blind box sale 2012

I have become sort of a craft hoarder, so in an effort to get making things again I have decided to ruthlessly pare down my supplies so that I'm not so overwhelmed by all my stuff!

The pictures you see here are just some of the awesome product that I split between these 15 "blind boxes." There is a ton of amazing product in each of these boxes that I either had multiples of, or just haven't gotten around to using. 99% of what's in these boxes is brand new (and the other 1% very lightly; it may be missing one sticker or a word's worth of letters)

The products split between boxes are from some of my favorite companies like; basic grey, american crafts, crate paper, cosmo cricket, hambly, studio calico, my minds eye, october afternoon, copic, ranger, hero arts, a muse, my favorite things, imaginisce, making memories, maya road & more!

Each "blind box" has at least;
- 35 12x12 papers including one 12x12 cardstock sticker/chipboard sheet
- 3 sets of Thickers
- 1 8x8 or smaller paper pad (these are missing a few pages)
- 3 tools/mediums (like markers, stickles, paints, embossing folders, etc.)
- 3 acrylic stamp sets (at least one large set around 4x6)
- 3 woodmounted stamps (sizes vary)
- 10 embellishments (stickers, buttons, brads, journaling blocks, chipboard, etc)
- 1 glimmer mist
- 1 mini album or alterable item

The "blind boxes" are packed in a USPS Medium Flate Rate Box (14x12x3.5) as carefully as possible, but some shifting may occur in the mail.

You can purchase them over in my etsy shop; leftandleaving designs

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!

10 CHA faves + some extras.

l.a. was a weird, but good time! i highly recommend staying in little tokyo when you're in l.a. the amazing sushi, ramen (which i'm still dreaming about) and prime availability of hello kitty goods were all amazing, as well as the nearby yogurtland and weiland brewery! i had a great time with the craft critique girls and loved seeing a bunch of my other fave scrappy peeps. the c.c. girls kept me mostly sane during my flight home drama (4 canceled flights) and had a really great time seeing more of l.a thanks to sarah, and her cousin, who let me crash their family time while i was not-so-stranded in l.a. for an extra day.

the actual CHA show was pretty much a whirlwind, as always, and there was a whole bunch of new & inspiring things! now that i've had time to decompress i thought i'd share just 10 of my favorite new items/releases.

01.SMASH* from ek success - i pretty much fell in love with this the second i happened by the booth. i think my text to sarah went something like this, "ohmygodsmashbookdrooling." you can check out more pictures of the bits and pieces and my article all about it for craft critique here, the main break down is that there are 4 different styles of SMASHbook (at least now) that you use the SMASHpen (half glue stick, half pen) to SMASH things into the book with. then there are a whole score of cute accessories and embellishments to help tell your stories and save your memorabilia! it's kind of like a gateway drug to scrapbooking, or a modern approach to old school, o.g. scrapbooking. my favorites are the awesome date/saying stamp, washi tape with words, metal clips, pockets and the little jotters!

02. wrmk sew easy add-ons - i've already been loving my sew easy, but now there is even more to love; new floss (including bakers twine), new wider heads (including 2 different banner shapes) and a storage case that you know i'm dying to own! check out my full craft critique article here.

03. lawn fawn stamps - i'm loving this little company even more now that i've met the designer and friends who run it, they are so sweet and really love what they do! i really can't wait to get my hands on the "say cheese" & "critters in the forest" sets. i see so many cute paper piecing and copic marker-ing opportunities here! check out how cute their booth was, and some more of their new release in my craft critique article here.

04. hambly washi tapes - i didn't run across any scrappy ladies at the show who weren't loving hambly's brand new addition to their repertoire, washi tapes! they pulled from their new and existing paper/transparency patterns for the washi tape and it's something a lot of people, including me, are stoked to use, plus it was so fun to see a very pregnant allison, so cute!

05. sprinklers from october afternoon - awkward name aside, this mist-able paint, a new product for o.a. at least, is something i'm really interested to try out when it starts shipping. the basics are something i've already seen around the industry, but i'm pretty smitten with this set of colors here, especially "robot blue" which happens to match my nails right now. check out my october afternoon article right here.

06. "campy trails" thickers - it's no secret that i am thickers obsessed, and the fact that i'm picking just 2 new thickers fonts from the new american craft release is a testament to my desire to keep this post short-ish. i love, love, love the colors and fonts that coordinate with the "campy trails" collection. the "meadow" font is printed glossy chipboard, and usually i don't love all caps, but i am obsessed with the fact that these have a cream background. "forest" is woodgrain patterned glossy chip and just super yummy in general. you can check out the 4 new collections, and the rest of the thickers, in my american crafts article here.

