Show Your Space post

Greetings! Happy hump day and Happy last day of July!

It's my turn over at Scrapbook Challenges to share a Blog post about my work space...it's current condition is a little on the messy side as I'm working through some projects and upcoming classes but it's always fun to share with others the state of your creative space!

Head on over to Scrapbook Challenges now to see my post...leave a link in the comments section to your post or a photo of your scrappy space just for kicks if you'd like...I always like to see that I'm not alone with my messy chaos corner!

It's OK...you're normal!???

Good Morning!


I was chit chatting this morning on the forum at Let's Scrap and Cheri, the site creator, had mentioned how funny it would be to see your scrap space right now...so I snapped away and here you go!

  My one table surface...photos are laid out for a

 Heart 2 Heart sketch layout challenge...

 No room on the table, so my photos are laid out in sketch formation on my floor! This one is for the Let's Scrap DT layout...so you can't see this one yet! Can you see my pretty blue toes! Oh and how I pull out embellies and then leave them on the floor! I usually clean it up when someone gets hurt! teehee

 This area is for my Sharing from the Heart BlogHop projects, luckily I have a couple table surfaces so I can spread out! Working on some cards for a gathering next week and my BlogHop stuff to be posted Sept.14th...my stamping section ;)

I'm currently drinking a very large cup of Java, surfing some Blog and sketch sites this morning...charging my phone and posting Blog entries and forum comments! Fun stuff! 
What does your space look like today? Are you normal like me?

Workshop space is finally tidy!!!

Well, I've been hard at it for the past three days, trying to put my Workshop back into some semblance of order...after months of Workshop Clubs (four of them a month!) and classes I have finally taken down my tables from the Great Room and organized my Workshop downstairs...my husband is happy that the main floor is 'craft-free' as he asks again, "Why did we put a room downstairs for you if you keep making a mess and scrapbooking upstairs?" 

While I will still have my Workshop Clubs in the Great Room come September...I do take the tables down for three weeks out of the four in a month...but I take the summer off! This is what it looks like when I have taken over the tables! It's much cleaner and tidier (meaning NOTHING on the tables) when I have my Workshops!

Now here's the Workshop downstairs...it's alright, you can say it...OMG...yes, you couldn't even walk into it without possibly hurting yourself! and of course, this is why I went upstairs over the past few weeks, cause who'd scrapbook in this mess!!! Here's what things looked like in my downstairs Workshop before the three days of cleaning...

This is what I am used to it looking like when I take the time to KEEP it tidy!...Doesn't actually take much to keep it tidy when I'm not super busy...so summer break and spring break is usually when I do a complete overhaul and thin out items that I don't use any longer...

this 'Inspire' sign I made WAS the inspiration for my colours...daisyd's paper collection in purple, teal, and green...all my favorite colours...

I love my magnet boards...these tins were picked up from Ikea and Canadian Tire

Each of these Iris plastic bins hold 12x12 papers and embellies like chipboard pieces, felt sheets, scraps in CS and PP...the bins on the right of this cupboard hold the photos I have printed...I usually only print out batches and then scrap them...this way I can have a plan of what size I'd like for what pictures and usually I have a sketch in mind...this way I don't end up with too many wasted photos...

The papers sorted vertically are some of the kit clubs I've belonged to in the past but now do not...maybe because I have a little stash right now...I've run out of room to store it so I thought I should use what I have first...which I'll never do...but couldn't justify subscribing to Kit Clubs (even though they all ROCK) when I have SO MUCH and the fact that I am a Close To My Heart Consultant and I also have to work with 16 diferent paper collections every year...which is ALOT of paper as it is!

I LOVE anything tiered...so I use these tiered plate stand for some of my do-dads and embellies...also my often used items like adhesives and scissors and glue erasers...I like to keep one tiered plate thingy clear to add things to work with on whatever current LO I'm working on...you can see in the photo down below that I have plans to work on a Canada Day LO...both for Let's Scrap and my CTMHbloghop

This is usually where I like to trim my papers and assemble the guts of my LO...

can you see the ONE sheet of Fancy Pants...trying to work on a LO for the Let's Scrap challenge...and my red and white challenge...and my Bloghop

this is where I like to stamp, distress, embellish and ink my LO's...it's next to my blending tools and inks and some of my embellies...

This is my favorite storage unit from Ikea...these shallow drawers are perfect for scrapbooking tools etc.

I house my puches easily and you can SEE what you've got!

This little nook worked great for the extra twin bed I had...also great when I need to kick my DD out of her room for guests...I usually throw stuff on it though...like the outdoor cushions I'm recovering currently...great catch all and bed! Last bit of mess in this room...won't look like a bed again until I'm finished with my sewing projects!!!

