When space is limited...

One of the topics on a forum that I frequent a lot is ORGANIZATION:

So with that I though this was a perfect time to give you all some ideas on how I organize my space... I have a craft room that is very small... Probably 10'-8' (if that) We blocked off part of a second master bedroom in our house to use as my own space... I have two closets in the space which helps A LOT with organization, and then the "wall" that we blocked it off with is just a piece of ply-wood and then my husband put a kitchen counter on that wall with legs and all for my desk.

Some of the key points in my space are:
I have a cart in my closet where I keep all my misc. mounted stamps. (my daughter knows she can use the stamps in here!) Kind of hard to see in this picture (it is the pink one at the bottom right side.) I got lucky enough to find mine at a garage sale. but you can look on ebay or for something simular!

I also have a Kitchen Cabnet in this area... this is where I put the envelopes, and extra stuff (My bottles of rubbing alcohol and baby powder)

I think that filing cabnets (whether real or these plastic ones are great for keeing books, catalogs and such!)

Above all this is a shelf where I put these -->

Magazine racks and shoe boxes. I got mine from ABC Distributing Co. They are plastic and come in 6 pretty colors. I keep all my Stampin' Up! magazines and inspiration sheets here, along with any Magazine that I choose to keep. I have an extra Ink Pad rack in here so that I have a place for the stamp pads that I give away at workshops or what ever!

Old stle photo albums are a great way to store die-cuts, and stickers. Or UNMOUNTED stamps fit well in them too...

This is where I keep my paper addiction... this thing has a voice... I tell you... seriously It is always saying "Feed Me!" It is the leaning tower of Pappah! ha ha ha

I have all my paper seperated by color family and then I have all my patterened papers and then toward the bottom I have all the paper that is NOT Stampin' Up! I love the cordinating colors with ink and stuff so I almost always use the paper and ink from S.U!

On top of this shelf I have a "bill" organizer, I have poems that I print out and don't use right away up here. (for an example I may print out a bunch of Teacher poems and instead of using a whole piece of paper for one poem I print it a couple times more and put the extras up here so that when I make another project that needs that poem... it is already at my finger tips. (already printed) The other thing you see here is a Magnet board... it is actually just a piece of sheet metal that my husband had extra from some work he did, and I "stole" it. Hung it up and hang all those sweet notes from my kids on this one along with a calendar and some reminders.

This is my bookshelf that my hubby found ... I think it's original purpose is for C.Ds... it's a very shallow book shelf. I organize my stamps by "favorites" I get in my "ruts" and use the same stamp set for a month then move back and forth to a different set... Since I don't do a TON of workshops anymore I organize them according to what I love most toward the top and then work my way down... They change places every month. The top shelf though, always has my backgrounds, my cuttlebug embossing folders, and my "salutations" anything that has words or phrases in on the top shelf.

I have an index card box for my unmounted stamps that get used frequently but that are NOT Bellas... they all get their own sheet of cardstock and they get filed away in the little box. I have a little binder that I put my Bellas.
On top of the bookshelf there are Jars, and Canisters for extra ribbon, I have my prisma flowers here, I have baskets That I got from Southern Living at Home (2 for $20.00) They hold the spounges, daubers, and and things of this sort. I have containers from The Container Store (they were like 39 cents) that hold Baubles, Eyelets and Brads and stuff... (You can't really see these colorful little treasures in this picture very good but they are wonderful!) I also keep a 3 drawer storage unit where I keep my hardware, and my sharpie markers, and marbles and stuff that are misc. tools.


As you can see in this picture I put my ribbon and wheels on dowles... Which I have hanging on the wall with hooks... But these are not ordinary hooks because it is hard to find hooks that stick out from the wall far enough... so here is a hint: LOOK IN THE WINDOW COVERING SECTIONS at the nearest store... I found these on the aisle at Lowes where Blinds and Curtains are kept.


Here is my Ink Pad Rack... it is an old Cassette Rack... which I have been wanting to spray paint but haven't gotten around to it yet... But for now I store the pads according to family... it is like a grid system ... each color has a specific slot!


