So this is one of the exciting things I’ve been dying to tell you about!!
Go read Lisa’s announcement HERE and come back quick!
I joined Lisa Bearnson’s team and will be privileged to sell her new line of scrapbooking products!
I’ll post more information soon; this is coming to you from my iPhone in the bank parking lot, LOL! I had to tell my peeps who would understand how excited I am!
If YOU have interest in being on Team Lisa, please email or call me ASAP! The sooner you get in, the better ;)
Scrapbookobsessionblog at gmail dot com (ETA: OOPS! There is no ‘blog’ in my email address, just scrapbookobsession at gmail dot com – sorry!)
** If you’ve emailed me, will you please try again? My apologies :)
805-400-3261
Yeah, she sneaks in some talk about scrapbooking and her new line with CREATIVE MEMORIES. She seems to be a nice face for scrapbooking and I’m enjoying learning about her. I liked what she said about using scrapbooking to bond with your children and stepchildren, showcasing their lives and showing them how important they are.
It will be fun to see her transition from Access Hollywood to taking over Mary Hart’s position on Entertainment Tonight. I wonder if she’ll find little ways to mention scrapbooking on ET, too. That would be really cool.
What do ya’ll think of Nancy and her entry into “our” world? Do you plan to read her book, enter the contest, or anything?
Check out this video clip of “SCRAPBOOKING WITH NANCY O’DELL” from the CBS Early Show yesterday. She was talking about her new book, FULL OF LOVE, about the importance of family albums and scrapbooks, including the role they’ve played in her own life. There are also scrapbooking tips and photos of her layouts.
Oh, btw, if you’re not familiar with Nancy O’Dell, here is her WEBSITE where you can read her bio and see other things she’s done :) HERE is her Twitter page if yawanna follow her. Did you know she’s going to have HER OWN SHOW on the new Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) next year? No, you didn’t. That’s what you have me for.
Anyway, she wrote “Full of Love” in conjunction with CREATIVE MEMORIES and has also collaborated with them on a scrapbooking line called “The Hummingird Series.” HERE is the CM press release with all of the information. You can get her scrapbooking line only through a CM Consultant, of course.
Although her last book can be found on AMAZON.COM, this one appears to be available for purchase only through Creative Memories. I’m kinda’ bummed about that. I was going to jump right over to Amazon and buy it but now I have to go through the rigamarole (yes, that IS an actual word!) of finding a CMC and starting a new account or whatever to order just this book. I really hate “exclusive” deals like that. I hope I’m wrong and there are other places to get it. {If you hear of any, please let me know!} Plus the fact that I can’t get to the damn CM site right now … none of their links are working for me. Grrr …
Nancy seems like a sweet person and a good representative of this hobby we hold so dear. I wish her all the success in the world on her new book and Creative Memories scrapbooking line.
I’ve been organizing my scrapbook space yet again, and have been coming across things to sell. They are either gently used things of mine, or products I got to sell at my crops.
I’m selling everything well below what it’s worth because 1. I really want this stuff to go to a good home (wink), and 2. I know shipping is going to cost some and I want the overall price to still be affordable.
Okay, here we go …
===================================== LOT #1: ACRYLIC STAMPS AND CLEAR BLOCK $40 plus shipping
Retail value is about $100! All of these stamps are brand new, never been used, in the original packaging.
*If you love Studio G stamps, I have some older complete and incomplete sets. Stay tuned! I’ll list them soon :)
Autumn Leaves “Hand Drawn Alphabet by Katie Pertiet”.
This set retails for $25. I have it myself and use it often. It’s a very versatile font and is a great size for both cards and scrapbook layouts. Unlike a lot of stamp alphas, it includes both upper and lower case AND numbers with punctuation.
Autumn Leaves “Stitched Journaling Panels by Marianne Wise”
This set retails for $15 and is fabulous for journaling. I also have this set and use it quite often. All of the shapes look great on layouts and the stitching is so much cuter than plain, solid lines, don’t you think?
{NOTE: With just these first 2 items, we’re at the $40 I’m charging for the whole lot!}
Autumn Leaves “For the Record by Katie Pertiet”
These acrylic stamps retail for $15 and were super popular when I sold them for Memory Works in a past catalog. I can’t believe you get so many detailed stamps in one set. I use this one a lot also. The photo record stamp (2nd one down on lefthand side) would be so great to stamp on the back of your photos ~ especially the ones you don’t scrap ~ so you can remember the details of each picture.
Autumn Leaves “Clear Stamps Acrylic Block”
Yep, retails for $15 (seems to be a trend here, huh?). This is a solid acrylic block, 4×6″ in size, to be used with your acrylic stamps. If you’ve never used acrylic stamps, I’d be happy to walk you through it. I have this block myself and it’s the one I use the most, out of the many sizes I have, because you can lay out an entire word or title on it, or fit even the larger stamps on it (like THESE).
Close to My Heart “My Acrylix Doodle Alphabet (D1242)” (retired)
This is a really cute alpha. My favorite thing is the cute little birdie in the lower right corner. I also love the curly frame in the upper left; that would be fun to use like a monogram, i.e. stamp the frame and then stamp a single letter in the middle of it.
Autumn Leaves (8) various “Clear Stamps” that retail for $2 each, and Studio G (2) sets of “Clear Stamps” that retail for $1 each.
These are all stinkin’ adorable stamps, about $16 worth altogether.
So, that’s all of Lot #1: ACRYLIC STAMPS AND CLEAR BLOCK
$40 plus shipping
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LOT 2: BOTTLECAPS and JUNKITZ “ROUNDERS”
*** TAKEN ***
Probably about $5 retail
I just want them to go to a good scrapper’s home, LOL. I’ll throw them in for free if you make another purchase, or will mail them to you in a padded envelope for $3 to cover shipping. HERE is one of the rounders used with some ribbon for a flower center (layout by LESLIE ASHE).
=========================================
LOT 3: KAREN FOSTER “CLIKIT” EYELET SETTING KIT $5
Retailed for $40. This item is gently used.
I bought it right after it came out at a CKU and fell in love with it. What a fun tool! You can read a bunch of reviews HERE. I used it a few times at the convention; that’s why you see white paper leftovers in the dual tip, LOL. Alas, I am a fickle tool girl, and quickly became fascinated with some other method or three for setting eyelets (“What a cool eyelet tool! I really like it. It works so … oh, look, shiny new tool over there!”).
All of the pieces, mat, instruction book, even the free eyelets are still intact. On the bottom of the box, I wrote my name and phone number in small print; it’s been blacked out with a Sharpie. Other than that, it’s like new.
=====================================
LOT 4: COLUZZLE “STARTER KIT” AND “TAGS” $5 plus shipping
Retails for $22. These items are brand new, still in original packaging.
*** RESERVED ***
HERE is the Starter Kit at Scrapbook.com for $9.99. HERE are some customer reviews. If you’ve never used a Coluzzle to cut shapes, I’m happy to explain it ~ super easy.
I’ve had a Cricut for a while now, and I know many people have all kinds of fancy die cutting machines now, but I still use my Coluzzles. I have all my templates handy in a drawer and it’s so much quicker and easier to pull them out sometimes than to get the Cricut going just for one or two shapes. I have quite a collection and you can find shapes other than these tags now for great deals. The tag template is perfect for making gift tags for birthdays and Christmas, and of course you can use them in your cardmaking and scrapbooking.
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LOT 5: MEMORY STOR “HANDMADE PAPER-VELVET” $5 plus shipping
*** SOLD ***
Retails for $24. This is brand new, still in the package.