Thanks for visiting and checking out my MESSY LIFE! I am going to be heading to the Shuswap this weekend so I'll check in after that...Have a Great Weekend everyone! Gotta go pack now ttyl...

Let's talk about Swaps and Scraps!

Good Morning my fellow paper addicted pals :) 

I'm not sure sometimes what I'm thinking when I decide to do things...I am currently working away on a CTMH Swap with some lovely ladies in Canada...just spent last Saturday at a 12 hour School fundraising crop and two weeks before that I had another 12 hour School fundraising crop as well as a week of Workshops and a Card Class...phew...I am really enjoying myself of course, meeting some great people and showing off all of CTMH's fantastic products...but we always seem to forget the actual time it takes to prep for these events and Classes and Workshops and Swaps...don't we? Oh well, I'll get plenty of rest when I'm old...I'd add in there grey too, but alas...that part is here already!

So I'm prepping for my Swap right now and I don't know about you, but I can't seem to throw out my 1" strips of paper...it's a problem I know I have but I have room technically to keep it, so I do! My thought is that I just might need that 1" strip and I'm happy to say that I'M RIGHT!!! As you can see I've used up some of my 1" strips creating the title for my Swap...they are actually extremely handy for trimming them and I have decided to stamp extras just because I might use them with this paper later...these letters are going to be trimmed out, edges inked and added to my Swap pieces to be mailed out this week! I'll post pictures of the Swap layouts once they are in the mail to my Swappin' Gals...

Sometimes I just like to pull out my stamps and inks, grab some cardstock and play...this way I can sit at the table while the family is watching a movie, doing homework or just hanging out...I don't feel guilty leaving everyone like I would when I go down to my Workshop alone and I have the TV and family to keep me company. Some of my neatest embellishments have been made this way...there are times when I want to be creative but I don't really want to scrapbook and I find that this is a great way to get to know your stamp sets...play with colour combinations and be productive while spending time with your family.

It is fun to stamp and play with my stamps and inks when I have them out and am creating...then I just tuck my creations into a zippy or my paper pack envelope, sometimes I've already trimmed them and sometimes I just sit on the couch while we're watching our favorite shows and cut them out then...next time I'm creating with that particular paper collection...I've already got some embellishments made to use...faster.simpler.easier....that's what it's all about with Close To My Heart.

Here I've stamped, embossed, punched and inked chipboard bits...some I was planning on using but didn't and some I just cut out and put in my sturdy CTMH storage envelopes...

And because I love to show you how messy I can get while scrapbooking...

  

I have to say I am lucky that I have a supportive husband...this is the main floor kitchen area, the island to be specific...I do have a very large scrapbooking Workshop just for me downstairs...but remember how I mentioned I like to be around my family...tee hee

Three Workshop Classes, Two Weekend Retreats & One Halloween Party...this mess...Priceless!!!

Ok, so I thought I'd let you know that all things 'orderly' are not currently in practice here at the Ponte household...spent all day yesterday packing up Halloween decor and almost all day on Halloween cleaning up after our 'Hallows Eve' party...phew, what a mess! Loads of fun however ;)

My Workshop always seems to be one of the last places sorted...priorities eh? :)

Thought some pics might just make some of you chuckle...I'm not smiling yet though as I haven't yet completed the task of 'sorting'!!!

I dont know about you, but I can not work until I have everything back where it belongs...glad that there's a spot for everything...well almost everything

Not sure yet where these guys are going as I might have purchased a few more plastic organizers on the way to the last weekend retreat...

This is where the computer/office workspace is SUPPOSED to be!

Nap space and carry all spot ;)

Off to get things right again...check back later for some Halloween pictures and scoop on some upcoming classes...TFSB

New & Improved Scrap Space

Good Morning...as I sit in my parents' easy chair waiting for more sunshine to peak around the clouds so I can enjoy some pool time, I am remembering that I promised to post pictures of my scrapbooking room when I finally finished cleaning it!

It's been several weeks since I have actually completed that task, thankfully, but then got the notion to do the same re-organization in my three kids' rooms...needless to say, I was opening up a can of worms at the end of June!

Gutting Marissa's room while she was away in the last week of June for a school camping trip, was the start of my insanity :) In hindsight, I should have taken before and after photos, much like I did for my Scrap space...but all I've got instead are pics of the neat and tidy and well organized space of my kids...

This is the picture of the desk and bench that I painted from their original natural wood to black and finished with a verethane coat so Marissa could get some extra storage space in the bench for her homework, calligraphy and drawing supplies and make me happy by having a nice neat desktop.

