Craft Room – Post 4 Finished Desk & New Addition

Hope everyone is having a great week. Today I am continuing the journey through my craft room as I continued to move items in. When deciding where to place items since some of my cubbies are actually under the desk, I wanted the items I would use frequently more accessible so they are on the outside cubbies. Then I separated everything in a way I wanted them organized and started putting things away. I also purchased some cute baskets to hold my rub-ons, embellishments, smaller paper packs, and flowers (ok, maybe I’m addicted to flowers since I have a basket of flowers in addition to all the ones on my shelf). J

There is also room between the back two cubbies for me to put my organizer that is home to my scraps and larger chipboard sets.

There you have it – this is how the underneath of my desk is organized. I love my desk because not only was it cheaper than having one made or trying to purchase one to make it work, it is very functional and has lots of storage which to me is a necessity for crafting.

After building my desk I realized I needed a new addition once I moved the computer because I did not have anywhere to store my printer. My handy Dad got to work figuring out how to add an extension to my desk while also allowing the closet door to still open. We were able to use wood that was left over from the desk for him to add an extension and a hanging shelf that is now home to my finished and umm half finished scrapbooks.

Then I realized I did not have anywhere to display some of my craft projects so I put my poor Dad to work again. He cut wood for my shelves, used a really cute geometric trim and then I painted them white to match the other furniture in the room. Then I had Shane help me level them and hang them on the wall. Now I have somewhere for my pictures and projects I have completed along with some cute decorations I will share at a later time. Since we originally hung the shelves I added a couple of hooks to display two mixed media albums I created last year at CKC.

Well that has everything organized and now you know where I get my “crafty” on. I hope this gives you some ideas on how to organize your craft room.

 

Tracey

CKC = A Scrappy Weekend!

CKC Nashville 2012

I had a blast this weekend and wanted to share some of the fun I had with you. Creating Keepsakes Convention was in Nashville this weekend so it was time to get a little scrappy. The weekend consisted of shopping, learning some new techniques from some great teachers, having a few laughs with friends (Jennifer we missed you), and closing the weekend with a crop.

 

Friday consisted mostly of shopping the vendor faire. Not only was I able to purchase exciting new products, I also watched a few demonstrations to learn new techniques and completed a gift card holder at the Close to My Heart booth. There were not as many vendors this year but I have to say I fell in love with one particular vendor – ADORNit. Here is a couple of pictures I took in their booth – I purchased the supplies to recreate the yellow wood art for my craft room.

 

I must mention this was only half of their booth because I did not dare step to the other side – they had some really cute clothing and accessories and I knew my scraping budget would be gone if I even dared to look. Check out their website as they carry a wide variety of scrapbook projects, fabric, clothing, and accessories – there is also a link to their blog from their website.

I also made sure to stop by and support our local crafting superstar – Jenni Bowlin – she has a great website so make sure it check it out along with her blogs.

As I mentioned I was able to take a few classes and learn some new techniques. As always the classes go really quick so I have several projects I will be working to finish and I promise to share them with you as they are completed.

I also got very lucky this year! They have hourly drawings in the vendor faire and this year I decided to purchase extra give-away tickets. I dropped my tickets in Friday and was lucky to win the 10am drawing which was a gift certificate to Dollar Scrapbooking.net. Saturday morning when I arrived I dropped my tickets off and to when I got out of my first class I had won another $15 gift certificate for Stamping Station. So off to my last class I went and luckily I had friends looking out for me. To my surprise when I had gotten out of class they noticed I had won once again and they were all nice enough to redeem my goodies from Strictly Scrapbooking since the vendors closed as I was getting out of class. I guess I should have purchased a lottery ticket because I’m never this lucky. J

A CK convention is never complete without a late night crop. We shared a few laughs, made a run for ice cream, while working on our projects for the night. It was a long day arriving at 9:00 am Saturday morning and cropping until 11:30pm so as you can imagine we were all a little tired. I hate CK will not be coming back to Nashville next year but I think that will just mean a road trip!

