Decrapification (again) - Photo Heavy

First of all, Happy Halloween! Hope your Halloween has been scary. spooky. Delightful!

Remember when, awhile back, I had my first scrapbook room 'decrapification'? Yeah, well, it was time for another one! This time, though, I did not paint anything or buy any new furniture. I just rearranged what I had (in some cases) and got rid of a whole bunch of crapola.

Before we begin the tour, let me warn you. My room isn't fancy. Or big. Or matchy matchy. If that is what you are wanting to see, then this isn't the place for you! However if you do want to see some real life storage solutions - coming from a girl on a budget, then sit tight!

My room is small. Real small. Maybe 8x8 and two of the walls have doors on them (yeah, big pain when it comes to laying out a furniture arrangement). My scrapbook tables were built on the cheap - Lowes clearance laminate tops and 4x4 posts that I painted black, then distressed. Less than $50 bucks in all. My floors are stained concrete that came with the house. I would love to have hardwood like the rest of our house does, these are great for cleaning up painting/misting mishaps.

Now on to the photos!

This is looking into my scrapbook room, coming into the room from the Laundry room. I have a 'L' shaped desk where I work.

(wall 1)

I use black baskets to hold on the top shelf: vintage items, chipboard alphabets, and loose ribbon. And on the middle shelf: brads, chipboard & wooden embellishments and regular alphabets. Behind my heart banner are turquoise Mason jars holding thread and buttons that been sorted by color. See the yellow metal bread box? That holds all of my embellishments that are flat (stickers, rubons, etc). I have them sorted by brand. Shelf three holds my sewing machine (I made a cover for it!), magazines and books. The bottom shelf holds photos and other books.

After we installed my desk, I realized that I was going to need more storage. The solution? Add a shelf underneath my desk, and use it to hold all my baskets & paper. You can see in the bottom photo that I have my cardstock sorted, kinda, by color. All of my pattern paper is stored in a single paper holder, by manufacture. It works for me. The long wire basket on the floor serves as a catch all for my scraps. One bin for pattern paper scraps, the other for cardstock scraps. When I just need a little piece of paper, I 'shop' from the scrap basket first. My boys also have have reign over the scrap box. If its in there, then they can have it to cut up.

(wall 2)

I forgot to take a photo of above my tabletop, where you can see everything on the wall. Ooops. Moving on...

FYI - I keep a metal ring of all cards with all the punches I own. I use this as a reference when I am trying to figure out what punch to use. I plan to also do this with my mists and Mister Hueys.


Above my tabletop, I use curtain rods to hold my punches with levers. My border punches are in a basket on my shelf underneath my desk.

I made this little cutie out of an old metal car part display from a thrift store. I just painted it up and added a strip of fabric and letters for the word create. I store my embellishments from the Studio Calico kit that I am working on at the time.

Below my thrift store find, I keep a basket to hold my pattern papers, Thickers and taller embellishments from the kit I am working with. Scraps from this kit also go into the basket. I rotate these kits out as I finish with them. Below my tabletop is a multitude of goodies.

Underneath this side of my table, I store embossing powders, mini brads (in canning jars!), and vintage locker baskets holding punches & odds and ends. I have an old wooden library drawer that I painted back to hold my mists, paint daubers and Mister Hueys. I also store my clear/cling stamps in a notebook on this shelf.

Moving along wall #2, I have a chicken wire bulletin board. I just stapled the wire to my wall, then trimmed it out with inexpensive molding. Paint and then distress. In no time, a cute bulletin board was created!

This is a jacked up photo, but this is wall #3. This wall is opposite of my green wall.

This is further down the wall with a door. I have old wooden milk creates secured to the wall. They hold twine, milk glass jars holding journaling cards, large stamps, ink, glitter, etc. The stamp shelf was made for me by my daddy. The back chest was found at a local boutique. Its hard to see, but the drawers have large numbers on them. LOVE. Inside the numbered drawers I keep glue, envelopes and all sorts of random items.

 This is the final wall. On this wall is a door that goes to the rest of my home. I have used a curtain rod to display layouts, and a metal bucket with loose trims and ribbons. Underneath the rod is a stool for when my boys want to come talk to me while I create. Many good conversations have been had on this stool. Of course, I have recovered it to match my room. The plastic box on top of the stool is where my layouts go until I blog them.

