You all saw my untidy stash when I came back from America - well, I have kind of tidied up since then and thought I would give you a tour of my craft room. A few years ago it was on a Make Over programme "Big Strong Boys" and they put me a laminate wood floor in, counter tops, a (Gavin) floating shelf and open shelving. It looked beautiful - but then I had to move all my craft stuff back in! Still the same colours on the walls, left over paint enabled me to paint some cupboards I added but now there are other things in that do not match. Ah well, a girl just has to have storage for the craft addiction.
This is what they called my "inspiration wall" (Sam, see your picture is up there) and the line they put up (Ikea) is supposed to have cards hanging from it but now houses all manner of things - kind of my noticeboard.
Moving in a clockwise direction here are my Tim Holtz tins containing my Alcohol Inks, Dabbers, Crackle Paint, Distress ep's, Distress Stickles etc. My trusty little Cuttlebug is there, as are my gel pens and my card index system. I write down in pencil where I store things that are out of sight. That way, hopefully I can find my magnets, Mitzy cord etc. Otherwise I would be looking everywhere.
Above are white (Ikea kitchen) containers holding brushes, foam brushes, Sharpies, ColorBox things etc and above them the coloured containers hold my clay tools.
Underneath is one of the open cupboards. On the side of it is a chrome towel rail which is ideal for folding over my paper that is too large to go anywhere else, mulberry paper etc and inside the first section you can see my Ten Second Tool Kit, computer leads, inks etc and in the blue bag my Cricut with my cartridges (a good buy at £12 from QVC shop a while ago - it's really a travel bag). Under that is one of those nappy cases - my Paddy Workshop stuff, and a couple of silver tins (Ikea) which contain my Acrylic paints.
The next lot of tins have fibres, specialist paints, utee, clay molds, charms and embellishments in and the black ones have Cuttlebug Folders (bottom one) and Spellbinders dies (top one) in. Oh, and the tins on the top plus the fancy box all contain books I have made (stitched star, flag tag, piano hinge etc) and some materials for making more.
Back to the counter top - next to my TH tins we have more silver tins. These house my UM's. I stamp them on an A5 piece of paper and laminate them, then stick the stamps on and stack them on their side in the tins (each categorised). The black box houses my Tim Holtz stamps (need another now) and the cream ones my Paper Artsy (full so need another of those).
The plastic drawers are from when I first began stamping - these have my (few) mounted stamps in and UM's which are on A4 sheets - things like small words and Non Sequitur plates (don't ask how many I have). You can just about see my big Scor-it, new MS score board and my Marble box for when I do those backgrounds (not done them in over a year - must revisit). The brown box is an old one where I store my ribbons (loose), cording, lace etc.
Stacked on top are boxes with my Journalling and Suzi stuff in and at the extreme right my Altered Books, spray booths, flower press etc .
Underneath you can just about see my cardstock storage. A neighbour made me this and I love it, everything to hand and stored in colourways. The first grey cabinet houses all my clay stuff then there's chipboard, small Scor-it and Tonic cutter, Ideology, Grungeboard, glossy card, Designer papers (and at the bottom UM's waiting to be put away, oh heck!). You can also see that I have other cutters/guillotines on top of these cupboards, they just fit nicely below the counter.
Turning the corner is a concertina file on the floor which has lots of projects in it, things I have taught, things I have picked up here and there. All alphabetically filed! The black bag is for my Wizard and its plates and the bin behind holds rolls of paper.
Back up to the counter - this is where I work. Acrylic blocks in a container to keep them together, Mini Mister block, my carousel which I won a couple of years ago at CHA (don't ask what is in it - but I will say it has so many things to hand for me), my heat gun on the stand my dear friend Ronnie made me (sadly Ronnie is no longer with us but I have this as a constant reminder of a very very dear friend), pasta machine for clay and loads of stuff in the window. I leave this big Green cutting mat on the whole time, love my foam pad to stamp on and you can see my ATG gun is in constant use.
Keeping up on the counter and moving right we have cubby holes (Ikea again) stacking my ink pads which I use on a regular basis. Stamp cleaner in a regimented row, Suze's fantastic glitter glue, mainly black and Versamark inkpads in a container top left so I can just reach them, most used Dabbers that won't fit in the tin on the other side, Prima flowers, ds tape, glues, sticky buddies, Post-its for masking, Bedazzles, Embossing powders, a revolving water pot holder (actually contained mustard pots at one time), Cut and Dry, a spare heat gun holder for when friends come and eight containers full of books.
Moving round mountboard on the floor, three sets of drawers (dominoes, brads, eyelets, Cropadile, beads, metallic cardstock, templates, Polished pigments, H2o's, Perfect Pearls, Rub Ons, Spray Inks, punches, Tyvek etc). Incidentally underneath the silver tin are a pile of old placemats. I cover them (cork side) with aluminium foil and use them for heating when embossing, using utee etc. Saves my green mat warping with the heat.
Inside the cupboard are spares for various things, loads of Designer papers in boxes, Encaustic stuff, Melt Pot, travel iron, peel offs, Dremel, Suze's hot tool etc.
You can see more cubby holes, again storage for coloured card, this time A5, outsized Magenta stamps, Viva paints (new so need to play) and spritzer bottles.
Continuing round, cubby holes for envelopes, Adirondack spray inks, reinkers, inkpads not used much, new MS punches, all manner of technique stuff, brayers and ... more books. The blue drawers have silk flowers, bolios and cubes and wires in and the black drawers house things like Friendly Plastic, tags, slide holders, library pockets, TS molds, watercolour crayons, Parchment craft things, ATC stuff, cello bags, and so on.
The cupboard is full with more projects, magazines, canvases etc
Back to the beginning - if you have stuck it this long I bet you are glad this is it! The old computer table now just holds the printer/scanner, bags and boxes ready for taking to the club, and my Art Box which contains loads of Laser cuts that I keep forgetting about.
Hope this wasn't too boring, but I did want to show you my tidy room - well, it was tidy the other day.
