The Story of our Life

Decrapification 2011 - My Scrapbook Room (photo heavy)

I've spend the last weekend decrap-ifying my scrapbook room. I am having a scrappy-garage sale here at my house in a few weeks and needed to get things pulled out and cleaned out. Before we began, you can see where I purchased/came up with  the basic elements of my room. Lookie here, but then come back to see my cleaned up space! :)

Here is a collage of what I started with.

 
One word, people: CHAOS. Nothing is really where it is supposed to be. Papers piled up. Things just*there* and not in a real spot. So I began clearing out! I sorted things into piles (trash, garage sale, keep, other rooms) and began sorting. And sorting.

And this is what I have now.

 

 

Let me walk you through my room....starting with the wall next to the bookshelf. You can't really see it any of the photos. Its a short wall because the door going to the rest of my home is on it.

 

Perpendicular to the 'creative' wall, is the bookshelf where I keep my buttons, ribbon, extra embellishments, sewing machine, alphabets, and books. Thats a ton of 'stuff' for one bookshelf, so my goal was to hide what I could, and make it look as pretty as possible.

 
This pottery-barn knockoff basket is on the top of the bookcase. In it is my ribbon, just tossed in. For me, the 'dig' is the best part of finding the right ribbon.

 

On the next shelf down is my Ball Mason jars, with my buttons sorted in general color families. Oh, and I have a jar for my thread. Then I use Milk Glass jars and bowls to hold pens, and odd and ends.

 This next shelf just holds things I like :).

 In this vintage bread box I keep embellishments, sorted by brand, that do not go in any current Studio Calico kit that I am working with. The black baskets holds alphabets, sorted by brand, then by color.

 
 
(close up of embellishment storage and alphabets)

My sewing machine shelf that also serves as a place for extra vintage books.

 The bottom shelf holds photo boxes, magazines and my photography binder.

Are you still with me?? I promise the rest of the room is quicker to view :) Next up is my workspace. You can follow the link at the top of this post to see my worktable, which is countertop. I had a problem of how to store all of my studio calico kits.

 

The wall above my countertop is a photo gallery, so I couldn't really go upward with my storage. So instead, I went UNDERNEATH my countertop, and added a shelf the full length of my counter. The shelf itself is deep enough to hold my kits, but not so deep that my legs are cramped. In fact, the shelf in never in my way! Perfect solution, yes?! Here is what it looks like.

 

 Its kinda hard to see my shelf in this photo, but its painted black. I store my cardstock in the 3-drawer unit (a drawer for specialty paper, a drawer for nuetrals, and a drawer for color). Next to it, I keep 4 plastic boxes for my Studio Calico kits. I add a removeable label on the outside of the boxes, with the kit name and date. Inside the box, I keep cardstock on bottom, then pattern paper, then embellishments. Here is the what the inside of the kit boxes look like:

 

  

On the floor, underneath my shelf, I have a vintage inspired wire basket, that has two clear boxes inside of it. In one box I have pattern paper scraps, and the other holds cardstock scraps. Again, the wire basket just pushes up again the wall, out of my way.

Since my workspace is an 'L' shape, the under-countertop storage makes an L also. This side of my under-counter storage holds vintage lockers holding extra chipboard letters, vintage embellishments, and my border punches I also store my stamp binder and paper trimmers on this side. Lots of room to add me, too! Something to notice is that I have used a kraft circle (punched out of scrap paper) and clip it on the outside of my baskets,labeled with whats inside. I used a mini-bullnose clip to hold it on.

 

Now, moving back up to my countertop, you will see I have a metal basket with adheasive and bling. I keep both in arms reach next to my IPOD docking station and candy :).

Right above that, I keep a vintage metal bucket with my nicer, fancier ribbons and trims in it.

 

Moving along the top of my L counter (on the wall), I store my punches on curtain rods. No real rhyme or reason as to how they are put on the rod...they're just up there! Above the punches is a shelf where I keep fun things to look at.

