New Stamp Studio

This is the pride and joy of my new studio. I have always wanted a chandelier but the DH wasn't too thrilled to have one over the tub. I have now found the perfect place for it, right over my stamping desk.

As you can probably gather, I have taken on a Paris theme to my new space. Most of the items have been gifts to make it such a special room of love and kindness. The dress form was a gift to myself.

The room is very long. It is the bonus room up over the three car garage and measures 11' x 30'. It didn't take long before it started to feel small. The white cabinets were a great find on Craig's list including the island. I still need to patch a few nail and screw holes. I also want to add some more trim to fancy up the island.

It was difficult to use all the cabinets because the side walls were so short due to the angle of the ceiling. The guys who put up these side cabinets, called them my "Snookey" cabinets. They are rather low but I really like the extra storage. The table below them can be pulled out and raised if needed. I have my photo tent underneath the table and it sits on the floor. I just raise the skirt and it is all set up with the lights. One flip of a switch and all the lights are on. The table made a perfect place for my coffee maker and 100 calorie treats.

This is a close up of the island and my desk is just beyond it. I had the granite made a little longer on the end so that an extra friend would have a place to stamp.

This shelf was such a find. It was being thrown out at the hospital and since I now all of the maintenance guys, they were happy to load it into my car rather then the dumpster. A new coat of spray paint and I have a beautiful treasure for my favorite wood stamps.

This is where all of my wood stamp sets are stored. A majority of them are Stampin' Up but the others are categorized and stored in extra cases from Stampin' Up. Of course they are stored by category- sentiments, words, flowers, tags, holidays ect.

I put up a curtain and took down the closet door because the door opened in and it took up too much of my storage space. It isn't a very big closet but I was able to get two tall book cases in there as well as a shelf. It has a nice bright light so it is very easy to find things.

This is how I store some of my punches. The edge and matching corner punches are on the shelf along the other side of the room.

This cabinet is where all of my designer paper is. The single sheets are stored by color in the stand up paper holders. The packs of paper are stored by theme and manufacturer.

This cubicle unit is several of the three drawer units stacked on top of one another. The four larger square cubies underneath were another freebie from the hospital. There are two separate units that are on wheels. My paper racks were bolted on top of them and had been used in our ER for their history sheets. At first I was going to discard them but thought it would be nice to have the drawers up off the floor. My DH put a piece of wood across them so they would match the dimension of the drawers.

The four small square drawers are from another cubicle on the other side of the room. They don't actually fit nice and square in the unit, but they work. This is where I have all of my clear stamp sets. I can either finger through them or pull them out onto the island to find what I am looking for. My ribbons are on clothes pins in the candy jars above by color.

This is the area behind my desk. I have two of the Stampin' Up ink pad carousels and I love them. My miscellaneous pads are stored in the CD rack on the right and shelving unit on the left. This area is something I still would like to change. I want a white decorative shelf there but I'm not sure what to do with the misc. ink pads.

You can see my paper storage units underneath the cabinets. I have all of my embellishments in those cabinets and jars of buttons on top of the paper.

This is a view from my desk. It is a desk that I had in my old space and was built by my DH's grandfather. It needs a new coat of paint and I am planning on painting the yellow decorative pieces the same darker color of the room. I already have the new hardware that will really dress it up. I knew I didn't want my desk up against the wall. I wanted to be able to look out the window and skylights while I was working. I also wanted to be able to see the TV.

The rack that is attached to the back of the desk was a hand-me-down that my friend Carol no longer wanted. It is perfect storage for keeping things up off my desk. As you can see, I am hooked on Copics. The little rolling cart on the left side of the desk is just temporary right now until I figure out where to keep all my glues. I have my Ott Light over the desk for detail work. I still don't have everything in it's final resting place yet. I think I will have to work in the space for awhile until I can really know where everything needs to be.

 

My die cutting area is at the left end of the counter. This counter runs 19 feet along this side of the room. I wanted some things to be easily accessible so I decided to put it out on the counter. It still left me with workable areas along the length of the counter.