I have these three vases and some misc. decor on top of the shelf. . I try to surround my self with wonderful phrases and beauty! This in some's opinion is wasted space! but I love it!


this picture also shows how I put some cork on the wall so that I can hang other tools... I put my heat gun here so that it is at arms reach.

Okay so here is my desk... We left the wall only half way up because I like to watch t.v. and my husband has an area on the other side where he works on his remote control cars... We like to spend time in the office together at the same time so we didn't completely wall off the area.
This picture shows the best BUY I have ever made... this Totally-Cool Tote 2 is wonderful!!! It is a must have! It hold sooooo many tools...!
I have yet another 3 drawer unit on my desk for the Zig markers, and other things like wire, wire cutters and so on... an then I also keep my Embossing Powders here!
See the little book on the desk, that is my Bella Bindah! Love them enough to make them their own place in my space!
There are so many ways to organize your things... no matter how big your space, you always need more!!!
Thanks for reading!

Advent Calendar

This is my advent calendar... which was a fun thing that they did on SCS. So here is mine... It is strips of paper, that are intertwined kind of weaved so that they can hold mini candy bars between them.

Okay so here is how you can do it...

You will need 3 pieces of 12x12 cardstock... (I used Old Olive) and an 8 1/2 x 11 (Real Red) and a piece of whisper white. stamps of numbers and punches to cut out the numbers. ... I also have white ribbon, and silver cord.

How to:

1. Stamp all the numbers from 1 - 25. and then I stamped one star for the day of Christmas... I guess it depends on when you are going to start counting down... you may only need 24 days. punch each number out with a circle punch and set aside.

2. Cut a 12x12 sheet of cardstock into 2" strips.

3. Lay the cardstock long-ways on your paper trimmer and cut slits only 1" through the strip, every 2" (You will need 8 strips so use a second piece of paper when you need that.)

4. Now you are going to basically weave the strips together interlocking the slits. (each square alternates one in front of the other...) This forms little pocket like spots between the two strips of paper... you will need to tape or glue the ends together... *just about a 1/4"

5. Cut One 2" strip off the 11" side of the 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock... cut in half and do the same as step 4 to this one... I cute a 1/4" from end so that I had a little tab to start the pocket. this is for your Last day to count.
6. Now use the rest of the paper... score at 2" from edge and fold on that score line to make a "topper". I stamped the words DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS on this part... you could say count down till Christmas or what ever you want.
7. Now adhere the strips down from the topper and tape slightly under edge... to the longer part of the "topper"
8. Now is the time to stick the numbers to the pockets... I went from 25 in the bottom Right hand corner up the strip to 20 and then 19- 14 on the strip from bottom to top and so on...
9. Decorate how you want, I stamped my kids names and popped them out and doubled them up and ran cord through them... I put this under the number 1.
I used ribbon to embellish the edge of the topper... you don't have to do that... it is just for decor. this is so much easier than it is to write... you should try it.
load up the pockets with Hershey Mini candy bars or Nuggets might work too... something thin and small works best. (tootsie rolls work as well.)

And now you are ready to count down to the holiday.

A Hodge-Podge of cards

Okay so I thought I would post a hodge-podge of cards on here just for fun... First Bellas;

Okay and here is my daughter's birthday invitation with the new stamp set that we got for FREE from Stampin' Up! (Thank you SU!) You can earn it for free too... just have a party in the month of January or February and earn a Level 3 Free Stamp set.

Thanks for looking!

Clever little bella...

I amaze myself sometimes when I work on a card and then it turns out better than I had anticipated! I LOVE this card:

This is Snowbunnybella from Stamping Bella and the best part of this card is the snowflakes... and SOOOO simple!!!

Okay so on the edge of my white paper I punched out the snowflake. (I used Martha Stewart's collection from Michael's) But the trick is to only punch HALF OF THE PUNCH... so you put the edge of the paper halfway through the punch... and then you take the piece that you popped out and lay it beside the negative space from the edge. SO SIMPLE RIGHT??? Oh my gosh...

