Time to get organized; out with the old, in with the new

Happy after Thanksgiving!  I hope you spent your holiday enjoying your family and friends.  We had a nice time with my Dad, ate too much, but so enjoyed having a quiet and relaxed Tday.

I still do not have my camera back, so no pictures again this week.  Our remodeling is moving along, waiting for a few little things and then a break while we celebrate Christmas.

And so I thought that while we usually wait until after Christmas to organize ourselves, this year how about trying to fit in a little time to clear out some of your older, unused things (give them away to schools, teachers, friends) to make way for what Santa might bring your way.

Once some of the stuff is cleared out it becomes easier to reorganize what is left.  Today the posts are all about organization,  how to organize your craft supplies, from large ideas to some pretty interesting small  ideas, there is sure to be something here for you to use.  Oh, and remember that some of these ideas will work as gifts for your crafting friends as well (don't you just love being able to give a crafter something they don't have but need?)

Here we go:

Better Homes and Gardens:  Loved the links here, some really interesting ideas, especially creating a crafting cabinet out of an old media cabinet.

HubPages:  Lots and lots of great ideas on this link.  I am thinking of adding a peg board to my back wall, and then adding shelves and other containers to the peg board, trying to get more organized in my little area.

Scrapbook Storage Solutions:  Lots of pretty interesting ideas here, you can find the products you want and then do a search to see what stores might carry the items you would like.

Organizational Tips:  Great article with a whole bunch of good ideas to incorporate into your crafting space.

Craft Storage:  Some really neat products in this search, you are going to like what you find here for sure.

Vertical File Folder:  This isn't cheap, but what a GREAT idea!

Cheap Storage for Stickles:  Loved this!  And I have to wonder how many other great storage ideas there are out there that can be found in the hardware store?

Crafty Storage:  This link is on the side of my blog, and you can never get enough of this ladies blog, just one of the best collections of links to all sorts of craft room organizing.  Grab some coffee because you will be on her site for quite a while.

For Keeps Sake:  Love this unit, however I do NOT love the price.  Here is something similar, for much, much less.  You can also search for "computer hutches" or "computer armoire" to find other types of furniture that might work for you as well.

Once we get our house somewhat finished I am working on completely reorganizing my workspace, including getting rid of things I don't use.  And yes, I am going to use some of the links above to guide me through the sorting and storing : )

Enjoy your week, stay warm and see you next week for some more fun and fabulous paper crafting links.

Happy almost Thanksgiving! More videos and links today : )

Good morning everyone, sorry my post is late today, but as fate would have it, two days before Thanksgiving and I have come down with a major cold..sigh.  There is too much to do around here to be sick, so I am going to just "ignore" the fact that I am sick and do what needs to be done, will be sick on Friday instead : )

I hope that you are getting ready for a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family, we are traveling to see my Dad in Bodega Bay, wonderful area, and it is always a treat to spend time with my Dad.  We are going to try a new method to cook the turkey, a high heat method.  If you have tried it, let me know how your turkey turned out (preferably before Thursday : ).

Our remodel project moves along, we now have a new floor in the kitchen and hall bathroom, the shower is finished in the hall bathroom and most importantly, the toilet has been installed, which makes us a two toilet family once again.

Still a number of things to be done, the molding has to be finished for the floors (am waiting so I can put more things away), we have to have the painter fix a few things, the vanity/sink/mirror needs to be installed in the hall bathroom, and I need to pick out a new dishwasher (our old one quit working two years ago).  And then we need to get the back bathroom floor fixed.

And no pictures this week because my camera had to be sent in for repairs, Cannon had some bad "chips" and my "Sure Shot" had one of the bad chips, all the pictures were turning out pink and blurry.  Should have the camera back within a week or so though.

Now, onto some GREAT videos and links.

Copic Marker System:  This is a very good explanation of how the numbers work for the Copic pens, if you have friends who are just starting to use Copics make sure to send them this article, it will help them understand what they need to achieve good shading with the markers.