 

This is a view of the other side of the island. I have my paper cutters in the drawers and the lower cabinets are just a catch all right now. That is another area that needs attention when I know what I want to store in there. I love being able to get up from my desk and move around to the different stations I have created for cutting without having to walk clear across the room.


 

Further down the counter to the front of the room is where I store my Stampn' Up wheels, stickles and dollar stamps. The wheel storage is something my DH made me several years ago before he had his stroke. The spinning storage is from the storage line that Michael's carries. I purchased extra clips and I have the stamps grouped together by category. I find it so easy to find the stamp for that little area on a card that just needs a little something extra. I do have the black one that Hobby Lobby caries but it only has one ring. It does spin so much smoother so I am trying to decide where and what I want to hang on that one.



Next is my Cricut area. This was a limited edition Cricut from a few years ago. My son snagged one for me for Christmas on a Black Friday from WalMart. I have all of my cartridges in the drawer underneath. There are plenty of storage cubes around this area as well as speciality paper storage underneath.




This is my sewing area that was created from the counter top that originally came on the island. In order to use the deep upper cabinets we had to brace them up even though they are bolted to the wall. My DH knows me well and he said there is no way I was going to be able to keep from packing those cabinets full. The table leg on the counter doesn't seem to get in my way at all. I find it rather cozy when I work there. I was able to find a lamp shade that had French words on it and I added some trim for elegance. We still have some trim work that has to finish off the underside for aesthetic reasons. The pantry unit on the left side of the desk was something that I really wanted to use but had almost given up hope in finding a place for it. Due to the height and the limitations I had with the side walls, there weren't many places I was going to be able to put it. This is what I ended coming up with.

I guess the hardest part was having the cabinets and then trying to layout the room so that I utilized most of them. There was still a 30'' and 18'' upper cabinet that I wasn't able to work into the plan, so they will be used in the garage.

It is still a work in progress but I am really enjoying it and I realize just how fortunate I am to have such a place. If you have any questions or suggestions please share them with me.

~Have fun and enjoy!

A bit of Winter

I thought this card would be appropriate today because it looks like our snow might be here to stay. Mind you it is only an inch or two, but it is mid January and I live in Michigan. I just hope Mother Nature isn't planning on delivering it all in March. That would certainly make for a very long winter, and I'm not a winter person. I know, then what in the heck am I doing in Michigan. I ask myself that a lot.

I made this card back in November when I got my Grand Calibur. It is made using the second to the largest Label 4 and then folded in half. I chose navy card stock for the base since the tree is a pale blue. I know it looks black in the picture. I certainly am going to have to invest in some new lights for my photo tent. I used the next smaller die and cut it half before I ran it through the Cuttlebug with a Sizzix embossing folder. The tree is actually one of the "Dress It Up" buttons with the shank cut off. I do not own the scallop oval die that it sits in but it is one of the navy blue ones and I think it might be from Marianne. I also use a MS edge punch for the doily band across the front. The picture below shows a better image of how I raised the tree to give it dimension. I absolutely love this shape for a card. I think it gives a touch of elegance even before it gets decorated.

I am sure everyone is waiting for CHA to arrive. It always means a bunch of new goodies goes out on the market for us to agonize over what to buy first. I must say, I have been very good on the shopping. Seeing exactly what I have after moving my studio and the cost of my new room, I find myself saying "I really don't need that". I almost feel a bit guilty having such a lavish room all to myself, but then I remember the phrase; "When mama is happy- everyone is happy". Here's to a happy weekend.

~Have fun and enjoy!

Kindness Matters

Wow, I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted. I honestly have only been on the computer a half dozen times since then and that was to do some Christmas ordering. I kinda got lost with Christmas decorating and my new stamp studio. The kids were home for Christmas and as I had mentioned before, the timing of the new studio was not ideal. I did manage to get 95% of my things moved in. It was enough that I could set up the spare bedroom in my old place so the kids had somewhere to sleep. Moving Elliot's things out of the loft that is now my studio was a bit easier than I thought it was going to be. I still need to do some repainting and decorating in the new spare bedroom but that can wait. The walk in closet in the new spare bedroom still has that 5% of my things nicely stored. I can now just walk it up to the studio and put it in it's place- as soon as I find out where that would be.

