Tuesday's Eye Candy Craft Space

Seriously, you would so be lying if you told me that you do not want Amanda's craft room! I am *so* jealous! But we can't all have amazing dads that can build an entire custom craft room like hers! I also wish I had even a quarter of her supplies! Feast your eyes on these pictures. I'm not going to even begin to explain her organization and such, because I couldn't do it better than Amanda herself! (http://www.kevinandamanda.com/photos/scraproom/new/)

How to Build Up Your Stash On a Budget

So, you think you need more supplies? Or are starting a new craft? But, there is a catch (isn't there always)! Say you are getting into scrapbooking. Like any craft, the supply costs can definitely get out of control! You don't want to spend $500 on supplies to start off, especially because you don't even know if you're going to love it! What to do? What to do? If you are going to scrap, I suggest owning some sort of die cut machine (in the long run it may even save you some money!). I really don't see the need (unless you're doing this for a living) to own the popular Cricut machine. They start at $200, and the cartridges average about $70 each. Yes, I did consider it. Did I get it? Nope! Do I regret it? Nope! It is a rare occasion when I need a very complex die cut. When I do, there are the great people at Etsy who sell them for reasonable prices. Or, there is Michael's with their sticky things that can be extremely complex! So, what die cut machine do I have? I have the Cuttlebug, which is made by the same people that makes the Cricut. I *love* my Cuttlebug. One thing it does that the Cricut does not do is emboss. And I *love* the embossing feature. The embossing folders are about $5 for the A2 sizes, and about $6 for a set of four small ones. The die cuts are about $7 for a set of four small ones, and the same for a 3"X3" die. While there will be some exceptions, these are pretty standard. I got my Cuttlebug for $30.80 at Michael's! They are normally $77, and the 40% off coupon is good on them! :-) Now, just walk away for that day.

Go back when you have another 40% off coupon! Then, browse down the clearance section, and all the scrapping supplies sections. Look for good deals! I usually just go down the eisles looking for the red and yellow clearance stickers. As soon as I spot one, I go over and see if I'm interested. Usually Michael's will have a few papers, a few embelishments, and a few sticker things with these sales. Almost always, Michael's will have anywhere from 20% - 45% off their 12x12 individual papers. I usually set a $10-$15 paper budget per trip. I have gotten up to 60 papers for this amount! This is rare though, as I will usually get about 25 with their average sales. In addition to this, pick up a few packs of clearance/sale stickers, embelishments, etc. I will expect to spend about $6-$8 on embelishments (including ribbon) per trip. I usually spend about $35 at Michael's every trip. This includes not just scrapping supplies, but decor, framing, and other little trinkets that just don't fit into my paper or embelishment "budget". Also, don't forget that Michael's always has their $1 section of ribbon and embelishments! I made out the other day finding the most adorable little journaling spots, rhinestones, and chipboard albums in there!

Now, you have that 40% off you have to use on a full price item. I usually pick out a 12x12" pack of paper to use on this (or a die cut set, or splurge on a real special embellishment set). They go for about $19.99, so you can get it for just over $10, which is a great price! Or, if you are going through the organizing stages, you may want to spend it on some of their organizational cubes.

Michael's puts *tons* of stuff on sale every week. Don't be in a huge rush. For example, last month I had my eye on a huge pack of chipboard letters for $19.99. Even though it was a great price, I opted out. Just today, I was browsing through the clearance section and found it at $9.99. You better bet I snatched it up! :-)

If you have any questions about budgeting your trips to the crafting shop, please don't hesitate to ask! Like many scrappers, I have a huge paper addiction, but I have taught myself to control myself. ;-) This budget above can also be applied and adjusted a bit to sewers, painters, etc.

Good luck and have fun!

Eye Candy Space

So today while browsing the Etsy forums, I found a thread called, Show me your workspace! All the contributors to that thread had so many great spaces! I wanted to share so many of them with all of you, but I just can't do it all at once! My solution? As often as I can (hopefully one a day), I will post my daily "Eye Candy Space". These spaces will not always be from scrappers, so everyone else will be able to get ideas for their space if you're a jewelry artist, sewer, etc.

Today's Eye Candy Space is from...*drum roll*...Posh Dots! I just love her paint wall! I love how it is organized by color, but the different shades are just mixed up. It's organized, but still very fun at the same time! My next favorite part of her room is the roll of ribbon under the paint rack. Or is it that colored tape? Either way, I think it just looks really nice! I don't know what is stored in that nine cube shelf, but that is pretty nice too! I love the bright colors of the materials contrasted with the pale blue wall paint. Now also be sure to visit her Etsy shop! I love her work, and may just have to purchase something for my craft room! I just love her shop, and her room is a great inspiration to anyone working with acrylic paints! Great work PoshDots!

Moving Along...

This past week I made a few trips to Michael's and bought a few of their cubes! I'm going to try and get them all done tomorrow, then I shall post pictures! Hopefully they're not too hard to put together, but usually this stuff is! :-( Anyway, I am going for a cube look, which is really good for a compact space because you can stack them!

I found this really great resource of Michaels.com:
They have a few different craft room layouts for you to choose from, then they tell you what pieces from the Jetmax Modular Storage collection, which is what I am using.

The U-Shaped Room is my favorite! Then they have the Standard Craft Room, which is good if you don't have a lot of stuff, but a decent sized space/room. The Large Craft Room is great for all of you who have a really nice, large room dedicated for just your crafting. When my basement is all finished (which was yet again delayed), I will be purchasing extra pieces to put this room together down there. The last one is the Compact Craft Room, which seems like it would be perfect if you have just one wall for your crafting area. This layout would just never work for me because I like to be surrounded by everything. Half of my inspiration (even though it sounds really weird) comes from just staring at my supplies. Eventually a paper will catch my eye, and will inspire me to create a whole page or card from it! Although none of these layouts will work for my current awkward space, I found this helpful to know as to what everything looks like so that I could plan out exactly what I needed before going in!


Oh yes, and a note about my fun sea friend pictures! ;-) These were all taken by me at the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN on my recent trip there over the Summer. I don't have pictures of the storage units yet, so just threw them up to give you something to look at. ;-)

Front Page Find

I logged into Etsy today to find these on the front page---------->
aren't they great? now, yes, yes, there are TONS of these on Etsy. But these are in such a fun and suitable fabric! I can so just imagine going into Wegmans (or wherever you do your veggie shopping), and everyone just "oohing" and "ahhing" over these bags! I just had to give them a huge heart! Check them out here- Happy Vegetable Reusable Vegtable Bags

Before...The Disasterous Mess!

BEHOLD! My messy, cluttered, super small craft room. I just moved from my guest room (because in-case I actually have guests, they need some where to live!) to my sister's room. My basement is *hopefully* going to be finished soon, so I will need to move down there. Until then, my craft room is in the room where my little sister sleeps when she stays over. It is *tiny*. So, I am going to make the most of my space...hence the point of this blog! I thought it would be good for you to see some before pictures! And yes, I KNOW this is an absolute, terrible, disorganized, horrific mess! I am aware! I'm going hunting for some storage furniture this weekend, so hopefully I will have something to show you all soon! *crosses fingers*


good night!

MISSON Not So Impossible: ORGANIZE

Welcome to my misson! What misson you say? My misson to ORGANIZE! (you stare at your computer with a "that lady is totally crazy" look on your face) Why would I want to go on a misson to do this? Because my craft room is a total mess! hehehe. I will take you through my journey to totally re-organize and re-decorate your crafting room, or any room! In between, I will show you some of my really cool and unique finds on Etsy, and in real shops! Don't forget to follow, because lots of fun stuff is coming up soon! :-)