72 sheets of thick paper with velvet flocking in gorgeous colors and textures. The paper itself is surprisingly light in weight, so I don’t think it would be terribly expensive to ship. There are 12 designs with 6 of each design. These papers make unique and textural additions to your scrapbook layouts. Yes, I own this set of papers, too :) I’ve found the colors really easy to work with and so striking. Below are a few samples up close …
This is a dark aqua flocking design on a lighter aqua paper …
Black vine flocking on a white background …
My favorite … A delicate swirly pattern. I used this paper on some ATCs for a swap I did once. Just that little square of this paper made such a difference and set my ATCs apart from everyone else’s.
======================= LOT 6: CREATIVE MEMORIES “DECO FILE” with EXTRA FOLDERS $5 plus shipping
*** SOLD ***
Retails for roughly $20; not sure as it seems they don’t make this item anymore (?). This item is gently used.
When I bought this, I used it to sort my paper scraps. I love how it accordians out so you can easily see everything you’ve stored in it. The lot includes a pack of additional folder inserts; 3 have been inserted in the Deco File and 3 are still in the package. When the deco file is empty, the black elastic is a bit stretched out … although when it’s full, I doubt you’d notice. Also, you could easily replace the elastic, probably with something cuter than a plain black band anyway, LOL! HERE is a similar lot on Ebay for $27.99.
==========================
LOT 7: CREATIVE MEMORIES “CROP TALK” FLYERS *** Free plus shipping ***
*** TAKEN ***
These all came to me via a friend when she cleaned out her scrapping stuff. She attended Creative Memories workshops for years and had this good-sized stack of Crop Talks. They are older ones but kind of timeless. I could just throw them away, but I was wondering if there was a CM GIRL out there who would like them just for the cost of shipping. I’d mail them in a manila envelope and send Media Mail so it wouldn’t cost much, I don’t think.
ETA: I hadn’t listed these yet but the same sweet lady who requested the Crop Talks also bought this lot …
LOT 8: CREATIVE MEMORIES STICKERS, ETC. $5
*** SOLD ***
Miscellaneous Creative Memories items in their original packaging (handled but not used)
===========================
That’s what I have to post for now, but keep checking back, because I’ll be posting more as my scrapbook room clean-up continues :)
1. All items are from a pet-free and smoke-free home.
2. Prices do not include shipping; we can work out the best shipping for you.
3. First come, first served, as based on time stamps from e-mails and comments.
4. I will show items as “Reserved” but they may still be available if the transaction doesn’t work out, so let me know of your interest. Once an item is actually sold, it will be marked as such.
5. I have a great track record of customer service with Memory Works; please let me know if you’d like a reference or two. {And if you’ve ever purchased from me before, please leave a comment about your experience ~ thanks}.
I accept Paypal and will send you an invoice; a super easy process :)
If you don’t use Paypal, please e-mail and let’s see if we can work out a check/money order.
Contact info: If you’re interested in any of these items …
Leave a comment on this post, or …
E-mail me at scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com
I really just want these items to find a good home, so if you want something but the price isn’t right, make me an offer!
I spent most of the weekend working on my scrapbook room. Ugh! I know . . . AGAIN! I’m NOT considering this part of the whole MAKEOVER thing, just the clean-up to get back to where I left off. If you look back at those last “makeover” photos from 10-15-09, I haven’t really made much overall progress since then anyway.
What I did do, however, was perform a major backslide over the holidays. My scrap space became the activity center, the holiday gift-hiding and wrapping hub, and the dumping ground afterward for gifts to be put away, Christmas cards to sort and scrap, school and personal papers, etc. Everything had gotten WAY-HAY-HAY out of hand to the point that I couldn’t do ANYTHING on my desk or in my scrap space, much less scrapbook!
While the ONLINE CROP happened this weekend, I spent some time sorting, purging, putting away, and cleaning my space, taking breaks to chat with the Scrap Sisters and keep my enthusiasm going.
It’s now back to a decent level so I can scrapbook again (I have until Wednesday at midnight PST to complete some of those crop challenges!). Thought I’d share a few Before and After photos. The Before pix were taken Friday night so they’re dark, sorry. The Afters were taken Sunday afternoon.
LEFT SIDE OF DESK – BEFORE
LEFT SIDE OF DESK – AFTER
There’s my new Daisy tool caddy by Creative Memories. I moved all my acrylic stamps and inks from 2 Crop in Style flat packs into the tool caddy. What I realized is that … I need another one, LOL. I have my current stash in there, just barely, but my Secret Santa sent me a bunch more stamps for Christmas (they’re stacked under that pile of embellies, 5 full sets!). See all those punches and tools behind the tool caddy? I want to get one for those, too. I don’t like how they get dusty sitting out on my desk, even when they’re in heavy use … which admittedly, they haven’t been lately. The Cropper Hopper vertical file is for my newest acquisitions that I hope to scrap with soon. My Inspiration File, if you will. The rest is Secret Santa stuff that I left out on purpose. No, really! One of the crop challenges is to create a layout using products you received from Secret Santas. See, I wasn’t lying.
Yes! I can see my Basic Grey magnetic mats again! The envelope has some CTMH “My Acrylix” (empty) envelopes that I offered to RAK on the Scrap Sisters Studio message board; as it happens, my Scrap Pal was the first to speak up so they’re being mailed to her … along with a little gift that I forgot to include in her Christmas gift mailing.
RIGHT SIDE OF DESK – BEFORE
Oh lookie! Some books that are now neatly filed on my bookshelf, which I also reorganized this weekend. My Green Tangerines bag and stuff I bought there, Christmas card leftovers and stamps, etc.
RIGHT SIDE OF DESK – AFTER
All my most-used tools, stereo, RAK bag, and carousel I use to store Cricut stuff.
Cricut, Epson Picturemate printer, and I moved my little lamp over here. The paper, embellies, and envelopes are hand-me-downs from my mom (she’s the one who always gives me free scrap stuff she doesn’t want … I know, I’d be jealous if I were you, too). Anyway, I found the box they were in at the end of the day and that’s as far as they got :( Out of the box and onto my desk … for now.
COUCH/COFFEE TABLE – BEFORE
Yep, there’s really a couch and table under all that disgusting mess, I swear! CM photo storage boxes (like my fancy labels made out of sticky notes? i made new ones finally), an old printer I need to get rid of, and my basket of alphas. Also, 2 bins of past MEMORY WORKS kits that I need to either use or separate out and put away.
COUCH/COFFEE TABLE – AFTER
The kits are still there, and I stashed some things under the table, but at least I can see part of the couch and all of the table again, right? And there’s my new CROP BAGS. They make me happy :)
So, there’s what I did this weekend. How about you? Anything scrappy or organize-y? Or did you just watch football? Whatever you did, hope it was a great one.
As I wrote about HERE, the new set of crop bags by CREATIVE MEMORIES was on my wish list for Scrap Santa this Christmas. I’m happy to report that he must’ve judged me a good girl this year … because I got the bags! Nope, I’m not shizzlin’ you. I really did!
Okay, let’s cut the crap. I knew I was getting the bags, and Scrap Santa had nothing to do with it. I arranged the whole thing with my mom ahead of time.
Let’s face it … if you read my blog in 2009, you know that I had a questionably “naughty” year. I did a bunch of scrapbook industry rumor spreading. I ruthlessly enabled scrappers to spend money on products they probably didn’t technically “need,” though I may have convinced them otherwise. I even used curse words when it was deemed appropriate (and c’mon, you KNOW sometimes it’s appropriate!).