Well, that is pretty much it. LOL Sorry for the photo heavy post! I hope this all made sense & gave you some ideas of what you could do on the cheap in your space!

Now for a giveaway! Since you suffered through my long post, I want to reward you!

You have two chances to win!

Chance #1: Leave a comment saying hello and a link to your blog. I will draw a winner from all comments for a jam packed Priority Mail box! In it will be tons of Studio Calico products (um, hello! BNIP stamps! ) and other goodies! I promise this box will be awesome!

Chance #2: Become a follower of my blog. To do this, look to my sidebar to where it says 'Friends' and then join this site. Click the join button.  I will draw a name from all of my followers for a gift certificate  to Studio Calico!

I will draw my two winners on Thursday!

Thankful Journal - The Covers

Happy Sunday! We have spent the day hanging around the house, doing not-so-fun things like cleaning, and laundry. And cleaning some more ;)

 We went to church last night & had a great time. Came home to a little problem. Roscoe, our one year old mini dachshund, had chewed on our new couch. YIKES. No, it was not good at all! We are hoping that the can get a new cushion for it - and soon! Oh well, I suppose he is not ready to be out of his crate while we are gone just yet!

Back to scrapbooking...LOL, I got distracted! This November, the boys and I are going to be making a Thankful Journal. The basic idea is that everyday, someone (or all of us!) will write & document what we are thankful for. We will be including photos, receipts, anything that is related to what we are thankful for. My hope is that the boys will start noticing the little things around us that they are thankful for & not get so wrapped up in the commerical side of the holiday season.

My intital plan was that we would do this instead of a December Daily. However, after talking it over with everyone, I am going to be a December Daily as well. For the Thankful Journal, I have gone ahead and made the front and back covers out of chipboard. Honestly, I love a good ole handmade album.

For the covers, I have used Studio Calico's Memoir Collection. Such beautiful papers! I also added in a tiny piece of Crate Paper Random in as well (the cream paper with doilies). The vintage wooden die cut doily is from Maya Road. I have sprayed it with Mister Huey Plum Thumb then added Mister Huey Shine over the top. Its hard to tell from the photo, but it has the softest shimmer to it. It is just perfect.

The alphabet on the front is from Sass a Frass Lass. This just happens to be my favorite font. In my favorite color.

To keep my album closed, I have used some turquoise striped ribbon that I had on hand. Tie it with a bow, and the album is ready to be displayed!

Now for some basics on my album! I have made the chipboard covers to be 6x8 inches. This is plenty large enough for me. I am using 7 Gypsies Cream Metal Rings to hold it all together. I have used these in the past, and they have worked great - its super easy to add and take out pages as we go along. I do not have a set page size or template that I will be using. This is just a free for all book & will be a work in progress. I did, however, make a paper template of where I will need to punch my holes for my rings so they will all be in the correct spot.

Thats all for today! If you have any questions, be sure to either comment or email me! The plan is for me to update you on the pages for my Thankful Album every Sunday in November (at a minimal), so be sure to check back!

Tomorrow I have a big ole giveway and a tour of my cleaned up scrapbook room. My room isn't fancy, but it holds a bunch of stuff & is useful! I think you'll love it!

Winding down of October

Well, this month is winding down. Only one weekend left of October - and then the BIG day (Halloween) is on Monday. Bunches of last minuet crafts going on at my house!

Really, we don't decorate a bunch of Halloween. Fall, yes! Halloween? Not so much. I did have an idea of a project I wanted to try, so I ended up making this framed piece for my entryway. Really, it was simple to make, and could be made in less than an hour! For the vinyl words, I used my silhouette to cut them out. So simple. I then painted up the wooden frame, and distressed it with a finger nail file. (real high tech materials are being used here, folks!) Add a piece of pattern paper to the inside and then add the vinyl words to the glass font. Ta Da! You're done. There is a hook on the back of the frame, making it a cinch to hang on the wall or do as I will, and just prop it up on a table top!

In my last post, I had friends wanting to know if I was going to be using as a Gratitude Journal/Mini. Well, I am making my own using Studio Calico Memoir Papers. I have the covers done already & will be posting them tomorrow. My plan is to show you our book as we go along. For the most part I will not be making the pages ahead of time. Kinda flying by the seat of my pants! We are still undecided about doing a December Daily...but I do know we won't be using the Studio Calico/Ali Edwards kit. Yes, that I know for sure! My guess is that I will be using what I have and what I have purchased for Christmas this year. More on that to come, though!

