Sunday, February 24, 2008

Your Final Peak....

Thanks so much for joining us this month as we've shared our rooms with you! Tal and I have both worked hard to create our perfect spaces and we were really excited to share them! Thanks for all the comments :)




Now for your final peak into my space....






Today I'm going to share with you my closet! My favorite part of my closet is this organization unit from Ikea. What's great about it is you can customize it depending what you need. I've organized it so that I have drawer space, shelves and hooks...it's so handy. The bottom drawer has my foam stamps organized into these fabric baskets (they come in a set of 6 from Ikea and you get 3 sizes...2 of each in a package and they're really inexpensive). The baskets are great for separating the fonts. I also used the same baskets to organize the top drawer which holds a lot of my tools and clear stamps. I love that my tools are put away and I don't have to look at the mess. I have a basket for my ink, my adhesive, glitter, acrylic blocks, and then a couple that hold misc. items. I really like the unity too of the baskets.







On the shelves I have more boxes and baskets to hold product. I have a box for chipboard, ghost shapes, Love Elsie, American Crafts embellishments, bling, etc. I like keeping items like that together. And then of course I have my paper storage here as well. I organize my pattern paper by company and find that this system works well for me. And I did a huge purge of my pattern paper so that it would all fit in my paper holders. I figure I really don't need more paper than what fits, right? There is no possible way I could ever use it all and I want to make sure I always have room for new stuff so I need to start only buying the paper I love and know I'll use...that means no more buying paper packs! I've decided that I never seem to use it all...I gotta keep control.







I have a basket of Heidi Swapp stuff that I love...I get this down quite often when I'm working! And I keep all my masks in another basket.... My rubber stamps are in 3 jars...this is my favorite! I saw this in someone else's room and love it so much (sorry I can't remember whose room I saw it in). I have them divided up into shapes and words. I don't do a lot of stamping, so it's okay for me to dig...it really doesn't bother me, but if you're someone who has a lot of stamps and uses them quite often than I probably wouldn't suggest this method. But it sure looks cute!






On the top shelf I have a basket of unfinished projects and then a hat box that has empty albums. It's nice to keep these things in my room, but in a spot where they're out of the way. And then the hooks on the side of my unit hold my bags.





I have wire baskets attached to both sides of my closet that hold rub-ons, alphabets and stickers/embellishments.








I have 2 wire units...one is used for tools (punches, scissors, cutting mats, coluzzle, etc.) and the other holds chipboard shapes, chipboard letters, scrap paper and containers that hold little embellishments. I have a rule for myself that I can only make cards with scrap paper...this way I actually use it instead of cutting a whole new sheet for one little card.





In another part of my room I have this computer cabinet. It's not in there at the moment, so I have some computer magazines, an 8.5x11 paper holder and baskets that hold my blank cards in it. Underneath is where I keep my albums that I can still add to. When an album is filled I keep them upstairs in the livingroom. I have an armoire up there where I keep my albums so that Ryker can't get into them and I love getting them out and looking at them once in awhile!!






I hope you had fun checking out my space and seeing how I work. It feels so good to have my own place where I can create...and don't think for a minute that it always stays this clean...haha!


Have a great week!

Kim :)

Sunday, February 17, 2008

The rest of my space!

Good morning!




I’m back today to share the rest of my room with you all. So let’s get started!





This is my computer desk…yup, I’m a Mac girl and nope, it’s not always this tidy! (heehee)





The next main storage solution I have in my room is my Expedit shelf from Ikea.



This is where I store my supplies and “stuff” that I don’t mind being seen and that is visually inspiring to me. I love all the cubbies and I love that I can switch things around and re-organize very easily if I want to.




On the top shelf I have things like ribbons, flowers, buttons, brads and alphabets all sorted by color. I loooove this. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go the “color” route and now I am so glad that I did! I didn’t realize until my supplies were organized this way that I really do think in terms of color when I scrapbook rather than, “Oh, I think I want a Making Memories ribbon on this layout.” Sorting by color has sped up my scrapbooking process big time.




On the second row I have cardstock sorted by color and other supplies in baskets. This is my “Love, Elsie” basket:



and this is my basket with blank mini albums just waiting to be used:





The 4 large baskets hold all of my stationary and gift wrap, Christmas supplies and larger chipboard alphabets. One basket is still empty…I’m sure I’ll have it filled up in no time!






Then the bottom shelf is where I store all of my albums.


I am in the process of switching all of my albums to the American Crafts 12x12 Modern Albums…you can see the black ones on the far left, and then on the far right all of my old, 8.5x11 albums. I can’t wait to get new ones!