Then I used Stampin' Up!'s Lumiere as a glue and glued a Bauble from Stamping Bella down in the center of the snowflakes. Is this not soooo Cute? I love it! You should try this technique with hearts, or flowers, or any symetrical shaped stamp... even stars (which are very popular right now) or ... well you get the drift... You could probably even come up with a creative thing to do with squares or circles.

Here are a few other SnowBunnyBella cards I did! she is my favorite at the present time... although when I get Glideabella and daisyboardabella it will probably change!

This one I used "liquid applique" on the cuffs and hood, and then I touched it with lumiere to make it look shimmery! It is sooo pretty.

Patterned paper

Okay so now that you have stocked up on wonderful patterened paper from the November special I wanted to give you a few insights on how to use it... I wanted to give you a few tips and reminders....

First off... here are a few cards that I made with one piece of paper out of the Wintergreen Paper Pack.

I used my "Snowflake Spot" Stamp set to create a background on Not Quite Navy... (With Whisper White Craft ink) and then I made the main block out of wintergreen snowflake paper... There is some soft white organdy ribbon tied along with some silver cord... and then the snowflakes are made out of Silver metal tape that you can find in a hardware store... Probably in the "Duct" section (my husband gave me a piece from his truck... He works in Heating and air conditioning.) A simple tip for this though, is to put the tape on paper and then punch it... other wise the sticky adhesive from the tape gets into your punches and it is hard to get out... so stick the piece of tape onto cardstock and then punch the shape you want out of it...The punch I used here is one of Martha Stewarts Collection from Michaels. I then put some Baubles from Stamping Bella's website in the middle of the snowflakes, and Popped the snowflakes up off the page with different dementionals. Simple card! VERY impessive in Real life... the scan doesn't do it justice. This is a great and easy card for Christmas Cards.

Here are a few more ideas:

Now a few tips for patterned paper...

• Pattern paper is great for scrapbooking but if you put a picture on top of the paper you should always "mat" the picture with a solid color so that it pops of the patterened paper.
• Always use it in moderation... too much makes a project look way busier than it really is... remember that when you have patterened paper it acts as paper, and element...
• It is always a good idea to have a Solid color to go with your patterned paper so that it show cases the paper more... see how I have solid white on the Merry Chistmas card... and then I have a solid paper backgrown on the Happy Holiday's Card too.
  
  

Have you seen?

Have you seen Paper-Monkey's blog? What an amazing artist. I just thought I would post, cause it is amazing!! I am adding her to my list of visited and subscribed places!
Talk about true inspiration!
Check her out here.

Halloween around the corner

Okay so Halloween is just around the corner, I know that many people send out Halloween cards but I have never gotten into this tradition. It's a crazy thing but I just can't get into it. I have seen some really cute Halloween cards, and there are some really cute stamps out there... so I thought I would share just a few with you since that is why I created this post in the first place.... To introduce you to some "Fenominal Finds" (I know this is spelt wrong!)

Okay so first of course is the cute witch stamps that Stamping Bella came out with. Please note that I had to "copy" from the website so it isn't the clearest picture of the stamp but it is cute regardless....

This stamp stands about 3 1/4 inches high and is about 1 1/4 inches wide. She is yours for the low price of $6.29... She comes unmounted so you will need an acrylic block of some kind... Stamping bella sells these to for very reasonable. Contact me if you would like to learn more about about a "kit" that you can get her in!

Next... there are such SUPER cute stamps out ther for the holiday, but these ones struck a nerve and made me sing a little song and do a little dance too: They are from INKY ANTICS This is a GREAT place to buy some super cute stamps, and if you like pirates...they have some REALLY cute pirates... too many to put here!

But here are a few of the Halloween images they have! Are they not the cutest halloween guys around? I just love them!

There are so many more but I am going to go and create some cards for now... maybe I will give you some more later today!

Thanks to all my readers!

This was fun

This was fun, I joined a swap challenge... the challenge was to create a Christmas card not using any Christmas Fellas or Bellas. So we had to use a bella stamp that wasn't obviously a Christmas themed stamp. Ha ha

This is what I came up with. I printed on the inside: Regardless of where, or how you spend the season....... Enjoy! I think it is super cute! I used Heat & Stick powder to stamp the snowman and then stuck actual Cancun Sand to him so that he looks like a sand sculpture. I just am dieing to make a snowman out of the sand. I plan do that this coming summer now that my sand building abilities are getting better.