I have also been cleaning out my studio, and have a big ole giveaway and a storage post planned for next week as well. Lots of good stuff to be giveaway, so stayed tuned.

And because I love my boys, and photo of them at the pumpkin patch! I will be linking this post up to the Paper Issues Blog - you should could link up any Halloween projects/layouts/cards you have! You just might get your blog featured over there for your great work!

Blog Your Heart

My friend Stephanie is making her Blog Your Heart campaign a monthly challenge & I am committing to participating. I love this. I love the idea of women sharing, understanding, and bonding over the issues of their heart. 

Here is how it will work, once a month I will come & pour my heart out. You can comment - or not - just no judging!  If you do comment, let me know if you are going to participate with a Blog Your Heart Post and I will come read. We are all friends here & I want to support you!  

 Here is what's on my heart right now.....

1. I am excited that Ben seems to be finding a 'good spot' for himself. With Asperger's, he struggles sometimes socially and needs a semi structured routine. It's feeling like we are in a good place with him making friends & going the extra mile to maintain friends. His grades are good and he has a routine that is working well for him. Ben is about 6 months away from earning his Eagle Scout and I am amazed how far Ben has come since starting scouts. This has been a long process &sometimes we are still failing with it. But each day, he seems to taking steps in the right direction.

2. Here lately, I have been feeling inadequate. Not real sure what that's all about - but I have noticing that I am comparing myself to others lately. Not happy about that, either. This is part of why I haven't blogged here lately. I am just not feeling 'good enough'. WHICH IS CRAZY. I am good enough. I am talented enough. My heart knows that other's opinion of my work doesn't matter. I just wish my head believed it.

3. I took the boys to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday and it hit me. The boys are growing up so fast!I don't have much time before they will be going to college, moving out. Oh how thinking about this makes my heart hurt. I hope I have been a good mother to them. I hope I have instilled confidence in them. Showed them right and wrong. Taught them to be patient, generous, kind and loyal. To be courageous men who stand up for their families, their country. I want them to be men who aren't ashamed to be followers of Christ.  I know I fail them in so many ways, everyday. I am not always patient with them, and I know I have high expectations. I hope my boys can see how much I love them & how that I will always be a safe place for them to be themselves and to make mistakes.

4. I am feeling that I am not where I should be with my relationship with my Lord. Being too busy to attend Church, not having my quiet time like I should. It's all taking a toll on my relationship (or, as it seems, lack of relationship). I. Must. Get. Back. On. Track. My head and heart are in such a better place when I make the time. I have started reading Proverbs 31 Ministry's Daily Devotions. So much of what is written hits home with me. I am also trying to work through my anger and hurt feelings towards someone the I once considered my best friend. Forgiveness is a hard one for me, particularly when someone is so careless about hurting - and rehurting (is that even a word?) - her family. The drug abuse, the lies, the broken promises. I know I have to forgive her, but then what? Does that make everything ok? Forgive and forget?

5. I have been cleaning out, getting our home ready for the holidays. Kinda dreading Christmas this year. The boys are with their dad, and well, Alex and I will be home alone. More than any other day, the Christmas mornings where the boys are gone with their dad, and we are without Marcy - they are the hardest. Every other year we are reminded that she should be with us, and she isn't. My parents are moved to East Texas now, so its just going to be us. Its going to be pretty quiet. I am trying to talk him into taking a vacation and us going somewhere, anywhere. Somehow I think it will be easier for us if we are in the Bahamas sitting on the beach, or  on the Coast of South Carolina or in New York. Maybe I am just being delusional about it all...

6. Trying to decide if I will buy the Studio Calico December Daily. Leaning towards not buying it - its pricey & honestly, I am thinking of doing a 'Gratitude Journal' in November instead. The boys will be here all month in Nov, where as in Dec. they will leave on the 16th until the 26th. I am also thinking I would rather take time to use the Gratitude Journal as a teaching tool for the boys - to find something, everyday, to be grateful for.

