It’s a Party

Hi! How has your weekend been? I’ve had a great weekend even though the hands on the clock seem to have to stepped it up, and I haven’t got everything done I hope to accomplish yet today.

This is as close to card making as I got today. The image is a digital from Bugaboo Stamps. Lucky for me, it was free last week. Love it! I colored this one with Prismacolor pencils. I’m going to try markers on the next one. Because time is of the essence, whichever one is faster and still looks good is going to be the winner. The wording was done on my computer using the Noodge font from Close To My Heart.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Holiday Red cardstock; Digital image from Bugaboo Stamps; Prismacolor colored pencils; Close To My Heart Expressives Noodge font; Computer; Printer.

The room I worked so feverishly on yesterday was my den where I spend about 90 percent of my waking time when I am home. Currently, the room is divided into two areas – one where my computer, television, futon, and books are located and the other, Kathi’s Corner. I worked on the computer side of the room, washing the walls and window and moving the futon, computer desk, file cabinet, bookcase, television, and the armoire that held the TV. That last piece, in fact, was moved out to make more room.

Less perky (but not sore), I started on the dreaded “corner” today. The process there, I am afraid, is going to be a lot slower. I have a significant amount of purging to do. This week it is my goal to get my paper in order. Having been a CTMH consultant for nearly 12 years, I have accumulated a lot of paper. The last time I had a sale, I sold all my full sheets of discontinued Background & Texture paper. The scraps have occupied a big CTMH bag, which has been sitting in the corner of my closet. Until today, that is. The stack of paper in the photo is comprised of 5-1/2 inch “card-maker” squares. I’m hoping not to keep them but rather sell ‘em (cheap) in seasonal packages of 50 sheets. Anyone venture to guess how many squares of paper are in that stack? I gulped and discarded the paper that didn’t meet the size criteria.

Once Kathi’s Corner has been purged of its excess and everything is sorted out, I want to reconfigure the shelving and get my desk out of its claustrophobic corner.

For now, I’d better get my butt off the computer and back to the tasks at hand. Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope your Sunday was the start to a wonderful week. Later…

Storage Tip

As I can't stamp tonight, I'll share an idea I came across recently for Nestabilities storage. It was one of many ideas I see and then say to myself, "Hey, why didn't I think of that?" Last weekend I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a stack of empty CD cases to store my Nestabilities. I left them on the cardboard backing, cutting it down to fit in the case. The idea I found was to add magnetic strips, which is much easier and more pleasant that prying them off the double-faced tape that they're stuck to in their original packaging. I don't know about you, but with me, the more accessible and easier something is to use the more it gets used. While I could have cut cardstock to fit and put the magnetic tape on it, I opted to peal the double-faced tape off the original backing and use that. For me, practical is more important than pretty when it comes to storage, particularly if the item being stored isn't in plain view.

When I said, I couldn't stamp tonight, it wasn't for a lack of trying. I made one ugly card that, with the exception of a salvageable background piece, is in the wastebasket. I have been in a funk since shortly after arriving home from work and should have known better than to try to make something. As for my blue mood, I'm pretty much over it. It was a beautiful day today. It's Friday tomorrow. All is good. With that, I'll say goodnight with a promise of a card or two and my Friday Favorite post tomorrow night. In the interim, have a good one!

One Thing Leads to Another

Here's another little peek into Kathi's Corner, and unless I discover the powers of Samantha from Bewitched (anyone remember?), it's the last look you're going to have for a while. With the exception that they are not always put away, my stamps are always organized and to my immediate left as I sit at my desk. The one and only My Acrylix Organizer I bought holds Christmas stamp sets. I didn't like my stamps in a box with a lid on it. I want them to be easily accessible in an open container. The plastic CD boxes I found at WalMart were the perfect answer. At 96 cents a piece, the price was right, too. As you can see, my stamps are organized according to color family. They're also alphabetized, which would be great if I could always remember the name of the particular stamp set I'm looking for. I also use a WalMart container to hold Sassy Strands, Window Charms, and other accessories.

