inside my craft room: part two

welcome back! i hope you liked the peek into my craft room itself, but now onto organization! i know that most crafters are always looking for the best way to organize or reorganize their stuff, so i thought i'd share what's been working for me lately. my way is nothing close to the end all be all, but maybe it will inspire you!

this is a trick that's been around forever and something that a scraptasia customer told me about. it's just a simple over the door shoe organizer (although it was not so simple finding a clear one!) these aren't all my punches, but they're my basics (marvy plain circles and ovals and scalloped circles, ovals, squares and rectangles) i use them on so many of my cards!

since so many of my cards use these punches i wanted them close at hand. cheiron carries around a ring of these punch samples with her so that she knows what she has and what size punch will be perfect for each stamp or project.

then i took it another step and also saved and labeled the pieces i punched the shape samples from so that i can just hold them over a stamped image to figure out exactly what size punch i'll need!

i scored this stamp cabinet when we cut down on the amount of sample stamps we had at the store. i organized all my woodmounted stamps in the cabinet by season, occasion or theme and labeled each drawer.

here is what one of the drawers looks like just partially open! there is room for a ton of stamps in here. these cabinets are quite and investment, but i really love the look and how easily they store so many stamps.

i use 6x6" cropper hoppers to store my clear stamp sets that are 4x6"ish and of course have them organized with labeled dividers.

5x7" protect n store containers are the perfect way to organize all my smaller clear sets, individual clear stamps and completely unmounted rubber stamps by theme (yes, those categories are pretty ridiculous.)

for my cling mounted rubber stamps i use the thin stuftainers from stampendous and trim down and punch a hole in the stamps packaging so that i can attach them to the top of the stuftainer using a binder ring and easily leaf through to see the stamped images going the correct way.

this cute little panda container is from target and 2 rows of 6x6" paper pads fit perfectly!

for my pre-made card bases i use wood media crates from michael's! they are super easy to grab with a coupon and then just attach a fun piece of patterned paper to the visible bits to snazz it up a bit.

for my glitter, flocking and embossing supplies i use the two different depths of rectangular snapware.

both variations of the doodlebug glitter kits and the flocking kit all fit in just one shallow layer!

and you can also store 2 rows of stickles in each of the shallow layers and you are still able to see the colors from the side of the snapware. (i'm also working on color swatches of these to hang next to my desk!)

my buttons and brads are stored by color in those little supply organizers that you can easily find in the bead or sewing section of most craft stores.

my twinkling h2o's are stored in these cool nesting wooden trays from a shop called stamp hideaway that makes them themselves and ships! i love having them all in one place, and in rainbow order of course!

my ribbon bin is a little shameful as far as "organization" goes, but i don't mind sifting through for that perfect piece. i don't think there's really an end-all-be-all answer to ribbon organization quite yet.

for my paper i use 12x12" cropper hopper paper files. i gave them a general label on the front and then they are divided and labeled by company or holiday. i've gone through a ton of ways to divide my paper;bagged by project (back when i began), by color (in an idealist faze) and now this. i think this is the way i'll be sticking with.

cheiron also turned me onto these little copic shelves from studio 3 and i was really impressed when they came in the mail. they are so nicely constructed, and i love how the "shelves are mounted just slightly lower in the back so you're not accidently knocking markers out.

i think that the square snapware is the best way to store the dew drop sized ink pads.

and when you mount a little stack of scrap chipboard in the center and place your dew drops around it you can easily see all your ink colors while the container is still closed!

i use an old repurposed cd case to store my nestabilites. i bought a box of adhesive backed business card sized magnets and attached them to squares of paper labeled with each die sets name and then they slide perfectly into the cd sleeves!

ronda inspired me with her cutlery ink samples, but i tweaked them just a little bit and stamped an outline stamp with a more solid stamp inside so i could get the best representation of each color of ink that i have. these hang on the rail right next to my spot for easy reference.

last, but not least, i use the good ol' cropper hopper wheeled tower (i think from costco) for projects that are in progress, or at least pulled together already.

like i said, there's always some new organization idea out there, if you have one you think i'd be into, let me know! i'm clearly a sucker for organization!

inside my craft room: part one

the boy and i moved into our apartment in august and i've been pretty happy in my crafty room. until recently though, i had not been spending a ton of time in there since scraptasia closed and i wasn't designing classes and samples all the time. but with my newly (semi-) launched a muse studio venture (more on that soon!) and my new staff reporter status over at craft critique (yay!) i've found myself spending more and more time in my craft room and "that's," as martha would say, "a good thing!" as i've been spending more and more time in there i've also just about finished all the little touches and organization, and i've been wanting to share for a while. i was originally going to shoot a little video because i couldn't get pictures that were very helpful, but when sarah and simone visited at the beginning of the month simone luckily had a wide angle lens and shot these great pictures for me. thanks simone!