Needless to say, I wasn’t taking my chances with Scrap Santa on the crop bags. I wanted them too badly. And what does a Scrappy Girl do when she reeeeeeeeelly reeeeeeeelly wants something? She calls her Scrap Mama, of course. Hollah! I called my mom, who happens to scrapbook once a month with my sister-in-law … who happens to be a Creative Memories Consultant … who happens to have told me in the past that if I ever wanted to get CM crop bags through her, she would waive her 30% commission as her gift to me. {Don’t I have the best mama and sissie-in-law???}
So my mom ordered the crop bag set I wanted from my SIL and I got them when we took a road trip and visited my mom last week. First of all, can I tell you how EXCITED my husband was at the prospect of adding this huge set of bags to our already overloaded vehicle on our 5-day, 900-mile trip? I mean, he was SO excited! I think his exact words were, “Don’t tell me I have to fit all that crap in the truck.”
I finally sold him on the idea of “allowing” me to bring my crop bags home with us when I pointed out that I could pack all of the smaller bags inside the largest bag. Not only that, but I could pack other stuff in there as well. Big selling point. Thus, my large new crop bag came home in the back of our truck, with the smaller bags inside of it, along with my Uggs, 6 beach towels, the airbed pump, and 5 DVDs.
“See, honey, crop bags are VERSATILE! And they have rolley wheels!” {Bah! If looks could kill, I’d be dead}.
Without further ado, let the clouds part and reveal … (harps playing) … my new crop bags!
First, we have the “Daisy Wheeled Cart” aka “The Mondo Huge-amic Size of a Small Car” bag
PHOTO FROM CM WEBSITE:
MY PHOTOS:
Big and Beautiful!
I adore how CM puts large outside pockets on their bags. The tiny little outside pockets on my Crop-in-Style tote drive me batty. What can you fit in there, a freakin’ dime? I want large pockets that I can actually fit, like, scrapping stuff in.
Here is the inside. It will be close, but I think I can fit my cropping stuff in there, hee hee :) I love the pink with black polka dots pattern, and that the interior is NOT black, which makes it easier to find things. Plus, it’s cute.
I like how the lining zips out so you can clean it. That’s the first time I’ve seen that feature in a crop bag.
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Next is the “Daisy Weekender”:
PHOTO FROM CM WEBSITE:
MY PHOTOS:
The top has double zippers like some suitcases, and opens up in a neat and different way. Everything should be easily accessible but not squished together at the top like a tote bag would do. This is one side …
…and this is the other…Cool pockets, huh?
Again, great external pockets and I like the curved flap detail.
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Here is the “Daisy Project Tote”:
CM WEBSITE PHOTO:
MY PHOTO:
Just your basic tote. Here is the inside. I like the cell phone pocket … will be a good place to keep my iPhone handy.
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And finally, the “Daisy Tool Caddy”:
CM PHOTO:
MY PHOTOS:
This bag comes packed flat and you put it together. Here are the pieces …
I put the divider in. I’m not sure what the extra pink square piece is for. Need to look more closely at the little flyer insert or online to see if it tells ya.
This is just a close-up showing you how the 2-pieces zip together.
Seriously, I didn’t post photos just to brag. I’m hoping that if someone is looking for info on these bags to decide if they want them or not, they will come across my post and at least see photos of the insides and make sure they like them.
Yeppers, those are my new crop bags! Eeeeeeeee! So excited! Can’t wait to use them for a crop. I might be going to a crop weekend in late January. If that falls through, I’m hoping to hold my own crop in early February. Wish me luck … I call tomorrow to try and reserve the crop space. And stay tuned for a future post when I fill them up and you can see how much scrap stuff I can fit in these suckers.
What was your favorite scrappy Christmas gift?
ETA 11/01/12: The photos I originally linked to on CM’s site were no longer valid. I updated them with current photos. I could not find the Daisy Tool Caddy on the CM website so I’m not sure if they still carry it. Photo above comes from another source :)
It’s that time of year to submit my annual Wish List to my own personal Santa Claus. I call him Scrapbook Santa, or Scrap Santa for short.
When I was a kid, I had a regular Santa like everyone else, who brought me toys and games, as long as I was a good girl all year. And you KNOW I was, LOL!
Then as a young woman, I graduated to Shoes and Clothes Santa, and in college, he became Textbook and Top Ramen Santa. Once I got married and started my family, I changed Santas once again and submitted my wish lists to Diapers and Baby Swings Santa.
Now we are a well-established family, and our basic needs are met through our hard work all year. The days of wanting to squeeze my size 9s into cute high heels are long gone, and I swore off Top Ramen the day I graduated from college.
Therefore, my Santa for the last several years has been Scrap Santa and I predict he will be the one I submit my lists to for quite some time. Probably until I start needing Metamucil and Depends Santa, right? That’s the plan, Stan! And here is my 2009 Wish List for Scrap Santa…
{Don’t worry, like all Santas, he understands if you slip in some unrelated requests. Santa is all about listening to anything and everything you want…your heart’s desire…your very most wished for things!}
#1 – KODAK EasyShare Z915 35mm digital camera in RED ($199; on sale right now for $159….hurry, Santa!)
Features: 10 MP, 10x zoom, 2.5″ inch screen, image stabilization, and panoramic stitch (I really enjoy the panoramic feature on my 35mm camera and would love to have it on my digi). It also has Best in Class click-to-capture speed so you don’t miss a shot. This is basically the new version of my current camera, which I adore, it’s just gotten old with a sticky dial, broken charging dock, etc.
This is similar to the camera I wanted to get on Black Friday at Target because, although it retails for $199, they had it on sale for $129 (a cool $70 savings!).
But I wasn’t near a Target or a computer on Black Friday. I did find someone who could run by my local Target and pick up the camera for me, so I called the store early that morning and they had already sold out. Color me sad :( But I would really, reeeeeeeeelly like the red one, Santa!
#2 – “Daisy Totes” by Creative Memories
“Daisy Wheeled Cart” $145
“Daisy Weekender” $60
“Daisy Project Tote” $32
and “Daisy Tool Caddy” $37 {Santa, I would like 2 of these please…one for all my stamps/inks and one for my loads of punches and other tools}
Here is just the Theme Set, Santa, so you know what you’re shopping for.
There are a bunch more pieces to it, though, so maybe you could take Scrappy Elf shopping with you. I think she’s familiar with this collection as I saw a “North Pole Misfits” layout she made with it (It’s on your blog AND your Facebook page, if you haven’t seen it yet, Santa…).
#5 – CREATIVE IMAGINATIONS “Creative Cafe” collection….yep all of it, even those cute binder rings. You know what a sucker I am for ledger paper and bright colors, right Santa? Here is a peek at the collection, but there is more so shop until you drop!
#6 – Personalized laptop skin for my MacBook Pro 17 inch by “SCHTICKERS.COM“, something kind of like this….
…but with the Journey “Escape” logo instead, since that’s the first album of theirs I discovered and it changed my life….
OOH! Or Santa! Maybe the artwork from the “Trial by Fire” album, since it’s the last one Steve Perry sang on…yeah THAT would be kewl….
Then maybe you could get me an iPhone skin with the Escape logo….yeah, rock on!
#7 – Speaking of music, here are some CD’s I’d love to get in my stocking….
