Inspired

It is Wednesday once again and you know what that means...WOYWW?  If you enjoy looking at creative spaces from all over click here to visit Julia's blog and find out more about WOYWW. 

Now on to my workdesk.  I am posting the scrapbook layout I am teaching this month using CTMH "Wings" paper from the Inspirations brochure.

Today the postman made my day by delivering my new Papertrey Ink dies and stamps that were released on Jan. 15th. I am so glad Kansas is close to Ohio. :)





Thanks for stopping by to peek and I am going to try to peek at all the workdesks this week as well.
~Shari

From My Heart To Yours

I was really excited when I read the Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week.  It is called "From Your Heart to Ours" and the concept behind it is to share something that is not artwork.  To start the new feature off, the theme for this week is Organization. 

Ok, some of you will call me crazy, but organization is one of my most favorite things to do, I don't know where I picked up the idea, but according to most anyone in my family, I started organizing at a very young age and my mom often reminds me how she was amazed that she never had to ask me to clean my room.  Now I will fully admit to being an organizing fanatic, but I never mentioned that I was an awesome duster, so please forgive the dust in the following pictures.

First is a shelving unit that my husband made for me out of cheap plywood. I painted it black and actually use painted metal flower planters to store my stamps in. I organize my stamps by category, then by size, then alphabetically. I have scanned all my stamp sets and put the copies into a 3 ring binder for a reference.

This is also a metal flower planter that sits inside a wire basket.  I thought my stamps would fit into them, but they didn't, so I use these for cards, and a lot of CTMH embellishments.

Above my desk is a shelving unit that I use the ribbon dowel to hang my stickease from using curtain hooks.  I also break all my Dimensional Elements from the large sheet and put them into smaller bags leftover from other products and have them hanging here as well.

This is a small shelf with small cubbies that I purchased at a garage sale for 25 cents.  I eventually plan on painting it white.  I use it for my acrylic blocks, PTI dies and random things I like within reach.  I use the glass jars to hold homeless ribbon and flowers and the cupcake tin has little things I like to have close.  I purchase nail files in bulk and then cut them in half to use as sanding blocks for myself and for classes.  They are washable too!

This area of my desk is my main work area.  I have everything I need within reach so I don't have to get up.  I have a bad habit of standing and scrapping for hours and then wonder why my back hurts, so I tried to arrange so that once I sat down, I wouldn't need to get up.  I keep all my CTMH and PTI cardstocks in the plastic drawers below my desk and have them organized by color family.  I would be lost if I didn't have the stamp pad organizer.

This is yet another shelving unit that holds most all of my Level 2 paper packs.  Once I have used them, I remove all the cardstock and put it away with the other cardstock then 

alphabetize the paper packs. I removed some of the metal planters from their wire baskets because I found out that my stamps do fit inside them, so more stamp storage, idea binders, pages to complete, extra adhesives, and photos to scrapbook are all stored in these shelves and drawers.

The little desk is for my nieces so they can scrapbook and do artwork when they come over and the table is for classes.  I really try to keep my table clear so I don't have to clean it off every week just before a class.  Easier said than done :).

Last but not least is my sewing machine that sits on top of an antique Singer.  It actually still works!  My Grandpa salvaged it for me and I really love it.




 Well, that is my tour.  I really enjoy my space but I sometimes wish I had all matching furniture as mine is really eclectic.  I am very thrifty though and all of the furniture I have collected has been the clearance stuff or the dented stuff that the store just wants to get rid of.  Some of it is hand-me-down and some of it was handmade, so I guess it is unique and hope you enjoyed me sharing with you.  Can't wait to go look at every one else's organizational tips and you can too, just click here to visit the H2H blog.

First H2H Challenge of 2011

H2H is starting the party with a color challenge.  As I have mentioned before, I really struggle with color challenges, but I love the combo that the H2H design team gave us to work with. 
Go here to find out more about the H2H Challenge Blog and to see the DT's awesome creations.

For the card I made, I wanted to experiment with a few ideas and techniques I have had bouncing around in my head to make it look a bit more vintage. 

The pear colored cardstock is where I tried a few of the techniques I had been planning.  First, I used the corner rounder with guide removed to create the scallop border.  I then used White Daisy pigment ink and swiped it directly onto the paper to tone the green down some.  I squeezed a small amount of Glitz Stardust glitter glue onto a scrap of paper and used a stiff bristle artist brush to brush it onto the pear cardstock.  I wanted a really light and random coverage.  After the glitter glue dried, I lightly sanded it to thin out the glitter even more.  I used copic markers to dye the seam binding to match the sky color and added a paper doily I purchased from Wal-mart in the wedding section of crafts.  I inked all the edges in Desert Sand ink.

Supplies:

Paper: Colonial White, Pear and Sorbet Cardstock, Sky patterned paper from Magnifique, White Paper Doily.

Inks: Desert Sand, Sorbet and White Daisy Pigment Ink.

Stamps: Heart to Heart (B1358) I used the polka dot border stamp.

Embellishments: Rayon seam binding dyed with Copics, Colonial White button, Dimensional Elements Hearts, Lace from stash, Flowers from stash and dyed with Copics.

Tools: McGill punches: 2 1/4" scallop and 1 11/16" circle, corner rounder.

Misc: Glitz Stardust Glitter Glue, Prisma Glitter, Copic Markers (R02, YR02, B12).

Hope you enjoy!

~Shari

"Buzzy" as a Bee and WOYWW

I am so happy to get back into my usual routine again.  I hope every one's holidays were wonderful.  We had a great Christmas Eve, but Christmas Day was a bit dreadful as we all woke up with the stomach flu and have since managed to catch a terrible cold with lots of coughs and sniffles.  We are all on the mend now, but this cough really is sticking with us.

For WOYWW this week, I am posting pictures of my entire work area since I have been MIA for nearly 2 months.  It is proof that I have been very busy and deep in creative thought.

Below is my class table that I have claimed for personal use.

Next you will see my desk which is so cluttered with new CTMH products and Christmas gifts.  I was thrilled to receive a generous gift card to Papertrey Ink and so I purchased a lot of dies for my cuttlebug.

Last I am posting a couple projects that I have completed.  First is a hanging with monogram.  I used Queen Bee paper from Pink Paislee, thus the title of my post.  The yellows and blacks are elegant and shabby and fit into my sitting room decor perfectly.

Next I made a quick card using the new CTMH Wings paper and some wrinkle ribbon.  I will be teaching my students how to make this card tonight as my workshop order still has not shipped.





So that is it.  Be sure to drop by Julia's blog here to check out more crafty, creative work desks.

~Shari