7. Flipping through photos on my computer I ran across a photo of my twin brother Michael and his wife Amanda. They eloped earlier this month. I am just so incredibly happy for them! Not only do I get a new sister in law, I am gaining two new nephews! I am so proud of Micheal. He waited, and waited for the perfect girl for him. And she came :)

Thanks for letting me pour my heart out. I sooo needed this today. 

Boo! A frame for you!

How cute is this little frame?? It came about after seeing something similar on Pinterest & I knew I had to make my own. The supplies to make this frame are cheap:  a $1 wooden frame from Michaels, a tube of Martha Stewart Black & Orange Paint, leftover googley eyes from past craft times, a chipboard Maya Road banner, and leftover Sass-a-frass Lass letters from a Studio Calico kit. I used gluedots to hold the eyes onto the wooden frame. Easy Peasy.

Ben actually served as my 'Chief Eye Gluer-Downer' and loved this job. We got to talk and catch up - which is hard to do with an almost teenager! I so enjoyed our afternoon working on this project!

This weekend is Alex's and my 'BIG' March of Dimes Gala weekend. Marcy's story is being fetured on the news tonight at 6 & 10, and then tomorrow at the gala, they will show a video of Alex and I talking about what it is to lose a child to prematurity. We. Are. So. Honored. AND extremely nervous. It is scarey to put yourselves 'out there' to complete strangers, and hope they see the importance of fighting for the littlest people in our lives.

Alex is going to be wearing a tux - and oh!, how handsome he is in it. I am a lucky girl. I am debating between two dresses (yes, still debating)....but this one is currently in the running. It has three simple rosettes in the center of the waist - looks good on me (and hides my tummy and hips). Alex LOVES this dress, and its probably the one that will win out tomorrow. I will post pictures and let you know what I go with!

Have a great Friday! As always, I am linking up my frame to Paper Issues for their Halloween Challenge. You should come play along! I am also linking up to Chic On A Shoestring Flaunt It Linky Party! 

Paper Issues

So, over at Paper Issues this month, we are celebrating Halloween all month long! If you spend any amount of time with me, you will know that I *don't* really like Halloween. Love fall. Hate scarey! So I have really had to make myself get into my scrapbook room and play with this theme!

While on a trip to Target, I was inspired to make the little neighbor girl a 'you've been boo-ed' box, full of candy and treats. It was simple to do, required very little supplies, and is bound to be a hit with Tyler, our neighbor friend.

John actually helped me a bunch of this project - he chose the paper and the little owl embellishment. Turned out pretty good, if you ask me!

Tomorrow I will be sharing a frame that Ben and I made together - its been fun working with both of the boys on Halloween projects! We should definately get creative together more often!



Sassy Lil Sketches Reveal

Hey y'all! It is time for another Sassy Lil Sketches Reveal from me! Here is the new sketch:

I loved this sketch! It was really easy to use, and I enjoyed being able to get a page done in no time flat! For this page, I pulled out some of the new Crate Paper Farmhouse line and a photo of my olest son Ben holding baby Olivia. Oh, how this photo melts my heart! Here is the layout that I came up with:

Sadly, this will be the last reveal as the owners of Sassy have decided to close so that they can concentrate more on their family's! Makes me sad! I have enjoyed working with this website and wish everyone there nothing but peace and happiness!

Hello there!

***edited to add: we are still trying to get ahold of the winner of my giveaway! I have sent an email to her but got no response! Check your spam folder if your name is Lori! Or send me an email at: mpriest@clearwire.net. If I haven't heard from her by friday, I will be forced to draw again!

Hey friends! How's life treating you? Things are good here, though there was a point last week that I thougth I was going to lose my mind! A friend had borrowed my camera and something happened and it got broke. *GASP* I cried over it - yes, I can admit that! After talking with Canon, it didnt look like it could be repaired. Thankfully, my friend replaced it. I got my new bad boy on Thursday and have back in the photo taking mode again! Yay!!!

And in other news....One of my friends & her husband went from this.....

to this....

And I could not be happier! Seiously, this little sweetheart has me wrapped around her long, beautiful fingers! I cannot wait to know her personality and see her grow!

Heck, I have even scrapbooked her already! Here is a sneak!

Have a beautiful Sunday, friends! Today we are headed to church and then home to get ready for Ben to get braces tomorrow!