My Studio - Part 3

These are the last of the pictures of my studio. Sorry I didn't get them posted last night, but there was just too much to do!

The first picture is when I am sitting at my stamping desk looking to the left. You can see my clear sets that I like to keep handy, and to the right of that is a container with my Cuttlebug folders. Then, my BELOVED Tombow markers. I couldn't live without those!

The second picture is sitting at my stamping desk looking straight ahead. I always keep a stack of 11 x 17 white paper on the desk that I use as my "stamping pad". You can buy a ream of it at your office supply really cheap. When one page gets dirtied, just throw it away and there is another underneath. And of course, my OTT light is a must have!

The next picture is just at my right hand sitting at my stamping desk. All the necessary tools are within reach. You can see my Prisma pencils in the blue bucket. The larger white carousel is from Making Memories. I bought it at Michael's with a 50% off coupon. (It was cheaper to buy it that way than for me to buy it wholesale and pay the shipping!) The smaller carousel is from Pampered Chef. My friend Nancy gave it to me a long time ago, and I love it!

The last picture is what I call my embossing area. The little wicker basket is filled with my VersaColor cubes. You can also see the postal scales which I use daily for weighing all the packages I mail. My Milwaukee heat tool is in a holder, and I love that. I've tried to find those holders for other people, but haven't yet been able to find another source.

Under the embossing area you can see a glimpse of a 12 x 12 rolling cart that holds my scraps. I have each color in a gallon zip lock bag. They are really handy, and I always look in there first before cutting a new sheet of cardstock.

So...I know you're tired of these, and this is the last of them...until I reorganize something. Don't worry, that probably won't happen anytime soon!

Thanks so much for all your super sweet comments, and for stopping by.

NEW - Paper from Memory Box!

I've been SUPER busy since I got home from work tonight! The Memory Box order was on my doorstep, and I couldn't wait to see the new paper and stamps!

I have never carried designer paper in my inventory before, but I couldn't resist these beautiful designs. (I also have all the new Basic Grey 6 x 6 pads on order.) The first picture is the Aerial Paper Collection . There are 3 sheets each of 10 patterns, for a total of 30 sheets. The colors are tangerines, sky blues and a rustle of feathers.

The Inspire Collection also has 30 sheets. Again, there are 3 sheets each of 10 different patterns. They boast a deep aqua, chocolate brown and layers of swirl.

The Sprout Collection is also beautiful! There are 3 sheets each of 10 patterns in leafy greens and petal pinks.

The Flirt Paper Collection has 50 double sided sheets in this paper pad. There are 10 patterns, with 5 sheets each. All are just gorgeous! The design is the perfect scale for card makers
The last one is called the Homespun Collection . These are double sided as well, and there are also 50 pieces in the package...5 each of 10 different patterns. As you can see, the colors are spring like...and beautiful!

I am in love with these....and I think you will love them too!

Sorry I didn't have any other eye candy for you tonight. I still don't have all the new Memory Box stamps listed in the store...but I'm going back to work on it as soon as I finish this post.

I will have something new for you tomorrow night.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

My Studio - Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of the photos of my studio.

The first picture is just to the right of my Making Memories shelf, looking above the arched window. I bought these wooden letters somewhere a while ago, then altered them with dp in colors to coordinate with my room. Sorry I couldn't get a better picture, but you get the idea.

Just to the right of the window I have two shelves holding some of my Primas, and some of my treasured cards, as well as others that I have made recently.

The next picture is my computer desk. I promise you, this is as clean as it ever gets! My desk is also by Elfa, purchased at The Container Store. It has a row of drawers on the right, which has a lot of storage.
I don't think you can see it well, but just to the left of those drawers is a 12 x 12 Iris Cart. It's really handy for a lot of embellishments, chipboard, rub ons, etc. Each of the drawers is organized, and very handy here.

The silver bulletin board over my computer desk is magnetic. I found it at IKEA on one of my trips to Dallas, and I love having it there. The things on it are constantly changing, except for pictures of the grands.

Just to the right of my computer desk is another Elfa storage drawer system. The top it holds my ribbon storage containers. There is also ribbon in the top 3 drawers of the Elfa. Can one EVER have enough ribbon? :-) The drawers beneath hold paints, embellishments, and lots of ink pads and reinkers. I am actually pretty good about buying the reinker when I buy the ink pad, and it has served me well.



To the right of the Elfa unit is my 8.5" x 11" cardstock storage. What can I say about that? I love cardstock....in every color! And I love it that I can see what I have at a glance.

Primarily, I use Bazzill cardstock. But to be painfully honest, any paper that's pretty will manage to find it's way here eventually.



The last picture for tonight is the double closet. For those of you who think I'm super organized....just look at the mess in there!

You can see my 12 x 12 cardstock stored on the floor in Karen Foster paper holders. It is sorted by color, and it's really pretty handy. When I'm looking for a particular color I can pick up the whole container and bring it to my work table to match it under my OTT light.

There is a little of everything in this closet, from beads and glitter to alterables. I also store my notecards and envelopes in here. Really, I think it's ALL "good stuff" so I haven't been willing to part with it. Maybe someday?

I will post the last part of the pictures of my studio tomorrow night if I have time to write the post. I am expecting a shipment from Memory Box in the next day or so. Yep...new stuff! So if it doesn't get here tomorrow I will have time to finish up on the studio pictures.

Thanks so much for stopping by....more of something tomorrow.

Four Leaves

I know this isn't my usual style, but I was in the mood to make something "different". And you must admit this IS different from the cute little images I typically use.

The image is JudiKins Four Leaves . I stamped it on watercolor paper using Versafine Onyx Black ink, then embossed with JudiKins Detail Clear embossing powder.