MICHAEL BUBLE’ “Crazy Love” $14 … oh, and coincidentally, tickets for his show near me go on sale December 11 … Would you look at that! That’s only a couple of days away! Just sayin’ …
#8 – KINDLE DX wireless reading device by Amazon $489
Santa, I know the economy has hit everyone, even you, so I would be willing to settle for the smaller Kindle. It’s ONLY $289! See, I’m willing to work with ya’…Oh, but will you also please include a couple hundy in Amazon dollars so I can download a bunch of books. I know the classics are free, but most other books cost 10 bucks each so, you know…
#9 – Scrapbooking tees and Hoodies…here are a few cute logos to give you an idea of what I have in mind…in pink, white, or light blue please…
“Inspire, Create, Live” by Two Chicks Designs
“Anyone Who’s Anyone Scrapbooks” by Zazzle.com
“iScrap” by Zazzle.com
#10 – One year supply of the essentials I really need to scrap with: Epson 4×6 matte photo paper, printer cartridges for Epson PictureMate PM260, Dr. Pepper lip smackers, Diet Coke, sunflower seeds, kraft Bazzill cardstock, and American crafts black Slick Writer in fine tip.
Okie doke, I think that should do it for this year, Scrap Santa! Thank you for considering my list. I’ll let you know if I think of anything else. For instance, I NEED a treadmill so I’ll be window shopping for those today {wink}…
Since I started writing my scrapbook room makeover posts, some of you lovely readers have been asking questions about certain items. I wanted to catch up on answering those, if you don’t mind. Or even if you do….bwaha!
From the FIRST POST, “Diary of a Scrapbook Room Makeover: A Prologue”…
“My first question for your organizational knowledge is this: What are you going to do with your stickles? I can’t decide how I want to organize mine. I know they should be upside down, but I also like them in a container that I can just grab and go when I get ready to go somewhere else and crop. So, do you have any suggestions for that?”
Answer: Ever since I started collecting Stickles (yes, you are not allowed to own just one Stickle….if you buy one, you will soon find yourself needing more, and before you know it, you have a Gang of Stickles….I currently have 15 bottles)….Okay, so, ever since I started collecting them, Judy, I’ve been keeping them lined up in anal-retentive, ROYGBIV color order on my Making Memories Embellishment Shelf. This is an older photo, from when I only had 7 Stickles, but you get the idea:
I did hear at some point that it’s best to store them upside down to avoid the applicator clogging but, since clogging hasn’t been a problem for me, I totally ignored that suggestion. It reminds of those pesky exercise tips you see bandied about. I mean, exercise??? Doesn’t apply to me, so why would I take note??? But in the interest of helping out my Stickles Sista, Judy, I went and found a couple ideas for ya…
Here’s an economical route from SHAYLA’S CREATIONS. Looks simple, and it’s pretty to boot.
Tons of great Stickles Upside Down Storage ideas here at OBSESSED WITH SCRAPBOOKING. Now, even though the names of our blogs are similar, we are NOT sisters. But I do love her. She shows people who have more Stickles than I do, which makes me feel not so ashamed. I think my favorite idea is the mini-lunchbox, although then your pretty Stickles are hidden away and their bottled sparkliness cannot add extra shine and glimmer to your day each time you glance their way.
At the bottom of her post, you’ll see where TIM HOLTZ says it’s fine to store them either way, but if you store your Stickles upside down, they may glurb out when you open them. {Glurb is not an official word, if you were to ask Merriam-Webster, but it seriously should be. Are you with me? Let’s start a petition!}. So, it’s sort of like the G.D. ketchup that G.D. glurbs out because I store it upside down in the refrigerator because that’s how the bottle is made and I’m just following directions. Yep, your Stickles’ll be just like the G.D. ketchup. Just sayin’….
Judy, I’m sure I’ve answered your question and about 50 others by now, right? So moving on….
Here is a question from my THIRD POST, “Diary of a Scrapbook Room Makeover, Part Two”:
Jkaye asks: “very interested in your JETMAX cubes- do you like them? And are they heavy- as in too heavy to stack on a Rubbermaid like table? I might have to stick with my rubbermaid 3-drawer containers as for the weight is okay for now..I am sure the Jetmax ones would be much heavier..”
Answer: First, let me clarify (see photos below). The stack of cubes I have along the wall (there are 10 cubes plus a half cube) are the heavier duty cubes called Store in Style. As for the Jetmax cubes, which are lighter weight and can be found at Target and Michaels, I own 3 of the 3-drawer cubes. However, I’ve only assembled one and haven’t stored anything in it yet. So I’m not an expert on the Jetmax cubes, but they are definitely lighter and smaller than the Store in Style cubes. I did a weight comparison test of the Jetmax cubes and the Sterlite (like Rubbermaid) 3-drawer containers with the 12×12 drawers. I actually weighed them on a scale. The Jetmax 3-drawer cube weighed 15 pounds, and the Sterlite 3-drawer container weighed 5 pounds. So, Jkaye, I’m not sure if putting the Jetmax cubes on your table would be do-able. But definitely do not plan on putting the Store in Style cubes on a tabletop. They are MUCH heavier then the Sterlite containers.
On that same post, YvetteDownUnder {who has a cute, funky, phresh scrap studio} said: “Can I ask you about the Powersort boxes? What dimensions are they? You guys in the US have an abundance of cube options, but we are more limited here in Oz, so I wonder if they would fit in an Ikea Expedit? Most of my photos of now scrapped in albums :) and I need to downsize those that aren’t from multiple photo boxes. I am tempted by the Power Sort, but not yet 100% sold on it. So fitting it into my storage could sway things.”
Answer: To answer this question, I thought I’d pop my azz right over to CreativeMemories.com and find the dimensions of the Power Sort Box for Miss Yvette. But, no, they aren’t listed on the website. Isn’t that a little weird? I mean, how many potential buyers have NOT boughten them (no, “boughten” is not an official word either, but seriously, if we can make “blog” and “snorkel” and “obfuscate” real words, can we not make “boughten” official? It sounds much cooler than any of those other words. Man, someone needs to have a talk with those dictionary people!). Okay, so how many people have not boughten those Power Sort boxes because they didn’t want to commit without knowing the dimensions?? Oh, I get it! That’s their way of forcing you to speak with a Creative Memories Consultant! Ah, yes, mystery solved.
Since I can’t find the dimensions online ~ and as much as my CMC would luuurrve a phone call from me at 2am ~ I decided to get out of my comfy recliner, put my laptop aside, pause “TMZ” on the Tivo, and go measure my Power Sort Box myself. No, really, Yvette, it’s alright. Don’t feel badly. It wasn’t THAT much trouble. Really. (Man, am I making you sorry you ever asked this question? LOL!). So the measurements of the Power Sort Box are: 14.75″ x 13″ x 5.5″. I don’t know if that works with the Expedit but I hope so. They are crack-a-lackin’. I love how they hold so many photos, are archival safe, and you can pull the little holders out to rearrange how they are in the box, to take a chunk of photos to a crop, or just to your desk to scrapbook.
Okay, I think I got all your wonderful questions answered. Thanks for asking, and I hope my answers were helpful. No worries, the smart-assidness was no extra charge. See, “smart-assidness”….yet ANOTHER unofficial word that should be official! For shizzle….
I’m slowly making progress on the big overhaul of my scrapbook room. If you’re not caught up, you can read the PROLOGUE and PART ONE, if you like :) But the Prologue is important reading; it’s where I tell you what happens if you make a smart ass comment about how much crap….erm, STUFF I have. Yes, I have a lot of paper. No, you can’t shop here. Yes, I have a life. Blah blah blah….
So, I’ve done lots of furniture moving. This is going to take awhile, so get comfy…
1. Unloaded everything from the desk – underneath, off the top, and in the drawers – and moved it about 2 feet closer to the sliding glass door. I didn’t repack the office supply and computer-related stuff I had in the desk cupboards; need to find a new home for all that. It’s in a pile here somewhere…
2. Unloaded all the DVDs, videos, and board games from the oak cabinet and moved them into a cabinet in the guest room/new play room. Moved a bunch of toys that were along the wall into the new play room. Moved the oak cabinet to the wall where the toys had been. Moved the Scrap Rack to the oak cabinet (temporarily, I think…). Moved office supplies, and office machines (fax machine, transcription machine, etc.) from guest room to bottom of oak cabinet (where movies and games had been). This cabinet is going to be Office Stuff Central…unless I change my mind.
