My Creative Space

I have been blessed to have my very own room to create and teach in for the last few years. We have a remodeled/repurposed garage that is the family room and my creative space is the former formal living room.  It was rarely used and I got tired of being shoved in a little corner for my crafting while this spacious room sat empty of life.  It also has its own entry door so it's perfect for workshops or when my friends choose to join me.

 I've never posted photos on here before because it is rarely completely cleaned and I always seem to be trying a new organizational plan!  I'm sure none of you can relate:)  Anyhoo, after years of perusing the web for the latest and greatest way to organize my scrap space, I am finally feeling I have arrived at a place with some staying power!  We can only hope and pray-sigh....

This is my 8' folding table where I usually hold my Close To My Heart workshops.  The "riser" is a bargain I snagged from a Steinmart when they were changing out their display tables.  You'll see the rest of that find in a bit.  I use the riser to display current completed projects or completed seasonal projects.  The drawers are my newest attempt to organize my scads of embellishments.  Thanks to Antoinette at Inspired Stamps for the fabulous idea of sorting embellies by color only!  I have tried to sort by item (buttons, brads, die cuts, etc) and other methods but they took up so much space and took tons of time to sort through for a project.  So far, I love this method and have started using lots of items that have been hanging around for years.  I still have my flowers in the larger drawers by themselves but they are organized by color as they have always been.  Lest you are afraid I am going to ruin my pretty tablecloth-I'll let you in on a secret-it's made by Con-Tac and sold at Wal-mart!  Totally VINYL.  It comes in a large sheet and can be cut to size.

The following is my work table.  You will notice another of the "risers" that you saw in the previous photo.  This sits on a matching display table that  Steinmart was getting rid of for new displays.  I had been scouring garage sales and other venues for several years looking for nice looking tables I could use in here.  I saw 3 of these tables with risers for sale at $75 per set.  I thought I would be able to use all 3 but I didn't have over $200.  I offered them $150 for all 3 sets and they took it!  After getting them home, I decided the 3rd table would not be big enough to share with my workshop attendees and sold just the table in a garage sale for $50 and kept the riser.  So, I actually got 2 heavy oak tables and 3 risers for $100:)   That's the way I roll-buy for a bargain or don't buy!

The pink boxes (Wal-mart) perfectly hold my Close To My Heart and Inspired Stamps as well as my stamp  blocks. I cut chalkboard vinyl for the front of them to write on with what type of stamps they hold. The pink foam is attached to the edge of the table so my wheelchair arm doesn't scratch it up.

This rolling cart is another of my fave bargains.  I snagged it at Michael's from the "as is" bin.  It was a display piece that was very dusty and missing 2 cases.  It had been around $60 and I got it for $7!!!  I washed it down and added 2 pink cases and it was better than new:)  The cases hold various projects I am working on with the products I want to use to make them.  They make it easy to grab and go to a crop or I roll the whole thing in my van for a retreat.

 

Next to the rolling cart and by my work table is this stand with a set of 3 wooden and basket drawers from Hobby Lobby.  1 drawer has my Copics sorted by color families in mason jars, another holds my punches and the 3rd has bulky tools-large crop-a-dile, wire cutters, etc. My often used smaller tools, scissors, pens, pencils, markers, etc are  in the spinning tool holder on top.

 

The organization continues next to my comfy recliner and cozy quilt (made by my sis-in-love Joni).  Just beside it is a wire rolling paper rack I've had for years.  It holds all my solid cardstock- sorted by color. Behind the recliner is an old wooden display shelf I got from my brother's booth in an antique mall.  I think I still owe him $25 for it! It holds several photo boxes and card organizers.  The photo boxes hold various craft supplies that are used occasionally such as small plastic bags, embroidery floss, glue sticks, etc.  The card organizers hold...cards:)

Well, that's it for today!  I will add more of the room in a few days.