A good snow day activity

I've been scrappin' like crazy these last few weeks and loving it!  But to my horror last week I found myself without any adhesive in the middle of the biggest snow storm we've had in years!  So what's a girl to do?  I decided to straighten out my scrapbook room.  :-)  Here are a few before and after pictures I thought you would enjoy seeing. 

Before

In order to make room for my Christmas tree I have to move furniture upstairs to my sb room.  Last week the tree finally came down enabling me to move the chair and the lamp back to the living room. 

After

With the floor clean I am now able to access my CIU.  I still need to put the stamps back on the tree and begin to tear out LOs from the stack of magazines near the front entrance. 

Desk before

Desk after

My main scrapbooking desk today

This is were I do most of my work so I expect a little

'creative mess'.  :-)

The closet today 

I spent time cleaning up, picking up but did not organize the stash.  Over the course of the next few weeks I will tackle those boxes a little at a time.  A few of the boxes belong to DH so that is an easy fix. 

Of course it hasn't been all work.  I promise to share a few new layouts with you over the course of the next few days.  Until then . . .

thanks for stopping by.


Yoli

Closet -- before and after

Before 

After

I am still re-organizing and purging but I'm amazed at how much space I've gained in the room.  After I'm done organizing the closet I'll then focus my attention on making it pretty.   Not sure how . . . but I'm sure I'll think of something.  :-)  Stay tuned!

As always, thanks for stopping by . . .

Yoli

Scrapbook closet

The desk and shelves have been installed . . . the paint is drying . . . now for the fun part . . . organizing the scrapbook closet.  I still need to add a protective glaze to the desk, thus the green frog tape, and spray paint the closet rack black to match the desktop colors.

As I put the finishing touches to the closet I'm rethinking my original design for this space.  The Scrap Rack will still be placed on the left side of the desk on a rolling rack for easy access.  However, in order to maximize the usable space underneath the desk I pushed the metal shelf to the end of the closet as pictured below.  I'm not crazy about its current location so I'm working on a different design.  

Right now I'm not sure how I am going to organize the closet.  I do know one thing . . . it is time to purge . . . starting with those plastic drawers pictured below on the right side.  I don't even remember what is in there anymore.  Shame!

In the meantime, I was able to carve just enough space in the craft room to help my 7 yr old son with his Cub Scout project.  He is participating in his first pinewood derby race this evening.  He used the Indie Art Cricut cartridge to create the flame and the skull for the car.

Wish me luck this weekend as I re-design the closet space and begin a major purge.  Hope you have a good weekend. 

As always, thanks for stopping by . . .

Yoli

Can't see what's inside the drawers? Part II

A few weeks ago I shared an idea with you that allows you to store your goodies in a drawer while 'seeing' what's inside.  For that post please click here.  The very talented Rachelle had the same idea but has taken it to a whole new level.  Using various techniques from TH's book Compendium of Curiosities Rachelle has turned an old seed drawer into this beautiful little treasure chest for some of her embellishments.  Check it out.

Before




Now


Drawers upclose

 
As you can see from the current photo Rachelle has one more drawer to finish.  I don't know about you . . . but I can't wait to see how she alters that last drawer.  In the meantime, be sure to stop by and visit Rachelle's blog.  She is a super talented lady.

As always, thanks for stopping by . . .

Yoli
ps/Tim Holtz is on HSN today.  Just saying :-)

Storing memorabilia

I have gotten rather lazy lately when it comes organizing my memorabilia.  Rather putting it in the file drawer I was stuffing it into the desk organizer.  Bad scrapper!  :-(  So this past weekend I spent some time organizing my memorabilia.  The first thing I had to do was clean out the desktop organizer.  In my eagerness to get this task done I forgot to take a 'before' pic.  :-( You will have to trust me when I say it was overflowing with stuff!  Nonetheless here is the after photo.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Once the memorabilia was removed from the desktop organizer I began to file the memorabilia in large Ziploc bags. 

I originally used the label on the Ziploc to identify its contents.  But this time I added a little tab on the right side corner for easy reference.  The bags are then organized in chronological order. 

  

I am using this file drawer to organize the memorabilia.  The file drawer came with a kit I order from QVC many moons ago. 

For easy access I keep the Ziploc bags in one of the drawers.  Hopefully this will encourage me to keep organize the memorabilia and not fall back into my old habits.  :-(  

I hope you find this information useful.  Have a fabulous weekend and Happy St. Patty's Day!

As always, thanks for stopping by . . .


Yoli

Storing our markers/pens/pencils

As you may remember, I am hosting several organizational challenges over at the Scrapbook Room Yahoo group.  This month we are talking about storing and organizing our markers and pens. 