3. Emptied out the legal filing cabinet, moved it from a back wall to align with one edge of the L-shaped desk, and refilled it with the same stuff I had in there before, which are greeting cards, school supplies, and more home office stuff. I gathered scrap magazines and idea books from various places around the house and piled ’em up.
As you can see, it’s time to purge these again. I usually do this about once a year but, yeah, it’s been awhile. A friend that I scrap with recently finished her project of pulling pages and ideas from her magazines and organizing them into page protectors in a binder. I’m so jealous….it was great! So I’m deciding now if I have the time, patience, and devotion to do the same thing. Purge or make “the perfect idea binder,” THAT is the question.
As for all those idea books….I don’t think I’ve EVER gotten rid of an idea book. Something about throwing away a book that I paid $15 to $40 for is much harder than a $5 magazine. But I should look through all my idea books and maybe toss some older ones. I’ll bet I don’t even “scrap like that anymore” for some of them, huh?
4. Moved the table that I’d been using for scrappy stuff (okay, to dump things on…) over to the area by the storage cubes. This will be the famous Homework Table.
5. Moved the couch and coffee table from in front of the desk to behind the desk by the back window. The original plan was to put it flush against the wall and lined up directly under the window (I’m all about symmetry, baby!). But once I got it there, the couch seemed kind of squished over into the corner and the coffee table was somewhat blocking the walkway to the back part of the room. So I tried the couch at an angle, and I liked it. Bonus: It creates a hidey space behind it for ugly stuff, lol. And I felt so “HGTV” about it, too.
6. Unloaded just about everything from 10 Store in Style cubes (see couch pic above), moved the cubes to the opposite end of the room, and reloaded them pretty much the same way. The SIS cubes are now on the wall that the oak TV cabinet used to be on. This is the area I talked about where I have to keep a walkway to get to the slider, so the cubes are a good thing to put here. They fit nicely and I can stack more on top someday if need be (God forbid!).
I first thought about configuring them like this, with a kind of “turn the corner” at one end….
…but decided not to. The positives were that it would be a little different-looking, and it would create a handy little empty space back there in the corner to store crop totes or something. But the negatives were that it made the walking path a bit too slim, and put the cubes right next to the cord for the blinds. And when I put embellishment jars on top of the one by the door, they would block the light switch. No super big deal, but I just decided to go with putting them all flush against the wall, like this…
All this furniture moving happened way back on 9/10 (it’s now 9/27!), so when I say “making slow progress,” I’m not exaggerating. It took me awhile to remember and write all this down, the order I did things in. It was quite the feat of engineering to move things AROUND the room while still having everything IN the room. I apologize for any dark photos but most of my madness occurs late at night after everyone has gone to bed. Man, you should’ve seen the wide eyes of my husband and kids when they came out the morning after all this! They were like, “You moved ALL that by yourself!?!? The couch???” and I’m all, like, “Desperate organizers take desperate measures.” (Like, totally…I did all that “like” stuff just to annoy you). Then the daytime photos are overly bright because of the sun coming in all the windows, so I can’t win, lol.
Once the furniture was in place, I’ve just been slowly putting things away, whether within this room or the other parts of the house where they belong, and below is what the room looks like as of today.
Down there is the new back half of the room, with my cool slanty couch, and my corner of chaos. The couch was my dad’s before he passed away so it’s sentimental. Luckily, it’s also functional so I have an excuse to keep it always and forever. That big tub is all the paperwork from my two scrapbook businesses, MEMORY WORKS and Calla Memories. I can get rid of most of it. I just need to go through it and save some paperwork for tax records and such.
The white shelving unit has all my mini album stuff – supplies and some completed albums – but I want to get rid of that shelf and find another way to store my mini album kingdom. That’s actually a shoe shelf so I’m hoping to then move it into my closet and use for, oh, I don’t know…..SHOES???
The basket on top of the white shelves contains letter stickers, which were all nicely sorted by color at one time, and easy to thumb through when I scrapped. Then….I discovered THICKERS. Dun dun dun dunnnnnnnn! I use Thickers lots and I buy Thickers lots. I have a Thicker addiction and I hope there ain’t no cure! But, yeah, I need to go through that basket and purge some old alphas I’ll never use. Like the first major set I bought oh so many years ago, of punch out alphas (I think they were by COLORBOK) in every color and pattern known to man (including plaid and leopard!), in a bubble font, a lollipop font, etc. Eek. Perfect for the kids to use on school projects but NOT for my scrapbooks).
The black boxes are POWER SORT BOXES from CREATIVE MEMORIES and that’s where most of my printed photos are. But photo and memorabilia organization is an ever-changing and never-ending project/battle for me. I’m not even gonna’ GO there right now. The white cubes they’re in are ITSO brand from TARGET. As you can see, I had more photo boxes than Itso cubes, so I bought another Itso from Target when they were on sale recently. (If I remember right, I paid $12 instead of $20). You can see it on my desk in the next photo.
Below is my mess of a desk, and my flooded floor (flooded with scrap crap, that is). There’s the new Itso cube, and one of my new 3-drawerJET MAX cubes. Actually, “new” is relative since I’ve collected 3 of these units over time from MICHAELS using 50% off coupons. I’ve just never put them together, knowing I had this big re-org project coming up. Recently I assembled one and, man, are they a pain in the asset! Don’t get me started. If you’ve put these together, you know what I mean. (I feel sorry for THIS poor scrapper!) I’m dreading the assembly of the remaining 2 but I shall do it, I shall.
I’ve done a little more work on the Wall of Cubes and this is how they look as of now…
The cubes themselves were already pretty organized before I started this crazy project, as they contain the staples of my scrapbook world: Bazzill cardstock sorted by color, die cut/shaped papers, extra page protectors, scrapbook projects, etc. Most of the vertical files by CROPPER HOPPER are sorted by manufacturer and include patterned paper and all embellishments from that company. They could use some tidying but for the most part, the vertical files are good as they are. The gingerbread jars on top, however, are another story. When I first got them way back when on Craigslist (read about it HERE), I had them organized pretty well, but over time I lost control and just started throwing new things in with no rhyme or reason. I’m going to do a post soon about using 2 of the jars for my chipboard letters. There’s one full of flowers, and the rest I plan to use for random embellishments by color. I also put my ribbon jars back on my cubes…ribbons are sorted by color. I love my cubes and jars…they’re my favorite part of my scrapbook room. Can’t wait til I get this part totally done! My pretties, LOL…
So, that’s where I’m at for now. Thanks for sticking with me. I promise I’ll get done eventually, but real life has to come first, so it’ll continue to be slow progress. But progress is progress, right?
I remember way back HERE when scrapbooking played a role in an episode of ABC’s “Extreme Home Makeover.” Well, I was watching tonight and see it was mentioned again.
Here is an article I found about the show, where I learned that Creative Memories was part of the makeover ~ how cool!
Creative Memories Joins ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition To design new home and new memories for brave family
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Local independent sales consultant Sherri Plessinger has announced that the company she represents, Creative Memories, had a hand in making the new home featured in an upcoming episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” a dream come true for Carol Girard and her four children in Voluntown, Conn.