I will have to look in my photos and see if I can find some of the pictures of the sand creations we build. I know where one is... The Shark my son and I build last summer. (July 2006) Here it is...

This picture is not the greatest... The rules are you can only use things you find on the beach. My mother in law just so happen to find this dead fish... so we had to add it to the sharks mouth. I wonder if there is a better picture... let me check. Oh Yes... this is a little better!

This is a great summer past time! I have great tools for it now so my stuff the past summer (2007) turned out so much better!
Thanks for reading all my rambling!

My newest cards...

I have a few new cards that I must share! I have had a really hard time coming up with ideas in the past few months... so here are a few... I am proud of.

First... this is an invite to my October 20th EXTRAVAGANZA, it is going to be great fun... I am sending these out to a few people but... ANYONE WHO WANTS TO COME CAN!

October 20th from 10-4 at my house, bring your supplies and we will crop, stamp and make fun things all day long. Make & Takes and prizes!

Second, this is a card I made for my best friend's daughter: she is turning 16, I think I could have probably come up with a better 16th birthday card, but it's too late, they leave to Disneyland tomorrow and I am having my friend give it to them there.

It is actually better in real life... This is chipboard block with the squares popped out, with the images stamped on paper behind it. Then I added glitter to things like the butterfly, heart, and flower... but you can't see it in this scanned image.

And Lastly, I did this one for the little boy of the same friend whose birthday is the 19th of October, they will still be in Disneyland! This one is great fun cause the little truck moves when you tilt the card.

So anyway, I thought I would share these little ones... I have one more that I can put on here for those who care... Okay since you asked! I will add one more image to this post...

This one is from the New IN COLOR colors that Stampin' Up has this year, Groovy Guava, and Purly Pomegranate. I used the chipboard Blossoms and Basics for the little flower, and I used Lumiere to color the chipboard and then I used a "polished stone" technique to add extra color. I glittered up the little petals and then stuck them on and there is a "jewel" in the center.

As always you can write if you ever have questions on how to duplicate the cards I post on here! LauraASimp@comcast.net

I never win!!

Okay so on Stamping Bella's website she had a blog and wanted people to ring in on their funniest experience that has to do with stamps/scrap-booking... I loved this other woman's post (Rosy) but I thought I would just give a story... I thought I would share it with you gals on here too... If the women from the party happen to read this blog... you know who you are... just know that you helped me win a prize from Stamping Bella.

Okay so I don’t know HOW or WHY I would even type anything… Rosybella has a pretty gosh darn story here, and she has her friend’s blog that backs it up and is exactly the way she discribes it. LOVE IT!
But Oh well, thought I would throw my hat into the pile and see if FOR ONCE in my life I win…. ha ha ha
Okay so I am a demonstrator (like most of us) and I had this hostess party with a bunch of older ladies. I get like “totally” dressed up for these things… (at least for me being a stay at home mom, this is an opportunity to put on some clothes that aren’t just jeans and T.) So anyway I get all dressed up, and go to this workshop. Now, I am really trying to look and be way professional… Not just some lady that comes over and gets crafty with these ladies but I wanted them to get that this was my business…
So on with the story! I get to this woman’s house (this was the first time I had done a show with any of these women) and there are crosses EVERYWHERE! Like major religious woman so I am really pressured to stay on my very best behavior, make sure I don’t blurt out any foul language and everything. Best behavior Laura is what I keep thinking.
So the party starts… and the hostess pours red wine for those who want it… I of course don’t accept cause I get mouthy when I drink and didn’t want to push my limits…
So I start my demo… and as I get into it it’s time to ink up some stamps… so I tell the ladies “OKAY SO YOU HAVE TO GET YOUR THINGY REALLY WET” (talking about the stamp pad) and then you take your stamp and get it “ALL JUICY”. “JUST SMOOOOSH IT AROUND ON THE PAD AND GET IT GOOD AND COVERED.”by this time the ladies are red in the face laughing so hard at me… I am thinking what in the heck did I miss….????
So then I said and then you gently tap this down … Now remember you don’t have to press hard to make it work good. In fact as long as it is good an juicy it works better.
Oh my gosh laughing is just pouring out of these ladies! I looked at the one woman next to me and said “What did I miss?” and she said you sound like you are instructing us on how to have SEX or something… “Get it all Wet and Juicy, and Tap here Gently!” Oh my gosh, my face must have gone pale white, cause the woman accross from me at the table spit out her wine all over me, my project and my “nice” clothes…
I was sooooo UTTERLY EMBARASSED that I couldn’t stand it.
To top things off, the next month I went to the party again, and when I got there the one older lady said ‘Our Sex Coach Is Here!”… Oh man I was much more careful with my choice of words this time but I still said a few things that made them laugh … the difference was this time I was laughing along with them. =D
Thanks for reading…Good luck to all the ladies that play along with the game here!Laura