Paper Possibilities:  WOW!  Wait until you see how this lady colors with colored pencils, I warn you though, you will want to run out and buy huge amounts of colored pencils : ) Here is a link to how she shades around her images, and here is a link I found on her blog to a color chart for Prisma colored pencils.

Papercraft Inspiration:  Tons of downloads and ideas here for Christmas, you will find paper, ideas and so much more!

And of course, a few videos that I found for you:

Here is one of five videos, make sure to see all of them here.  What I LOVE is the use of Copics with the Prisma colored pencils for shading, this technique gives your image some amazing depth and it is not all that hard:


Make sure you visit the blog for some amazing work by Chrissy, you will need to go to older posts to view some of her work, just amazing.

Loved the flowers in this next video, easy to make and the effect is just beautiful!

And how about some leaves to go with your flower?  LOVE this idea, the video is a bit long, but you see the process from start to finish, can't wait to try this:


That is all for this week, and I want to let you know how thankful I am to you for visiting my blog.  To you and yours a most wonderful Thanksgiving, and again, thank you for your continued support, it means the world to me.

Lots and LOTS of videos today, from DIY to some great Copic techniques

Well, Fall seems to have taken a very strange turn in CA, yesterday it was in the 80's, today is forecast to be in the high 70's, go figure.  Not that I want the cold weather, but it sure doesn't feel like fall : )

Our home remodel is moving along, the refrigerator is in the family room while the contractor replaces our 17 year old kitchen floor, we still only have one toilet, and the windows are close to being finished.  We will have to wait for three more weeks for the vanity in the bathroom, but we should have the floor and toilet in soon : )

Enough of all that, onto some AMAZING videos and links for this week. Since there are so many videos below, I will sign off here at the top, thanks so much for stopping by, you are the reason that I continue finding all these goodies on the web.  Have a great week!  And now...on with the show ; )


GREAT video on blending/feathering two very different copic colors:



Wonderful copic coloring!  There is no sound to the tutorial, but watch and be amazed, never thought to do a few of the things this person did, I sure plan on trying them though!



Make your own glimmer glaze!  This is a really easy thing to make, and inexpensive as well!  Make extra's to give to your crafting friends at Christmas.   And the iridescent medium can be bought at your local Michaels, or online for about  half the price (LOVE this stuff!).  All you need are small jars to store the glaze.

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And how about making your own glimmer glam?  Here is another recipe, and here is where to find the inexpensive gel mentioned in the video, and here is a link to the Pearl Ex.  Another great thing to make for Christmas gifts for your crafting buddies.

Make your own shimmer paints.  Wait till you see how easy this is....and again, a great way to make a gift for your crafting buddies at Christmas:
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And here is how to make your own Twinkling h20's, easy and with GREAT results!


Martha Stewart Punch All Over the Page.  This video shows you how easy it is to use this new punch, I bought the star one this weekend for my Christmas cards, and yes, it is easy and so versatile!  Fiskars also has a punch anywhere punch that allows you to buy the base and then you buy the various shapes to put into the punch base.  The Martha Stewart punch is not cheap, but when they go on sale they will be a fairly good price.
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Tuesday is oh so much better then Monday ; ) And lots of links for you too.

Good morning!  We had a nice rain over the weekend, but sunny skies and somewhat warm weather for this week, which is fine for me : )  Our house is in total disarray with all the construction, we started with the windows today, and the hall bathroom still has to be finished.

Remember the "Sketchbook Project" that I linked to last week?  My sketchbook came in the mail on Friday and I decided that my book would be "Unfinished Life Projects."  Basically I am using all of the scraps I have from projects, backgrounds I made but did not use, stamped images that I colored but didn't use and so on. I figured that putting all those things in a book does two things:  clears out my area while at the same time represents all those unfinished things we have in life, from paper crafting to other areas.

