New Challenge Blog! Check It Out!

Have you heard about Shopping Our Stash yet? It's a new challenge blog that will motivate us to use what we have (GASP)! But in reality, we all know that means making room for new stuff, right? I have been making a serious effort to use my older stuff and scraps lately, and have made a whole pile of Dad cards to send to OWH without cutting into new papers :)

The SOS challenge right now is to post pictures of your creative space. Mine is below, and there's nothing like a picture to show you how messy something really is! I wish I could do a panoramic view of the whole room, because it's not all this messy. But this is my main workspace and the stack of supplies I'm currently using to make those Dad cards...

My space is a mix of IKEA finds and random bookcases that didn't find a place in other parts of the house. I do have a paper rack (in the corner) from a craft store that was going out of business. That's one of the best things I got - otherwise the paper would all be hidden away and lost. The room is an extra bedroom in our house, and I also have a full-size walk in closet attached to it. If only there were more hours available to spend in it!

I hope you all are having a good weekend. Thanks for looking!

My New Organization Tools

I have a tendency to forget about my embellishments if they are stashed away in a drawer, and found also that I couldn't flip through my acrylic stamps (stored in cd cases) easily. Like many of you, I don't have a lot of time to craft, so am always on the lookout for organization tools that can make my stamping time more efficient.

Enter IKEA! You may remember that almost all of my stamp room furniture is from IKEA, it is economical, easy to assemble, and functional. So I headed back there on Sunday afternoon. Luckily, it is only 20 minutes from my house, but I try not to go too often because there is always something to buy! It can be worse than a trip to Target for the wallet! Here are the items I picked up, all for UNDER $18.00...

A small jar to hold Prima flowers. This one is holding 2 tubes of Prima daisies. I should have gotten more than one of these, but didn't realize how many Primas I now have (winning their weekly drawing really increased my collection). It cost less than $2.00.

A Lazy Suzan for my desk. It fits nicely in the corner of my desk, just in reach of my main work area. Now I can spin and reach for the embellies I need. My only wish is that it was 2-tiered. It was only $6.00 and spins like a charm. A plastic CD case holder. It was 99 cents!! It holds 20 cases (a few more sets and I need another one) and they flip forward easily to reach the ones behind. If you have a shelf deep enough to accomodate it, about 12 inches, I highly recommend getting one or more of these.

I got some cardboard magazine holders, too. They were $2.00 for a pack of 5. They are holding my stamping and inspiration mags.

Well, my goal this morning was to drink a hot cup of tea. It has cooled off while I write these posts. Now I'm off to boil more water and clean up my desk so I can produce some cards today. I have a baby card that has been laid out all week and needs to be assembled, and some challenges to get to from this past week. I have neglected blogs and stamps all week, but the day is mine, so off I go! Thanks for looking!

Check these out!

We had a little family shopping day yesterday. We all needed a few things, and my son has 2 birthday parties over the next two weekends, so we needed to find gifts. It was fun. I haven't been shopping for clothes in a few months and I found some great things. We have a big outlet mall not far from us, and IKEA is next to it. So of course we had to pop in there. This is what I found, and I think I'll have to go back for more, because they scream "Alter ME!"

The are 4" by 6" frames, and were only $1.99 for the pack of 3! So teacher gifts with a frame, notebook and set of notecards will be easy for me this year! And for coworkers, too??

My workspace is a mess today and I'm trying to clean it up so I can create some cards. My whole week has been sucked up with work and life issues, so my stamping time was close to nothing. That's why I haven't posted. But my husband is not traveling this week, so it looks promising...

Hope you are all having a good weekend! I'll be back later with more cards and to share some of the swap cards I've received. Thanks for looking!

I {heart} IKEA

I mentioned a couple days ago that my husband and I rearranged a couple rooms so that now I have a space of my own. A retreat that I find myself in every night after my son is tucked in bed (especially now that there's nothing on TV worth watching!) I thought I would share it since the lighting was nice when I got home and I was able to take some photos.

We went to IKEA (note to self: Don't EVER go there on a Saturday again. What a zoo!) Here's what we left with: a new desk, two drawer units, a secretary and a stainless memo board. We had the bookcases from another trip and we had the desk, which is not IKEA but matches nicely. The drawer units are wonderful as they tuck under the desk and out of the way. The secretary folds down for extra workspace - perfect for when I get a cuttlebug ;) The desk has a return that also slides back under so it doesn't stick out into the room all the time. If I take care to clean it out anyway. The desk is nice and deep and I can have stuff spread out while working and not have to clean up midway through a card just to have more room. I used to stamp on the desk that now holds the computer and it just was too small.

The room also has a full size closet, so there is storage galore and space to grow. Thanks for visiting!