Next is my “magazine corner”:


I found that cute white shelf at Home Sense and on the wall are wire baskets which hold Heidi Swapp products that I use frequently.



Now comes my favorite part of my room!


This is my magnetic wall calendar from Pottery Barn. I ordered this over a year and a half ago with no place to put it. I knew I’d be able to use it one day, and it is finally up!
This functions as a calendar and an inspiration board for me. I use it to keep my life on track, display projects I’ve made, pictures, magazine cut outs, you name it! It is fun, fun, fun.
(note: I don’t think this calendar is available to order anymore…sorry!)



And before I go, here is one last look at my room.


I bought my table at Ikea, it is actually a kitchen island. It works great for me because I can stand while I work plus it has awesome shelves for storage!





Thank you so much for peeking into my room with me this month. It was fun for me ‘cause not only was I motivated to get my room “done” and organized, but I was eager to share my ideas and hopefully motivate some of you in the process. There is nothing like an organized space to get you inspired to create. Whether it’s your room or your kitchen table, once everything has it’s “place” you’ll be able to work so much easier!


I hope you all have a great day, thanks for stopping by!



Talia:)



(P.S. Come back next week for one last look into Kim's space!)

Monday, February 11, 2008

Welcome!

*Let me know if the pictures still aren't showing up...sorry!*



Today is Monday again....


And I'm inviting you to check out my Scrap space!!



I've been planning my room for a long time now, but it was just a matter of time before I could get going. Now that we've actually finished our basement renovation I have my own space! Of course we're still working on things down there, but my room was the priority..hehe! And we have great big windows in the basement, so it really doesn't feel like I'm down there.


Anyway....


Today I'm going to share my desk space and some of my favorite display options.
My Desk was inspired by the Pottery Barn Bedford Collection and is very functional since the sides of the table are actually bookshelves. This makes it great for storing items in jars, boxes and baskets.



I love all the jars!! I keep everything from my tapes...to buttons...to chipboard letters...to ribbon and flowers. And I love the different sizes of jars I've collected. Some items I found work better for me to store by color, but that didn't seem to work for everything...it definitely looks so pretty!




I love the closed boxes from Ikea and found them great to hide items that I don't necessarily want on display. I've kept things like journaling spots and other journaling items in one and ghost letters in another...I just find them great for keeping my room looking organized.
Then I also have a lot of metal baskets that work perfectly for holding alphabets, chipboard alphabets, empty mini albums, and another one holds my file folders and kits. Open storage is great so you can actually see what supplies you have.

On top of my desk I have a carousel card holder where I display some of my cards and photos I want to scrapbook. And then I also have a tray that holds some of my basic supplies that I need for almost every project and layout. That way I always have those items right where I need them and don't have to get up while I'm working.


I'm all about displaying my work when I'm finished something I love...so I created this bulletin board. I was given an old frame that my sister got from her work (it used to have an old painting in it), I painted it black and put cork behind. It was so easy and is probably one of my favorite things in my room....I plan on using it for displaying inspiration too!



Behind my door I have 3 shelves that hold some of my favorite idea books. I have so many, but I've found that when I see them I actually turn to them for inspiration, so it's really handy having them out. The rest of my magazines and books are kept on my bookshelf and organized by manufacturer. I only keep the magazines for one year and then after I either give them away or I tear out the articles that inspired me and put them in an inspiration book that I have.


On my window sill I have big clothes pins that some of my smaller cards are displayed in and it's also a great spot for some of my mini albums. The rest of my mini albums are kept in a basket on the bottom shelf of my ladder shelf. Really take advantage of all the areas you have to work with. A window sill is the next best thing to a shelf!


Lastly I have a dress form that hangs on the wall where I have hung one of my favorite projects I did a few weeks ago. It will be great to clip other projects up on here too!




I'm all about displaying what you create!!! I find it very inspirational and I feel that our rooms should be a place that inspires us.




We would love to see how you display your finished items, so make sure you send us pictures of your rooms or organization tips that have worked for you...we love seeing where you are inspired!!!



Kim :)


*Update* You can get the ladder shelves from Pottery Barn or Revy (here in Canada) but I ordered mine from Sears since it was already black! The Card Carousel is from Pottery Barn...it was a gift from my Mom. My desk was custom made by a friend (my hubby traded work with him...so nice) but you can also get a similar one from Pier 1. And the color of my room is peidmont grey (sp?) from Benjamin Moore...it looks more grey in the pictures...it's kind of a greeny-grey. :)