My E-size Alphabets are stored in a binder on the bottom shelf along with the My Accents and Eyelet organizers that I labeled this evening after sorting through and rearranging the contents a bit. The organizer that isn't labeled is my block organizer, another purchase I could have done without. Like my stamps, I want my blocks within easy reach. Besides, I have two or more of the commonly used blocks. I'm so glad I finally got the accessory organizers labeled, because having to open one, two or more of them before finding what I wanted was a pain in the keester.

While it would have been fun to have stamped or scrapbooked today (now yesterday), I feel pretty good about having accomplished something. Now, I need to hunt for the perfect shelving system to go over my desk. The shelves I have now are stationary, and I want shelves that can be adjusted and moved around as my needs change (as I accumulate more stuff, that is!). OK. Enough jabber for now. It's bedtime. Again, have a good week!

Almost There

Had I had any idea what an undertaking organizing my paper would be, I am quite certain that I would have procrastinated for another year or two! For those of you who have great big stamp/scrap rooms, I'm going to expect a little pity from you when I tell you Kathi's Corner occupies approximately 5 by 6-1/2 feet of floor space. When it's all organized (if ever) I'll photograph the whole thing and give you a little tour, proof of what a determined small-space stamper can accomplish!

With the exception of the 8-1/2 by 11-inch cardstock I use for cards, all of my paper occupies the lower two shelves of a tall bookcase, one of two that sit side by side and also serve as a room divider from the rest of the den. The Cropper Hopper vertical paper holders comprise the third and most successful paper storage system I've used. I had the wire cubes for a while, and they worked fine until one day when the whole works collapsed. It was on that day, that I ordered 20 clear Lucite trays. If they weren't spendy enough, the shipping to get them here was horrible, so it took me quite a while to admit that I hadn't liked them from the start. For one thing, I keep all of my paper in zip-lock bags, and it didn't fit all that well. I also needed more trays, but didn't have the floor space for them, and to stack them any higher would have created an even more unstable situation. I don't know when it was that I finally admitted to my husband that I'd goofed, but when I did, I ordered more of the vertical paper holders that some of my papers were already stored in. They work well for me, and if I would use my paper rather than hoard it, they'd work even better!! On the second shelf, the last four paper holders hold retired paper. That's at least two too many.

My cardstock occupies the bottom shelf and the first paper holder on the left side of the second shelf. Because I've always kept my cardstock in bags, I keep my scraps in the bag, too. That's worked out moderately well. Now, however, I think it might work even better. I separated the scraps from the full sheets and placed them in quart-size bags, so now I have a bag within a bag. If I do what I'm supposed to do, I will reach for the small bag first to see if it contains a scrap I can use instead of cutting into a full sheet. Before, I had to fish around in the bottom of the bag which was often a bit of a nuisance. Today, I also separated all of the cardstock from my patterned paper packets and placed it with my other cardstock. For me, that was a very good idea. For example, I thought I was almost out of Bamboo cardstock. As it turned out, I was far from out. The same ran true for 12x12-inch Colonial White and White Daisy. With the cardstock separated from the patterned paper, I have a much better idea of what I actually have, and of course, the patterned paper packets now take up much less space. As for the paper packets, the first holder is reserved for new papers from the current catalog. The next two hold current paper packets. Next to them is one that contains Level 1 kits, base pages, and miscellaneous papers such as vellum, StickStock, metallic paper, etc. The final four hold retired papers.

With the exception of three of the four that hold retired papers, each holder is labeled with what's in it. With the label making system, my son gave me a couple of tape cartridges. I should have used the one that makes clear labels. It would have looked nicer. Instead, I used the sample cartridge that was in the machine. It doesn't really matter. No one but me sees them, and I was more about function that I was looks for this particular project. While I didn't think I'd ever get done, and I made a horrendous mess in the process, I feel pretty good that I'm almost done. Knowing were everything is will make life easier, and knowing where to put it again when I'm done with it will keep things simple. All organized, my little corner will most likely be a lot more enjoyable.

For now, I'm off to the bathtub. I must have tensed up while working like a mad woman, because my back is a little sore. From the tub, I might just go to bed. It's Monday tomorrow, a real Monday, after a couple of weeks of holiday interruptions. The business world is going to wake up again, which means I'd best be on my toes and ready for it. Have a good week!