 Moving along the same wall, I have an inpirational memo board that my wonderful hubby and dad made me. It is made out of wood trim and chicken wire. (Fun fact about me: I used to raise chickens in FFA for the Houston Livestock Show). The inspiration board is in the corner, and an exterior door going to out hottub in right next to it.

 
Now, for the final wall! Its the one with the door on it.

This wall is a short wall, so I've resorted to using old coke crates for storage. In the one on the left, I keep my mists, Mr. Hueys, and paint daubers. Also, I have larger stamps in there as well. The middle black shelf was made by my dad, and stores my wooden stamps. The coke crate on the rights holds my glitter and stamp pads. The cabinet undereath it all was purchased for my from my husband. LOVE IT. Inside of the cabinet, I store extra glue, chipboard shapes, cards - things are stored by type.

 

On the top I use Milk Glass containers to hold twine, pins, floss and little letters. My hatpins are all stuck into a cork and then put in the jar. Here's a close up:

Well, that does it. You've seen my room in all of her glory! I bet you're wondering what I have gotten rid of. Yeah, well, here are photos of that!

And one last view of my room:

 
 

Now, for the fun part! When I cleaned out, I found Studio Calico stamps, a Martha Steward All Around Punch (the circle one) and lots of Studio Calico exclusive papers. Leave a comment with your name and email address  and I will send you a priority box full of SC Goodies (with other brand name good stuff!). I will draw a winner on Friday!

xxoo,
M

 
 

 

 

Crafty Storage

Hey lovies! I just found out (thanks for the heads-up Carly!) that my room was featured on Crafty Storage - a blog for scrappers that need help with storage ideas. This is my second time to be featured on the site & I am super excited!

xxoo,

M

Use’n what your momma gave ya (yes, scrapbook storage!)

I have forever been a fan of the idea of using what you have for storage, and making use of old things. In fact, in many cases, I love old stuff way more than new. I used the idea of using old when reorganizing my scrap space.

Welcome to my space! Ah! I wish! This amazing scrapbook room belongs to Sara. My room is much smaller…as in, no larger than 8’ x 8’. Yep its small, and I am really liking it that way. You see, I am a hoarder (ok, not like ‘hoarder’ on the tv series), but I. love. pretties. Pretty paper, pretty ribbon, pretty anything. But with a small room, I have to get rid of stuff or I would never be able to create.

Anyway, back to my room.

Here are the basics: it is about 8’x8’. Its right off my laundry room, and also have an exterior door that goes to a patio. There are no windows…and very limited natural light if I have the door shut.  Also, I am cheap. Really, I am. I hate paying full price when I don't have to. Almost all of the furniture and organization in my room was either found at a garage sale, bought on clearance, or given to me by family. I have used small, white circle office tags (hung on with twine) to label most baskets, tins, and boxes so others can find things in my space.  As I describe my room, I will try to tell you where I found the organizational pieces that I use.

This is an overview of it, from standing in the doorway (that goes to the laundry room). The floors are stained concrete - this is perfect. I don't worry about making a mess or spilling anything. Just mop it and go! My countertops are from Lowes, in the clearance section. Alex made the whole countertop (the laminate and legs) for $60.00. Can't beat that. The wall shelves are from Hobby Lobby (bought at half price), and my chair is an old chair I recovered to match my room. My walls are painted with paint that was on clearance at Lowes as well (2 gallons @ $5 each).

This is the left side of my room. In this photo, I am standing in the exterior doorway (to help you picture where I am!).

This is the top of my bookshelf. I got the bookshelf from Walmart, and it was cheap-o, but it works great! On the top of the bookcase, I store scrapbook supplies in old, vintage suitcases and traincases. I found the large suitcase at an antique store here in Amarillo called Alley Katz. In fact, all three cases came from there, and I spent a total of $15 for all three. The wire locker basket is from there as well, and it was $7, and was already spray painted. I bought three of these baskets over the course of a couple months and love them!

The top, smaller traincase stores my Distress Inks. Works perfectly!   I don’t use these inks near as much as I would like, so I love that they are out of the way but ready for me when I need them!

