New Craft Room Shelves & Clear Stamp Storage!

I scored some new shelving for my craft room at a yard sale.  Ten bucks and ten minutes of installation later and voila!

The shelves originally were from IKEA, the Benno line, I believe.  (Loving my new Evolution Advanced, btw!)

I've also been revamping my clear & cling stamp storage ala Jennifer McGuire.

 
 

I picked up the bins at Michaels at 40% off and another 25% off my entire purchase, so they ended up being about $4 each.  I also bought four of them, which is more than I need right now, but it will give my collection room to grow.  Instead of buying the Avery Elle storage pockets, I purchased my heavy duty storage bags on Etsy for about a fourth of the price of the AE ones.

This system is just fantastic!  Not having to store plastic cases and boxes has cleared up so much space in the rest of my room.  I love being able to flip through my stamps, and I have them sorted in the same category order as my Scrap Rack set up, so it's easy peasy to find the ones I need.

Thanks for stopping by & sharing my organizational joy!

Hugs,
Marcy

Butterfly Graduation Cards

Representing change and a new phase of life, butterflies seem to me to be a perfect symbol for graduation.  I made these three graduation cards for three special ladies using Stampin' Up's Swallowtail stamp, Copic markers, and various inks, papers, & embellishments.

Orange butterfly:

Blue butterfly:

Coral butterfly:

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hugs,
Marcy

New Seats for My Craft Room Chairs

Yesterday I spent part of the afternoon recovering the seats on two of my four craft room chairs.  My craft room table & chairs are an old vintage metal patio dining set that I dearly love. Now I love them even more! I used laminated cotton that I purchased from oilcraftaddict on Etsy, so they will be easy to clean. 

The hardest part of the project was removing the old vinyl and staples.  Once I got the seats stripped down to the wooden bases, I found that they were still in good shape. (Whew!) I replaced the foam pads, wrapped cotton batting around the pad and the base, and staple the batting to the base.  Then I cut the fabric to size, laid the base on the back side of the fabric, and pulled it tight while I stapled the sides.  The corners were tricky, but I think I'll have it down by the time I get to the fourth chair. 

I really like the happy, striped fabric, and it pulls everything together: the yellow desk, tables, and chairs, the blue paint on the walls, the white shelving, and red accents that I have throughout the room.  Two down, two to go!

Before & After

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hugs,
Marcy

Burlap Canvas & Cricut Wall Art

Since the spring weather has finally arrived, I've been feeling the need for some new pretties for my walls.  I made these sweet little burlap canvases using the Live Simply Cricut Lite cartridge and patterned paper from Basic Grey's 6 x 6 Hey Girl paper pad.

I think they have a fun, retro 70's look to them that makes me a little giddy.

Thanks for stopping by my poor, neglected blog today!

Hugs,
Marcy

Why I Make Cards

It may seem silly, in the age of e-mails, Facebook, and Twitter, to spend a couple of hours making a card that may end up in the trash in the near future.  So why do I do it?  Because when I make a card, I almost always make it with a specific person and a specific purpose in mind.  Card making is meditative for me.  I think about and pray for the person receiving the card.  I think about the design and colors that will speak to them most.  I hope that when they open that envelope, they are reminded that someone loves them and appreciates them.  That's why I make cards.

Here are two cards I made this week.

A birthday card for a card shower a church member organized to uplift a neighbor who has been struggling with health issues:

Details:
Stamps: Stampin' Up!
Patterned paper: Basic Grey - Mint Julep
Cardstock: Bazzill (yellow); Core'dinations (blue); Gina K Designs (ivory)
Markers: Copic Sketch
Ink: Memento - Rich Cocoa; Stampin' Up! - Night of Navy; Ranger Distress Ink - Tea Dye

A thank you card for the guy who lets my hubby hunt on his property:

Details:
Stamps: Stampin' Up!
Patterned paper: Teresa Collins
Cardstock: Core'dinations (brown); Gina K Designs (ivory)
Markers: Copic Sketch
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa; Ranger Distress Ink - Antique Linen

Hope is all is well with you in your little part of the world!

Hugs,
Marcy

Drive-by Crafting

Because of my crazy work & volunteer schedules, I've been doing a lot of drive-by crafting lately.  A little bit of stamping & coloring here and some assembling & embellishing there.  Not exactly the ideal crafting situation for me, but I am grateful that I've still been able to squeeze in a little creative time.

After church on Sunday we had a Craft Day, and it was such a luxury to be able to sit down and craft and fellowship with some good friends.  I was able to "stick down" about seven 12 x 12 scrapbook layouts, and now I just need to add journaling, titles, and embellishments, and they'll be ready to share.

In the meantime, here are the Valentine's Day cards I made for my kids' teachers. 

Details:

Stamps: Stampin' Up - Favorite Bear; Anna Griffin - sentiment
Ink: Memento - Rich Cocoa; Ranger Distress Ink - Tea Dye
Markers: Copic Sketch
Cardstock: Core'dinations, Gina K Designs, & Bazzill
Patterned paper: Basic Grey - Hey Girl
Ribbon: Stampin' Up!
Distressing tool: Tim Holtz - Tonic

 Details:

Stamps: Stampin' Up - Furry Folk (hedgehog); Crafty Secrets (sentiment)
Cricut cartridge: Straight from the Nest (tree)
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Patterned paper: Basic Grey - Hey Girl
Heart gems: Imaginisce
Markers: Copic Sketch
Twill ribbon: Stampin' Up
Ink: Memento - Rich Cocoa; Bamboo Leaves
Fringe scissors: Martha Stewart

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hugs,
Marcy

Folk Art Festival Birthday Card

In the quiet that follows Christmas break, I love the more leisurely pace of post-holiday crafting.  My family gave me so many lovely crafting goodies this year.  My mum gave me the Folk Art Festival Cricut cartridge, so it was only fitting that I used it to create her birthday card, along with some new Crate Paper and my new Imaginisce I-Rock gem setting tool.

Folk Art Festival Birthday Card:
 

Details:

Die Cut Fox - Folk Art Festival Cricut Cartridge
Die Cut Labels - Lacy Labels Cricut Cartridge
Sentiment Stamp - Crafty Secrets - Birds of Happiness set
Ink - Memento - Potter's Clay; Ranger Distress Ink - Tea Dye
Patterned paper - Crate Paper
Cardstock - Core'dinations
Gems - Imaginisce
Ribbon - Offray

Hope you are staying warm & enjoying your post-holiday quiet too.

Hugs,
Marcy