I decided to move her bed under the window to open up her space a bit and to try to minimize her belongings :) in simple terms...she is a collector of ALL things and I am trying to guide her in another direction ;)

She has a wardrobe to increase her closet space as she only has a tiny closet...

keeping her room monochromatic has allowed us to introduce colours like these new aqua, plum and fushia pillows...I'd like to switch out her sheet set to white to keep it crisper looking

Matthew has been asking me for months for a desk...I decided to take Marissa's old white table and move it into his room and put his lockers on either side of it to create a bit of a cubby space...his room is tough because of the location of his window, closet and door, so their isn't much room for different layouts of his stuff...

I put his TV onto his dresser, but needed to paint out the forest green top to black and replaced his knobs also, freshened up some of our older furniture to a more current look and to reflect his 12 year old style...his room is divided into two...Baseball and Hockey...one side has his Luongo jersey, Goalie shots of him in action and trophies and medals etc...the other side of the room is Baseball, jersey, medals and banners...

Olivia's room was relatively organized, did that months prior, but the girls switched their beds one weekend while I was at a weekend retreat, and Olivia wanted to maximize the space in her room...mostly for entertaining her friends...I took Marissa's Club chair and put a white slipcover on it similar to what is on the chair already in Olivia's room, so now she has a pair of chairs...

We fashioned her daybed to be like a couch...she really wanted a sofa in her room, but that was pushing it as far as I was concerned ;) we see little of her and she already takes her tea and snacks into her space already, so I wanted to add a little coffee table for her so she isn't putting things on the floor. She likes to study and do homework in her room, with the TV on or music and was tending to sit on the floor, so I picked up a laptop table from Ikea for her Mac (in the far left corner beside the bed)

I reclaimed the cute little apartment size coffee table of my Grandmother's (which I've kept stored for years) and I decided to try and give it a fresh look by painting it... I started with a primer based paint in off white, two coats, a nice little sampler size of the turquoise, Canadian Tire, one coat and then hand sanded off along the edges and on the tabletop here and there...this exposed some of the white paint and in some areas, the wood base of the original table. The turquoise was a little bright so I hand rubbed a Gel Stain varathane by Minwax to help protect the surface as well as adding a darker shade to the paint. I had to get a new piece of glass cut for the top as the original recently cracked, so I chose a slightly thicker glass to prevent any future problems with the table surface...will be great for Olivia as she likes to have her daily pot of tea and snacks up in her room after school. 

Check out these cool book shelf thingies...I got them at Barnes and Noble for her at Christmas time and was thinking that they'd be great for some of her hard covered favorites...they are metal 'L' shaped brackets that the bottom book slides on and subsequent books stack on top of...the finished look is that they appear to be floating on the wall...super neat!

Ok, so last but not least...the room that started it all...my Scrapspace!!!

I purchased another four cubed cubby shelf from Ikea to pair and balance the one I already had and put them under these two tabletop counters (above) and I moved all the rods off of my other wall and positioned them above my counterspace so that my punches and frequently used items were at hand for that workspace...I moved my stamp storage and stamps to the right hand side of the counter and cupboards so I wasn't moving all over the room to grab stuff, funny how you do things before you reorganize your life ;)

I love this new version of my ribbon storage...just tied them onto a rod from Ikea

The small shelf units on the left side are perfect for those little ink misters, small containers of glitter, stickles and jars of specialty ribbon and flowers.

I moved my smaller table to the other side of the room under the window and am using the ledge to hold my large jars of thread, Olivia's old night table stores my serger thread and misc. fabric and the natural wood box unit with drawers on the cupboard to the left holds my sewing scissors, thread rippers, measuring tapes etc.

I kept the two metal boards on the left side of the room because I find this still works for me...I reorganized what hung on them and picked up some more round/clear containers for odds and sods and I like being able to see what I have so bins full of adhesive etc. work better for me...I can grab what I want while in the middle of something, then quickly throw it back where it belongs. The cake plates on the left work great for throwing the odd embellies into to grab and use up as I create...if I tuck too many things away, they get forgotten ;) As you can see I still have a pile (on the chair) to sort and go through, organizing work is never done!

My computer desk and printing station area is a bit tidier than before ;)

Anyhow, as you can see my absence has mainly been due to me trying to get some semilance of order in my life. I find that once kids are in school, I get less done in the way or organizing due to the fact that all of their schedules get busier during that time, unfortunately for me, summer holidays is when we have more control over our time and schedules...thanks for stopping by and I'm going to go join the kids in the pool! Feel free to post any questions about some of the stuff I've used, as I'd be more than happy to help you organize your life more too! Take care.