Scrapbook Craft Storage

I am always on the lookout for boxes that I can 're-purpose' in my craft room. Unfortunately very few are capable of holding 12x12 scrapbook papers, and my papers have all been stored away in a Really Useful hanging file box specifically sized for 12x12. The problem is they're out of sight so don't get used so much. And the box tends to get used as a spare table too!

So this week I bit the bullet cos I found a super deal where you get a K&Co scrapbook, plus 36 K&Co papers, plus grand adhesions & stickers, all in a sturdy 12x12 paper storage box complete with dividers - for £15! I bought two :-)

They were delivered in these really sturdy cardboard boxes into which they fitted perfectly - hmmmmmmm

So, I used one of the 'proper' storage files as a template, drew round it into the cardboard and started cutting.

 

Hey presto! 2 additional 12x12 storage boxes for nowt :-)

Then I had to make them look pretty, and here they are on the shelf above the 'proper' ones - double the storage, looks good, and super sturdy - and I can see all my lovely papers at a glance - one happy crafter :-)

 

Off to Farnborough tomorrow with a few ladies from my craft class - my poor credit card!

Happy crafting

Debs x

WOYWW

Happy WOYWW fellow snoopers :-). This is my desk today.  It's grey & cold here & I'm a bit lacking in enthusiasm today. Will visit some of your desks to gain some inspiration!

My desk looks fairly tidy (for me!!) On the left you can see an A4 box crammed with stuff in need of sorting - I made a new rule that if box was full I had to sort it - so instead I piled on top& stacked underneath - lol!!

On my cutting mat (if you look closely it's warped at front where I forgot to use heat resistant mat when embossing - doh!) is a paper pad & some orange flowers ready for my next magazine project.

Centre back is a part-finished butterfly project inspired by something I saw on C&C. Not happy with it so will take a diff approach. Then there's my trusty Cuttlebug & the spotty caddy stuffed with the essentials.

On the right is my big yellow box where I have all my unmounted stamps catalogued, with a couple if new sets at the front of the box waiting to be added. I have 10 (gulp!) foolscap ring binders full of stamps sorted into categories - 3 folders of florals!!! Next project is to unmount my boxes of wooden stamps & integrate with the rest - I find I don't use my wooden stamps that much as they are piled in boxes, but I have some lovely ones, so they need sorting!

Right, enough waffle (sorry Julia!) off to desk hop! If you want to join in pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground.

Stop press!! The universe must have heard I was lacking enthusiasm, cos postie just delivered this little lot :-))

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

Cold enough for Christmas!

It's still freezing here, so making Christmas cards seems totally right! Just had time to play before I have to nip off to the  torture chamber hairdresser ! I hate going to the hairdresser, so I tend to wait until I look like the Dulux dog before I give in and submit, and it's that time of the year again [sigh]

This card was inspired by Crafty hazelnuts challenge where the theme is '1 word is sufficient'

The Stamp is an old but much loved Personal impressions wooden stamp - think its called 'Hilltop Village'. Stamped & heat embossed with WOW black sparkle, then coloured with pro markers. Double mounted on white & black card.
The main image is Mounted on silver mirror card embossed with Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder then mounted on plain white card. The Peace star is from an old kit, mounted on black card to match the rest of the card

Also entered in:
Rudolph Day Challenge
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Extra

Thanks for stopping by!

Debs x

Crafty weekend

I had a lovely crafty weekend, spent loads of time in the craft room! Some of it was spent sorting and organising - I am not a tidy crafter lol ! Some of it was spent playing and making :-) It was bitterly coldhere so didn't feel too guilty about staying in lol !

I also did a lot of blog-hopping and found several challenges that looked like fun. This card was made for the pro Marker challenge, which was in a theme of Princes or Princesses & had to feature a crown! So I dressed up my Little Prince with his own crown :-)



Entered in the following challenges:
Pro Marker Challenge
Pixies Crafty Workshop Snippets as I used paper snippets from my bit box, and more leftover flowers
Milk Coffee Challenge - Make it Cute, cos it is!


And I made progress on another scrapbook layout. I am new to scrapbooking, and I am loving it! I get to use all my card making stash, but I get to keep it when it's finished :-)


This was supposed to be a short post, as I need to do some housework (aaaargh!)

Happy crafting

Debs x

Love is in the air!

This is the cute card I made for Hubby for Valentines day.  I used a Penny black stamp from the Purrfect Day set, coloured with Pro Markers and die cut.

I used a die cut heart, cut around the paw and slid the heart under, so it looks as thought kitty is holding the heart :-)  the finished image was layered on die cuts of toning colours.  The 15cm square base card was stamped with hearts using Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass and peacock Feathers before fixing the die cut image in place and finishing with a few gems.

Entered in the Penny Black Saturday challenge.

