Sharing my Creative Space

Well since I had to have my room tidied up.. thought it would be a good time to share some photos.  I've had to take photos of my "creative space" recently for a couple of assignments.  One of which is for Tattered Angels blog, and  the other for an upcoming article in Scrap-e-Zine ( a German Scrapbook Magazine). I'm super excited about that and will tell you more about it down the road when it gets closer. But back to the "Tattered Angels" blog. I wanted to be sure to tell you to pop on over there and check out the great organization inspiration from the TA Design Team girls. Wow.. it's been a fun month over there, seeing the photos the girls are sharing of their "creative space"  

I love seeing how others organize their supplies .. and how they set things up in their personal crafting spaces.. to make it work best for THEM.   I think that is really important.  It can be fun and cute..but if its not set up so that it works for YOUR needs. what's the point?    I don't have a huge room, by any means, and I have alot of stuff!  So... organization is a must for me.  I love organization and labeling! I do, I really do! lol  I think it's simply because I know how messy I am when I create, and what a pack rat I am about keeping things.  If things aren't labeled and don't have a specific place... I'm in big trouble.

Like I said, I am a messy gal when I am creating..but at the end , when I'm all finished. I clean up and put everything back in it's place before I start another project.

I think organization can be fun and it certainly doesn't have to be expensive.    I think thrift store, garage sale , and flea market finds are way more fun anyway.   I love jars, because I can SEE what's inside, without even labeling.    I really prefer jars and baskets over almost anything, simply because for me, if I put things away in a drawer or bin, it's easy for me to forget that I even have them. When it's right there where I can see it.. I will use it!

 All those little jars on the right with sorted buttons in them , are from the $ store.   So that I can see my wood mounted stamps, I have them set on expandable plastic (stair step) spice organizers for your cupboards I found at Walmart.  They work really well.
Those cute little metal bins below were from the Dollar Store also, but $4 a piece. They were already those colors, and they fit my shelf .. so I was happy.

I'm also a big fan of wooden boxes, cigar boxes, cheese boxes, .. ect. .. lol

And wooden soda crates work great for holding acrylic paints.

The prefab organizer below holds alot and it was 50% off at Micheals.. so I'm good with it. lol

Like I said... jars and baskets.. baskets and jars..lol

spice racks from garage sales work great for holding Glimmer Mist.  I use that mag rack I bought from a store that was closing some time ago, to hold my Creative Scraps.   I truly do utilize every inch of the space in my room. This is behind the door :)

Glass containers and old muffin tins work great  for holding embellishments.

I guess if I'm going to share.. I have to been honest and show you everything , not just pretty things. ha!

This is my closet. It's crammed I know. There are even two floor to ceiling shelves against the outside walls of the closet ,that you cant see here.  So the bin plastic bins are not for decoration..they are just serving a purpose. Again.. still like that they are semi-clear, but I still label them all.     I love my chippy old blue dresser (I got for $15) , holds alot.

... top drawer hold punches, second ribbon rolls, and bottom... more Glimmer Mist.

Like I said, I try to utilize any space I can, so I have the lids of these little jars screwed into the underneath of the bottom shelf in the closet to hold small embellishments.   Fancy Pants Flowers used to come in those little jars.

The plastic 12x12 hanging paper trays are from Walmart. About $10

Since I painted last fall, and changed my room around, I also changed to brighter colors. I used to have alot more solf pink, green and blue.  I liked it then ,but trust me, I spend alot  of time in here, so change is refreshing. 

Remember me saying I love using Cheese and Cigar boxes for storage?? lol  Yes.. I do!

These are in the little white cabinet next to the blue dresser in the closet. These boxes hold alot of the things I want to have in case I need them..but not things I use everyday.

So ... back to the "not so fun" part of my room. Don't get me wrong I love this big library table. I do alot of work right here!  I'm just not a fan of typing up supplies and directions.  The computer is a great tool, it's just that I'd rather be getting messy with art stuff than doing this. lol   The library table was actually given to me by my cousin Paula.They had gotten a number of them at an auction.  I'm a lucky girl, aren't I? :)  I didn't take a photo, but under the library table I even have a revamped old prefab wood tv cart on rollers that holds bins of supplies. I can just roll it out if I need things.

I wish I could show you a bulletin board that was a "inspiration board" filled with fun colorful art...but the truth is this board ..it right in front of my face when I'm at the computer.. so it is the only way I stay can get things done on time. lol   The calendar with dates for upcoming assignments and the papers with the blog guidelines for the DT's I'm on are the only way I function. lol  Otherwise I get to many things going and my old brain just tosses things out. lol   In other words, it' s nice way of saying "I'm scattered" and if I don't have this right in front of me to keep me in line.. I'm lost :(

Again, it's back to what I was saying at the beginning of this post. I think setting your work space up so it works for YOU, is most important.  Each of us works differently.   Sure it's fun to have the space you spend creative time in cute and fun..but things being easy to get and set up the way they work best for you.. is really important.  My room isn't for anyone but me.  Nothing is fancy or perfect...it's just a place for me to create that is filled with things "I" like.. and need to use.

Sure there are things about my room I wish I could change.. like it being BIGGER! Preferably a loft with a ton of windows.. where the natural light just flows in everywhere! lol    I wish it didn't have carpet, ect.. but we all work with what we have for now, and make changes when we can right?   Things I DO love about my room....    I love that my windows look out into the field and that I can see for miles.  I also love having my room UP stairs.  I love my retro pink phone that my sweet Jarad bought for me on ebay :)      Oh.. and a little secret.  See where my sewing machine is sitting on my printer in the corner? Well, Dan put Wes's little dorm fridge from his college days in the corner. That's what the printer sets on.  At first I laughed and said .. "I don't need that in here"..but now I love it. Dan uses one of the other rooms up here, as his "sort of den", and watches TV in there, so we both enjoy having  that little fridge up here for cold drinks. 

That's pretty much it for my room.  I have a huge closet outside my room that hold my AccuCut and dies, along with Class supplies ect.  I'll share that another day.  I think I've overloaded you with photos and chatter enough for one day. lol 

If you have orgainization ideas you'd like to share.. Please do!  I love to hear other peoples ideas on organization.  Or if you want to share photos of your creative space.. leave a link to your blog!

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Celebrating 5 years of blogging all month so.......

This weeks GIVEAWAY

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OH.. I almost for got I need to post a giveaway for this week. So how about I'll pick 4 winners and send each of the 4 winners , 3 precut shadowbox die kits  (I'll just cut each one out of different papers, so it will be a variety)

Here is what the dies look like.  This is just one .. each of the 4 winners will recieve 3

Here is what it looks like assembled ,but not yet decorated. ( that fun will be up to you)    There is also a link on the right sidebar of my blog to a video on easy assembly :)

Okay... so just leave a comment saying you'd like your name in for a chance to win, in this post , if your interested. 

I'll draw for the four winners on Friday (April 22nd)

Thanks for letting me share.. and have a great day!