PaperFections

2017 Craft Room Tour

Hello, Friends! After moving into our new permanent home 9 months ago (we previously rented for 3 years after moving to this area, until we could get our old home sold and find the perfect new house) and getting fully settled into our house and my new craft room, I finally got things cleaned up and organized enough to show you my craft room! I find I usually need to live in and use a room for a while, to determine how I use it most and what works best -- how about you? It's been 3 years since my last 2014 craft room tour in the rental house, so come on in and let's get started! My room is an upstairs bedroom with south-facing windows. I LOVE all the natural light I get in here all day and gazing out at the tree tops, filled with birds and squirrels! Fortunately, our lot and the one next to us out these windows (currently vacant) are heavily wooded, so no other houses have a view in. I was able to use most of my furniture from our last home and rental house, but my previous dark brown desk was 10 years... Read more →

Announcement & Year End Deal!

As the year winds down this week, I will have a few last projects of the year to share with you this week. While I'm still working on those, there's an announcement over on the Taylored Expressions blog today that I'm excited about: I'll be returning to the Taylored Expressions Blog Design Team in 2016! You can find the full announcement here, which includes two new additions to the team! I have SO enjoyed the last eight months on the team and am looking forward to 2016! And just in case you may be cleaning out and reorganizing your crafting space over the holidays (like me!), this sale just may help! These are the awesome ink pad/reinker/marker holders and Marker Nook I use in my studio, so I can personally attest to how well all of these holders are constructed out of wood, the quality and sturdiness. The sale runs until Monday, January 4 at midnight and includes 10% off all Stamp-n-Storage products (excluding the Roll-Top Desk). If you don't know where to begin with reorganizing your space, you may be interested in their Starter Kits. If you happen to already have their fantastic paper holders, you may be interested... Read more →

Happy Holidays!

With the official start of the holiday season today, I am celebrating over in the CLASSroom with this build-a-scene card and Taylored Expressions dies, combined with a beautiful Essentials by Ellen Mistletoe & Holly stamp set ... I hope you will join me there for all the details! I also wanted to mention these fantastic Black Friday sales starting today: Ellen Hutson LLC is thrilled to be celebrating their online store's 9th year! The celebration begins on TODAY (Fri, Nov 27) with special savings and will continue with inspiration and chances to win some fab prizes through December 12th as we host our annual 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist (my absolute favorite project of the year)! <== Click the graphic to begin saving! Here are your discount times and codes: EARLY BIRD SAVINGS: Shop early for best selection - the early bird does get the worm! For nine (9) hours beginning at 12:00am Friday, November 27th Pacific Standard Time (3:00am Eastern Standard Time), running through 9:00am PST, save 20% on every item currently in stock. At checkout please enter the following one time use coupon code to redeem your discount: early2015 ANNIVERSARY SAVINGS: If you are not... Read more →

Organization for Your Creative Space: Coloring Mediums

A full complement of coloring mediums includes a wide assortment of container shapes, sizes, and storage requirements. Today the My Favorite Things design team is sharing the ways we manage the mayhem of our coloring mediums with this installment of the Organization Challenge! (All bold products are linked below in the supply section). "Coloring Mediums" for me usually means only one thing ... my Copic markers! :) All my markers and their accessories sit right in front of me on my desk top, within easy reach, in these Color Cubbie towers (which, unfortunately are not being manufactured any longer). If you are looking for a similar storage solution, I would highly recommend the Marker Nook by Stamp-N-Storage. They are the makers of my ink pad and refill storage units (as seen in last month's organizational week blog post here), and I highly recommend their quality sturdy handmade wood products! Whenever I may need any more storage, the Marker Nook is what I'll be purchasing! The markers are stored by color families within each "cubbie". I LOVE the ease of being able to just toss them back into one spot -- not necessarily having one small hole for each marker to... Read more →

5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash: Ink

Are you ready for our final day in this week-long series to a better organized crafty stash?!! You can’t stamp without a collection of ink pads, but having a full spectrum of color options translates into storage issues ... today the My Favorite Things Design Team has ideas for you though! Keep clicking to see how the MFT team manages their stockpile of this stamping essential. The ink pad and refill storage system I lovingly refer to as The Wall 'O Ink (LOL!) I'm finally happy with (it's been an on-going struggle!) are the solid wood Distress Combo Holders from Stamp-N-Storage. They also have cubby holes to hold refill/reinker bottles and smaller cubby holes for coordinating markers. They come unpainted, so you can stain or paint them (or not!) as you'd like. I spray painted mine white. These are four of the 48-pad holders, stacked 2x2 and are sitting on a pair of teal (accent color for my studio) box shelves (found at Hobby Lobby). I wanted the ink pads to sit up off my desk, so the desk area in front of the ink pads could still be fully utilized. This area usually contains my stamp scrubber/cleaner and the... Read more →

5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash: Cardstock

From beautiful, brand new sheets, to pre-cut card bases, to the tiniest of scraps, a rainbow of card stock is a happy visual reminder of our love for all things paper. Today's My Favorite Things Design Team organizational challenge is Cardstock! I store my most-used cardstock within easy reach of my desk (on top of the desk hutch which is behind my stamping area), in white IKEA Kassett Magazine Files, by color families. These come in a 2-pack, are very affordable, and come in a variety of colors to match your space. Cardstock Color Family Categories: Pink-Red, Orange-Yellow, Green, BG(Blue Green)-Blue-Violet, Ivory/Cream, White, Neutrals Another great storage solution from Jennifer McGuire, I use these Job Ticket Holders to hold my cardstock. They easily hold an entire pack of 25 sheets of heavyweight cardstock and are nice and sturdy, to keep it protected. They make it very easy to pull the sheets out (and put them back), and it's easy to see how much you have left. Usually anything 1/4 of a sheet or larger goes back into these pockets. They also contain some pre-cut and scored card bases. Here again, I use my trusty Label Maker to label the holders... Read more →

