Scrapbooking Tour ....

As usual, there will be tons of pictures... so go grab a snack while they download.  Also, if you are not a follower, you can take care of that and then you will know when I post each time.

I will start with the room as a whole, then break it down, and then end with the overall look again.  IF you have any questions, please feel free to ask them down under comments!  Ok... hold on, here we go!!!

This is my working area.  We will start the tour with the left side and do a sweep around to the right.

These are my stencils... seems that I have a box of them in the closet also, but these are the ones I use the most with scrapbooking.  The blue clip hangers are on an "over the toilet" toilet paper holder.  I got it for just a few bucks at Home Depot and the guy there actually drilled the hole in it so that I would be able to put it on the wall.  They love it when they see me coming!

This is down under the stencils... Prisma Color Pencils that I got one year with my birthday money.  I don't use them much, but want to get back into using them more.  Battery operated pencil sharpener... I use this all the time!  Edged scissors just crammed into a solo cup.

Traveled to the right a bit.  Blue stencil is for lines and just hangs in the dead space on the wall... have never used it, but have started a project that I think it will be getting used a lot in.  The white rectangular plastic container to the left is from mom's stash of containers, has squares all across the bottom like a strainer....it was just the size for my tapes, hand fan, and other odd things in little cups with lids.  The blue stacking thing is also from mom's stash.  Mom died the end of 2013 and we are finding all sorts of treasures at the house as Daddy is having us go through.  Anyway, it holds all my hole and boarder punches. This is all setting on a board that is going across a childhood bench that my mom's mom's dad made.

There it is... it is a brown bench that is toddler size and just fits in this area.  Under the board are two "frozen meal containers" that house my washi tapes and writing utensils.  Thanx to my Dad for the idea to put the board there and just keep going up the wall!!!  Under the set is another container from Mom's stash... inks, misters, and water colors.  Then my sticker machine with extra refills behind it in a basket.  The little gray felt basket is full of containers with tiny buttons, brads, and that sort of thing.

We have moved to the right, still on the desk top...  This was a great find at one of the hobby stores.  Was cheaper to use a coupon and get the entire thing than to get the containers by themselves.  I took the front off, put two rulers under the front to make it tilt back slightly and it fits in the spot perfectly.  It houses all my paper stuff... cut outs, punch outs, sizzix and cricut extras, ephemera packages,...

Still moving to the right... my daughter convinced me to tear all the pages out of the small pad of paper, note sized papers and cards.  They all fit in these two containers.  Good call, Sarah!!!  Behind these are a basket full of inspirational wraps, cards, and goodies that Sarah brought back for me from her two year stay in So.Korea.

While we are at this spot... do you see the two boards/legs sticking up there?  That was a 2x4x something that I had Home Depot to cut for me.  It serves as legs for the shelf.  I had one full sheet of lumber cut up for the table top and all the shelves.  The tabletop is on shelves from Target, and is wrapped in teal fabric and then wrapped in clear tablecloth fabric and staple gunned on.  Then, all the other parts are just painted teal with a bottle of craft paints.  Ok... back to the tour.

This is a basket that I already had... I put in the plastic storage containers for paper... you can see that I cut the tops off and put put labels on my tabs that I cut ... most used stickers are in there and it just slides out so that I can ruffle through for what I need.  No, this is not all my stickers... you are so funny to think that!

This is to the right of the stickers, just on the table but up under the shelf.  Papers that are organized by color and theme... thank you Sarah!

This is to the right of the large paper you just saw... I want you to see this side cause it shows it propped up on paint cans.  I have never had it fall off and it make it to where the two units are seen from the front as one large stacked container, even though it is two.  Make since??  Here... look below.

This is the front.  I got two of these desk organizers and just put one behind the other and stacked the back one so that I could see it better.  This is full of all sorts of do-dads, scissors, exactos, almost like a junk drawer that gets the once over every so often.  Hey, works for me.

Now, let's move up to the shelf above all this stuff....

These are those large plastic envelopes again.  This time, I used them for that purpose instead of cutting the tops off.  Each one has the papers and stickers according to the label.  These are things that I just don't get into that often,  So it was good to put them up a shelf and on the end.  That basket to the right is just some leftover stuff that needs to find a home.

Still moving to the right on that shelf... My homemade stamp organizer... thank you, Sarah!!!  Yes, she does a lot for me!!!  Then, solid 8.5x11 paper.  The organizer has extra tags, flower punches, and more do-dads...  Then, to the right is a small lunch box with all my crystals in it.

Just wanted to show you this...  It is a small binder.  I decorated some papers and just slid in the front.