this is the view when you walk in the door. those little doilies on the side of my shelf are hambly and they always make me smile when i walk in the room. i'm lucky enough to have the corner room and therefore two nice windows for a whole bunch of natural light. oh! also, that couch there is actually a futon for guests, and that galleria quilt from garnet hill was actually my color inspiration for the whole room (and is currently on clearance.) you can't quite see, but the two walls with windows on them are a hot stone warm grey and the other two are the robin's egg-ish blue-teal.

i really, really lucked out this past christmas and my mom got me that wall mounted flat screen and the boy got me a new ipod dock and a tiny little dvd player, so my crafty time entertainment is totally covered. my "L" shaped desk is 2 unfinished ikea table tops that i painted just the edges of, and i love wheeling around in my fancy (not really, it's cheapie ikea) chair to get to my different table top tools!

those little cubby shelves (ikea) work perfectly for so many things and the fabric bins are all from target (including those 2 liberty of london ones.) the gallery lights mounted on the top of my cubby shelf are great for nighttime crafting! (do you like my cuttlebug doorstop? haha. i swear i use it for it's intended application as well!)

we all know that i'm a total organization junkie, and this rail system (ikea) and all that table top space really helps me out with that. those paper sphere lanterns are from ikea and those metal birdcages are from the good ol' dollar section at michael's, the stone grey/brown & white worked perfectly for the room, and for the third birdcage i just spray painted one that was originally orange!

i'm going to share a little more about all my little storage & organization set-ups and tricks on wednesday!

friday five #37

01. new fave ink combo - "crushed olive" distress ink, "pumice stone" distress ink & "ocean depth" versamagic. i usually forget to pull out the distress inks, but i remembered for once, and this card happened. i die.

02. terrariums - yeah, obviously i'm a little late to the game on this one. i love the idea of green things around the house, but i don't have the greenest of thumbs and kitties have a tendency to eat plants and flowers, plus the possibility of starting out has seemed a little overwhelming. but, through one place or another i ended up on this website, and it seems like something i could start playing with on a quasi-reasonable budget. hmm...

03. blue india - i bought this shade of nail lacquer from the "liberty of london for mac" collection a little while a go, but was totally hooked on my barry m "mint green" up until a couple of weeks a go. "blue india" is going to be my go to fall color, i can just tell. it's the perfect grey blue and i only really see it ever leaving my nails if replaced by mac's "in the buff", "earthly harmony" or "jade dragon".

04. dream recipe box - in a dream world where i have unlimited monetary resources and split my time between traveling and nesting, this is obviously the recipe box i would be filling. it's custom, made from salvaged hardwood and completely beautiful. sigh.

05. gym revival - i'm taking the plunge back into having a healthy workout schedule. i'm definitely going to also try to eat just a tiny bit better, but will not diet. this is more of a gym revival to maintain my ability to eat out and try new beers on the weekends. whatever works, right?

friday five #34

01. autumn brews - so stoked that the autumn seasonal beers are already rolling out! blue moon's "harvest moon" is one of my all time faves (especially in beer bread) and so far this year i've purchased sierra nevada's "tumbler brown ale" and brooklyn brewery's "post road pumpkin ale" the tumbler is a little bitter, but i haven't tried the post road yet, looking forward to a bottle tonight i think.

02. diy magnetic bookmarks - molly over at wild olive just posted this cute, printable pdf of little foldover bookmark set (pickle, pencil, bandaid, ruler, and my favorite, the bacon strip!!!) that you just print, fold in half and attach magnetic tape to! so cute!

03. "the suburbs" - so far i'm not loving this as much as "funeral", but still really loving it. it's just not as epic for me, but totally a great album to drive to. you should definitely at least check it out.

04. boombox lust - ever since we watched "step up 3d" i've been lusting after an old school ghetto blaster (let's be honest, i'd really rather have a whole wall of them like in the movie). i'm kind of feeling like a new apartment calls for an new old stereo, yeah?

05. weeds - so sad it's the final season, but so psyched that it's finally back on! it seems like forever since shane first wielded that mallet! the previews for this season are awesome. watch it. love it.

friday five #33

well, we are kind of sort of mostly moved in, at least the stuff we have and it's really starting to feel like home! so excited! i'll share some pictures when it's a little more done!

01. beehive design - i hadn't thought much about beehive until jamaica started making those amazing pillows of hers, and then pushing daisies had that buzzzzzz episode and then it was kind of gone from my brain for a while. then, recently, on design sponge (i think?) i saw these cool appliques someone did on a table, and i'm obsessed with the idea of recreating this on our handed down white tile top table to zip it up a bit! now to figure out wether to do clear contact covered paper, actual patterned (or cork) contact paper or figure out a way to coat and apply fabric... hmm...