I figure that using these unfinished elements in the book actually will "finish" these elements when I am done with the book : )

So, here are a few pictures of what I have done so far:

From 2010-11-09

From 2010-11-09

From 2010-11-09

Calendar Templates:  Lots and lots of templates here for you to use (gifts, making your own planners and so on).  I love when all the links are in one place like this, makes knowing how to find the information so much easier!

Digital Stamping:  What is the difference between a JPG and a PNG file?  Click on the link to find out, GREAT information for anyone who is using digital images, or is thinking of using them.

Outliners Design Team Search:  I love their stamps and saw that they are now looking for DT members, so if you are so inclined, go for it : )

Digital Stamp Companies:  GREAT thread on SCS, lots and lots of places to find digital images.

99 cent specials: Check out some of these stamps and other items for only 99 cents!  One of my most favorite stamps of all time is here, the "dream" stamp.  Other bargains here as well.

Templates for Xmas cards:  Loved these, print out a card with a ready made border, add another stamp, some color and you are good to go (and it makes for a nice easy kid craft.)

Really cool snowflake:  I might even try this for some quick gifts this year.

And this is a great snowflake too:  A fun project with the kids, and I love that this shows how to make a snowflake with six points, you will be amazed at these (and they are easy).

A whole lot of videos:  Mrs. Grossman has a ton of videos on how to use stickers for some pretty interesting projects (I have so many unused stickers, these videos gave me some good ideas on how I can start to use them up.)

Thats it for today, check back in next week for some more GREAT links just in time for Xmas : )

And thank you so very much for being such loyal readers of my blog.

Welcome November! LInks, links and more links.

Happy November!  I hope you had a great Halloween and are now getting ready for the last shopping days before Christmas ; )

And WAY to go GIANTS! After many long years they are finally Champions!

Anyhow.....our hall bathroom is tiled, we still need the doors put on and then the floor and maybe a new top for the vanity and new sink.  Here is a picture of the new sun tunnel in the bathroom, provides a very nice light for the room without having to turn on the light during the day:

From 2010-11-01

And here is the tile over the tub (we only had one shower in the house, in the master bath.) Having two showers in the house is going to be GREAT!    We still need the shower doors installed (slider doors), the floor, a new counter top and sink....and a new toilet:

From 2010-11-01

After this bathroom is done we need to have the back bathroom ripped apart because of water damage to the floor...sigh.  Not fun only having one bathroom with four people.

Here is a card I finished last night, I colored the images with colored pencils (which I love using by the way).  The colored pencils are not hard to use, they just take a lot more time then using copics, but I do love the depth they give.

From 2010-11-01

And a close up:

From 2010-11-01

Now, how about some links?  Today I just have a collection of all sorts of things for you, not a theme, but things I have found that I thought you would like:

Tracy's Stamping Corner:  Loved the cards on this blog, and the coloring is amazing!  You will really like viewing all the things she has on her blog.

The Sketchbook Project:  This is just so cool!  You send away for a sketchbook, do what you do with the book, then send it back in January.  Your sketchbook will then go on tour!  And yes, I signed up for one, just not sure what I am going to do with it yet...any ideas?  I will be stamping, coloring, maybe adding some other mediums as well.....

Companies that sell stamps for Spellbinders (nesties):  Loved this thread on SCS, go down a bit for the post with the name of the companies that make stamps that will fit your cutout Spellbinders.  Way cool.

Free Digital Images:  Love it!  I must confess though...I have yet to use a digital image, but plan on trying them one of these days soon.  For some reason it is hard for me to give up the actual stamping on the paper....

MFT (My Favorite Things) YouTube Channel:  Love when I find companies that have a whole channel with lots of videos to watch!

Paper Talk:  Very nice post on unmounting your stamps, at the end of the post there are links to each technique she goes over in the post, very informative.

One more free digital image:  Love all the digital images on this site, and thought you would enjoy the free digital as well.