Happy Mail

Happy Wednesday! 

I received some Happy Mail today, my first order from Studio Katia 😃.  I got some really cute confetti and gems and they even included some freebies, a gem tray and some flower confetti!  I store all these little bits in CraftMates Lockables storage. 

 

How do you store your embellishments?

Getting Organized!

I am still working on getting my MoJo back.  I think half of crafting is organization.  If your space is a big mess, it isn't really conducive to creating.    Got new goodies?  Where do you store them?  Making a project....where do you put everything? I have some much stuff piled onto my workspace that I have no where to make anything.   I had a blast two weeks ago at Scrapbook Expo. I got a ton of great new things, but where do I put all my new things?  

Enter IKEA and the Raskog cart.  My Dad was nice enough to get me one and I love it.  I feel like it is the perfect storage solution for Project Life. I have a ton of stuff in mine already and it is perfect because it is mobile.  Notice it is right in front of the closet.  I can just roll it out of the way when I need to open the closet doors.  

Below are some of the new fun things I picked up at the Expo.  

Here is how I decided to organize all that great stuff into my Raskog cart. 
The top shelf of my cart holds some basic tools like a glue runner, corner rounder, xyron sticker maker,  ink pad, stamp block and pens.  

On the middle shelf I have two inserts.  On the bottom are my Gelatos, Tools, Masks, and Washi tapes.  Above that are my journal cards and Copic journals.  In the back I have Thickers and some card stock.  

At the bottom I have more Washi, clear stamps, stickers, 6x6 paper pads, and a ton of Glitz Design goodies.

Took some fun classes at Scrapbook Expo too.  One was a mixed media class with the Rubber Cafe.  It was all about using Gelatos.  

  

New Year's Resolution and Copic Color Combos

Happy New Year!  What are your New Year's Resolutions?  Mine are to get organized, get healthy, and to get crafty more often.  

In honor of resolution numbers 1 and 3, I wanted to share with you a storage unit I won on the Marker Pop facebook page.  The photo above is the Crafter's Companion The  Ultimate Pens and Markers Storage Each unit is $7.99 each and holds 12 markers.  Above I have used 6 units.  

I have chosen to place some go to color combos in the unit and it sits on top of my other storage that I already had.  I like these units and how organized they keep things.  

Below is a chart of Copic's new blending sets (the yellow combo I used Y19 instead of their recommended Y18).  

Below is a chart of some of my go to color combinations that I have filled my unit with.

Coloring on Glitter with Copics and Copic Marker Storage

Today I wanted to share a technique I learned from Krazy Kreations at Scrapbook Expo.  It is called Coloring on Glitter...for lack of a better name.  I don't remember what they called it.  In their both they sold kits for this technique.  You can find the glitter starter kits here on their website and the stickers here.  

You start off with Elizabeth Crafts Peel Off stickers.  I used the cupcakes.  

Next you take the Be Creative Sticky Sheet (Sookwang sheet) and cut it to a size to fit your sticker.  Then peel the waxy paper backing off and smooth and burnish it down onto white card stock.

 Remove the other piece of backing off and sprinkle the Ritz Glitter onto the sticky area of your card stock.  Burnish the glitter into the sticky area and tap off excess.  You can use the backing paper to really press the glitter into the adhesive.

 Next take your sticker and peel off the silhouette.  

Adhere the sticker outline to your glitter.  

 Now you are ready to color in your image.  You can color directly onto the glitter.  It will not ruin your markers.  Just scribble off any stray glitter particles on a scratch paper when you are done with your image.  

 Trim your image and adhere to your card.  

And the final result!

Have you seen the new Jetmax Storage style at Michael's?  It is branded as Recollections but if you look at the actual pieces they say Jetmax on them.  This one has a drawer, two shelves and a removable marker holder.  I am using the marker holder separately on top of my current unit.  I mixed my Distress markers in with my Copics.  I was able to fit about 6 markers per slot so you can hold about 126 markers.

Here is what the finished shelf looks like.  

Reclaiming my craft space

It always happens. You organize your crafting space and it looks beautiful, and then reality sets in and it gets MESSY! Well the above picture is the labor of the last 3 weeks of planning, cleaning, purging, and re-organizing. Finally, I have reclaimed my craft area and made it "live able" again. I say "live able" because I don't have a craft room, this is just a section of my bedroom. We have all heard the studies about how chaos in your bedroom makes it hard to sleep. Well I think that is really true. It made me so anxious to have everything in my room all messy. Below is what had become of the desk I made out of Jetmax cubes. This was after cleaning it up. I couldn't bear to take a picture of the real mess. It got to the point where I didn't want to stamp, scrap, nothing!

Enter the Jetmax cube with drawer. I decided the only option was to go vertical. I added another cube, removed a few of the shelves on the right and got a Sterilite 3 drawer cart to catch the overflow from the desk and to house my BigShot and dies.AFTER!
This is my TV tray where I make my cards. It has all my everyday tools. It sits next to my nightstand where my Copics are right at hand. It is a good spot because of the natural light from the sliding glass doors. The basket under the desk is balanced on my binders (sketches and Copic info) holds products I am using at the moment and scraps so they stay off the workspace. The basket on top of the desk has stamps that need to be cleaned or have just been cleaned and need to be put away.

I love that all my punches fit in the Jetmax cube with drawer and they are put away so I don't have to worry about dusting them. My Martha Stewart Score Board even fits in the cubby at the top with all of my
Martha punches. Storing cardstock and 12x12 papers upright left me so much extra room, I was able to stack my 6x6 paper pads and unmounted stamps. Baskets with extra ribbon and adhesive sit on top of a locker rack under the desk.

My BigShot now has a permanent home on top of this cart and the regular size dies fit in one of the drawers. I no longer have to take it down to use it. I keep inkpads and stickles, and adhesives in the top drawer. The bottom drawer has embossing supplies. The Isis cases are so easy and hold embellishments: trim, ribbon, flowers, buttons, etc. I also have travel organizer next to the desk to hold pearls, rhinestones, cotton swabs and balls and other small items that tend to get lost in the shuffle. It fits neatly in the 1 inch space between the desk and my bureau. Finally I have wood mounted stamps in the big bin on the bottom.

I love my new re-organized space...it is so functional now. Hope you like it! Now if I can just clean up the rest of the house.