02. lampshade inspiration - this is another one of those things from anthro that i love, but will need to diy up. i love the folded in grosgrain ribbon they used, but depending on the room, and what the boy will let me get away with girliness wise, i would also love with the teal, plum or chartreuse rosette trim from websters pages.

03. step up 3d (seriously) - this was the boy's choice for movie night (i'm not kidding) and my first 3d movie! other than the ridiculously annoying and disrespectful family taking up the entire row in front of us, i loved it! even at an hour and a half it was a little long, and totally predictable, but the dancing was ridiculous! i'm also somewhat ashamed to admit that i've already purchased the soundtrack to heavily add to my new workout mix, and i really loved the 3d, there were a couple of cheesy 3d moments, but i thought it was really really cool.

04. camera stamp cameras - amy posted these stamps from urbanic on her blog a couple of days ago, and obviously i love them. i'm also totally jealous of anyone who lives within shopping distance of this place. they always seem to have the coolest stuff set up in the coolest ways.

05. kraft planner - i think nicole was telling me about this guy after her last paper source princeton trip, but when i got their most recent e-mail and saw it, i knew it was a must have for our schedule at home. need.

friday five #31

01. wallpaper calendars - i've been using online calendars as my desktop since i got the macbook and this month there is so many good ones to choose from i'm putting them on rotation! currently using the one mike perry designed for design sponge. it seemed appropriate considering the impending move. next up; free people's and then wild olive's "diminutive feather."

02. kudu-lah critters - my pretty much friend/friend of a best shared these awesome little mason jar inhabiting creatures on facebook this week, she just put three really adorable ones in her new little muffin's nursery! there are 12 of them total, but i think i'm going to go with quadropus, squppy & of course, shark jr. thanks for the hot tip meredith!

03. andrew bannecker - this guy has been popping up all over my google reader lately, via all kinds of inspiring people i love so i thought i'd give his stuff a look. i have definitely found a new artist/illustrator (what's the difference sometimes) to add to my faves! that piece up there, "no turning back" would be loverly in my scrappy/crafty room! i'm also really into, "28 inches of fiery fury" and these new everyday creatures.

04. "timber" fabric - i happened upon this new fabric collection from jessica levit and fell in love. so deeply in love that i've half convinced myself that i'm going to make my own curtain for the crafty/scrappy room. i'm thinking of blue magnolia bird with a strip of these brown maple seedling helicopters at the bottom. i love her patterns and the concept of the little birds nests as the flower! so cute!

05. bloomers - after falling in love with american crafts' version of these flowery trims with the "dear lizzy spring" collection i was obviously dying when i saw these from websters pages! the color combo alone is enough to make me drool! we just ordered the multi-card for the store and i can't wait to get my mitts on them!

friday five #30...

... the we signed a lease on a sweet apartment edition!!!

true story! we found the perfect apartment for us, worked to get it and signed a lease last monday! i'm so relieved, and beyond excited to get in there (hopefully a couple of day before) august 1st to start painting, moving in, arranging and decorating! the apartment shopping is well underway, and i think that with the boys construction skills and helpful tips and my obsessive organization of both of our ideas it's going to turn out pretty awesome. lots to do, lots to diy & lots to buy (in the smartest way possible)!

01. craft room coziness - i'm really lucking out with the combination of us finding a 2 bedroom apartment, and living with a boy who's so rad he's totally cool with me using that second bedroom as an office/craft room (p.s. what do i call it? craft room sounds nerdy, but studio sounds a little highfalutin'). anyway, obvs i've been planning the set up for a while, and one of the things i'm really excited about is the cool futon we scored for free that i'm possibly going to paint, and definitely going to make all cozy and cute for mid-project breaks and visitors. right now i feel like i need one of these one-price-for-any-size coverlets from garnet hill! but alas, there are other things higher up on the priority list, like dressers and a larger bed!

02. "indie girl" - i am absolutely loving the chartreuse, navy, cornflower and salmon-y pink color combo in the newest collection from sassafras! and hi, there are feathers! it says a lot that i'm loving this collection, since usually flowery papers are not so much my thing, but the tones and patterns of these are so 70s cute, in a good way, that i kind of can't resist. can't wait 'til we get it in and i have my hot little hands on this collection!

03. birch mural - somewhere in my internet travels i happened upon this girl, whose name i imagine to be jen, who has a really adorable home. i'm super jealous of her studio space because look at that window and i really fell in love with her birch mural in the bedroom. i'm hoping we'll be able to pull off something similar, but maybe with just a few randomly placed birches and then a whole bunch of them behind the bed kind of like a headboard. our friend jessica should definitely be able to pull it off no problem!

04. diy pennant pillow - i know, i know pennants are everywhere right now, they're the new owl, but i love them anyway! urban outfitters has this sweet little throw pillow but of course, because i'm me, i want to make it myself so it can go perfectly on my little craft room futon! oh, this is where my crafty friends come in, is anyone out there sitting on any pretty little bits of fabric (no matter how small) that you may be willing to trade me something for? i'm either going that route or buying one of those cute little patch sets, but honestly i'm kind of afraid to start looking around on fabric sites because bad things tend to happen to my wallet when i do that.