5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash: Dies

Managing your collection of Die-namics can be daunting if you don’t have a system in place -- especially when the sets include multiple, often small, pieces. Today the My Favorite Things Design team is sharing their solutions for keeping their Die-namics collection in check! The storage bin I used for my dies is the same one I used for my clear stamps (<=Link to Stamp Storage post), the InterDesign Double Fridge Binz: The dividers I use here are the same kind I use for my stamp and stencil bins. They are white plastic and came from another type of stamp storage system I purchased several years ago. Unfortunately, they are no longer being made and I haven't been able to find them even on the secondary market or close-out stores. :( Alternately, you could cut down plastic report covers/pocket folders from any office supply store -- that's what I plan on doing when I need more! These are my Die Categories: 3D, Alphas-Numbers-Words, Animals, Backgrounds-Cover Plates, Banners, Blueprints, Borders-Edges, Centerpieces & Transformables, Circles, Doilies, Flowers, Frames-Labels, Holidays-Seasons, Laina Lamb, Nature-Fruit, Ovals, Rectangles, Squares, Shapes-Other, STAX-Tags-Flags I use the same Large and Small Storage Pockets from My Favorite Things that I... Read more →

5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash: Stencils

Thin, versatile, durable -- Stencils are all of that and more! If you haven’t amassed a collection of stencils yet, we’re confident that once you give them a try, you’ll become quickly addicted! Whether you use them as a mask for applying color or a texture medium, or run them through your die-cutting machine to add subtle texture (using the Embossing Pad Combo), you’ll never run out of creative uses for these supply staples. Today the My Favorite Thngs Design Team is sharing their storage solutions for stencils! I've changed my storage solution for stencils slightly since the MFT team shared their solutions back in September. You can find that original post HERE. When available, I still use the original retail packaging and just slice the top hanger portion off, as seen on the left in the photo below. This just makes the stencil quicker and easier to access -- I'm all about things being quick and easy to be put back in their place! Stencils for which I do not have the retail packaging, I've started using 6x6 scrapbook page protectors. Considered a top-loading protector, turn the protector so the opening is on the right or left (your preference)... Read more →

5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash: Stamps

This week the My Favorite Things Design Team will be focusing on getting different areas of your crafty stash organized! I'm looking forward to seeing all the different suggestions from the team this week as we focus on a different area each day, and we hope these solutions will inspire you to get organized as well. You know we couldn't have all this fun without there being something in it for YOU! There will be a different prize package offered each day -- just check the MFT Blog for all details on what you need to do in order to be eligible to win that day's prize package! You'll also find a list of all the designers participating in today's hop HERE on the MFT Blog. Today's area of organization is near and dear to every stamper's heart: Stamps! Knowing what you have goes a long way in allowing you to maximize your limited crafting time. Do you know what you have and where they are though? Today, the Design Team will share their systems with you! My clear stamp sets are stored in an InterDesign Double Fridge Binz clear plastic container (measures approximately 12" wide x 15" deep x... Read more →

Organization For Your Creative Space: Buttons & Ribbon

Welcome back to the second installation of this new monthly feature from the My Favorite Things Design Team! The focus will always be on organization but the area and type of organization will change each month. I'm really looking forward to gradually getting different areas of my studio more organized and efficient AND seeing all the different suggestions from the team! Buttons and Ribbon are tools of the trade when it comes to adding those finishing details to our projects and packages but they can quickly overwhelm us in volume and sheer number of color, shape, and size options. This month, the team is sharing how we manage our multitude of trimmings! My MFT Ribbon and Buttons are stored in this wall unit organizer. When I purchased it, it was the Making Memories Embellishment Center, which I believe is no longer being produced. Michaels started producing a very similar unit under their Jetmax brand, but I'm not positive it is still available, either. It is close to my desk, within easy reach. RIBBON My MFT Ribbon is stored in short Mason Jars with these great Cosmo Cricket Show Toppers Ribbon Display Lids: A few color families are stored together: Pink/Red,... Read more →

Organization For Your Creative Space: Stencils

Welcome to this new monthly feature from the My Favorite Things Design Team! The monthly focus will always be on organization but the area and type of organization will change each month. I'm really looking forward to gradually getting different areas of my studio more organized and efficient AND seeing all the different suggestions from the team! Thin, versatile, durable -- stencils are all of that and more! If you haven’t amassed a collection of stencils yet, we’re confident that once you give them a try, you’ll become quickly addicted! Whether you use them as a mask for applying color or a texture medium, or run them through your die-cutting machine to add subtle texture, you’ll never run out of creative uses for these supply staples. This month, the MFT team is sharing their storage solutions for stencils. I planned on having a video for you today but unfortunately, it seems the new iOS8 operating system doesn't like my iPad. :( So here we go with some photos! I have my stencils organized by category, in a white wooden storage box which sits on my die cutting station/table, so they are easy to access if I want to dry emboss... Read more →