Lori, Amy, Vanessa, Michele from The Scrap Shoppe, and me after a long day!

Tracey

Craft Room – Post 3 Refurbished Dresser

Welcome to the third post as I share the process of how my craft room was created. In my first post I shared with you the construction of my room, last week I shared how some of my goodies are organized, and today I want to show you the dresser I refurbished.

As I was getting ready to start on my room my parents decided they wanted to replace the dresser I had in my room growing up. I knew this would make a great addition to my room but would first need a makeover. Here is what it looked like before – okay it is in pieces because someone almost forgot to take before pictures.



I started with a primer to make sure the paint would adhere due to the years of it being Pledged and finished with my white paint.

 

 

 

 

 

I then used the same stencil that is on the wall to add a little color to the top. For the corners I used half the stencil design and then added one complete flourish in the center.

 

The bottom of the dresser has a recessed design so I decided to add a little more color by paint it turquoise.









I then found some really cute drawer pulls that I added to the top set of drawers and flourish pulls for the bottom set of drawers. This is the finished product:

 

If I was to redo this dresser I would probably distress it (now that I love to distress everything) and add some more designs to the drawers but I believe it is still a great addition to my room. It is home to my punches, die cuts, cartridges, templates, card supplies, and my extra stash of necessities.

 

Next week I will share with you how I filled the cubbies under my desk and a couple of additions to the room.

 

Tracey





DIY - Cabinet Door to Wall Decor

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a good start to your week! This weekend we headed out to our county fair to spend some time with our grandkids on Friday night and Saturday Shane and I just walked around enjoying the sights and food!

Today I want to share with you how you can turn cabinet doors to wall décor! My mom is redecorating a section of our church and I wanted to create some wall décor that would match the area with a positive message.

I found these cabinet doors at our local Rebuild store that supports Habitat for Humanity and only paid $2 each for them.

I then enlisted my Dad to remove the outer edges. Since they were bound with glue he cut along each end and was then able to remove the edging.

This left me with the inner section of the cabinets to create my décor. I then sanded them to make the edges smooth and so the paint would adhere

I knew I wanted to give them a distressed look so I started with two coats of Martha Stewart Greek Tile paint.

Once they were dry I then painted them with Martha Stewart Vanilla Bean.

Then came the fun part of sanding and distressing.

Using my Silhouette and cream vinyl I selected the font and size I wanted to add a positive message reminding everyone we are to “Love One Another”.

You can really use your CreativiT to use different colors to match your décor and add designs or phrases. The next time I do this project I think I will try using the entire cabinet.

So what do you think?

I link to these parties! 

Tracey

Craft Room – Post 2 Getting Organized

Last week I shared with you the construction of my craft room and promised to share some of the ways I have organized my crafting goodies. With my desk complete it was time to get organized and start moving my craft supplies from working on a sewing desk out of a large scrapbook tote and my closet to my new craft room.

The first item I want to share with you is my paper organizer – I LOVE this beauty. While trying to determine how to organize my scrapbook paper I was searching eBay and I got really lucky. I found someone who only lives about an hour away and makes beautiful craft organizers. Once I got it home all I had to do was paint it and separate all of my paper so it would be organized.

Another time-consuming project was separating out my brads and other metal goodies. I had a spice rack in my kitchen I never used and I knew it would make the perfect way to organize them. Me and Jessicia sat in the floor for about an hour separating everything by color. When we were finished I punched a color coordinated flower for the top of the lids and used my label maker to label each one.

Now for the other love of my room – my Craft Accessory Organizer from Michaels. Over the last two years I have changed it up some as I reorganized to make room for more goodies. This organizer is now home for all my glitter, Stickles, Smooch, beads, more glitter, flowers, and smaller chipboard containers. As you can see it use to be home to my ribbon but as my glitter and ribbon collection expanded I moved my ribbon to my organizers under the desk.

