Easel Card

I have not made one of these in a while, but wanted to try some different things with my kit.  I will admit that I am getting a bit bored of layouts and regular cards.  I just can't help it!  LOL

Easel cards are not hard at all to make, but the key is decorating the inside, which I usually don't bother to do even though I like the look of it.  Just lazy, I guess.  And eager to get onto the next project!

Everything used is from my kit!  I did add a stamp set: Basic Grey Pretty Bird stamp set and threw in a new color: cranberry

If you would like a tutorial to learn how to make this card, go to Split Coast Stampers .

Layout for Mini Challenge: Putting Pen to Paper (a close up)

This was an incredibly hard challenge for me.  See...these challenges are just as much for us as they are for YOU!  LOL  If you want to see my entire layout, please go to Counterfeit Kit Challenge. 

Tags...that design feature just got stuck in my head.  First of all, tags do not give much writing space.  That is a plus if you are struggeling with what to say, right?  And they can be embellished...I wanted to use bits of just about everything from my kit.

All of the colors I picked popped well with the black paper, so I made that my background.  I didn't want to just use white for the journaling tags, so I pulled the tan paper (I have ink to match) and stamped some journaling lines on them.  I wrote out what I wanted to say (and number the tags so I wouln't forget) so I would know how many decorated tags I would need to make to fill out the page. I did attatch the journaling tags with foam squares so they would be more prominant.

Green/white tag:  good backdrop for the black letter stickers from the kit for my title
White/Black tag: Large white glittered flower that I made
Black floral tag: metal embossed chipboard frame with a chipboard butterfly
   embossed with cuttlebug-embossed with teal embossing powder-painted with crackle medium-painted with white paint
Striped tag: three large glittered buttons in a cluster
White tage: bird from stamp set...added leaves...brad for eye
Circle tag: metal trim along bottom
Green/black tag: covered with one of the bingo cards (and trimmed) date of blog opening marked

Hope you enjoyed this close up!  Don't forget to link up your challenge creation on our blog for a chance to win a kit from the Scraps of Darkness!

Valentines Goodies

The flu has invaded our house.  Not a good thing for a time of year when I usually make a lot of crafty goodness for my kids teachers/friends.  I had to simplify it this year.

The cute card is to go with a bag of Dove Chocolates for each Specials Teacher (Gym/Art/Music/Library) and the mailboxes are stuffed with Lindt Truffles for the main teachers.  I usually decorate them pretty elaborately, but this year they got stickers.  Yep.  I'm hanging my head.  But I am SO tired and achey.  I'm sure they won't care.  They have LINDT in them for Pete's sake.  LOL  That should gloss over my uncraftiness.  LOL

Organizing the rest of my stuff

You have now had a indepth look at my room and most of my stuff.  :)  Hope it was helpful.  There are a few other important categories in my room, but the storage for these is a snap:  Jetmax cubes and clear box with lid!

Punches

Blank Cards



Finished cards:



Mini albums

For me, the begining of creating is having a place for everything.  I hope you find something that works for YOUR process!

Organizing: Embellishments

Emebllishments!  Love them!  Use them!  Sometimes don't know what to do with them!  LOL  Some are big...some are tiny...do you keep them in the packaging?  Sort them by color?  Product type?

I don't have a fix all that will keep your embellishments (of all sizes and types) in one place, but I do have some tips for how I keep mine.

First, I sort all of my embellishments by type and find the best storage for each type of embellishment.  You will be seeing the storage for these in just a minute.

After they are categorized, I sort them by the same color order that I do my paper. I like having that consistent theme in my room.

So, here we go:

Small Embellishments (brads/seed beads/eyelets/small gems):

I have 2 CTMH embellishment organizers.  LOVE THEM!  Been using them for

years and wouldn't change a thing!  They travel well...I even put some embossing powder/glitter in some of the containers for going to crops.  These are in color order.



I couldn't resist this green case with the clear divided boxes.  I use these for

embellishments that go with paper brands I like to buy like Basic Grey and Sassa Frass.  That

way all of those embellishments are easy to grab and go well with those papers. 



Buttons and flowers:  Also in color order and in these cute Ikea jars.  There are similar

jars at Hobby Lobby/Michaels, but they aren't as cheap.



I glued a sample embellishment on the top of the jar for looks and to help sort.

My ribbon is stored in jewlery bags on clips on my clip it up.  Color order of course.

I put them on clothespins to keep them neat and organized.

 

Sheets of chipboard on my Clip it up

Bling on my clip it up

 

Alpha's on my clip it up

 

Chipboard and grungeboard pieces: sorted by type (alphas, basic shapes,

flowers...) and stored in these great kitchen silverware "buckets" from Ikea!

More organizing tips tomorrow!

Organizing: Stamps and such

I think the only other scrapbook supply that could rival my paper is my stamps.  I just can't seem to stop.  In fact, I bought 4 more sets yesterday.  Yikes!  LOL  They were a great deal, though!  Wanna see them?