05. fiestaware - this is probably an enough said kind of situation, but i just love the classic, hefty look of fiestaware, so as of now i'm trying to work my sale wangling magic to get fiestaware into our future kitchen. we're currently thinking lemongrass, turquoise, tangerine and either white or cream). it will take some pretty major wangling, but i'm hopeful, or at least determined.

friday five #29...

...the if we don't find an apartment soon i'm going to lose my mind edition. perhaps some wishful thinking in the home decor department will help!

01. color shelf interiors - obviously design sponge is the go to resource for sweet design touches. i love the simple little idea of painting the inside cubbies of the shelves for a huge pop. love.

02. paintable wallpaper - i know paintable wallpaper is pretty old school but target, of all places, is selling this retro mod version that i can imagine in all shades of pebble-y grey, deep teal and deep plum.

03. cutie juice glasses - julie west, one of my all time faves, has created these super sweet little juice glasses for art star and i need a full set. i might even start drinking orange juice other than when i'm sick just so i can use them.

04. home print - "home" by edward sharpe and the magnetic zeroes has made it's way back into constant rotation in my life as of late. so, this print, that i also found at art star, is perfectly timed! it just arrived in the mail. now i just need a home to hang it in!

05. re-done spindle desks - another design sponge find, love the idea of a re-done spindle desk with vintage wallpaper drawer fronts. plus, the colors not too shabby either.

a little wishful thinking...

there's nothing like a little birthday wish list related wishful thinking...

01. trip to lake tahoe 02. nixon chalet in walnut (still) 03. 4 door wrangler rubicon in metallic olive (the most perfect wrangler color ever) 04. seychelles "get outta town" sandals (they seem like a perfect brown summer flat) 05. fox ear flap hat from cottonhill's etsy (the boy says he will pretend he doesn't know me, but i deal with neon yellow on a daily basis so he can hush) 06. red shiba inu puppy (they are like little ginger house friendly foxes!) 07. tickets to "american idiot" on broadway (NPH gave it his endorsement) 08. rayban wayfarers (a true classic) in dark marble 09. birthday photoboothing with favorite people 10. adobe photo shop elements 8 (i think this is the one i should get, suggestions?) 11. rei 4 person tent (because you have to camp to have proper s'mores) 12. "happy logs" iphone skin (since the death of iphone 1 i always have a soft case on, but i'll know it's there) 13. a king size bed with bartlett sheets already on it 14. true blood season 2 on dvd 15. the anthro wooden radio with mp3 hook-up (it's half off!)

it's june 5th, e-mail me to find out where to send those gifts too, haha. yeah right.

friday five #26

01. vol. 25 - so this check, jessica designed some stamps that i really like a while a go for stamping bella, which i'm hoping to get my hands on next month when we do a catalog sale with them, but in the mean time, she has a sweet little etsy shop where she sells prints of some of her illustrations. this typewriter is one of my favorites, and i can definitely see it hanging in futureimagninaryapartment. i also really love this paper planes one, because we all know how i feel about paper airplanes.

02. utility & beauty - obviously i wouldn't ever be able to bring myself to spend the cash on one of these babies, but i am officially on the hunt for a less expensive, and possibly alterable or vintage version. i'm sure i'll be seen stalking the aisles of little hardware stores, the container store and any other random home section i can find. i want them to migrate into futureimaginaryapartment en masse for the beautiful organization of various crafty things in futureimaginarycraftroom.

03. leafy chord keepers - these are completely brilliant and simply beautiful little pieces of awesome design at work. a beautiful way to warm up all the vines of tech chords that are wrapping their way around our homes and lives! i love how they show them used for decoration as well, but what a rad way to liven up that ugly cable chord and chords that you always leave bundled up like camera chords. i think they'd make a cute mini album binding too!

04. brills scrappers - every now and then a new scrapper comes to my attention that completely refreshes my love of the scrappy side of papercrafts, kaori watanabe is the newest. i found her blog through her recent addition to the crate paper design team. i won't go on and on and on, instead you should just check out the amazing things she's done with some recent crate paper collections. try not to drool to hard.

05. letterpress love - yet another letterpress poster i'm in love with the idea of having for futureimaginaryapartment. louella press creates some pretty sweet, graphic & simple little lovelies that you should definitely check out. i already stalk letterpress on the internet, play at making my own at home and after my return to the national stationary show this weekend, i'm sure i'll be swimming in little bits and bobs of it that i won't be able to throw out, gosh knows i still have stuff from the last show that i haven't worked into a project yet. perhaps i'll be putting together a kit to sell in a small run...?

friday five #25

this will be a ridiculously quick, cheapie five since i'm actually in indiana now, but i promise i'll make it up next week! plus, there's some pretty rad stuff in here.