I already had these smaller sleeves.  So, I just went on ebay and worked out a price with someone for the overhead transparencies.  Sarah went to stamping each one and then we stuck on the stamps.  She has a book for all hers too, but hers is the 8.5x11 sized book.  They work really well, it can be flipped through, pull out what I want and go to work.  IF one should fall off the page, the sleeve keeps it in the book til I find it and can put it back in place.

This is the small tv that we used to have in our bedroom.  There is no cable, and no stations... hubby got me a comcast plug thingy that lets me watch anything from my phone on it.  So, we can watch movies, youtube videos or anything else that we can stream in.

This hangs on the wall to the right.  It houses punches and cut outs according to what is printed or drawn on the front of each drawer.  These are two units that I had out in the garage at one time.  The bottom one is hung on the wall and the top one just sets on top in the grooves for stacking.

Now, let's head up to the next shelf.  This shelf is not as deep as the one below, but remember, I was using every bit of that single sheet of lumber for the entire desk and I wanted an extra deep desk.

Photo boxes hang off just a bit, but work perfectly up there.  3D art projects, extra sleeves, Big Bite,...

Ribbons, rick rack, lace.  Extra and ongoing books, and smashbooks.  Another basket of little cute letters, thank yous, and stuff from So.Korea.  

To the right of the desk is this Container Store cart that I got at a yard sale for $8.  Oh yes, I shop like that!!!  I did have to purchase a top and the casters, but so worth it.  Holds my cutting stuff!

The left side under the desk.. those bookshelf wire units from Target.  This one holds some printed 8.5x11 papers, scraps and paint chips samples.  Yes, I do ask for paint samples, and I purchase enough paint over time that they really don't mind.

The green container on the bottom was a $1 garage sale find and houses all my sticker alphas.  The trash can was from Mom's stash... I love that I can toss stuff at the top and it just slides in!

Here is my table top area... it really is rather large.  I am currently doing a smaller album with some of the 10,000 or so photos that we found.  I am doing a family tree project and just journaling a very small part of each family.  You can see part of this book and how this project is going in my last blog... or maybe it was the one before that... anyway... it is in here somewhere and rather fun to see!

And, that brings us back to the start.  Oh, there is an Ott Lamp there.  Works great when I am in there in the evenings.  Got it from a friend when his sweet wife died.   Look around, find free or almost free stuff... it is all every changing.  This is the longest I have had it like this and it is really working well for me.  Hope you enjoyed looking around and maybe are inspired by something here.  See ya in a  couple weeks.

Birthday Reminder

As large as families grow these days, it is easy to let a birthday or anniversary slip by only to be embarrassed later that you forgot.  So, I saw all these cute signs for birthdays on pinterest and etsy.  How hard can that be to make?  Not really hard at all!  Time consuming if you bend your own wires and drill your own holes, but then... I like to save every little bit and do it myself.

You know by now that I am a visual, so there is gonna be a ton of pictures!  IF something isn't clear, or I left out a step... please leave comments so that I can go back in and correct it.

Go grab you a snack while all these pictures download!

First of all... I seldom pay full price for any of my crafting needs... or wants!  All prices will be full price, before sales or coupons...  I will post where I got the items, but I would think that you could get them at other stores.

This is floral wire in long stem form, don't get the roll, it isn't the right weight and all.  I went with the 20 gauge in silver.  You get like ... 30 pcs for $1.99 at Michaels.  I don't think they carry it in silver at Hobby Lobby.

All my tools were in my "jewelry" making supplies.  I got them in a bundle pack from Michaels, years ago.  I have replaced by wire cutters several times as I am brutal with them.

Just grab the wire at the end, start turning...

When you get to a certain point, you will have to start turning back the other way.  Just slide the wire off, flip it around and go for it.  It is just wire, you have a ton of it, you can start over if need be.  Oh, also... if you have arthritis... see if someone will do this for you.  There are lots of folks that use jump rings for this step.  I didn't for one main reason... ease!  I need to be able to take these on and off and add in new babies as they are born.  I don't wanna have to take it off the wall each time and mess with little metal rings.  So much easier to just unhook, add in the new one and then hook it back up.  

After you have the above shape, slide the wire off.  It will not be perfectly flat and not perfectly shaped... not to worry.

Get your wire cutters and clip it off.  Be careful... it will shoot across the room if you are not watching what you are doing.  I more or less just held it in one hand and bent the long piece back and forth a couple times... it snapped right off.

Yep... that is what I ended up with.

Go ahead and do a bunch of them.  Then, see below ... just put it the round tool and flatten it... won't take long to get them all pretty flat.