October!

Well, It is feeling more and more like October right now. We have leaves that are falling to the ground, and when the sun goes down boy does it cool down. I thought today would be a great day to get some Halloween projects done. I don't send out Halloween cards, but I might do something that is along the lines of a "candy" pouch or something..... I will let you know what I come up with.

In the mean time ...
This weekend is NATIONAL CARD MAKING DAY... I have a few friends coming over to make some fun cards and create out of paper some fun things... I think we might do one birthday card cause those are always needed, and I thought I would use some Bellas to introduce my friends and family to the Bella line. LOVE THEM.

I guess it is time for me to create some Octoberish stamps myself. Images can be purchased at 1.00 a pop! So if you ever see any of my personal creations let me know at LauraASimp@comcast.net

I Was Tagged

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Dusty Suburban
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Tin Roof Oreo
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) Lsim
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Purple Fish
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Ann Denver
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Simla
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”) Pink The Colada
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) David Theodore
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Rapture Starburst
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Sandra Charles

Halfway ammusing for a few minutes. Ha ha ha Hope all are having fun being creative!

Okay so things are getting better. What do you think of this Gal? She is my newest design from Laura's Greetings. I just started to draw my own designs for my cards. This little gal's saying is "Happiness is finding that thing that MOOOOves you!" or "True happiness comes when you stop MOOving to smell the flowers." She is one of my favorites. I hope to make them into stamps someday! But for now they are mearly print outs. I have so many more... come back soon to see more.

write - LauraASimp@comcast.net if you wanna order some for your own creations.

Okay so here is what I have come up with today... Not a really exciting stack of cards, but I HAD to try the Surprise Pop-Up Technique. Fairly easy!

I used Wild Wasabi, Pamagranite, and pretty in pink colors. with Cosmobella which I took the cosmo out of her hand and put a shopping bag in it instead cause I am giving it to my neice and a drink in her hand would not fly with the sister-in-law! ha ha ha

Creative Block

Okay so lately I have sat at my desk and looked at all of my wonderful toys, stamps, tools, and colors are all around me... but for some reason I haven't been able to get my head out of the clouds and create. So here is my plan, There are different challenges every week from different places. I am going to go and attempt this weeks challenge and see what I can come up with!

This week's favorite things

My favorite things change weekly, but right now, my favorite things are the things that are "Fallish" I love the pattern paper, and the autom colors.

I think we should all get into the Earth Tones. I love the Rich Rusts, the Vibrant golds, and the Deep Chocolate browns, and Dusty reds. I just think the mood they bring is so with the season. I of course am a HUGE fan of Stampin' Up! So the colors that are in the "Earth Elements" color family are perfect for this time of the year.

Another favorite thing right now is... Bellas! I love these simple stamps that you can find at: http://www.stampingbella.com/ Emily is the artist that creates these fun little ladies... (and of course their fellas) These spunky little gals are ready to play no matter what your occasion is. I have some but need to get more. They show up at your door via United States Postal Service, from Canada. They show up just simple peiced of rubber... So on your first order you will need to buy an acrylic block if you don't already have one, and you will need some stick-em stuff... You can get it all from Emily at the website. Here is one of my favorite cards I made with these great gals. They work so grand with patterned paper! These funky gals are great fun!