I promise to post some pictures of the new studio as soon as the chandelier is hung. Yes, you read that right, a chandelier. I have always wanted a crystal chandelier hanging over our tub, but the DH thought that was a bit ridiculous, especially since there wasn't an outlet already there and we hardly ever use the tub. I saw this as a perfect opportunity to have my crystal since this was my dream craft room and my daughter gave me money for Christmas just for the cause. It arrives today and hopefully will be up by next weekend. I think it is going to take me a few hours just to put all the crystals on it in the right place. I am hanging it right over my desk so I get a perfect view every time. I was fortunate enough that after the desk and island were placed, there was a can light right up over my desk- a perfect spot.

Today's card reminds us that it is just the little things that can make a difference in someones life. Kindness is certainly something this world could use more of. It may be a simple as a smile, a thank you, holding the door for someone or just letting someone know you care. It really is the little things that can have the biggest impact. I used SU Cherry Cobbler and Kraft card stock. The embossing folder was one of the new Sizzix's and the green tag was created with a mini embossing folder from Stampin' Up. The sentiment was also from SU. I decided to keep my computer down in the spare bedroom and all of my supplies are upstairs now. It was a bit easier when I needed to know the details of my card when I was posting and everything was right in the same room. Oh well, if anyone wants to know the stamp set it came from I can reply back to you.

I hope you all are having a wonderful New Year. I am hoping that things start to slow down and I can sit and enjoy my new space.

~Have fun and enjoy!

A quick Christmas card before I head back to the tasks of my new stamp studio. It certainly isn't moving along fast enough for me, but I have had way too many holiday obligations to focus on the project. If I had been smart, I wouldn't have started this project until January. Oh well, I am up to my eyeballs in it and there is no going back now.

This Christmas card is all Stampin' Up. The image is from the set Christmas Lodge which is in the holiday mini catalog until January 3rd. I also used the top note die and the petals a plenty embossing folder. If you click on the picture you can see that I added some glitter to the roof top to look like snow and add that needed bling. Looking at it now, I guess this is a very patriotic Christmas card and not your typical Christmas colors. Every now and then we need to spice things up to keep it from getting boring. I try to force myself out of my comfort zone every now and then for creative growth. Talking about creativity, make sure you catch Tim Holtz's 12 tags of Christmas on his blog. His videos are awesome and very detailed. He has a new tag every day that he creates the night before. Talk about pressure.

I hope you all are having a much more calming and relaxing week than I am having. I swear next year is going to be different and I will have my Christmas cards made in November and no major projects for December other than the ritual Christmas trimmings. On second thought don't go betting money on that, I am know I am a glutten for punishment any time of year and I would hate to be responsible for your financial losses.

~Take care and enjoy!

Not a Thanksgiving card

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I know this is a day that we look back and give thanks for all that is good in our life. I am no different than the rest and I have a lot to be thankful for, but I also spend a few moments reflecting back on the things that aren't so good and I remember the lesson that was learned from them. Sometimes it wasn't anything that I had control over and it was just life playing out in front of me. Still there is something I can learn from it, may it be tolerance or just acceptance. I think it helps me to be a better person when I get reality handed to me on a platter. Although I would much rather some turkey and stuffing on that platter.

Today's card was created based on the cutout window. It isn't a Thanksgiving card I had this left over from a piece of scrap paper that I cut a tag out of. Before I tossed it out I noticed how centered the cutout was. Yes my friends, I saved it for future use. The embossing was done using a Paper Studios Flourish Journal embossing folder. These are very inexpensive from Hobby Lobby and they often are 40% off. The stamped image is from a Prima cling mounted set. I has three adorable old fashioned girls in it. If course I added some bling and a nice Prima rosette that I brushed some gold on the edges.