Happy Crafting

Debs x

Snippets

I have been visiting Pixies Crafty Workshop for ages, but never joined in with the Snippets (been a 'lurker' in the playground lol) - so here goes!

This was made using papers from a Pink Paislee 6x6 pad 'Spring Jubilee' - 1 full sheet mounted on black card, then the snippet I had left over with the bird on the corner, artfully torn to fit :-)

The white base card is overstamped with a tiny rose and butterfly in distress inks - Victorian Velvet and Spun Sugar.  The main image of the cottage is a Stampendous stamp 'Cottage Path' -  retired but I love it so much!  This stamped and coloured image was a sample from a recent Pro markers workshop, so I die cut it into a tag shape and mounted it on a snippet of black card (I have a whole box of black & white card snippets!)

The 'Home Sweet Home' stamp was a freebie as part of a collection in a recent cardmaking & Papercraft mag and is really cute! coloured with Pro Markers to match the papers.  the paper flowers are from a big pack I bought years ago, and the colours are quite bold, so they tend to sit in the bottom of the embellies box - a great chance to use them up!

I added pink gems to the centre of all the flowers, and the final 'snippet' was the little shrink plastic butterfly which was mistakenly stamped in a dark grey and when shrunk looked almost black - could be a bat I suppose (!) but actually looks more silver grey on the card than in the pic - was found languishing with the paper flowers in the embellies soup at the bottom of the box lol!

so, as a newbie to the playground, will there be a swing free for me, or will I end up being the one pushing the roundabout [sigh]

Happy crafting

Debs x

Finished sign!

So the sign is finally finished - here's a close up. I painted this with Pebeo acrylic paint, then stamped with Versamark using an old Elusive Images set, and embossed with WOW Pearl gold sparkle and Metallic Copper Sparkle - these are the most beautiful glitter embossing powders! I then added a few Kanban die cut butterflies I've been saving, they inspired the colour scheme of blue & copper :-)

A few people have mentioned that they have MDF projects so here's my tips from getting it wrong and then learning to do it right lol ! -

• Sand the MDF before you start - pay particular attention to edges to get a smooth surface. Please make sure you sand in a well ventilated place, preferably outside, and wear a mask as MDF dust is toxic!
• Seal the sanded MDF by painting with a 50/50 mix of PVA Glue & water - leave to dry
• Paint with several thin coats of acrylic paint until you achieve the required depth of colour

And it's finally in pride of place on my door :-)

So I have a few chores to finish this morning, then I have the rest of the day to myself - crafty heaven :-)

Thanks for stopping by

Debs

Craft Room progressing!

So this was my desk yesterday You can see on my craft mat the MDF sign for my craft room, painted in blue acrylic.


I bought this at a show last year and, never having used MDF before, I  painted it without sealing it - big mistake! All the paint sank into the MDf and left me with a horrid mess, so I lost heart a bit and set it aside.

It's been sat on a shelf ever since just looking at me! I finally got around to researching how to paint MDF, sealed it with PVA and painted it again & voila!  I'll share the finished version in another post.

On the right is a scrapbook layout I've started, working on our hols from last year, and just above the layout some 12x12 I've set aside for future pages.

At the back is my trusty Cuttlebug and on the left my digital radio - I'm always singing along when crafting :-)

At the back on the right is a card I made with one of the lovely Tina Wenke stamps, of a hedgehog reading - I make tons of cards, and when they're finished they tend to get stored away in boxes, so I had the idea of displaying my favourite of the moment somewhere I could see it, so I get to enjoy them too!

If you're wondering why I'm telling you what's littering my desk, pop along to Julias blog, where she hosts a fab peek at desks around the world.

thanks for stopping by

Debs x

WOYWW & can anything be a desk?

So this week it's been pretty cold in my craft room, and to be sociable (stay warm :-)) I've reverted to crafting on my lap in front of the telly!

Now this creates it's own problems, but has definite advantages.......
On the plus side, warm, cosy in front of tv, on the downside....
My craft room is upstairs, and I'm up & down like the proverbial yoyo cos I always need just one more thing from my stash. And working on 12x12 is a challenge on a tea tray lol :-) plus the ginger furball keeps trying to sit on my lap - any time I'm in the armchair I'm fair game!


So, this is my 'desk' and the floor area around the footstool, you can see a bit of xmas paper peeking out & snowflake peel off's - I was having fun making Christmas cards lol!!- time to check out other desks over at Julia's - why not join in the blog-hop?

Happy crafting!

Debs x

Creative mojo missing!

Had a bit of a loss of the creative juices recently, so decided to throw myself in the deep end and made my first ever scrapbook page!

Have to say I'm rather chuffed with the result :-). There's tons of stuff on line to help you with scrapbooking, and I have a friend in the States who can always point me in the right direction (thanks Donna!!)

Happy crafting!

Debs x