IF you are purchasing these or the jump rings... be sure to make sure that they are going to fit the holes of your "tags" with the names and dates.

Got these to screw into the bottom of sign to attach all my "tags" to.  They are tiny... only 12mm and cost only $1.99  I was at Hobby Lobby and saw these over with hanging stuff.... you might have to pop this picture up on your phone and ask them to help you find them.

I got these at Hobby Lobby for $3.99.  I got the ones that do not have a hole in the top.  I have seen them at Micheals with a hole in them, but it was a pretty big hole.

Yeppers... Hobby Lobby for $3.99 for a small hand drill.  Just put it together and start turning.  When you get to a certain point, it jams up and the bit falls out... every time... no matter how tight I put it in!  It got returned and I drug out the large drill and was finished in a number of minutes.  I also bought a second bag of the disc circles... I am including my sister's family on this and they are a clan all by themselves!  lol

Whoa.... back up, put on the brakes... I forgot to tell you bout my circle that I drew.  It's like a little cheat sheet so to speak. 

Get a scrap of paper out of the trash and draw around your disc.  Cut it out...

Fold it in half and put a hole in both ends.  Now, lay that on your discs and mark for the drilling holes.  Don't try to guess what is half way and then have discs that hang lop sided!  

Be sure to drill over a drop cloth, damp paper towel or something.  There will be quite a bit of sawdust.

I used masking tape cause it was near by.  I fold under the ends and tape it to the table... in my case it was a Dollar Tree shower curtain.  I get these and the plastic table cloths (thinner) all the time for crafting on. Then, just stick all the discs down on there.

You can whip through getting one side all painted in no time.  When I peel them up, I get some paint on my fingers and touch up anything that got missed around the outside.

Then just lay them on the table to dry... see below how one stuck... no big deal, peel it up and keep going.

I used paint that I had on hand that matches my kitchen, it is hanging around the corner from the kitchen.  Grease and moisture in the kitchen is why I didn't just make scrapbooking tags.  I wanted to do those with each person's picture, but it just wasn't practical.

After you are sure that side one is dry, flip them all over and do side two.

This is where I say ... do as I say and not as I do...  Do these first, they and the canvas can be drying while you are bending the floral wires into hooks.  Me... I got nothing better to do than to watch paint dry, so I did the bending first.  lol....  I took a break and had some lunch then came back to finish it up.

Oh.... also, I would do the drilling after you paint so that you don't have to poke anything through your holes to get the paint out.

The day that I decided to do this... Michaels had their black two pack of canvas on sale.  It is 12x24 so I knew that would give me the space across the bottom for the discs for all 12 months.  I was going to paint it "sunflower" and then changed my mind to the torquoise.  What I do ... don't paint the entire canvas, just paint where the words are going to be!  Then, I used the sizzix or cricut to cut out my letters from contact paper.  After watching the paint dry... I stick down the letters and paint over the top of the area with black paint.  Sorry, no pictures.  While it is still wet!!!!  I get a straight pin and lift the corners of the letters and peel them off.  Ta-da... when lifted, the words are in turquoise cause that was the color underneath.  I guess I may need to do a posting on this... do you understand what I am saying?  So, whatever color you want your letters... paint that color first!  Then, stick down the letters and paint your background color over the top.  So, because I had a black canvas, I only had to paint the word area black.  IF I had wanted white background, I could have gotten a white canvas.  Sometimes, you just gotta paint it all anyway.  Let's move on before I get confused!

We are on the home stretch now!  Get a ruler and mark in one inch, then continue to put a chalk mark every two inches.  You are marking for the tiny screws that you bought.

Start screwing them in by hand, they actually do into canvas fairly easy.  I was surprised.

Once it is started good, you can tighten it up with a pair of flat pliers.  These can also be used to flatten out those "s" hooks.  I have also used these with projects where you are working with chicken wire... handy little tool.

Here ya can see me working along the bottom.

I used a metallic silver sharpe to do the months... and a black one to do all the people and dates.  Keeping a bit of privacy and not showing all the names and dates.  I like how it turned out.  What do you think???   I now understand why the etsy.com folks charge what they do to make these.

I did "celebrate family" because I included anniversary dates.  I also used that silver sharpe to go around the outer edge of all the anniversary discs to make them just a bit different from the birthday discs.  Hope you enjoyed reading this... be sure to post a picture in comments if you make one.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Couple more things... storing the extras...  Ever need to add something to a project and you can't remember where you put stuff or what color you used?  See below... all the extra supplies in a baggie and it is hanging on the pin behind the canvas on the wall.  Ta-da!  Now we are finished!