The metal yellow breadbox is where I store alphabets. I store them by manufacturer and this system works great for me (though I am playing with the idea of organizing them by color). Again, these are out of the way until I need them ---- and usually I just use the alphabets that come in my studio calico kits. Should the need arise though, I am ready with a whole bread box full of alphabet stickers! LOL

The large faux black alligator suitcase is where my pattern paper scraps are thrown in. No, I don’t organize them in any particular way --- I would rather dig through the scraps and see what catches my eye. This method probably isn’t for everyone, but it works for me!

I also store my acrylic stamps, clear mounts, and ink removing stuff in this basket on the top shelf. My stamps are stored into those plastic thingys from Making Memories.

The top shelf on my bookcase is for ribbon storage and candy! I store my ribbon by color families, and my candy by type. The ribbon jars are from Hobby Lobby for a couple bucks each, and the tall candy jars are from a garage sale for a quarter a piece. Score!The second shelf holds all my lovies….a Minnie Mouse from Walt Disney World, a trip of ladybugs my dad made me, a weenie dog from my sister Laurie, and a floral frog that I use to hold a photo of John and Marcy. This shelf changes all the time, and I rotate things that I am currently loving.

   

The third shelf holds my vintage metal containers. The bottom is another old breadbox that I love. I love it even more that I got it for $5 at antique store down on 6th Street here in Amarillo. I hold my embellishments (the kind that are in flat packaging) in it, and use old cardboard cut into dividers to divide it all by brands.  The smaller metal box ….yeah, don’t know what that was originally, but it was a score as well for $3 at the same store. I use this box to store all my glues. The little book on top is a Goodwill find, and I tear pages out it when I need some old paper for projects.

The bottom shelves of my bookcase house my sewing machine, magazine, and buckets for punches and bulky chipboard alphabets.

Moving on, now, to my desk.

This is the left side of my desk. My desk is in a ‘L’ shape. I have used storage up the wall, as well as below my desk. The quote on the wall is from Die Cuts With A View, and the artwork is Kelly Rae Roberts.

 

This old tool box is something I set on the corner of my desk, and keep bills in. I also keep any coupons, stamps, envelopes – really anything to pay bills with- in it.

Got this gem off ebay for a mere $5 and I think its worth every penny!

Beside the toolbox, I have an old wooden ruler that I use for a photo holder of the hubs and I.

 

This is underneath the left side of my desk. Alex has added wire shelving (probably for somewhere, like a garage). It works great for me because I have been able to add small baskets to store less used items. On the top shelf is a canvas basket (from Walmart)…in it is paint. The metal bucket is from Target from the Dollar section. It is empty right now,but I plan on using it for putting small scraps in while I scrap. The second shelf is another canvas basket (from Target) that holds my Cricut cartridges, and the bottom holds my paper trimmer.

The second wire shelf unit holds my cuttlebug dies and machine on the top shelf, and on the bottom is an old milk crate (free, from Alex’s dad)  and a couple of packages of chipboard sheets and sheets of felt.

This is a close up of my paper storage. I stored them by brand, and then use whole sheets of chipboard to divide the sections. The star is used to keep my paper from bending…I found it at Hobby Lobby, and then spray painted it to match my room.

This is the corner of my desk. My Ipod lives here, as well as a milk glass bowl that I store glues I use a lot. Along the wall, I have black shelves that I have placed old blue jars on. I. LOVE. these. I store buttons, sorted by color family. The big jar holds my thread. The black board is a magnetic board that I put little notes on. I made the magnets by glueing Jenno Bowlin buttons, random chipboard, and other little things to small round magnets. Works perfectly!

Here is the right side of my desk. I have a small antique muffin tin that holds loose needles, brads, and anything that I might be using on a page. I have added another black shelf to hold my family pictures, and them added curtain rods to hold all of my smaller punches.

Alex made me this inspiration board out of chicken wire and some trim. This is probably the best inspiration board that I have ever had. I can use clothes pins to hold things on, and could even just tuck in small pieces of paper without needing thumb tacks. You can see my door to the outside patio in this photo. Made the valence myself :).

