My Stampin' Space

Here are pictures of my stampin' space. I thought it would be really fun to share how I organize all my stampin' stuff.

I would absolutely love to hear about how you store your stamps, paper and accessories. There are so many good ideas out there - so lets share them.

I HAVE BLOG CANDY! Submit your stamp room organizing tips (and pictures of your stamp rooms if you like). I will pick one lucky winner to receive a free "Tags So Much" Stampin' Up! Hostess set (only available until the 29th). I will draw my winner next Friday - July 6th. If I get more than 100 submissions I will draw for a 2ND BLOG CANDY (I have a few wheels looking for a home).

Okay - here is how I store my items and where I got them from:

I store my stamps in the wire cubes that you can get from Target. I have bought all of them when they were on sale (I think they're on sale this week along with the steel shelves that I use here too). I believe you can make 6 interlocking shelves from one box.

The black canvas drawers on top of the wire shelving in Picture 1 were bought using my 20% off coupon to Bed Bath & Beyond. I went back 3 times to get them all on sale. These hold all templates for scrapbooking, my cuttlebug and its diecuts/embossing folders, my sizzix dies (useable with my cuttlebug), some pictures & cards in the drawers. Another of the drawers holds my chipboard pieces.

My miscellaneous ink pads, craft and encore ink pads (see pic 1 top right) are all in a big inkpad holder bought on ebay. Unfortunately I cannot remember the ebay store I bought it from, but I'm sure you could find one by doing a search on ebay. I don't think I paid more than $30 for it.

My classic ink pads stored in a stampnstore ink pad holder (pic 2) on my drafting table. The inkpad holder from stampnstore was a christmas gift from my Mom a few years back. These are a little pricy, but I like the sturdy acrylic.

To the right of my drafting table (pic 2) you will see 2 wire shelves filled with boxes and such. Here you'll also see how my paper is stored - the paper sorter on the top shelf was bought at a garage sale, but you can find them at any office supply store. I keep 2 colors in each slot. I keep all my scraps in drawers from Oriental Trading Co. The plastic frosted drawers and boxes run for a package of three 12 x 12 boxes Ithink it's around $17. For the 3 drawer unit (frosted plastic) it is $19.99. (you can't see the 3 drawer on in the pic, but I use this one for my scraps).

In the red canvas drawers - purchased from Target (on sale 2 for $11) I keep embellishements, tools, ink cartridges, adhesives(I keep lots in stock). In the round Hat boxes I keep misc. ribbon, brayers and attachments, cotton balls/qtips, miscellaneous stamps. The hat boxes were all bought from Hobby Lobby when they were 75% off. I don't think I paid more than $5.00 for any of the boxes. There are 2 red suitcase type boxes also bought from Hobby Lobby at 75% off which holds all my coloring mediums - pastels, WC pencils, WC crayons, blender pens, aquapainters ect. The other 3 red boxes (Hobby Lobby 75% off) hold my scissors and other tools.

Anyway - that's how I keep all my stuff together. How about You? I'd love to hear!

For those of my customers who subscribe to my blog - one item of information!

I am cancelling my Open House for Saturday. I haven't gotten any RSVP's so I am going to cancel. The catalogs are scheduled to be here today - so if you pre-ordered one, simply give me a call to set up a time to get your copy.

Thanks and have a super day!!

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Greetings! Here is the Father's Day card I have my hubby yesterday. He actually liked it. I knew he would though. The deer is actually 3D and so cool. The deer stamp is from Grey Wold Graphics. It is a mom & pop stamp company from South Haven, MI. All their stamps are so detailed, real like and cool. They come to the Rubber Stamp convention here in GR each year and each year (the past 4) I have wanted this stamp but was too late in getting there because this stamp and the other deer stamp they carry sold out so fast each year. This year I went earlier and alas they had 2 left! What's cool is they even give you the instructions on how to make the 3D deer. The paper is all Stampin' Up! including the wood designer paper. The metal tags is one of the retired metal tags from SU which I trimmed the top off so it would just be a rectangle. The deer was stamped on glossy cardstock with basic black ink then colored in with Stampin Write markers in more mustard and creamy caramel. Cool huh?