01. tissue paper poufs - i want these everywhere in my life. especially in these colors.

02. ryan berkley coasters - how hard would you giggle every time you used one of these fancy dudes?

03. new band of horses - you can get a free download of the first single from the album on their website. it's a little different, but somehow still the comfy same.

04. diy ornathology clock - kate over at design sponge posted this awesome tutorial on how to make your own clock from easy to find, inexpensive materials. love the scientific illustrations on this one.

05. coffee people k cups - i swear it's not just because their packaging is so cute! i really love the k cups from the coffee people (we have a keurig at work, i'm not that fancy at home). the donut shop one is my favorite right now, but i also love the organic.

friday five #24

cheated on this one quite a bit. : / in that these are all quick inspirations found in my google readed browsing this afternoon, haha. you can def tell where my color sensibilities are recently. i'll obvs be sure to link you to all the lovely bloggers also.

01. tropical nail colors - if you're going to put in the nail polishing time, why go with a traditional color? these "up, up and away" colors from china glaze are sooooo where i'm at right now. love how their solid, almost matte look brings me back to the "clueless" era of painting my nails with whiteout in class. (source: a beautiful mess)

02. foxes of the non-fantastic variety - i finally watched "the fantastic mr. fox" last night, and i know i may get killed for this, but i didn't love it! i really thought i was going to! almost all of the adorable, snarky & funny bits were in the constant promos, and i found their arms and bird killing terrifying! i did get a nice language clean up from it though, and will now be saying "clustercuss" rather than the other. i do however love these fox pillows, this fox plushie and this fox hat, which i obviously need for next winter!

03. diy bunting necklace - sarah golden, owner & artist behind craftyfolk posted this sweet, easy to create diy leather bunting necklace. i'm imagining how cute it would also be with little frayed edge, back to back fabric triangles. the possibilities...

04. dividing walls made of magazines - this is from a rad, albeit in another language, design & packaging blog i follow. check out these amazing dividing walls made of packed in magazines, complete with windows and sills! we won't even talk about how badly i want their conference room chairs!

05. mixed postage prettiness - parcel post is another inspiring blog to follow, and i love when they do mixed and vintage mixed postage on envelopes. it makes me want to hold on to some random postage stamps now, in hopes that they'll someday look cool with some other randoms. also, feel free to raid your grandma's desk drawers for postage for me if you like. i wouldn't turn them down.

friday five #21

01. spring bag options - i'm still caught between this and the vera bradley i mentioned a couple of weeks a go. i think i'm going to go with this fossil bag. it's coated for easy, no worries use and i know i love fossil's bag quality. maybe i'll just replace my current horrible make up bag with one from vera bradley in that pattern i like, rather than getting the whole bag. these are important decisions people. (except not)

02. volume two - i'm not explaining other than to tell you that i did not love, love volume one, but i lurve this one. just listen & love. (and obvs the cover artwork is lovely)

03. zombie farm - if you have an iphone, get this. it's free. it's not obnoxious for your facebook friends (as long as you don't link it to your facebook) and there are zombies to grow and invade neighboring farms with!

04. me mugs - so, i'm a pretty big fan of non-matching mugs that are totally me. wether it's my "do something creative everyday" mug from paper source, the memo notebook mug k got me, or the liberty of london mug i'm currently stalking target's for, i think it's fun to have me mugs. they making my morning coffee, on the rare days i'm home for it, all the more special. my next purchase, barring a target miracle, will be this guy from craftyfolk's etsy.

05. glee fests - i snagged "glee: the road to sectionals" on super sale at target and the boy and i have been watching (or in my case re-watching) all the episodes in preperation for the new season. don't tell his friends!

dream bedroom... sigh.

so who else is guilty of putting together dream outfits, rooms you can only dream of affording and wish lists full of things you will never actually buy? why must we torture ourselves? since i have officially started looking for an apartment, with a goal of late april or may, i have naturally started building dream rooms that i may not be able to afford, but can certainly try to d.i.y. my way into. here's all the bedroom inspiration i have picked up so far.

01. "high strung" green walls perhaps (jamaica posted this on tumblr a while a go, not sure where it came from) 02. birch wallpaper on 1 wall (might be able to paint this instead?) 03. gorgeous, dark wood side tables (love the shape) 04. killer wooden stereo to plug the ipod into 05. dark purple rosette quilt (will stalk on anthro wish list) 06. bartlett pear sheet set (soooooo will not spend that much on sheets no matter how much i love them) 07. textured, deconstructed, perfect gray pillow 08. alexander girard pillow 09. feather printed rug tucked under the foot of the bed 10. live what you love letterpress print 11. meerkat print (preferably in an ornate oval frame) 12. multiple john murphy style frames (could be thrifted & painted)

friday five #15

01. core impressions - core'dinations is pairing up with some awesome manufacturers who have patterns & colors that they use on a semi-regular basis and combining them with their embossed cardstock line to create packs of sandable, embossed paper. that means you can now play with that amazing cosmo cricket woodgrain, classic jenni bowlin label shape & jillibean soup's all over numbers pattern by sanding them down to reveal another color or just leaving them all embossed and lovely! can't wait 'til the collections packs start shipping!