A couple other organizers I added to the room is this cute turquoise and brown bin I found on clearance to hold my crafting magazines and this basket is home to all my letters (which might have grown a little since this picture was taken). J

Michele at The Scrap Shoppe has shared her organizing tip for clear stamps and with the design of the desk it was perfect for my cubbies. I had several old CD cases with no CDs so I started break the centers out of the cases and adding my stamps. To help me find my stamps I added a label to the edge of the CD cases and organized the stamp sheet in a notebook that cross-references back to the cases.

Ok, well that is it for this craft room post. Next week I will show you my refurbished dresser.

On a side note - I have shared my love of photographing weather and I had a great chance tonight to take some pictures so I thought I would share my favorite one with you.

Tracey

Craft Room – Post 1 Under Construction

Hello everyone! Since starting my blog I wanted to share my craft room with you but have to admit I knew it would take some time gathering everything to create my posts but I finally decided there is no time like the present. I created my craft room about two years ago so a few things have changed. This is the first of a few posts I will share with you taking you through construction to the finished room. Without further ado here we go.

Before creating my room I did a lot of research trying to determine the layout of my room from selecting colors, how to organize, and the most important part my workspace. I knew I wanted the colors to be bright and fun so when I found something the color I wanted I had the paint mixed to match. Then it was time to invite my friend Jennifer over and get started painting with my favorite color - turquoise. Once each wall was done I stenciled around the top of the room using a really cute flourish stencil – I wish I would have counted every time I went up and down that ladder.

After Jennifer and I finished painting the room it was time to call in the guys to start building the desk. I knew the biggest expense in the room would be my desk and I wanted something that would give me a lot of storage, fit my room and not break the bank. My surfing the web paid off as I found a great desk design with lots of storage. You can find great instructions and design layout for creating the desk at Jannypie. The best part, I was able to modify the layout to make the desk bigger giving me more workspace and storage. My husband and my Dad did a great job of customizing the plans I had found and spent a lot of time making it just right.

Once they were finished it was time to break out the paint brushes to primer and paint the desk – this took a while and I was really tired of painting by the time I was finished. After the painting was finally done I hung my curtain and placed the desk in the corner.

The room was starting to come together – next week I will share some of my projects to get organized.

Tracey



Sand and Shell Frame

Remembering Our Time Away

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. We are getting a lot of rain so it is the perfect day to be in my craft room. It has been a hectic week in our household this week and our youngest started his Junior year (enjoy your little ones they grow up way too fast).

A couple of weeks ago I shared my relaxing getaway with you and that I had collected some shells while we were strolling the beach. Today I wanted to share one of the project ideas I had for my shells. While it is not a new idea it is one that will help us remember our time away and allowed me to bring a piece of the ocean home with me.

For this project I used a plain wood frame I had purchased from Michaels some time back, Mod Podge, sand, shells, and canvas. If you do not have shells you can purchase these at any craft store.

I wanted to use sand as the base of my frame and had planned to use a wonderful product I purchased a couple of years ago at the CKC convention – it is sand that already has adhesive mixed in so you just have to spread it on – but I had used it for a previous project and it was hard as a rock. In the trash it went and I had to think of another way to use sand. I was able to find a small bag of sand at Hobby Lobby so I put a thick layer of Mod Podge and sprinkled it with sand. This did not give me the coverage I wanted so I cleaned off the loose sand then covered that layer with more Mod Podge and sand. After removing the excess sand I applied a light layer of Mod Podge by dabbing it on the top layer of sand. This allows the sand to stay in place so I do not have sand falling off the frame. Now that I know this technique works I will not purchase any more of the sand with adhesive because in the future I will remember to gather sand from the beach to use when I get home.

Once the top layer of Mod Podge was completely dry I started arranging my shells and then adhered them with 3-in-1 Beacons glue. I then created a tag using canvas fabric, outlined it with a brown marker, and added it to the frame. The edge of the frame was bare wood so I decided to use aqua rick-rack to add a little color that compliments the ocean.

Now I can remember our getaway and the fun I had collecting the shells during our trip.

Tracey