I've been lacking in my posting lately for a few reasons. I wont go into too much detail, but I've been helping with getting our Vacation Bible School going for church, running my kids to swim lessons and play dates. Just over a week ago one of my closest friends was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I've put a blog together for her so she can post her progress through this difficult journey. Please say a little prayer for her. Her nanme is Julie and she has 3 young girls. She is very blessed with a very supportive family and of course her friends are doing what they can for help. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer - so if you could all just say a little prayer for Julie, her family and even for the doctors who are caring for her. Thank you.

I am off to our first night of VBS - wish me luck!!

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Lots of Stuff Today!

Hello!

I have a few fun things to share with you today. First, you'll have to read thru some of my day today - hopefully it's not too boring. Second, I will give you a few pointers on how to make the card here along with a great link to a visual tutorial for a card like this (Maria has an awesome blog with lots of great tutorials), Third I will tell you about some of my upcoming stamping events! Of course, don't forget to comment with any ideas, suggestions or just a shout out. Last, I have some pictures of some RAK cards that I received recently. For more info on RAKs just continue reading....

Yeah! School is finally done! It just doesn't seem like it should be summer vacation already! My kids already started fighting today, but we tackled the boredom with a bike ride to my mom's house - visited with Uncle Steve- where I proceeded to work on the jammed paper shredder for 3 hours. Am I crazy? I think so because after getting all that paper out - I went to shred some more paper and it just kept sticking and not shredding very well. Therefore I have concluded that the shredder is pretty much done for and my Dear Mother will have to face the fact that her expensive shredder didn't last very long. My uncle couldn't believe my patience - but I was determined to fix it for him. Afterall, he is 93 (he's actually my great-uncle) and shredding paper to save him and my mom from identity theft is his job. He is such a sweetie. Here is a picture of him and my DD from last week. Sophie is named after Uncle Steve's 2 sisters so she has a special place in his heart.

Anyway - do you like my card above? It is my first attempt at a really cool technique I learned from another blogger - Maria. Here is a link to Maria's tutorial. She has some really great cards and inspiring things to check out.

However, I think I can pretty much explain how to do this without pictures to show you like Maria did. Although I am one who learns best with visuals, this one even I could figure out without pics. So I will try:

1. Begin by making your card base (51/2 x 4 1/4) then set aside
   Cut a piece of cardstock at 5 3/8 x 4 1/8.
   
2. Using your coluzzle or other circle cutter - cut a 3" circle out of the center of your 5 3/8 x 4 1/8 piece.
   
3. Take the slit punch and punch slits from the inside of the circle leaving about a 1/8 inch gap between each punch. I find it easiest to begin punching on the right or left where there is the littlest room between the edge of the card and the circle. Beginning there helps ensure that I do not hold the punch too far - leaving enough room at the edge so I don't cut the edge. I think you'll understand what I mean when you get to this point.


4. For the rest of the card that I made above, I cut a 4" x 4" piece of the Au Chocolate Designer Paper and laid it underneath my punched flower piece. BTW you'll see I stamped polka dots on this piece, added a little color to the flower petals using a sponge and close to cocoa ink and using my white gel pen I added a dot in the center of each petal.


5. I stamped a flower using the Big Blooms set in the Spring Mini Catalog onto a piece of very vanilla scrap paper using Cool Caribbean ink.


6. I punched the center of the Big Bloom flower using the 1 1/4 circle punch.


7. Using the 1 3/8 circle punch I punched another piece of the Au Chocolate and placed it behind the Big Bloom.


8. From the 1 1/4 punched piece that came from the big bloom I cut the center of the flower out. Stamped the Big Bloom (This makes me think of my BIG BOOBS every time I say Big Blooms) again onto a scrap piece and cut the center flower again.


9. I adhered the two center cut flowers together the placed in the middle of my Big Bloom using a pop-up glue dot.


10. Next I placed the punched flower piece over my Big Bloom (he he) and adhered a ribbon to it.


11. Cut a small piece of chocolate ribbon and added a little chocolate leaf to the side of the Big Bloom [img]Okay, I'm done.

I really liked doing this card and have created a few more which I will share at a later date.

So, feel free to comment - as I always like comments!

Stay tuned as I ponder my next blog candy offer.

STUFF ABOUT STAMPING

I have a few events this week. You are invited to both of them - just in case you feel the need to stamp and save:

Tuesday, June 12 :

My friend Melinda is having a workshop at her house. If you would like to join us - just let me know and I can give you directions. I'm sure Melinda would love to have you and you will get to order retiring sets at a 20% discount and any non-retiring items at a 10% discount.