02. distinguished animals - ryan berkley is obviously a genius! he illustrates very distinguished portraits of various animals and give you a little story about said animal as well. kristina bought me this cheetah print as part of my birthday fun package in june and i love him, i mean just read his little bio, "After cataract surgery ten years ago, this cheetah realized that an eyepatch can be a real conversation starter with the ladies. His eye has long since healed but his social calendar remains quite full." genius. you can shop his etsy, buy framed prints at urban or get these rad coasters! i think "meerkat" will be my next purchase.

03. coachella possibilities - do i dare dream that i might finally make it to coachella this spring? it's a slight possibility, and i would totally die! especially if i not only get to go with john & jasmine, the usual coachella suspects, but also get jen & vee to come along on the indio adventure. 3 full days of amazingness.

04. night owl paper goods - letterpress, cards printed on actual wood, adorable branding & lots of sweet little characters = love. also, they have some pretty awesome stuff on sale right now. i just bought some sale goodies and will be making a mini album out of a bunch of the wood postcards! on a somewhat related note, i can't wait for the ny stationary show in may!

05. wallpaper lust - i am soooooo not creating dream rooms for an apartment that i have not even found yet. that would be crazy, right? : / aaaaanyway... i am in a pretty major phase of big, crazy, graphic wallpaper lust! look at that gorgeous peacock feather stuff from ferm! and there's some gorgeous white birch tree wallpaper that you may or may not be seeing in a future blog entry that may or may not be about my dream rooms.

2009 christmas wish list

so in lieu of a friday five this week , i'm doing 25 christmas wishes!

01. a new wool coat, this one has pleats! 02. frye whipstitch hobo in "cognac" 03. shark mittens! 04. custom address stamp from paperwink (kristina turned me on to these, so good!) 05. prague (my airfare from london, not the city itself!) 06. "sagaform" dishes from huset 07. felt lowercase alphabet scarf 08. new penguin hardcover classics 09. steve madden "stardom" flats (studded, pewter faux snake skin! they're like an 80's hair metal video in shoe form!) 10. more ink for the lifestyle letterpress system 11. wooden fox necklace by joanna rutter whose shop is currently down : ( 12. "big love ring" in winter colors by pink saguaro. jen spotted these! i heart the gray one! 13. yellow bird project hoodie 14. dublin! (again, not the city itself) 15. sweetheart tree necklace by lisa leonard 16. julie west "chubby book" 17. "and then..." limited edition screenprinted poster by julie west 18. 2010 critter calendar (printed on wood) from night owl paper goods 19. always the fold over mid-city tote in grey by foley + corinna. always. 20. the chalet watch in walnut woodgrain by nixon 21. repurposed vintage paint by numbers united states cut out from somethings hiding in here 22. ever since they were in the anthro catalogue last year; "benjamin button boots" by matisse in brown have been in my dreams 23. orla kiely "tripp" large tote 24. "anna" plaid dress and "athena" braided belt (yes, i still shop at delia*s even though i'm 27) 25. a merlotte's mug (can't wait for true blood!)

it's good to have wishes that are totally out there, right?

221 sherman avenue: a before & after

so, the latest absence from my blog was due to the huge undertaking that was helping to move scraptasia (the scrapping & stamping store i work for) to it's new location, which has about 2.5 times the space as the original! when dawn found the space it was totally stripped down, i.e. no floors, half a ceiling and a lot of work that needed to be done, but we went at it and although we are still taking care of some finishes, we are open and love how it has turned out! totally worth all the 12 & 14 hour days! so, in the spirit of design sponge's before & after and oh joy!'s this or that, i bring you scraptasia's very own edition of before & after!

we went with a ridiculously rad color called "high strung" for the cash wrap & the studio area because it's awesome and because it matches our logo! jessica is going to work her magic soon and paint said logo and store name on the front of the cash wrap. the cash wrap itself is about 3 times bigger than our original and allows us space to start doing make & takes soon!

before = cement floor & empty space. after = sweet new floors in a yummy chocolate & drool-worthy stock!

we have 55 new to us colors of bazzill in our newly re-arranged bazzill corner!

we are super stoked on all the natural light and i am love with that fact that we have room to hang all our mini albums along with samples!

the contractors took out that little partial wall and we now have a huge studio/class room, tool area & a kitchen! plus a bigger ribbon wall! this is obviously one of my favorite areas of the new location!

i don't really want to call this a stamp corner, since that sounds small, but this huge stamp corner is another one of my favorite spots. so many stamps, so many inks & so many fun tools, dies & punches. even though i work at scraptasia i will still occasionally spot a stamp i don't remember, it's like a magical stamp wall, and now there are two of them!

it's been so amazing over the last week and half to have the store re-opened and see how excited our customers are to see our new space! i also can't wait for all my scrappy friends to see it soon!

i know...