$15 for all of them, baby!  I love CHA time...everyone makes way for new products!  Anyway...I have alot of stamp sets.  I have a mix of stamp storage options at this point...It is working so I don't feel the need to fix it.  Yet.  LOL

At this point, it is important for me to keep my stamps together in their original sets.  I know some people take each stamp and put it in a category, but I can't do that.  It feels wrong.  LOL  I go with a general theme for each stamp set and don't worry about the tiny stamps.  Eventually I plan on using a roladex to keep track of each stamp, but that is a project only in my head right now.  LOL

Stamp Categories:
Journaling (stamps that can have journaling written in them)
Sentiments (whole phrases/words)
Girly
Objects
Background
Boy
Birthday
Animals
Flowers
Unity (yes, they deserve their own category)

I store these in Photo Storage Boxes...that way my clear stamps and rubber stamps can live together.

Apparently you want to see this picture sideways, since it won't let me change it. 

On my Clip it Up Floor Model, I keep these categories:
Alpahbets
Holidays (broken into Winter-Christmas/Valentinesday, Spring-Easter, Summer, Fall)

Finally...all of those stinking $1 stamps.  For the rubber ones, I keep them in the categories in the photo storage boxes.  For the small clear stamp sets I use baseball card page protectors in notebooks or on my clip it up depending on the category.

Other Stamping Goodies:
My inks are in color order again:

My stickles/sprays are stored in a cute planter tray so they are visible:

I have a Jetmax drawer for my dry glitter/embossing powders/flocking:

Another drawer of distressing tools:

And another drawer of coloring options:

Pretty basic.  I know where everything is, so that is important.

Tomorrow:  How I organize my small embellishments

My journey through paper organization...

I have been asked by a few people how I organize my stash, so I will take a few posts over the next couple of days to share that.  It has been a process for me and it is based on how I scrapbook, but maybe it will give you some ideas.

Today we are going to talk about paper.  I have a long history with struggling with paper storage.  I started off with one of these...

Yeah.  I quickly outgrew that.  Let's not dwell on it.  LOL  My next choice was this:

I really liked those (and still have them), but I just wasn't happy with it, so I tried these...

Which I love (and still use), but I still thought I could do better so I moved onto this:

Which very quickly demonstrated that it was not sturdy enough so I then was EXTREMELY blessed to stumble into this:

I really feel like the luckiest girl in the world.  I have other photos posted further down in my blog, but, basically,  a LSS went out of business and our being in the right place at the right time ended up with me owning 2 slat walls and tons of clear 12x12 trays and shelves for about $50.  I am extremely grateful.

Now, you may have stopped part way through this post and thought...those other storage options are great!  Why did she keep looking?

Here is what my goals were for my paper:
1.  Off the floor
2.  Lots of categories
3.  Labels!
4.  Displayed so I will use it

I finally have what is my ideal set up. 

Putting my paper into categories has changed as I have gotten better storage, but the core of how I do it has stayed the same.  My first exploration was how I scrapbook.  I always start with a color scheme.  Always.  So sorting by color works well for me.  I tried sorting EVERYTHING by color and soon realized that not all stacks/manufactuers can be put in that neat little box, so I started working on a secondary way to categorize my paper that can work with my color categories.

All of my cardstock (and many other of my supplies) are sorted by color in a specific order.  Here is the color order that I use for my ribbon, paper, embellishments, paints, inks...

Red     Pink     Purple     Blue     Green     Yellow     Orange     Black     Grey     White     Brown    Skintone

My loose patterned paper and the leftover paper from stacks/kits/paper pads get divided into that same palette.  I look at each piece and choose the predominant color for my categories.  If it is hard to put in category, then I do have a "multi" category for thos tricky papers with lots of colors.

All of my other patterned paper is divided into one of two categories:  either by theme (boy, school, Christmas, Halloween, Valentiens, Nature...) or by Manufacturer.  I have learned to NOT take apart my paper pads, unless it is necessary.  They had experts coordinate the paper and it is so much easier for my process if I keep the paper together and use it together.  I tend to buy paper from the same companies, so I do have some trays labeled for Basic Grey, Sassafrass, Cosmo Cricket...  Those are some of my go to papers and I like to have them handy.

Let's not forget about the ever present paper scraps.  I have my cardstock ones in a 12x12 accordian folder sorted by, you guessed it, color and the patterned paper scraps in a cropper hopper.  Those are my go to places when I want to use my cricut, punches or make a card.

Also, I have learned to only buy paper I LOVE.  When I first started scrapbooking, I would buy paper because it was on sale...or I liked a few sheets from a stack.  I found that I wasted alot of paper that way.  I have a few companies that I buy by the pad/kit, but other than that, I buy individual pieces.  And...are you ready for this...it has helped me tremendously...When I buy single sheets of paper I also get the cardstock to match...sort of make my own mini kit right at the store.  That way I know I have things that match and that I will use instead of just a random sheet of paper.  Those 5 for a dollar sales are great, but half of that paper I never used.  Now I do.

If you have any other questions, please post them here and I will be happy to answer them.  Next up will be my stamps and inks so be on the lookout for that!