09.09.10 Fallen Tree

This is the 40' tree in our backyard that fell the night before last.  We think it got Oak Rot and just collapsed upon itself.  Thankfully the little baby tree near our house is currently supporting it, so it has not yet fell through our bedroom.  It stormed all day today, so they could not remove it.

Welcome to my Scrap Space

I was inspired to purge my scrap supplies and de-clutter my scrap space last week by the forum at Scrapbook Challenges where everyone was sharing photos of their scrap space.  I converted the "loft" in my home into a scrapbook/craft area when I moved in almost 7 years ago.  Over that time period, I have collected more and more stuff.  I spent all last weekend and almost every night this week sifting through my "stuff" and purging a ton.  I also re-organized portions to make it more user (me) friendly.

I hope this inspires you to re-examine your space and see what organization tools you can use.  Welcome to my space!

And now to share some organizational ideas:

Paper:  My paper is sorted by color in 12x12 paper holders.  I have a roller/file cart for solids and one for pattern paper.  My solids are kept under my table directly at my feet and my pattern papers are directly behind me under the desk, for easy access.  

Holiday, Events, & Travel:  I keep all scrapbook related event & holiday items in their own labeled 12x12 bin.  This way when I travel for crops or am working on a particular album I can just grab the related 12x12 bin.  I also have a bin for each major trip I have taken, yet to be scrapped. 

My bins are labeled as follows:  Events, Weddings, Holidays, Love, Cupcakes/BBQ/Wine, Friends/Family, Specialty Papers, Baby, Travel, Camping, Christmas, Puppy, Card Kits, Sonoma, Spain, Grandpa, Italy, London, Greece, New York

Ribbon:  My ribbon is organized by color on binder clips and then hung on the wall with aluminum push pins from the Container Store.  When I need a particular color for a page that I am working on, I just grab that color and have all my options at my fingertips.

 
Cricut cartridges:  My cartridges are located on an over-the-door elfa standard from the Container Store.  Each deep basket holds 11 cartridges for easy viewing.  I am using a second one for all of my overflow ribbon until I need the space for more cartridges  ;)

Stamps and Stamp Pads:  My stamp pads are stored in an old cassette holder that I spray painted white.  It has plenty of spots for future colors.  My stamps are all in Close to my Heart containers on my shelf directly behind my work station.

Felt Borders:  These are hung, by color on hooks from my elfa shelves, yes again from the Container Store.

Scissors and Border Punches:  My scissors are hung on hooks and the my border punches are located on the shelf so I can see which ones I have. 

Paints:  my paints are stored in spice racks above my tools table.

On my tools table also sits my cricut Expression and my markers.

Small Embellishments:  My smaller embellishments are in plastic boxes with dividers, found in the tackle box section at Wal-Mart.  These fit great in the white dot baskets from Container Store.  They keep the little items seperated and are clear so it is easy to see what is in each one.  When I go to a crop, I just grab the whole dot basket.  I also store all of my fibers and floss in one, I even used to store my ribbon in these.  The Cropper Hopper mini squares work great.

Medium Embellishments:  These are in yet another white dot basket, but I have them in work files also purchased from the Container Store.  These are labeled as:  Felt, Bling, Chipboard/Tags, Journaling, and Clocks/Arrows/Brackets/Bugs

New products:  I have to have my newest products out to see or I tend to forget that I have them.  My hubby installed this little shelf on the beam above my work tables.  I add my newest candy here until it is used.

Scraps:  My scraps are sorted by color and by solids/patterns in more white dot baskets.  This way I just grab the color pack that I need, I find that I tend to use more scraps this way.

Stickles:  My stickles are stored in a little mini hat box from Creative Options, easy to grab, easy to travel with.

Tools/Adhesives:  My everyday tools and adhesives are stored in these totes that reside on my work desk at all times.  They are set up for travel and go.

Brads:  My brads are stored in a Craft Keeper, the plastic compartments allows the brads to stay organized yet see all my options.  I have a smaller version that contains all of my grommets. 

Thanks for visiting my space.  I'd love to hear your comments!

Stacy's Tim Holt Blog Candy Giveaway

Stacy over at Scrap with Stacy has some fabulous blog candy that she is giving away.  It is a great collection of new Tim Holtz items.  I love me some Tim Holtz, don't you?  I really hope I win.  I'm already thinking of all the LO's I can make.  Thanks Stacy for the chance to win!

09.08.10 Tornados and Storm Warnings

The storms began last night and continued all day long.  This evening there was even a tornado that touched down on the 400 block of Mockingbird, very near where I was at the time.  It caused quite a bit of damage.  Juan was out of town and due to the cracked tree and weather, I decided to spend the night with my sister in lieu of spending it alone with the two dogs.  When I arrived, Vanessa was closely watching the weather on TV and Jakob immediately ran over to the TV to be the weather man and show us where the storm was moving to.  Too cute! 

Home Wrecker

Last night there were pretty bad storms in Dallas.  At about midnight, Juan and I awoke to extremely loud popping noises.  I honestly thought someone was shooting at us and in our backyard....the mind plays terrible tricks when you are half asleep.  Juan went out to check and apparently our largest tree, a 40' oak, cracked straight down the middle and had fallen towards the back of the house where our bedroom is.  The only thing that stopped it from coming through the roof was a smaller tree right in front of our window.  It was still pouring, so Juan evicted us out of the bedroom into the spare bedroom at the front of the house.  There we layed awake most of the night listening to the continuous popping sounds as the tree continued to fall closer and closer to the roof.  This morning Juan left a 6am for a flight and will not be back until tomorrow.  I called a couple of tree removal companies today, but they all said we had to wait for it to quit raining.  So for now, we are just hoping that little tree will continue to support the monstrosity that has fallen on it.  This evening when I arrived home, after a full day of rain, the little tree was leaning precariously close to the roof of our home.  Unfortunately there are many more storms forcasted for tonight.

This is how close the little tree that is supporting the big tree has leaned towards the house.

09.07.10 Friends for Forever

Angie and I have been friends for about 21+ years now.  We actually met in junior high became best friends in high school and have been close ever since!  We spent the weekend being girlie, scrapbooking, and giggling.  It was great having her in Dallas for the extended holiday weekend.  Come back soon Angie!

09.06.10 Crafty Scrappers

I took Angie to the scrapbook store I found in Waxahachie, Tx.  It is called Crafty Scrappers.  It is geat and they always have the latest products on display.  It's a long drive, but totally worth it.  We found all sorts of goodies!

09.05.10 Breakfast Yummies

Since Angie was visiting, I decided to make muffins this morning...cinnamon strusel.  They were exceptionally yummy!