... i know i just did one of these, but i've had total bloggers block lately, and these little lists are the easiest kick start, so without further ado, 9 things i'm doing, loving, reading, watching, listening to & working on right about now.

01. artsy kismet -  okay, i know kismet isn't the correct word, but you'll get what i mean! so back in the beginning of june kristina gave me a bundle of cuteness, prints, cards, atc & such which all happen to be in pretty blues and creams. then, i got that melissa moss printed canvas up there on sale from urban. so, now i feel like i need to throw in my fave black & white photo booth strips and make a cute little cluster of blues somewhere in my room! it's high on my to do list post-saturday.

02. all things jenny - not that i haven't always loved jenny lewis, but lately it's been kinda non-stop. i've been belting songs from acid tongue, the execution of all things & under the blacklight at the top of my lungs in the car, wishing i could pull off little shortie jumpsuits with tights and vintage heels like she does and lately she has been serving as my inspiration to let my hair grow for as long as i can stand it, or at least until october! she is, however, also kind of making me covet all across bangs and that scares me a little.

03. bonfires - seriously? so glad that i got to check this one of my summer to do list this year! everyone's summer should include at least one bonfire, camping or otherwise. i love when i have a tummy full of s'mores, hair that smells like camp fire and ears full of great music & friends laughing . soooooo good!

04. collapse - okay, so this book may be really arduous, but it's definitely really interesting also. i have been hearing good things about it for a while, but was afraid to really dive in. but, after a whole month of reading nothing but sookie stackhouse "novels" i figured i should offset those with something serious. i'm only about a quarter of the way through, and it's slow going, but so far i would definitely recommend it for anyone patient enough to sometimes have to read things twice to really get it.

05. card camp - tomorrow's the big day! after 12+ hours of class prep and 5ish hours of other prep and packing i'm teaching "3 maximizing you paper pad classes" in one day with 29 students total! eek! i'm sure it's going to be lots of fun teaching my scrappy ladies off campus but it will be a relief to be able to think of something other than 6x6 paper pads after 4 p.m. tomorrow!

06. queen sophie ann - it wouldn't really be a list style post from me if there wasn't at least a mention of true blood, would it? i found queen sophie ann's character pretty intriguing in the sookie stackhouse books, so i'm excited to see where they take her character in the the tv series. in the books she's supposed to be about 16, which made her a little creepy and disconcerting in my mind, so i'm glad to see that evan rachel wood is playing her in the series and wonder what that means for it all. i'm super bummed that there are only two episodes left though!

07. cheeseball photos - i have a few friends who would be the first to tell you that i am no good at staying candid or having my picture taken. but, lately i've been embracing the cheesiness and rocking the top model poses (like the photo above, i'm doing the marjorie hunchback) and silly faces. i have to remember to just have fun, not be afraid to be silly and forget what others are thinking!

08. fantasy factory - okay, if you are not hooked on this show already, you need to be or we probs can't really be friends! at least catch a marathon next time there's one on because rob & drama totally kill me. the second season premiere was the other night and my face like seriously hurt from laughing/smiling so hard throughout the entire half hour. i just love that they have fun, do whatever crazy thing they cook up but they all stay supportive of one another and their fun is never at anyone else's expense. i'm not saying it's good family viewing, but it's way better than a lot of other stuff out there. i mean i really almost peed my pants during all the cheesy & swissy scenes.

09. the big relocation - things are starting to move along with the big scraptasia move! i'm so excited about all the ideas bouncing around and all the planning. i can't believe i haven't made a whole organizational binder system for the space design and move yet, i mean really. i'm sure dawn can't believe it either, she know i'm always looking for an opportunity to come up with a new organizational or binder/notebook system. it's a sickness.

are we ready...

... for what will probs be the longest catch-up blog post evs? k, let's have at it then, shall we?

umm first of the national stationary show in the city with nat and k was pretty much an inspiration overload. here are some of my fave sightings, in no order at all;

* whigby = a teeny little company from canada who make the raddest graphics ever seen on wrapping paper. my faves? obvs "the birds of whig harbor" & "they came from planet whig."

* motormouthpress = the creators of the "letterpress birdies series," cute little cheeky conversating birds in cute little bird houses, cupcake shops and such. they also make a couple of really rad self-mailers!

