My Craft Room....

Well, I promised that I would share the cards we'll be making at the Stop and Stamp event tomorrow but while I was taking photos of them tonight - my brand new Ott light decided to stop working... I'm not very happy about that as you can imagine!!! So, tomorrow's cards will have to be a surprise to everyone.

To tease you a little bit, we'll be using stamps from the new Floral Frenzy kit along with the Thumping Technique Gina shared last week. We'll also use Copic markers with Rupa's Perfectly Polished stamp set and learn how to use Nestabilities to make an embossed shape on our card...

Instead of cards tonight, I thought I'd share some photos that I took recently of my happy place - aka, my craft room!

We have a finished basement that is one of our favorite spots in the house. The kids have a large playroom/game room with their toys and video games and next to that room is my craft room. I love it - but just wish I had some natural lighting!

The first photo is of my desk area. My desk is actually an old kitchen table that has served me very well all these years. I love to have all the things I use the most right at my fingertips and within arm's reach. I'm a lazy stamper - if I can't see it or easily access it, I probably won't use it.

Here's my most valued treasure in the room...

ahhhh... pure love! lol! I store all my Copics in this Longaberger or Pampered Chef lazy susan that my mother-in-law got me for Christmas many years ago. To keep the markers from slipping, I laid some small bubble wrap under the handle and cut some thin chipboard to line both sides of the handle. It works perfectly.

I don't worry about color sorting because another thing I love is quick and easy clean up. I just sort the colors in groupings. Super easy to put away when I'm finished coloring.

I keep all my Basic Grey papers and embellishments on the shelf above my desk. I have each collection in its own box so I can keep it all organized. I use a Window hinged tin to hold the buttons and brads for each collection. I also keep the scraps in the containers - how perfect is that?

This is my wall of yummy paper and embellishments. It's to the right of my desk - so it's super convenient. The drawers hold a variety of things. The row right next to my chair is filled with scraps of solid cardstock. I have a drawer for each SU color family as well as for whites and neutrals. I always turn to these drawers first and usually make myself make do with the scraps before I turn to the full sheets of cardstock on the shelves.

Whenever I do need to cut into my paper, I always cut the paper in half at 5 1/2" so I can file one piece into the basket on the far right bottom shelf. That's where I keep all my cardfront papers just waiting to be scored and made into cards.

My ScorPal and small paper trimmer are on the first row of shelves and all my SU ribbon rolls are in the containers on the other shelves. Here's a few photos of some of the drawers open...

.... SU hardware, stored in Window tins...

...bits of ribbon rolled around a thin piece of chipboard sorted by color...

Here's my cutting station. This is an old desk of Brad's that I get to use now - lucky me! The drawers hold my Marvy Paper Punches among other things. My Big Shot and Tonic cutter are here as well. Since I haven't been using my SU colored inks too much lately, I also store them here.

My Nestabilities are stored in the CD cases on the lower shelf. For the larger Nestabilities, I use DVD tins. The Cuttlebug folders are in a little plastic box next to them. I use them both of these items all the time, so having them here is very convenient for me.

Yes, I have a sewing machine - but it's still not threaded! I'm too scared to do it... because I'm sure I'll break it! Pathetic, I know...

Have you been wondering where my stamps are? They are all stored on this beautiful bookshelf in baskets or in GinaK's binders. I took all my GinaK stamps out of their tins and put them in her binder boxes because I like them all to be stored the same way. You can fit two tin stamp sets on one side of a binder sheet - so it didn't take that many boxes to make the transition.

I have unmounted all of my wood mounted stamps from Stampin Up and other companies and have them stored on the Little Monkey Storage Sheets and have put them in the brown baskets with green trim. I found all the baskets in my room at JoAnne's and bought them when they were on sale - I love that they all match! I even have a couple of empty ones on the top shelf.

Eventually I'm going to switch out my photo boxes so they can match too. Right now most of my photos are in the SU boxes, but I like to use those boxes for my finished cards. When I find the right boxes for the right price, I'll switch them out.

To the right of this shelf is my non SU paper station - filled with paper in baskets on the table, under the table and even on the wall! I sort these by size - so I have an area for the 6x6 packs, 8x8, etc. Yep, I have way TOO much paper but I can't stop buying it!! No, I don't want an intervention, so don't even try to organize one for me! lol!

Finally, here's my last wall in my room and it's filled with my beloved paper punches. I bought these curtain rods at WalMart and was so happy to be able to get my EK success and SU punches out of drawers and up for easy reach!

The drawers underneath hold a variety of things. The middle one holds more paper punches. Yep, I have LOTS of these! I've been collecting paper punches for over 12 years - longer than I've been stamping! My mother-in-law gave me my first paper punches for Christmas before my son was born. And, the rest is history!

The other drawers hold extra items, alterables, and all sorts of odds and ends. On top of the shelves, I have a basket of chipboard - which I love but rarely use... I've got to get better with that! The middle drawer unit top holds boxes of my most recent cards that I haven't filed away yet.

So, there you have it - my little piece of heaven! Yes, it's all out in the open for everyone - including my husband to see. As you can see, he is very good to me! I'm a pretty lucky girl and know it! lol!

If you have photos of your craft room, I'd love to see them! Leave me a link in the comment section, so we can all see your photos!

Have a great night!

Jessica