07. crate paper's "portrait" collection - this is crate paper's wedding/heritage collection but i just see so many possibilities for this collection that it's crazy! the colors, patterns and chip bits are to die for. can't wait to get these in my mitts. crate paper's entire release from CHA is pretty awesome, if they can make me love a floral, they're doing something right. check out all 4 new collections in my crate paper article here.

08. new "double dot" patterns - the original double dot (tone on tone polka dots on one side, tone on tone distress on the other) has been popular for a while and now they have come out with 3 new double sided basics patterns! i love the new "journal" best and the hexagons on the backside of the "stripe" are pretty cool in some of the colors as well. i just think that the "journal" will make such a rad base for many a layout. you can see the rest of bo bunny's new stuff here in my craft critique article.

09. mme "stella & rose" - this is the newest rack collection from my minds eye and, as always, the colors are so saturated and beautiful i'm kind of drooling over them. 4 different color families, lots of new little bits and the 6x6" paper pads are pretty cool too.

10. maya road mini sets - most of maya road's new mini chip sets are pretty cool and have ideas spinning in my head already, but what really caught my eye were these two sets of mini canvas banners! i know that banners are everywhere, and they will jump the shark soon enough, if they haven't already, but these little canvas guys (they're only about 1.5" long) are really kind of precious, don't you think? how sweet would they be misted with splatters of pigment?!?

there is a ton more CHA coverage up on craft critique including tons of new companies from every crafty persuasion, and here are the rest of my articles from CHA;

* my cute stamps

* clip it up!

* webster's pages

* sassafras

* fancy pants

* making memories

friday five #40

i've actually kind of missed doing these, i was over them for a while, but now i'm back! at least until i don't feel like doing them again.

01. cans! - hey! did you know that blue moon comes in cans now? "brewmasters cans" according to the case. i know deep down that this is a step down in the beer world, but something about it seems fancy to me. it's just so much easier!

02. tiny books - boygirlparty is selling this adorable set of 3 tiny books as well as some pretty adorable designer sudoku collections over in her shop. i have always loved hee adorable little illustrations, mini paintings & stationary and i even own a couple of her necklaces! these would be perfect to take notes at cha in, but alas, i am trying to be thrifty!

03. craft critique - i'm super stoked to be reporting for craft critique! and, at one of the 2 most exciting times of the year for crafters, the winter CHA tradeshow in l.a. this time next week! you can check out my first article/review over on the website and look for tons from all of us during CHA!

04. nerd alert - you know how blog hopping can be, you click on one thing and an hour and 20 blogs later, you have a new favorite! that's kind of how i happened upon kinsey wilson's blog, and now i really want to take her "nerd alert" week long blog class for crafty organizational nerds. it's only $15, but like i said trying to be thrifty. i think i may just do it anyway, we'll see!

05. spring clothing fantasies - my fall and winter wardorobe has been pretty blah this year. basics are awesome, but not when you're just not feeling them. this upcoming l.a. trip has me thinking warmer weather clothes (although thus far the forecast is rainy and 60 while i'm there, but that's better than snowy and 5!). so i've been doing that horrible thing i do to myself where i go around bookmarking adorable spring-y thingies that i will not be able to buy, but will drool over about once a week, like this adorable open back ruffly top from jem that was featured on papercakes today. i love it!

friday (twenty)five #32

as promised, i attempt to make up for my recent (and upcoming) blog neglect by sharing a whole bunch of my cha preview & new release favorites all at once in the form of a hearty "friday (twenty)five."

01. crate paper "restoration" doilie paper 02. dear lizzy "enchanted" flower brads 03. mme "alphabet soup" music note paper 04. echo park "life is good" paper collection (i think this will combine perfectly with cp's "restoration!") 05. cosmo cricket "togetherness" chip shapes 06. webster's pages whimsies (dying over these colors!) 07. american crafts "max" alphabet stamps 08. basic grey "wander" papers 09. ranger distress stickles round 2 (crushed olive! pumice stone! chipped sapphire! forest moss!) 10. tattered angels "apple" glimmer mist (this will be on everything porous i own) 11. cosmo cricket "togetherness" bird paper 12. american crafts "bones" illustrated thickers 13. jillibean soup "past fagioli - italian seasoning" paper (i want to line the back of our kitchen cabinets in this!) 14. crate paper "school spirit- report card" paper 15. cosmo cricket yellow "tiny type" alpha stickers 16. studio calico "mister hueys" basics (white & cream are opaque!!!) 17. ek success "doilie" & "cupcake" border punches (the cupcakes are very "hello kitty" to me) 18. imaginisce "cottage christmas" (love pink in a christmas line) 19. american crafts "heart" puffy thickers (love a good tall skinny font!) 20. mme "i believe" papers 21. basic grey "jovial" collection (love the pretty black backgrounds for a christmas line!) 22. american crafts "stroll" glazed chipboard thickers (their glazed thickers are way shinier in person, love) 23. october afternoons "campfire" collection 24. we r memory keepers "sew easy" paper piercing stitch tool (i may finally start stitching on paper as much as i want to!!!) 25. mme "blackbird" chip characters

three.