Thursday, June 14:

I will be hosting a class here at my house. It is open to all of you out there who want to learn the basics of basics about stamping. I will be covering topics about paper, cutting your paper, types of coloring mediums and other simple but beautiful stamping techniques. Even if you are a seasoned stamper, this class is a good refresher and an"Oh I forgot all about doing that" class. There will be some hand outs for you to take home and use for reference. Of course there will be some projects to take home too. The cost for this class is $10. As always with a $30 or more order you will get 1/2 off the class. Call or email for more information.

NOTICE: DATE CHANGE!!

Originally I posted that I would be having my Customer Appreciation Day on June 23. I am going to go ahead and change it to June 30 as I will anticipate having the Fall/Winter Collections Idea Book & Catalogs by then (keep your fingers crossed!) This way you will be able to get your new catalogs, spend some time here looking through them, enjoy some goodies and a make n' take. Catalogs are free when you book a workshop -which you can do right now or when you come to the Customer Appreciation Day on June 30. If you want the new catalog, but are not sure of a date to host a workshop, I am taking pre-orders and the books are $10. Watch your mail for your invitation!

Friday, June 29 is the last day you can order from the current 2006/2007 Idea Book & Catalog and the last day to order from the Spring Mini Catalog! The Spring Mini catalog is where you can order your own BIG BLOOMS

Random Acts of Kindness

Okay - I recently signed up for the RAK group at Splitcoast Stampers. This is a really great idea! RAK stands for Random Act of Kindness. When you sign up for the group basically you pick people from the list to send RAK cards or such to. I just signed up a few weeks ago and have already received (and sent) a few cards. What's really cool about this is you are getting a hand stamped card to bring a smile to your face, but you are also getting cards that you can actually use since RAKers don't usually sign the inside of the card, they just attach a sticky note or such with a sweet little note to bring a smile to your face. This is such a wonderful idea and I am so glad that I finally signed up for this. Below are a few of the cards that I recently received. From Cheryle in Lincoln Nebraska I received the cute little duck card. From Eileen in Connecticut I got the pretty flower one with the polka dot and gingham ribbon. Aren't these cute?

I do believe that is it for tonite (actually it's morning - I think I need to get some sleep!)

Thanks for stopping by!

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Dancin'

Saturday night was the big night! Sophie performed in her 5th Dance Recital. They danced to "The Best Years of Our Lives" from the movie Shrek. A fun song to dance to and she just shined! I can't believe she has been dancing for 5 years already! Where does the time go?

Here is a picture of her from her first recital :

Isnt' this sweet? She's only 3 here. Amazing how quickly they grow! She's all ready to sign up again next year too.

Anyway - things are starting to wind down a little here. School is done on Wednesday. I spent all day today with Sophie's class on a field trip. Nolan had a great time hanging with the bigger kids.

I actually got some stamping in yesterday. I spent most of the time working on the prayer journal for my niece, Shannon. I've really been putting a lot of time in it, but it is worth it - even if she thanked my kids for the gift and not me or my husband - but that is a long and tired story. I hope she will know that in spite of everything I am working on the book for her and it is coming from the heart. I'll post a picture of it when I am done. I have been doing my own pages for the jouranl. The pages cosist of catholic prayers and I am decorating the pages with stamps and embellishments. It's been really fun to work on and I hope it portrays the heart I am putting into it as well as my Love for the Lord and my hopes that she too will one day know the Greatness of God's mercy and love.

I did do a few other cards yesterday too. I tried a new technique -which I will share in my next post. I also made a few cards to send out as RAK's - which will be my first ones to send out. I got a few RAK's this week and will be sending these ladies some of my creations as I thank them for sending one to me. This RAK stuff is really great - how nice to receive something other than bills in the mail!

Sorry, not much to say today. I will be spending some time putting together a class for some new stampers. I'll be teaching the basics of basics - from cutting your paper - to stamping your project using a few basic techniques - to making sure you sign your name on the back. I've taught this once before, and got a good response. It is something I am going to offer to all my new stampers. Once someone holds a workshop, I am offering my services to teach them how to use their new stamps and stuff to help them gain the confidence to try some stamping at home. So many time people buy the stamps, but never use them once they get them because they are intimidated. I plan to help east this by offering a post workshop basics class to each hostess and her guests. I'm thinking this will be a good program.

Okay - now I am off to bed as it has been a long day!

Thanks for stopping by!

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