Pinnacles of their community, the Girard family has always volunteered to help the poor, the elderly and local children by orchestrating several annual fundraisers. In August 2007, the Girards were volunteering at a fundraiser for their church when they learned a fire had completely destroyed their home. Then in June 2008, tragedy struck again when father Tom and eldest son Marc both drowned in a swimming accident. Carol and the children have lived in a tent, a pop-up camper and, finally, Carol’s mother’s home ever since.
Plessinger said Creative Memories helped design a scrapbooking themed bedroom for the family’s 15-year-old daughter, Jacqueline, who loves scrapbooking and photography. Wall displays, digital memory books, photo-safe albums and accessories were among the many products donated by the company. “I’m so glad we were able to provide Jacqueline with the tools she needs to pursue one of her favorite activities,” said Plessinger.
“It was an honor for Creative Memories to be part of this effort to bring hope to a family who has suffered such immeasurable loss,” said Creative Memories founder Rhonda Anderson. “Our hearts go out to the Girards as they begin a new life in their beautiful new home.”
The episode of the hit ABCTV show featuring the Girard family airs Sunday, February 8.
By The Fulton County News
I really enjoyed watching the show. The eldest daughter Jacqueline, when asked what she would like in her new room, mentioned photo taking, capturing memories, and scrapbooking as her main interests. After her dad died, she found his childhood scrapbooks and was really touched to learn more about him. She loved that she could see what a happy childhood he had and it meant a lot to her to capture memories of her own life. She was only 15, but with such tragedy in her life, was a very mature young lady. When they showed her finished room, it had enlarged photos of her family hanging down from strings or wires over her bed. And her desk had an open scrapbook on it, with some tools, her camera, and other scrapbooking items…a wonderful place for her to scrapbook and remember her dad. It was a great episode. After they said, “Move that bus!” my kids said, “Oh, mom, we know which room you can’t wait to see.” I love when scrapbooking makes an appearance in popular shows or movies! Did you see it?
Maybe you never thought those two things would be in the same sentence! But, yes, you can read about HERE, HERE, and HERE. I’ll copy one of the shorter articles so you get the gist of it:
“Creative Memories parent company files for bankruptcy protection
BY BRITT JOHNSEN • BLJOHNSEN@STCLOUDTIMES.COM • NOVEMBER 13, 2008
The owner of Creative Memories has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has reached an agreement with its lenders to restructure its debt, according to a company statement. The Antioch Co. and six of its subsidiaries today filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Ohio. Chapter 11 allows a company to stay in business while it reorganizes its finances.
The company said it will continue operating and doesn’t anticipate “any reduction in employee headcount or changes in operating facility locations,” according to a statement released through a New York-based public relations agency. Calls made to Creative Memories today were not immediately returned.”
And here’s just a portion of one article I’d like to share with you:
“After completing a comprehensive strategic review of the business, The Antioch Company, with the guidance of industry experts and turnaround specialists, determined that a pre-packaged filing was in the best interest of the future of Creative Memories,” said Asha Morgan Moran, global president of Creative Memories.
Can I just get a little “tee hee” about her name?
And another side track: THIS link has nothing to do with their current situation, but I came across this book preview when I was searching for info for this post. Just some interesting reading, if ya have the time…As someone who has been in the scrapbooking business here and there, I would enjoy reading about how those ladies built such a successful company. Think I’ll put this book on my Christmas list…
After I wrote this post, I saw that THE PEAS are already talking about it, too. Nothing escapes those gals!
I assume this development doesn’t surprise anyone? Creative Memories has had it’s share of ups and downs lately, and this devastating economy is being kind to no one. For the sake of their remaining employees, dedicated consultants, and loyal customers, I hope the restructuring plan is approved and goes well for all involved. Good luck, CM!
As you know, I held a crop and scrapbook garage sale. Both went very well. There were about 12 croppers each day (Friday and Saturday). There were 8 or 9 garage sale-ers and we all did very well, making between $50-$200 each – whoo hoo! It felt good to get rid of things we weren’t going to use, and were just cluttering up our spaces. We laughed about how we’d all just spend our profits on MORE scrapbook supplies, and called it “Redistribution.” And the shoppers got great deals, like a Creative Memories sticker binder for $5, a crop tote for $20, papers 5 for $1, etc. The crop went well too, with tons of socializing and, oh yeah, scrapbooking being done. As usual, I got very little done, only 4 pages but that was partly because I was busy doing other things and partly because I obsessed over the second 2-page layout. I just couldn’t get it to look “right” and when I finally told myself, “What the heck, just stick it down, you don’t have to love every layout,” it finally came together on it’s own. So there ya go… I hope you had a wonderful NSD…what did you do? Feel free to leave your blog link if you posted NSD pages completed…we’d love to see what you accomplished!
Remember that Eddie Money song from the 80’s? C’mon, sing it with me!! “I think I’m in love!” (I know CHEEKY will sing with me…)
I just found THIS on the Pebbles Inc blog while looking for their new Easter kit. It’s called the Share & Tell Binder System. Here is a pic and quote from their blog:
“We’re excited to introduce to you our Share & Tell Binder Program! Let’s face it…we are all busy. Whatever stage in life we find ourselves in, time seems to limit us from all that we want or need to do. The Share & Tell Binder Program offers simple ways to organize your photos and display them beautifully!
The Share & Tell Binder Program includes Albums, Sheet Protectors, Creative Pads and Journaling Cards that all work together to make scrapbooking your memories easier! This is the only system on the market that is flexible enough to work with hard-core crafters and non-scrapbooking consumers alike!
Start looking for the Share & Tell Binder Program this spring!”
Then I clicked over to their recently launched (March 2008) WEBSITE and found this:
And this:
“The Share & Tell Album Program offers simple ways to organize your photos and display them beautifully! Let’s face it…we are all busy… This program was created by Brenda Birrell, mother of five daughters and founder of Pebbles in my Pocket and Pebbles Inc. as an answer to today’s busy life! A simple system that is easy to maintain and will provide us with more time to spend with loved ones creating memories! Isn’t this what life is all about? This is the story of your life together and as you share it, relationships will be strengthened and memories will be preserved. In this age of digital photography it is so important to print out your favorite photos for safe keeping and enjoyment. CDs get scratched and hard drives crash. Your memories deserve to be placed in organized books that can be enjoyed by your loved ones. Isn’t it time to share your story?”
On the Pebbles website ~~ which you can now order directly from! ~ all the items currently show “Temporarily out of stock, available April 2008.” The albums posted come in black and brown (retail $29.99), page protectors in 12×12 (for full pages) and divided 4×6 (retail $9.99). Can anyone read the fine print? How many page protectors do you get in the package? I have a laptop & my screen is too small. Here are pics:
The website shows the following (14) Creative Pad theme sets ($4.99 each): Baby Boy, Baby Girl, My Guy, My Girl, Nellie’s Garden, Theodore, Season’s Greetings, Sweetheart, Party Time Boy, Party Time Girl, Easter Time, School Days, Summer Day, and Zoo Fun. They contain 30 sheets of paper and 4 sticker sheets. Then (10) sets of coordinating Journaling Cards ($3.99 for a pack of 25). Sorry, I was unable to paste them over here for some reason…
Here is what I like about this system:
~ I’m tired of always feeling “behind” in my scrapping. For instance, Christmas was 3 months ago and I haven’t scrapped any of it yet. Honestly, it’s intimidating to me because I have photos from about 10 events (Christmas tree lighting, making cookies, cutting the tree, decorating the tree, Christmas Eve service, Christmas party, opening presents, and on and on…). If I had a system like this, I could put them in an album right away, jot some journaling down, and we could’ve been enjoying them for the last 3 months. If I decide to “really” scrap any of the photos later, awesome! If not, at least they’re in a cute presentation that everyone can access.
