My Craftoom: 2011

When I first started scrapbooking back about 2006, I had ALL my supplies in three containers strapped to a cart I would wheel out from a closet to spread out on our dining room table whenever I felt the need to get creative. I used two tackle boxes for the smaller stuff and a small Cropper Hopper for my paper. Wow... how far I have come in five years.

I now use daughter's old bedroom (after she moved downstairs); it's small but cozy - a great place to create and relax with the dog at my feet and three cats ever present to keep me company. Other than a single picture of when I repainted and first set up the room a few years back, I don't think I've ever added phots of my entire craftroom here. Be warned however; there are quite a few photos! So if you have the time, grab a cuppa and click on the images to biggify for closer looksees.

First, here is my main workspace. My favorite things about this space are the wooden stamp storage trays (one is a vintage printer's drawer) on the walls, the 6 foot curtain rod for ribbon and the way nearly everything is within arm's reach when I am sitting there. Over  the table I have one long shelf to hold tools such as a Cuttlebug, Xyrons, Cropadile, embossing tools and the like.

Here's a closer look of my workspace. My Copics are in homemade storage containers (wooden doll's dressers sans the drawers with chipboard dividers inserted and everything painted black).

I have been slowly adding antiques to the room; here you'll see my antique glass pen and ink holder, a vintage expandable carpenter's ruler and a little Occupied Japanese ceramic deer I just couldn't resist getting before Christmas.

The metal tool box is great for small embellies from tiny brads to a variety of Wild Orchid flowers. I also scored a free acrylic display box that holds my Copic refills perfectly... can you believe it's a lipstick display? A local drugstore was revamping the cosmetics section and they GAVE me two displays I thought I could put to good use.

To the right of this main table are two smaller desks. The first is an old desk from my aunt that has a wonderful huge single drawer to store all kinds of "stuff" ;) On top I have a few organizers to hold some stamping supplies as well as an antique scale, jar for candies (of course!) and an antique rubber stamp stand. I have a few Sizzix dies and Cuttlebug folders stored here too.

The desk next to that is for my laptop and printer which also has a few antiques... below it is my newest find: a gallon creamer from the early 1900s. I have to figure out what the heck I'll store in it though; when I saw it on eBay I had planned to use it for my paintbrushes, but this sucker is large and heavy! I LOVE it! On the desk is a small ceramic US military jar holding some vintage tools. Beside that is my vintage copper stapler and original Slinky!

Above the printer is my brand new Making Memories Embellishment Center.  I have wanted one of these for a long time; I finally broke down, used a coupon and got it for half price at Michael's. After painting it black I filled it up with my Stickles, alcohol inks, Martha Stewart glitter, ink pads, glosses and some holiday ribbons. On top is antique brass photographer's bird I picked up in Texas last fall. It is from 1907 and was used to get children's attention by chirping and moving it's beak and tail via a tube and ball the photographer would squeeze.

On the wall opposite to my main work table is my shelving unit, paper display and storage cart hubby built for me. The large shelving unit has a few antiques too; a vintage metal Pepsi "basket" holds my Prima flower jars perfectly! The old postal scale is one of my favorite finds from a local antique shop. The two wooden boxes are from trips to Minnesota. I painted and stacked into steps blocks of wood so I could easily see my Martha Stewart punches. Below those are my other punches, paints, binders and scrapbooks. I keep all my unmounted stamps in these binders, along with my Spellbinders dies, stickers and miscellaneous information sheets and pamphlets. To see how I store my Magnolia stamps, take a look at a previous post HERE.

The paper display I bought from our local scrapbook store when it closed. Boy, THAT was fun to repaint (NOT!) , but I love having my 12 X 12 papers sorted this way. Beside this is a wooden cart hubby built for me; I added the drawers and quickly filled them will all kinds of supplies. On top is a display unit daughter pulled out of the trash at work! It's a great find and rotates to store lots of goodies!

The final side of the room houses my sewing machine... so great to have it always set up and ready to use on cards (or, if needed, the odd REAL sewing job! :)  ) I also have a magazine rack I got from a craft store closure, that of course, I had to paint black too.

On the hutch you'll see a few more antiques; a 100+ year old cast iron letter holder, some ink bottles, a cast iron floral "frog" from California, vintage Minnesota cheese boxes and my old pencil sharpener that I have yet to mount somewhere. Oh and if you look closely behind the antique office chair (which, I painted black, natch), you'll see my old 1960's Spirograph sitting on the keyboard drawer under the sewing machine.

So there you have it. A mix of old and new all crammed into my small craftroom; my favorite room in the house!