I have another 2 wire racks underneath the right side of my desk for storage. On one I have plastic cases storing my cardstock (colors in one, neutrals in another), and then I have embellishments for each season in their own case. I don’t use a ton of ‘themed’ embellishments, so this works for me. On the other wire shelving, I have layouts that are finished resting on the top shelf, photo storage on the second shelf, and my big cricut on the bottom shelf, safely stored out of the way.

This is the back corner (the back door is on one side, with a door going into my laundry room on the other side). I didn’t get a better, closer photo, but there is a metal bucket on the wall that I use to hold all my ‘fancy’ ribbons that I don’t want all in a knot. I just drape the ends over the side, ready to be pulled out and used.

On the floor, I keep a metal basket that I found at a huge flea market with my sister Laurie. I keep six months worth of Studio Calico kits in it, until I have used up most of their contents. Then I break the kit up, and store the paper with my papers, embellies with embellies…you get the picture.

My dad made me this stamp shelf with scrap lumber and left over paint. I love this shelf…it have moved from house to house with me – always making the ‘cut’ when I reorganize.

  

This cabinet was a garage sale find, and it only cost me $5 bucks.Best investment I ever made. In each of these drawers, I store themed embellishments (boy,bling, vacation, that sort). I also have drawers for tools, flowers,…and a bunch of stuff but it is all stored by categories. On the top of my cabinet, I have a collection of white milk glass that I have found over the years.

I store my mists (I don’t have that many), twine, pins…really just small things that I like to use on my layouts. Having them all out helps me find them easy, and they are easy to put away. I love that the items I store give my room some added color as well.

AND FINALLY, we are back to where we started. This wall connects to the bookcase. I have added a curtain rod from Wally World to showcase finished layouts. I just clip them up, and can remove them without damaging the paper. The quote is a favorite from Once Upon A Design. It was super inexpensive. The turqouise shelf is one I found at a craft fair for $20. The top holds a silver tray that I put ‘lost’ things of the boys I find (i.e., marbles, legos, you name it!) and the manequin is a garage sale find as well.

The second shelf is holding small packages of bulky chipboard, and the third shelf holds jars from Hobby Lobby that store chipboard pieces and chipboard Alphabets that arn’t in sets any longer. The bottom shelf holds a wire basket from an antique store (it isn’t an antique, though) and it hold my unused mini albums. I just throw them in there where I get a new one, and can pull them out to create with effortlessly.

Well, that is it. Tour complete. As I have said before, this is a small space but I have really tried to maximize the storage space, while keeping a vintage feel. I've used what I had, or could find cheap to make this space mine.

xxoo,

M

Crafty Storage

Hey! Guess what! My scrapbook room is being featured on Crafty Storage. Crafty Storage is a blog that gives you tours through people's scrapbook rooms so you can get ideas of what works/doesn't work. Tons of ideas -  you should go check them out!

My Beautiful Mess

After creating the layout of my Beautiful Mess (two posts back), I got emails from friends who wanted to see the whole mess. Well, here they are! I did clean up the space a bit, I don't always have it so dishelved as was in the layout!

To begin with, my room is small. I would say, probably, 8' x 10'. This is good and bad. The good thing about it is that I have to keep it organized or I will trip over everything. The bad is that I can't spread out the way I would like to. But, I am happy with my room nonetheless. It's JUST RIGHT for me.

Also, I am cheap. Really, I am. I hate paying full price when I don't have to. All of the furniture and organization inmy room was either found at a garage sale, bought on clearance, or given to me by family. As I describe my room, I will try to tell you where I found the oranizational pieces that I use.

 

This is an overview of it, from standing in the doorway (that goes to the laundry room). The floors are stained concrete - this is perfect. I don't worry about making a mess or spilling anything. Just mop it and go! My countertops are from Lowes, in the clearance section. Alex made the whole countertop (the laminate and legs) for $60.00. Can't beat that. The wall shelves are from Hobby Lobby (bought at half price), and my chair is an old chair I recoved to match my room. My walls are painted with paint that was on clearance at Lowes as well (2 gallons @ $5 each).