* paper + cup = adorable married peeps who make totally drool-worthy items such as; these completely lovable photo insert journals with twitterpating line drawn silhouettes that slide over pretty picces. and also, the bon bon button cards because you know i can't say no to a good button badge, my fave is the kisses card with the "essence of kisses" button.

* dee & lala = some really adorable card series sets, my faves being "watch and learn" and then it's a toss up between "follow the leader" and "pet shop collection." you decide.

* elum = purely beautiful, timeless, breathtaking lovliness that totally knocked our socks off the second we entered their booth and then again when they gave us their entry to the calendar, so yum! the four seasons calendar must make its way into my little nest asap. also, feel free to lust after just about all of their newly released cards while i plot a way to be able to afford to send out all elum letterpressed holiday cards this year! also, imagine how psyched i was when i received the julie west letterpressed print i had ordered a week or so previous to the show and realized that it was printed by elum!

* egg press = one of my many dream jobs, letterpress company based in portland, i'm totally destined for that city, who make hilarious and also adorbs things like; the woodgrain collection, cutesies onesies, which seems to be a common thing for stationary companies to branch out too, and about 25+ other awesome cards that i can't find pictures of on the internets.

* whimsy press = such major love that we're figuring out a way to maybe bring them into the store, and to hold me over in the meantime, i already received my own little package of lovliness from them, including bunches of gift wrap, awesome sticker tags (two of which in each set don't have "to and from" and are perfect for journaling spots) & i've already been rocking my "it's good to be green" tote and i'm not going to lie, i'm still lusting after the "be green not mean" tote as well. and all that rad-ness doesn't even touch on their super amazing ocassion cards! if i really, really like you, you may be catching one of these in your mailbox at some point! : p

* night owl paper goods = falling further and further in love with the company kristina introduced us all too with the "hello" card in her SIS kit. my faves this time around were the blank wood cards, wood calendar and this hip looking owl.

i had a lot of fun hanging out with miss natalie for a few days before she left on her crazy awesome adventure in taiwan. so missing her already though! i keep pickig up the mobile to call her on my way home from work or text her about something exciting and, alas, no nat! so psyched for her though!

okay, on to other things... let's see... umm ooh! i went with rick, ryan & ian to see "the strangers" a couple of weeks ago, all terrefied out of my mind because i'm a total baby about scary movies, and then nothing! not that scary! mostly because they show you too much and so it's not creepy and also because the scariest part was paying full movie price for a movie that was only 1 hour and 10 minutes long! wtf? at least we got to check out the overnight shooting of transformers 2 that was going on over at bethlehem steel, or atleast tried, haha. they had such crazy lights that this is about the best shot i got. that's rick and ian walking towards the set.

i've been really making an effort to actually go out and do things lately, rather than stay home because it's easier or i feel self-concieus. i have always known that i have fun once i'm out there, but it's sometimes hard to make myself get out in the first place. so there have been houseparties, scrap nights, walks and laying in cool grass and other fun things that make me not feel quite so old!

speaking of old, i'm officially getting there! i turned 26 on the 5th and it was a pretty rad day. my mum was refusing to tell me what my big birthday surprise was, not even when we got in the car to go there. so, i don't know if i've blogged about this before, but i've been on this kick where i want to be a helicopter pilot really badly. so, sure enough we pull up to sky manor and i get surprised with my very first lesson! it was so completely amazing up there and i even had all the controls on my own for a little bit, while threatening the instructors life if he didn't put his hands back on, haha. we were taking tight turns, following the roads and the poor guy was trying to teach me how to hover too, haha. here's one where i look a bit more confident since i'm back on the ground;

marykate got some pretty awesome shots with our little point and shoots and i'm psyched she was there to send me positive vibes from the ground and snap some pics too.

we hit a crazy delicious mexican 'straunt for my birthday dinner after all in all, i'd say it was a sucessful birthday!

let's see... ooh! cha! dawn is sending me to chicago/rosemont next month to do cha and i'm so psyched to be going again, especially for such an awesome store with such a fun customer base! so, who else is going? where are you staying? who wants to get together? let's figure it out ladies!

here's a question for y'all... laptop or fancy camera? i'm torn between a macbook, which would be my first mac, or a nikon d60. i'm leaning towards the macbook at this point because as much as i love photos, i find that i'm barely pulling my easy to carry point and shoot out anymore so a d60 would be a heck of a toy to leave in it's bag. especially since i just snagged the diana + special edition from urban and ordered some rolls of expired film, a flash & a couple of lens' for it on the lomography website. that might be enough fun with film for the time being. who all has a macbook? do you love it? will i hate the switch from a pc? i know i won't hate the switch from a dell, that's for suresie!

so, since i'm breaking out phrases like, "for suresie" it's probs time for me to head off to sleep. know that i've gotten all of this done i can return to normal blogging! if you've stuck through this 'til now, then thanks! i promise i'll get back to the scrappies asap!