Someone left a comment earlier today asking what kind of watercolor paper I use. Actually, I buy mine at Michael's with a coupon. It's Canson 90 lb cold press Aquarelle. I've been using it for a long, long time and have always been very happy with it. And I don't have any problem with the Versafine ink smuding when I watercolor on it. I would have responded directly to the person that asked, but I didn't have her email address...so I hope she reads this post.

I colored the stamped image using Tombow markers and a blender pen. I just LOVE those colors!

For the background, I simply stamped the Four Leaves on the cardstock using VersaMark Ink . I really like the watermark effect on dark colored cardstock.

And since I was in a mood to do something different, I hammered my brads with my new Tim Holtz Texture Hammer . If I was making a project that had a lot of distressing, I would have hammered them more. Basically, I was playing here...okay? LOL!

If I have enough time tomorrow evening, I will post more pics of my studio. At any rate, I will have something new for you tomorrow.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Life's A Beach!

I took a little time this morning to play along with the SCS Featured Stamper's Challenge. I haven't been able to play the last couple of weeks, and it's my favorite challenge on SCS. Today's featured stamper is the fabulous and talented Mary Jo Albright! She makes some awesome cards!

The card I chose to CASE can be seen HERE . I loved her card, as well as her layout...so I used it for today's creation.

The main image is Inkadinkado's Fun On The Beach . I stamped it on watercolor paper using Versafine Onyx Black ink, then colored using Tombow markers and a blender pen.

The sentiment is from My Favorite Things Twisted Sentiments stamp set. I guess this just goes to prove that ALL the sentiments aren't twisted! LOL! The layers behind the sentiment were cut and embossed with my Nestabilities circles.

For the row of paper piercing along the top I used my new Tim Holtz Design Ruler . There are several very cool things about this ruler, but my favorite is the 12" row of holes that are spaced exactly 1/8" apart. And since the ruler is see through, you can see where you're going, and don't have to move it to pierce a long line. Love it!

The ribbon is from Textured Trios, which I found at Michaels. The brads are actually blue, even though I think they look a little black in the photo.

Thanks so much for all your sweet comments and emails about my studio. I LOVE this room, and it's my favorite place in the house! I will post more pictures later in the week.

Gotta run....chicken is on the grill and I'm starved!

Thanks for stopping by. I will be back tomorrow with something new.

Until then....

My Studio - Part 1

Since I didn't have a chance to do any stamping today, I decided to take photographs of my studio. I've had a number of requests for them. And to be honest, it's never quite clean enough to have a permanent record of the mess! So....this is as good as it gets!

As you walk through the door, the first picture you see is just to the left of the doorway. It's what I call my cutting area. The white basket on top of the stack of Rubbermaid drawers is for paper scraps that need to be filed away. It's always full! Just to the right of that on top of my counter is my Scor-It and Genesis paper trimmer. I especially love the light on the paper cutter. But frankly, the whole thing was pretty pricey. AND I was on a waiting list for almost a year in order to get it!

The next picture is the same area. You can see my Big Shot there. All my Nestabilities are in CD cases stored in the blue cubes underneath the clock. My Gina K stamps are also stored there.

The third picture is the rest of my counter top. My Sizzix machine and Sizzix dies are handy here. Frankly, I don't use them much, but when the Grands come to play with me they use some of them. Of course, the TV and DVD player are a must! When I'm sitting at my stamping desk, the view of the cutting area and TV is directly in front of me.

Going to the right of the stamping storage and paper cutting area, you will see my Making Memories shelf. I like it a lot, and am happy to have found it at Michael's (with a 50% off coupon)! That makes it much sweeter!

The last picture for tonight is a shot of the stamp storage system I use. I have 7 of these in a row, which forms the counter top for my cutting area. The entire row of them is 10 1/2 feet long. And the counter top is about 42" high. Each unit has 10 drawers, so it holds a whole lotta stamps and stuff! They are from The Container Store, and are made by Elfa.

They put them on sale usually in January of every year, and that's when I bought mine. I even bought the labels for the outside of the drawers but just haven't gotten around to that quite yet.


I forgot to mention that the shelves on the wall just above my stamp storage are also from The Container Store, and made by Elfa. I love it that they are adjustable. I'm constantly changing things around, so that's a necessity for me. They put those on sale sometime in the summer. Since we don't have a Container Store here, I've hauled it all back from Dallas, and made several special trips when it's on sale.

I will have more pictures of the studio later this week in another post. I didn't want to overload one post with a lot of graphics so it would take too long to upload.

I plan on doing some stamping this weekend, so in addition to more studio pictures, I should have some cards as well.

By the way...I haven't forgotten about the questions several of you asked. I will also address those real soon.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you're having a great weekend!

Changito Thanks U

This is a quick little card I made last night. It's pretty straight forward, so I won't elaborate much.

The stamp is Stampendous Changito Thank-U . I stamped it on white cardstock using VersaMark ink, then embossed with JudiKins Detail Black embossing powder.

The stamped image was colored with Tombow markers and a blender pen. Honestly, I could have controlled the color much better if I had stamped on watercolor paper. I usually do, and have NO IDEA why I didn't this time. Go figure!

I used my corner rounder on the stamped layer, and on the blue and green layers behind it.

The scallops on the blue panel were made with my corner rounder as well. I used a white gel pen to doodle on the scalloped panel.

The ribbon is from Michael's, and the designer paper is from Gin X. I love that paper!

I'm off to work on some orders for new stamps for the store...then have a little dinner.

Thanks for stopping by tonight. I hope you have a fabulous Friday!