~ Many people are getting tired of dealing with strap hinge and postbound albums, e.g. the lack of flexibility to move pages around, etc. On the message boards, I gather that many of you scrappers have switched over to D-ring albums like this, or are at least contemplating it. I’m still on the fence because the “break” in the middle bothers me, as I do about 95% 2-page layouts. However, for the purposes of just getting my photos in books in this simple style, that wouldn’t be an issue.
~ Although Pebbles Inc’s style is what many would call “simple,” I think it’s also a very cute and clean presentation with lots of personality. Besides, there’s nothing to say you can’t take their basics and distress, cut, tear, scallop, ink, punch, sew or whatever it!! Make it your own. For me, as you read in THIS POST, I sometimes gravitate towards this simple, clean style. It’s the one style that, when I look back at my old albums, does NOT ever look dated or trendy or “so yesterday.” So I embrace this style as ONE PART of my scrapbooking. Besides, you can just use the albums and maybe the journaling cards, then use all your own stuff to fill the 12×12 or 4×6 slots. I think I would do a combination of the two if I use this system.
~ Compared to a similar system by Creative Memories called PICFOLIO, I like this one much better. I’ve always been tempted by the CM system but have never bought it because I can’t deal with the fact that you can’t customize the number of pages, i.e. you can’t add or take away pages, because they are bound into the album. With the Pebbles system, you can certainly have as many pages as you like.
The only things that concern me about using this system:
~ The price. Although I do occasionally pay $30 for an album, it’s rare. I use 2 per year minimum on our family album, then special theme albums in addition to that. I hope that Michaels or another store with a 40% discount coupon carries these albums so I can slowly buy them.
~ The D-ring…is it sturdy? The main complaint I hear about D-ring albums is that the rings start to separate and gap over time, which makes it a major PITA to turn your pages. From the photo, I have to say those rings don’t look overly sturdy, do they? BUT…I have a lot of Pebbles Inc items like their RIBBON IRON, chalks, etc. and the quality is always very good, so I’m optimistic about their album quality.
Ok, after goofing off for Christmas…and, um, perhaps for a few days after…I’m back in organization mode. My “12 Hours in 12 Days” plan got about 4 hours behind, so I tried to catch up today. I worked reorganizing my scrap space for about 2.5 hours, so I’m still behind (gulp). But here is what I accomplished:
~ Took new ribbon off rolls and put into ribbon jars.
~ Decided to use five of the large gingerbread jars to store embellishments by color. These are embellishments with no ‘topic’ per se, so they don’t go in the ScrapRack with all my themed stuff. For example, I have metal flower clips, generic small journaling tags, etc. that don’t really go anywhere else. I sorted them into the same color categories as my ribbon, so hopefully coordinating and grabbing things for future use will be a breeze :)
~ Used a small gingerbread jar for all of my flowers. Took ’em all out of their packages and mixed em up in there ~ it looks so pretty! The only exception is I kept the tiny little Prima flowers in their jars, just stuck the whole jar in there (I only have 2 jars. So far….bwahahahaha).
~ Used a large gingerbread jar for all of my chipboard letters (one pack of felt letters in there too). I didn’t realize I had so many until I saw them all in one place. One thing I learned from this little organizational experience…snack-size Ziplocs are my friend! I took each alpha out of it’s packaging and put it in a snack bag. Viola! Compact, see through, and easy to cram bunches into a big jar. Lovin’ that…
~ Put all my pens into a small GB jar but not sure I’m gonna’ keep it that way. I took them out of 2 Creative Memories pen cases and they don’t fill up the jar enough so that the pens are standing anywhere near upright. Now a Scrapbook Obsessed person would just say…”Must buy more pens!”. And I occasionally do, but mostly I use the ones I’ve had since I started scrapping. Okay, there were the glitter gel pens in Christmas colors from the Target $1 Spot recently, but that’s it, I swear!
You’ll also see a jar I already had done, full of felt flowers. Those are the ones from the Target $1 Spot; that’s only $3 worth ~ what a steal!
And I actually got some scrapping done tonight because I could finally see my desk. That was fun and felt really good. But I have LOTS more work to do. Hope you’re making progress too & if so, please tell us about it!
This is so embarrassing. After all my bragging about organizing my scrap space earlier this year (it was THIS POST), it’s a mess again. Holy cow! I think it’s even worse. Yeah, I just looked at the Before photos from last time and it is much, much worse now. My excuse is that I started as a scrapbook consultant this year and now, in addition to all my own stuff, I have to ‘keep stock on hand’ of Memory Works products. At any given time, I also have boxes of orders here until I distribute them. But, that being said, the real reason it’s a mess is because I haven’t kept up on it. I didn’t create a solution before I had the problem. And I’ve kept buying new scrapbook supplies while hardly using any. Okay, here is the disgusting evidence:
This is as you walk into my scrapping area, which is the back half of a larger room with the kids’ play area in the front. As you can see, the walkway is closing in on itself and I can barely walk through there without losing body parts. The box of red albums is a Daisy D’s Year in Review and Christmas album. I’m doing a class/party on that the week after Christmas. There’s my little Lexmark standalone photo printer that I got at Target for $25 on Clearance. I tried to use it once, got frustrated when it wouldn’t print anything but green photos, and it has sat collecting dust ever since. Although I did recently buy that Lexmark-specific photo paper (it’s sitting on top of the printer) to try again before I toss the thing out the window. The blue bins I bought last month to try and better display my products at crops, etc. (will be a separate post about those later). Until now, I’ve been using a big clear Rubbermaid container and small, white plastic baskets to display things. The Rubbermaid is just plain ugly and the white baskets are cute enough, but the sides are too low and everything just kind of flops over and won’t stand up for customers to look through it. You can also se my XXL tote and another smaller one (don’t remember what that one is called). I load them up with MW products when I go to crops and it’s nice because they protect everything from dust and getting bent in transit, and the XXL is on rollers so I can really carry lots of stuff. The problem is then I have no room to take my own crop stuff (tool kit, page kits, etc.). Needing a solution to that problem. The cream tote is all my Memory Works catalogs and paperwork. Well, I shouldn’t say “all”…there is another huge white binder of stuff in my home office. The black box is a Creative Memories Power Sort box full of photos and memorabilia from my Europe cruise. That was in 2006 and I’m only about half way through the album (if you don’t count journaling, of which I’ve hardly done any). Everything in the Power Sort is getting dusty because I can’t put the lid on or it will crush my brochures, menus, etc. To the far right is my shelf which has stayed pretty organized, mainly because it’s packed and there is nowhere to put anything else. But it needs work, for sure. The two ziploc bags on the floor are my templates, CM cutting system, Coluzzles, etc. They used to go on that shelf but they got kicked out when I bought some new blank albums.