 

This is a closer picture of the counter top & wall. The quote is by DCWV. I store my odd & end chipboard and specialty ribbon in a glass jar from Hobby Lobby ($2 a piece). The black box on the table is where I store photos that I am scrapping right now. It is from We R Memory Keepers; and the Clip It Up is where I store non-theme embellishments, by brand. Next to the countertop is my bookshelf, that I had from another room. The rolling metal cart (that you only see a bit of) I bought at a scrap garage sale for about $10 - I store all my pattern paper (and any scraps that match) in 13x13 folders, by manufacturer. I also have folders for transparencys, specialty papers that have die cut edges, Halloween, Fall, and Christmas.

 

Here is a close up on my bookshelf. On the top, I have canvas baskets that hold my Zutter, Cuttlebug, and chipboard sheets. I also have my large 12 x 12 Fancy Pants Stamps stored here.On the second shelf I have my buttons, stored in jars from Hobby Lobby ($2/each) - seperated my general colors. I did my large florals the same way. I also store my DML Floss in a jar. On the third shelf I have these tall and skinny jars that I found on clearance at Michaels. Can you believe that they were only $1 a piece because they had been clearanced out?? I LOVE THESE. I store my markers, paintbrushes, ribbon scraps that are less that 12 inches and my chalk pencils.

 The next shelf holds my photos - sorted - in Martha Stewart photo boxes. Got these babies on sale at Michales, for about $10 a box. They are super sturdy and love that they are covered in fabric. I also store my paper pads on this shelf, right beside my Zebra and Lady Bug. Gotta have a great spot with a few for my friends, right? The next to bottom shelf holds my 12x12 cardstock (sorted by color) and my sewing machine. I also have an American Crafts Alum that I store printed photos that I love, but not sure how I will scrap just yet. If I don't scrap them within 3 months or so, I move them to my photo boxes. The last shelf is my binders for stamps, Inspiration Notebook, books I read (and reread) and a basket that holds project kits that I just haven't gotten to.

 

Here is a closeup of my stamp storage. I took page protectors and sewed pockets to fit my stamps. I also use baseball card holders to store my smaller stamps. In each pocket, I stick a white card with the stamp brand and the name of the stamp. I have two of these binders - one for graphics and journaling and another for cards and holidays. I figure I have about $10 total in all the costs to make the two books.  

Another close up of bookcase. 

 This is the wall right next to the bookcase. I use this curtain rod ($10 @ Walmart) to hold my layouts right after I am done - or to showcase ones I love. The quote about it is from Once Upon A Design (cute & cheap). I use this turquoise stand to hold my magazines, cricut cartridges, and basket full of Aphabet Stamps. I bought the stand at a craft fair.

 

Ok, as I post this I see that I should have straightened up the drawers, and fixed the lables. Oh, well. This metal storage cabinet I bought at a garage sale for $5. Best investment I ever made. In each of these drawers, I store themed embellishments (boy,holidays, that sort). I also have drawers for tools, flowers, adheasive...a bunch of stuff but it is all stored by categories. I keep my Cricut on top for easy access. The wire basket on the floor I bought at Hobby Lobby for about $6 - I hold my adheasives that I use a bunch, scissors, and acrylic stamp blacks and cleaner. On the wall, my dad made me this stamp shelf....out of scrap wood. We painted it black and it is just right! There is a door right next to the wire bakset but I didn't take a photo of that...sorry but I didn't think you'd care!

 

This is on the other side of the door, right beside my countertops (in the corner). Alex made me this bulletin board out of scrap wooden trim and chicken wire. Again, about $5 worth of materials. Here, I clip any notes, inspirations, etc that I want to see while I scrap.

This is how I store my alphabets, ribbon, mini albums that are unused, chipboard, paint, and punches. I bought two rolling carts at Walmart ($12 each) and slide them under my countertop. They slide back far enough that I don't even know they are there when I scrap, unless I pull them out to get something. The lables were ordered online, from Once Upon A Design.

I hope this answers all of your questions - if I missed anything, leave a comment and I will post the answers here for all to see!

Thanks for touring "My Beautiful Mess".

xxoo,

M