I am cooking the big meal today but it is going to be a challenge not to divulge too much into it. I am up to a total weight loss of 50lbs. with a few more to go. I started this journey last March and I would like to be at my goal by this March. I never felt that it was really hard especially in the beginning. I guess when you set your mind to it, it becomes a part of your life. When I started changing my diet and walking, the weight just fell off. Now it is getting tougher. I only see little changes which is ok. I will still have a little bit of everything, just is smaller portions. I know I could loose it more quickly if I really buckled down but I don't want to be craving certain foods. I want this to be a lifestyle change. So far so good!

The big move is happening this weekend. My new stamp studio is painted and we are starting to move the cabinets and counter tops up. I am exhausted just thinking about moving all the items from my current room. I get up every morning just hoping those elves have done it all for me. No such luck, I guess they must be busy with other things for Santa.

~Have fun and enjoy!

Paris has always been a dream of mine. I don't know why but maybe it has something to do with two years of French class in high school. I can remember thinking that there must be some good reason I was sitting there trying to learn a language that was darn near killing me. Oh well, if nothing else it was good for my soul.

The designer paper is from My Mind's Eye the Lost & Found collection. I love the 6x6 pads because they are a perfect size for a card without all the waste. The images are much smaller so they also fit better. The Eiffel Tower and the J'adore are already printed on the paper as it the book print and pink swirls. The font is from the SU set Fabulous Phrases and I stamped it onto one of the tags from Four Frames. I then punched it out with the Decorative Label punch. The trick for the brown layer behind it is to punch out another tag with the Decorative Label punch and then cut it right down the middle from top to bottom. Move the ends out until they make a nice looking layer along the side and glue them down. Easy Peasy! A few mini Prima flowers, some rhinestone swirls and seam binding pulled it altogether.

Taking a trip to Paris is out of the question anyway right now with the renovation of my new stamp room. If I had to make the choice between what to spend the money on, it would be a no-brainer. A new stamp room would win hands down and I can stay there forever. I can always visit Paris in my own little mind and the trip could be as fantastic as I wanted it to be.

~Have fun and enjoy!

New prospects

Sorry for being absent lately. I am in the process of creating a new stamp studio and it has all of my attention. I am taking over the loft of the three car garage which is 30' x 12'. I am one lucky girl. It was my son Elliot's room or should I say mini apartment. I had planned on moving up there after he finished college and got his own place but it is hardly ever used now. I was joking with him one day and said he didn't have to worry about coming home one weekend and find I had booted him out of his room. His answer shocked me and sent me right into overdrive. He said it was fine if I moved his things into the old stamping room since he isn't here. Last year he stayed the summer at school and worked over there. I should have been quite content with the room I had. It even had a full bathroom and walk-in closet, but there wasn't any room to put tables so my friends could come over and stamp. See, I am thinking of them and not myself (Ha Ha).

Sherman Williams has a 40% off sale this weekend so I bought the paint last night after days of trying to decide what color. Today I am going to a cabinet store to look at cabinets. I am still looking at one on Craigs list but the measurements aren't exactly what I wanted. All of a sudden things are moving along- a lot quicker than I was expecting.

But onto what this blog is supposed to be about. Today's card is rather simple and it uses all Stampin' Up products. I stamped the large Medallion and then embossed with the Framed Tulips embossing folder. The bird is from the Notably Ornate set and the Birthday sentiment is from Perfect Punches. The little friend tag is from Tiny Tags. The Pear Pizzazz seam binding was just looped and glued and of course some pearls for my bling.

I would love to hear from anyone as to how they store their supplies. I am not sure if I want larger cabinets or if more narrower ones would work better. I have some storage items from my current room that I still want to use so I was planning on only having 16 to 20 feet of running cabinets along one wall and an island in the center. I still will have some time to decide that. I have three narrow 5' tables that I want to use along the other wall that will be right behind my stamping desk. I want to be able to turn around and have easy access to things and my desk be completely clear except for a few items that will fit in a rotating tool caddy. The front of the room will still be a sitting area with a couch and love seat that I am saving for Elliot for his first apartment. He had this in his room but I wouldn't let him take it to college because it was new and I figured it would get trashed with the college life. This way he leaves he will at least have some decent furniture without having to spend any money. Who am I kidding, it would be more like my money.


~Have fun and enjoy!