as in three quick layouts to share, and yes, 2 of them are partially titled "3".

here's my layout for this month's sketch flyer at the store. i used a whole ton of the new "heat wave" collection from american crafts. you can't really tell in the picture, but the wave paper and little details of the ice creams are a really nice sealed in glitter that's really fun.

i also used their new 4x6" flap protectors to add a little flip book of additional pictures to my layout on the outside of the page protector (the brads go through the flaps, front of the protector & layout) i'll definitely be using these again soon. they'd be a great way to add less public journaling, extra photos, track listings, little bits of travel memorabilia or just about anything else.

i used a combination of basic grey's new "olivia" and crate papers "paper doll" for this guy. i have scrapped some of the pictures from our little bridge photo shoot in the past, but i kind of can't get enough of them. it's way more flowery than i normally go, but i really love the pops of chartreuse and teal counteracting the girliness just a little bit.

i know, i know another layout with "3" in the title, but it just kind of worked out that way. i thought i'd document the 3 kitties before they are split up (milo & annabelle are coming with me and the boy). i used the newest studio calico sketch for this one and just extended it to a 12x12" rather than an 8.5x11" i love the teal and burnt orange together in basic grey's "max & whiskers" collection so i leaned heavily on that part of color palette. it was fun to use some theme-y paper for once. : ) and i love, love, love the pulled thread look of this background paper.

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 #22

01. droolworthy books - the second round of penguin putnam classics are out and about in the world and i am, yet again, dying! the odyssey is one of my favorites. i also really love alice's adventures in wonderland, even though it makes me slightly crazy that the colors don't really go with the rest of the series. i guess it will just need to have it's own shelf on my imaginary not-yet-built or thrift-shopped bookcase that's just for this series of books!

02. multiple easters - due to my mum having to work part of the day, and it being the perfect holiday to meet more of the boy's fam, i was fortunate enough to have multiple easter's! this resulted in a face that hurt from lauging and smiling, a super full tummy and a really awesome easter. (fun fact: the boy can apparently pull off pink gingham in a pretty major way. who would have guessed it?)

03. chocolate covered gummy bears - i happen to have the best mum ever who knows me all to well. therefore my entire easter basket consisted of about 3 pounds (literally) of chocolate covered gummy bears from the rocky mountain chocolate factory which she drove 3 hours round trip to get to. beyond yum.

04. bloomers - you know those new scrappy products that you love so much you check on their status every day? well these bloomers trims from webster's pages are it for me! i can't wait 'til these are released! the colors are making me drool, and even though i'm not normally a flowery kind of girl i find myself wanting to cover, like my whole life in them. i die.

05. a future blog re-do - i'm not a digital scrapper by any means, but someone posted a link to danielle thompson's new kit for kitschy digitals, called vintage cameras and i fell for it. i'm still working out the logisitics, but it's going to be perfect for me to re-do my blog with! it's been needing a little overhaul for a while now, but i've been hesitant to do so because i still love these colors so much, but with this kit in hand (so to speak) i'll be able to keep the colors and still give it a new look.

friday five #17

as decided on the 10th when i wrote all these scheduled blog entries for when i'm away, haha.

01. "odd blood" - i was beyond excited for the release of yeasayer's latest album to the point of actually pre-ordering to insure that i would have it before my trip. i've given it a couple of full listens and so far "ambling alp" which they released as a sneak peek a month+ a go is still my favorite track. i'm hoping it will grow on me with a few more listens on this trip.

02. bird box - my factory issue iphone alarm clock isn't really doing the trick these days, i think i'm getting too used to it's sound. i'm thinking about downloading the bird box app (which is free) and then buying the woodgrain bird house for it to live in. check out the cuteness.

03. class concepts - love the inspiration that strikes when a whole rush of new product starts to head out into the world. i'm a total nerd and love creating folders in iphoto for each class idea and filling them with all the possible products, editing and getting just the perfect mix of new and current products put together to create classes that i can't wait to teach! so much fun coming up in the next few months.

04. 2011 ford fiesta - convo with the boy; me: "so, how wrong is it that i kind of want the new ford fiesta?" the boy: "very." i can't help it. i think it's really adorable, it comes in a fun orange, magenta, and this sweet green, plus a bunch of fun features and the mpg's aren't half bad. call me sick, but i think it's cute.

05. "mint sprint" nail polish - c'mon, just say it out loud, "mint sprint." love. along with being fun to say it's also a pretty rad color on your nails. loving the way i'm rocking it now, which is "mint sprint" on my ring fingers, grey patent on the rest. love.