Craft Room Organization Breakthrough!

This is a breakthrough.

I made a project and even cleaned up after myself! I think that means I might finally have a organization system that actually works. Who knew that baskets were the answer?!?

I know it’s crowded, but this is cleaner than normal!

I love my great new shelves I bought at Target. It took me a long time to find them in the store and I had almost given up, but I’m so glad I kept dragging my poor guy up and down all the aisles to look for them. These even lock in to stack!

Locking Shelves from Target

Shelves getting filled very quickly!

This cabinet used to have dividers that were made for shoes, but I used it for my tubes of beads. Then I realized I didn’t go over to get beads that much so I really shouldn’t use this prime real estate for something that I didn’t access much. I used to have bigger boxes stacked in here (you can see them in this post), which was nice since it’s hard to find space for larger boxes, but I got pretty lazy about lifting everything off to get one piece of ribbon (left alone putting new ribbon back!).

So now I have the boxes all separated and I can actually put scrap paper into the box instead of just sitting the paper on top of where it should be put eventually. So far so good.

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Pinspired Challenge #2

See! I said I had a productive weekend!

Today’s card is made for the new challenge blog Pinspired Challenges. They take an image from Pinterest and then you have to take some inspiration from it and use it however you desire. Here is the image for the second challenge.

Pinspired Challenge #2

I decided to pull out the colors, swirling lines, and hearts. I’m not really a heart person, so that was a challenge too!

My Take on Pinspired #2

I used the swirls from the Neat & Tangled set Little Tangles and the hearts and the sentiment are from the stamp set called I Like Your Style in the February card kit from Simon Says Stamp. The itty-bitty pearls are from CTMH. I really like how the card turned out and I was able to put together elements I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

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The Paper Girls and Raisin Boat

Wow, such a good weekend! It was nice getting so many cards made. The ones I will be sharing today were made for The Paper Girls and the Raisin Boat Challenges. The first 2 were created specifically for The Paper Girls Challenge 24: Wood Elements. I recently bought some Studio Calico wood embellishments for no good reason other than they were REALLY cute and lately I’ve been pretty addicted to typewriters. (Un)Luckily, a lot of companies are coming out with some amazing typewriter stamps, embellishments and die cuts.

Hello!

I used the great little Studio Calico typewriter & some of the new Basic Grey Fiction collection that I told myself I had to use after I was really naughty at JoAnns.

Day Dreaming

The Daydream sentiment is from that same pack of Studio Calico goodness and the card is based on one I saw in the new Paper Crafts challenges magazine. I was trying to use up some scraps I had and this was a really good project for that. I actually made another card with the sentiment “Dream Away” using 2 words from that same package.

 

The third card was made for the Raisin Boat Challenge #7: “Love is in the Air”. I knew I wanted to float something from the clouds and when I saw that there were little hearts in the new Close To My Heart wooden embellishment package I bought, I knew they would be perfect for both. The sentiment is from the embellishments for the Basic Grey Fact & Fiction line.

Love is in the Air

I drew a simple little border around it and tied it all up with a bow. Now I can take these cards and use them to send out the swap ATCs and Rolo I made!

 

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Paper Smooches Sparks Cool Shades Challenge

I got SO MUCH done at the crop I went to yesterday!

This is a real accomplishment for me. Often I mean to get a lot done, but it just doesn’t happen. Either I bring too much or not enough (post on my packing coming soon). This week I have been saving links for challenges to enter. I also had some swaps and that looming (but exciting) Sketchbook Challenge to work on. I really like all the cards I made, but this is definitely in the top!

I LOVE Paper Smooches stamps because I really enjoy paper piecing and their simple outlines work really well for that. I also find them to be cute without being too cutesy. The card I made for their current challenge at the Paper Smooches SPARKS uses one of their new sets that I really love called Nine Lives.

Meow!

Seriously. How cute is he?

I actually stamped out the ball of yarn, but then decided that really wasn’t enough for him so I used some baker’s twine from Doodlebug and made him something soft and fuzzy to play with. He’s SO happy now!

As I said, I got a lot done so look for more posts coming of other cards and swaps I made. 🙂

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Game Day!

I LOVE playing board games.

It started when I was little. Instead of going to a normal babysitter when my parents were working, mom dropped me off at my Great Aunt LaVonne’s (Wonnie’s) house. This was amazing. I would sleep a little more, watch some Pinwheel on Nickelodeon, and then we’d play. Sometimes, we would go to the library or the pool, but usually we would play games. There was an old metal cabinet in the basement that was full of games and I could go downstairs and pick out anything I wanted to play. We played Flinch, Milles Bornes, Triominoes, Cootie, and so many more! We’d laugh all day long. My Great Uncle Jack was pretty handy and he even made a giant cribbage board! It’s in the picture below next to the stack of games so you have some idea of just how big it is.

Uncle Jack’s Cribbage Board

Now there is a resurgence of game playing. I don’t know what is bringing them back, but I’m glad. Games are getting more involved (and more expensive), but the fun is the same. Now I’m playing Dominion, Trajan, London, Castle Panic, Notre Dame, and Risk Legacy.

 

This Saturday we’re having a game day and I can’t wait. We haven’t tried this before. I was playing games with friends the other day and realized we were never going to get to everything I wanted to play in the couple hours we had. I also realized that ALWAYS happens. So we decided we’d have people over and have a whole day of it. I don’t know how many games we’ll get to, but I know it will be fun and I have a big cabinet of games in the basement that Wonnie would be proud of.

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The Sketchbook Project

It’s Here!!!

I don’t call myself an Artist. And definitely not with a capitol “A”.

I also have never really had a sketchbook. I’ve jotted notes about jewelry designs, but that’s about it. Art journaling hasn’t been something that has interested me. (One of the very few things that hasn’t). So what the heck am I doing?

I’m not sure. But I’m really excited.

I just got my blank sketchbook in the mail for The Sketchbook Project. This is amazing. People all over the world get identical sketchbooks and then fill them, according to theme, with whatever they want. Sketchbooks are then sent back in and sent on tour around the country. After the tour, they are housed at the Brooklyn Art Library in New York. I signed up for the 1,703 Miles and Back Tour because it’s coming near me and I’m really excited to go and visit my sketchbook’s neighbors.

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