Organizational
According to the folks over at Scrapjazz, "pens have specific storage requirements if you wish to maintain them optimally."  Here are some of their suggestions: 

• Horizontally.  Markers/pens that should be stored horizontally: marker-style pens, pens with writing tips on both ends, metallic pens or any pens that require that you shake it before using it.  Storing these markers/pens horizontally will keep the ink from 'pooling'.
• Vertical.  Ink pens such as gel pens, Zig Writers and similar pens should always be stored so that they are vertical, with the writing end down, cap on.
• Pencils can be stored vertically or horizontally. If they are stored vertically, place them in the storage container with the sharpened ends up. This way, you have less chance of the sharpened tip breaking off, requiring additional sharpening before use.

Storage
How you choose to store the markers naturally depends on available space, use of the item and personal taste.  If, for example, you attend crops your storage choice may prioritize mobility.  If you are like me, then I want a storage solution that is both cute and practical.  LOL.  So allow me to present to you a few samples of how other crafters store their markers/pens/pencils.  I finish this post with my all time favorite idea for storing pens/markers/pens.  It will blow your mind!

Cans/containers



Photo courtesy of Superally at Scrapbook.com



Photo courtesy of Christie

 

Photo courtesy of Patter Cross

Caddy


Photo courtesy of Cheryl Horton



 Modular Units


Photo courtesy of TimelyTeaCup over at Scrapbook.com

  Shelves

Photo courtesy of Leigh O'Brien

Racks



Photo courtesy of Angelina

French drain????

My all time favorite idea came from Karen over at Sew Many Ways.  She used French drain pipes to create this beauty.  Imagine all the cool stuff you can store in these babies.  Ohhh . . . my head is spinning from all the possibilities!

Here are a few more cool ideas. 
Recycle crafts
Sunflower Studio
Crafty Storage
Harriets
Kaiser Craft

Thank you ladies for sticking with me throughout this very long post.  I hope this information was useful to you.

As always, thanks for stopping by . . .


Yoli

Ink pad caddy

The other day my friend Alessandra called me to tell me she found not one . . . but 4 rotating cassette tape holders at Goodwill. She emailed me a picture and asked if I wanted her to buy them for me. At an average price of $3 a piece I could not pass up this deal. Major score!

Excited to put one of these babies to work I've temporarily set a caddy on my desk.  Until I move that Scrap Rack into the closet I'm not going to be able to set up my Inky Station.  So in the meantime the caddy is allowing me easy access to ink pads that were once stored in a shoe box in the closet. 

The slots on the caddies are not always evenly spaced which leads me to believe these may have been custom made.  On one side of the caddy I am able to store my SU, CTMH and Adirondack ink pads but not the StazOn pads which are slightly bulkier. However these same pads fit nicely in the slots on the back of the same caddy. I'm not complaining though. The largest caddy fits 48 ink pads . . . multiplied by 4 . . . that's 192 slots for ink pads . . . that's more slots than I have ink pads.  And that my friend is a good problem to have.  :-)  Thank you Alessandra for finding this treasure. 

As always, thanks for stopping by . . .

Yoli

15 Minute Friday

Once again I have allowed my magazine subscriptions to get out of hand.  So now I'm in the process of ripping out layout ideas from each of the magazines.  

I am using the 15 minute principle to get this project done.  Whenever . . . wherever I can steal a few minutes you will find me with a magazine in hand ripping pages.  For example, if I'm watching a television show with my little one I grab a magazine.  While I watch him play in the tub I'm also ripping out LO/sketch ideas from the magazine.  Heck the other day I took 2 magazines with me to the park.  So while DS played with his little friends I kept one eye on them and the other eye on the magazine.  LOL. 

Once I've selected the LOs/sketches I want to keep I then place them in a page protector and organize the page in one of the 3 ring binders pictured below.  You may find more information about the binders here and here.

As a way of saving precious real estate on my bookshelf I am considering altering a wall mounted file holder like the one pictured below.  Besides, the less space I have to save magazines the less likely I am to hoard them.  :-)

Photo courtesy of RSH catalog

As always, thanks for stopping by . .  . 

Yoli


Can't see what's inside the drawers? No problem . . .

Although I'm technically suppose to be organizing my Inky Station, inspiration struck me so I decided to finish this project first.  This is not my original idea but I thought it was a practical and beautiful way of labeling my Ikea CD holder.  So although I cannot physically see inside the drawers, thanks to my new little labels I now know exactly the treasures it holds inside.

I started with an Ikea CD holder and a 3x3" metal frame. Unfortunately I only had one metal frame. So I made a 2nd frame from black cardstock.  I used the metal frame as my template.  Can you tell which is which?  The frame on the left is made of metal. 

I then removed the label from the CD case. You'll need to exercise your muscles a little to get it off.

I then photographed the contents, printed and cropped the photo.  Afterwards, I simply adhered the paper frame and photo to the drawer with double sided sticky tape.  This way if the contents change I can easily change out the label.  I've also kept a template of the frame for future use. 

Love the drawers and the label but as I look it at it now I think to myself . . . "should have painted them first".  A little backwards I know . . . oh well.  But I think the drawers would love even nicer when I paint them in the slate blue color that accents the room.  When I finish phase II of this project I promise to post an updated photo.
 
In the meantime, thanks for stopping by . . .

Yoli