me as well, which I encourage!!! I *love* looking at other people's stamp areas, & I love to hear your organization tips as well!! I will probably rearrange things in my space many times before I get it "just right". Someone mentioned possibly rearranging so I could have a corner ~~ unfortunately my computer desk (huge) takes up one corner, & our very necessary second refrigerator takes up the other corner. I'm not complaining ~ when I need a soda I don't need to go far! LOL!! As I mentioned, I bought a few of the cubes at Michael's last week with my (many) 50% off coupons. I also bought a 3 tier shelf from Target, which will mainly be used for my son's art supplies. Ha ~~ I just noticed you can see my cat's head way over on the right ~~ he was supervising!!

I want to know how you all store your patterned paper. I've read just about every thread there is on SCS about this, & there are many different ways of storing & organizing. I'm having a problem with both areas. First, organizing ~ I've read some people organize by company. I don't think I could do it that way, I have about 500 pieces of patterned paper from about 400 different companies, lol! A lot of people do it by color. I've considered this, but then where does the pink paper with brown paisley go?? With the pinks, or with the browns? Or do you have a separate compartment for your favorite combos that you seem to have a lot of??

Second, storage. Here is how I currently have my paper:

Yep, all in one stack. And that's not even all of it, I also have a plastic portable carrier type thing in which I store the paper I will probably never use (read: the paper I bought when I first started stamping & didn't know any better). The stack on this shelf is the paper I use the most. The lovely, chic black shoebox on top is my scraps. All thrown in. Can you guess how often I find what I need in that box?

I would love to know how you all store yours. I've heard about the Cropper Hoppers, the shelves (which I don't have room for), the files.......please share your tips and/or pictures with me!!! This is one area I definitely need your help with!!!

Progress!!!

Well, I think I have made considerable progress over the last few days! I bought some organizational cubes & shelves throughout the week, although I thought I would need a lot more than I bought. It's amazing what those little drawers will hold!! If you will recall (& I'm sure the images are burned into your brain forever) HERE are the pictures of my stamp area before.

Here are some of my after pictures!!!!



Here is my now very clean desk ~~ look how much space I actually have to work on!!! There are some essentials that will forever be on my desk ~~ the stamp pads I use with just about every project (Stazon!!), my Tombow glue, my scrubber, my stumps, my gel pens.......no sense in putting these away because these are things I'm always grabbing for.


Here is my "shrine" of cards ~~~ you will see a lot of cards by Anna Wight :) I just about died when I received my first card from her. I admired her from afar, & didn't think she knew I existed (much like High School, sigh). I PM'd her to thank her, we chatted, & over the last couple of years we've become friends. I went on to receive many more cards from her, & now we're even on a design team together!!!! I still idolize you Anna!!! There are also a couple of things from Lana Lepinski (another idol) & Ila/Craftess (yet another idol), & my friend Cris just sent me an adorable 4th of July card. The 2 photo boxes are filled with RAK's I've received over the last couple of years. I cherish each & every one of them! And of course, the necessary tins of M&M's. Yes, there are actually M&M's in them ~ peanut on the left, peanut butter on the right. I'm guessing I will be refilling those often. Oh, & I must mention the cards hanging out at the top of the picture ~~ those were made for me by my 9 year old son. He loves to create & I moved a table & all his art stuff down here so he can create right next to me :)


I don't have much wall space to hang shelves, but I did put this up ~~ it's a shelf I had in my room at my parents house, many many moons ago. I knew I was hanging onto it for a reason!! It perfectly fits my Primas & Dew Drops! Until I buy more, that is!


I really need to find a 2 drawer file cabinet for all my 8 1/2 X 11 paper. Right now they are in these 2 crates. Which works ~~ I can put hanging files in them & they are separated by color family, then by each color. I have a folder for misc papers that I use mostly for matting (or scraps), a folder for my PTI white paper, my Cryogen shimmer paper, & my most recent beloved discovery ~ Bazzill Bling! I would really like a WHITE file cabinet, but I don't want metal. I think I will have to settle for either wood, or a heavy plastic. Right now I have nowhere to put my Cuttlebug & accessories, or my Tonic Cutter. I think they will go on that yet-to-be-purchased file cabinet.


I broke down & bought the Making Memories turnabout with my 50% coupon last week. I wasn't sure how much I had to put it in it. But as you can see, I found plenty to fill it with! And it will still hold even more ~ amazing how much you can cram into this thing!! I had been looking at the Pampered Chef turnabout, but I like that these compartments are shallower ~ makes it easier for me to find stuff!

I have other pictures to share as well, but I wanted you to get the gist of what I got done. It does look so much better, but I have to really think about where I put things. I went to reach for a punch yesterday, which had been in a box under my desk, then remembered they were neatly stored in a drawer. I haven't labeled my drawers yet ~ & I probably won't until I'm positive everything is staying where it is ~~ so it's sometimes a mystery where an item is. But this does work much better. It's not as pretty as some of the spaces/rooms I've seen ~~~ check out the pukey peach walls ~~ but I'm grateful for my little space :)

I'm hoping to be back later with a card ~~ it is dark & gloomy & miserable here in Wisconsin this morning so I can't take a picture. I'm hoping to see some daylight soon!!! It's almost 10:00 am & it looks like it's midnight!!!!

Want a good laugh?????

Good morning everyone!! I hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday! We went to our city's parade, which is always lots of fun ~~ they throw TONS of candy for the kids, they hand out popsicles & water bottles, the weather was perfect ~~ just a very fun parade all around. I spent most of the day yesterday simultaneously working outside in my garden, & organizing my stamping area. Then we went to the Expo to see the most awesome fireworks!! We *love* fireworks!! It was a long day ~~ we didn't get home until after 10:30, & we were up pretty early, but it was such fun :)

Since I still haven't finished that 3rd card yet, let's discuss organization. Or rather, my lack of it. I said I spent part of the day yesterday organizing my stamp area. I have a small space, about 1/2 wall in our rec room. It probably measures about 9' x 5'. Which is better than what I started out with, a shoe box in my closet. I'm grateful for my space. But as I was buying things, I was setting them down next to me on the table or the floor. I didn't see anything wrong with it, I knew where everything was & it was all within reach. Then my friend came over a few weeks ago so we could stamp some images from each other. Even though she never said a word about my mess ~~ she even said hers is worse ~~ I suddenly looked at my space with new eyes. Nobody EVER sees my space, since it's in the rec room & only my hubby & I & the boys go down there. But now my friend saw it. And this is what she saw..........

You probably think I'm nuts for sharing these pictures! You will probably lose any respect you had for me (if any!!). Trust me, the rest of my house is organized (well, sort of ~ we have a few toys lying about). This is one area I have just completely ignored as far as putting things where they should go. That's because they HAD nowhere to go!! All this week I've been buying organizational cubes at Michael's, plus a 3 tier shelf at Target, so I'm *almost* there. I need one or two more cubes, then I'll be done. I realize I should probably wait until I'm able to post the "after" pictures, but this way you have a few days to digest how bad it really was!!! And for all of you less-than-organized readers, this will probably make you feel a lot better about your space!!! See how selfless I am??

I will be gone most of the day today but I'm still hoping to finish that 3rd High Hopes card AND finish organizing ~~ I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!! And can I just say how excited I am that I've already had over 500 hits?? My worst fear when I started this blog is that I would be talking to myself! Good to know that's not happening!!!!!