After you walk in my scrap area and take a left, you’re looking at the window and my desk. That stack of paper with the black and white Jenni Bowlin on the top (love it!) is my December kit from Memory Works Express. I had it out of the box to look through it and never put it away. Under that are some other recent purchases: K&Co. Wild Saffron slab; DCWV cardstock pad with the jagged edges (what’s that called?), and two SIS tool packs that are empty. I had all my acrylic stamping stuff in one of them and it got full, so I bought an identical one when they were on a great sale at Tuesday Morning. Then I found the black tote at Michaels (you’ll see it later in the tour) for 40% off and moved all my stamps into the tote. Not sure if I’m liking it, so while I decide, the empty blue tool packs sit empty. The ribbon jars on the right look fine ~ I’ve managed to keep up with my ribbon this way, just tossing in any new ribbon I get right away. The large white box and another stack under the brown box (that you can’t see here) are picture frames from Costco that I bought about two months ago. Okay, let’s be honest, it’s been more like six months. I HATE the picture frames I have around my house right now and keep saying I will redo them, but there they sit. It just seems so intimidating to figure out which pictures I want to put in which frames, get them enlarged and/or converted to black and white, choose which pictures go where in the house, and hang them. I’m procrastinating big time on that one. The basket on the top right is full {bursting at the seams} with letter stickers. Even though I have a Cricut, I can’t seem to stop buying alpha rub-ons, Thickers, chipboard alphas and sometimes even sticker letters. Although I’m proud to say I don’t buy those much anymore because I know I won’t use them; I have years’ worth to use already. Although most of my letters are at least in one place (that basket), they definitely need to be purged and organized.
This is the top of my legal size filing cabinet. Inside is actually very organized, with all my greeting cards sorted by event; receipts, instruction books, etc in files; and office supplies like printer paper, extra cartridges, etc. Again, ribbon jars look good although they’re dusty on top. I purged magazines and idea books last time I did The Big Cleanup and now the stack is back! New magazines, idea books and other books that need to be purged or put away.
Here is the heart of the space, where i actually scrap, my L-shaped desk. With the missing front trim that never got put on because we didn’t follow the instructions properly when we put it together from the box. Once the desk was together, waaayyyy too much trouble to pull it apart again just to add some silly little trim. Anyway, you can see my black tool pack which holds many of my essentials – various adhesives, stylus, stapler, etc. The papers on top are envelopes from Christmas cards we’ve received so I can update my address list. I mean, really, that doesn’t even belong in here and that’s what happens a lot. If I want to straighten another area of the house, I just put things in here. Voila! We have a mess! On the right side are sticky notes and mailing supplies; my new ToteAlly Cool totes (larger for punches, Stickles, etc and smaller one for Cropadile, pens and scissors); the ever present Diet Coke. In the back are recently developed photos that have nowhere to go so I keep stuffing them back there. To the left is my ScrapRack which is very organized but too full so, see, the little K&Co. tags are falling out of the Christmas section. And my glorious new Basic Grey Magnetic Mats and faithful Cutterpede paper trimmer.
Here is my little corner with my stereo (new Pebbles Inc. Ribbon Iron on top cooling off because I just used it); high dollar printer and scanner that I never use; random Mike’s and Target stamps for long-overdue RAK’s; baby wipes to clean acrylic stamps; and my labeler which surprisingly gets a lot of use in my space. I’m very organized about being disorganized! The desk drawers have computer equipment, font and software CD’s, etc and are very organized but I don’t seem to go in there very much, so maybe that stuff could go elsewhere and open up some space for scrap-related things? The cupboard side contains my Cricut, mats, and cartridges on top, a bin with electrical cords, phone cords, power strip, etc on bottom. Again, why is that stuff in here? I do have an old laptop on my desk that I just use for journaling but I hardly ever use the accessories anymore so they could go in a closet or something. See, progress already!
Here is the rest of my desk. There is the black Michael’s tote I told you about. All my acrylic stamps, ink pads, alcohol inks, stamp cleaners, etc are in there. Behind the tote are: a bucket of Prima flowers I’m borrowing from a friend, my ink pens in Creative Memories Pen Holders, and random new products that need to be put away. The Colorbok paper pads under the black tote will be for sale, but I need to log them in my computer first. The pile on the left is mostly the stuff from my Secret Santa (thanks again!) and the right side pile is memorabilia to file and a new notebook for scrap ideas, to do lists, etc. (First entry should be: TO DO ~ Clean up your damn space!).
Wow, okay… Seeing your mess in a big full color photo is even MORE eye-opening, even MORE embarrassing and shocking. Deep breath. Count to 10. Breathe out through the nose. Yoga breaths, yoga breaths. Okay. I’m back. This is the table to the left of my desk (the far side of it is near the walkway we already saw). I brought this table in the last time I organized, thinking it would be extra space to work on big projects, sort my photos, or have a friend over to crop. Yeah, right. It’s become a primo dumping ground for the stuff I guess I just used to leave on the floor. On the table you can see more gingerbread jars which I’ve been dumping various embellies in that either need to be put away, or are prizes for crops. The 12×12 stack back there is mainly paper to file or put a price tag on. The white baskets I was using to display my products ~ one is empty, the other has in it two Memory Works Express Kits from May 2007. One is mine, one is for sale. There are papers and embellishments in a super large Ziploc, including a box of glitter chipboard letters from K&Co. which I need to keep bagged together to sale and/or act as a sample of the kit. The problem is that each of these kits comes with an alterable project and this one was a small paint can. I mean, jeez, how to you even store that?? I guess my lame answer is, “In a white plastic basket.” Down below the table are my very organized page kits in a white plastic crate, another jar, and a Target bag with a flattened postal box and some acrylic stamps to sell once I get them in the computer and price tags put on. At the bottom middle of the photo are two cardboard file boxes on the floor. Hiding under the bag of Figgy Pudding Card Kit stuff (with cards in progress) is one project box (album, papers, embellishments, photos and souveniers from a big trip we took in, yes, 2005). The other is a project box for my 2006 cruise album. Neither has even been touched in months, except to add or take papers from. What you can’t see is that the entire space under my desk is filled with bins of my old photo storage system (remember THIS POST about how I was going to re-do that?), altered projects to make (photo cubes, shadow boxes, etc.), and Christmas presents. I’ve been shoving gifts under there all year because it’s the perfect hiding place. Everyone is scared to come over here! Seriously, my DH sends the kids in to grab the wastepaper basket once in a while or he just yells over to me, “Hey, how’s your trash? Bring it here if it needs emptied, please.” Smart man. Very, very smart man.
This is just a close up of the jars on the table, and you can see the blue basket in the background where I’ve put some of the paper packs I have for sale. They are elsewhere in the house, but I have a total of two large blue bins (like the one on the table), two medium sized green ones, and two small blue ones. They are all filled with MW products for sale. The baskets themselves are organized, but I have nowhere in my scrap space to put them.
So, I have survived the ultimate in humiliation by showing you my ‘crap’ area. I mean, SERIOUSLY?? SERIOUSLY?? And why am I subjecting myself to this, you ask? Because that’s what it takes for me to get to work and get this place cleaned up again. Last time, I entered an Organization Challenge on the CK Message Board. This time, I’m sharing it here on my blog. Now I’m accountable (I mean, if you guys out there really care??) and I WILL get organized again. I’ve come to this conclusion: Now that I’m a scrapbook consultant and have to keep a lot of extra products and paperwork around, this space just isn’t big enough anymore.
Part One of My Plan: My wheels have been turning about how I can re-work this space, maybe somehow utilizing our guest bedroom/office also. I already got DH’s approval to get rid of the old king sized bed in there that takes up half of the room, yet only gets used about four times per year when my mom visits. (No worries, Mom, we’ll findya another place to sleep!).
Part Two of My Plan: I have two weeks off from work for the holidays. Granted, I could get busy with my ‘from home’ jobs, I have at least one scrapbooking event, and we may go out of town for a few days. But I think this is a great opportunity to spend some time getting my scrap area organized…once and for all…um, yeah, right! Do I have your support? You got any suggestions for the dilemmas I’ve shared? I challenge YOU to organize your scrapbooking area over the Christmas break, so post in Comments if you will join me. I would love it if you sent me some photos I could post of your before/after or link us to your blog showing same. DEADLINE IS SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2008 (‘cuz ya gotta have a deadline or else you won’t do it!)…
