come take the tour.....

I know some of you have seen my wee scrappy space before but I am getting a lot of requests to see more photos since I posted the photos of my chick wall art . So here it is... the big scrappy tour...LOL. This room is TINY. I have become very good at maximizing this little space and working with what I have instead of spending any more money on organizing systems. All the containers and bit and pieces in this room have been bought slowly, over the past 10 years. That is why nothing matches LOL. I have to keep it well organized since I spend so much time in there. (Click on the photos for a larger view)


These are the shelves that surround my desktop. My father made them from MDF. They are screwed to the walls. I like to have my buttons, most used tools, some flowers and embellies right at my finger tips. I love to have them within reach and I also find I use them more when I can see them. The jars for the buttons are actually mason jars and are very economical at about $5 for a 4 pack.


This is how I organize the majority of my ribbon. The colour groups of ribbon are tied unto a large binder ring and then the binder ring is just on a coat hanger. I love having my ribbon like this because when I am going to a crop I just grab the whole lot of it and go. My smaller pieces of ribbon get stored in a basket. I also keep a little bit of ribbon on the shelves surrounding my desk...as well as in the ribbon holders on the shelf.

Also, the little butterflies on my closet door were made on the Cricut with vinyl.

I found these large binder rings at an office supply store (HMS in Summerside for you local gals)


This area in just inside my doorway to the right and directly across from the ribbon & closet. I bought these wire store cubes from Zellers - very economical. The drawers have 1) embellishments 2) Thickers 3) tools and 4) mini-albums. One compartment has smaller plastic containers that hold ziplock bags, punches and envelopes. The bottom right cube has Iris containers with layouts and/or paper in them. The top of the shelf has an eclectic mix of supplies that don't really have another home. I should probably change that around so it is a better use of space :)
These little blue containers have things in them that I don't need too often. They are not nearly as practical as they look. To get to a container at the bottom of a pile you have to remove everything at the top of it....ack. I purchased them on the cheap so I don't really feel guilty that I don't use them very often. I only paid $10 for the entire set! On top of the blue containers I keep some ink pads, more jars of buttons, a basket of fibers and a few small projects. Since I don't have the room for showing off completed projects in my scrap space , I usually store them downstairs.

Right on my desktop, I keep two Iris containers for my favourite papers, templates and little bits that I tend to be working on. I have my favourite punches (all the circles) right as my disposal as well. The Making Memory carousel was a prize I won from a MM layout contest. It's not something that I would have ever bought but I do enjoy having it there. My laces are kept in the ribbon boxes. I know it looks messy but I keep them like that on purpose...that way I think to use it more often.


This is the view behind my desk. These shelves were made by my Dad as well. On the top shelves I have my tiny stamps, xyon refills and brass templates. The second shelf has my books with quotes & titles, rolls of felt, and jars of 'stuff'. I have oodles more jars of 'stuff' but I don't have room for them in my craft room so I keep them in our storage room in large containers. The next shelf down houses Sizzix, punches and some chipboard alphas. The little white baskets on the next shelf down have my small acrylic stamps, some Prima flowers and more chipboard. The next shelf down under that has glitter and jars of misc things like chipboard, felt, flowers and more chipboard alphas. The bottom shelf houses ribbon and flowers sorted by colour.

Underneath the the shelves, I had DH install a curtain rod. I use it as a 'clip it up' I hang alphas, rub-ons, embellies etc. on binder clips and clip them unto the curtain rod. The little table is also where I store the majority of my cardstock and paper packs. I also store anything use that comes in 12x12 packages here...things like clear elements (Fancy Pants) or 12x12 chipboard packages etc. I hope to buy more of these vertical Cropper Hoppers but I haven't been able to find them anywhere on PEI anymore :(


This little shelf is for Cricut cartridges, unmounted stamps, chipboard, grungeboard and felt embellishments. The black bag on the top is filled with little containers of brads, eyelets, charms etc.
This basket holds my newest chipboard that I am using the most as well as an assortment of misc flowers and rhinestones. I keep them packaged like this so that I can just grab a bag of each when I go to a crop and then I don't have to root through all my flowers, chipboard, rhinestones etc. each time that I go. I also keep my tool bag here and baby wipes for easy clean up. The Iris towers themselves hold a variety of items. The drawers on the left have: 1st drawer: misc chipboard, rhinestones and embellishments. 2nd drawer: felt, pearls and rhinestones. 3rd drawer: paper scraps. 4th & 5th drawers have chipboard. The drawers on the right have: 1st drawer: tools. 2nd drawer: opened rub-ons. 3rd drawer: most used alphas and Prima Say it in Crystals. 4th drawer: pens and markers. 5th drawer: adhesives. Bottom drawer: chocolate, kleenex and misc items :)

The little tray in front of my baby bug is from the dollar store. I keep little things in there that I am using on a layout so that my work surface stays clean...scissors, adhesives, rotary cutter, pencil, pens etc. I clean it up after a couple of layouts. The grey mat that I work on is a Fiskars self healing mat that I bought about 8 or 9 years ago. I remember thinking that I was insane for paying such a high price for a mat but it has served me well.... this mat has seen me through several quilts, countless cards and scrapbook pages as well as coming in handy for many other crafts. I also keep my acrylic ruler right next to my grey mat because I use it with a rotary cutter instead of a paper trimmer.

The little cupboards with the birdies on them have little pots of paint like Twinkling H20's, shimmery paints, iridescent mediums, watercolour paints and radiant pearls. One of them also has Sculpty, glazes etc. I have my little DVD player here which I cannot believe that I have not worn it out yet. DH gives me shows to watch in seasons. My favs are The Office, House MD, Arrested Development, Desperate Housewives, Corner Gas... I could keep going.... LOL. I have a little basket there of my most used wood mounted stamps. I have so many wood mounted stamps (thousands) that I need to keep them in the storage room. I keep my heat gun and hot glue gun at the ready right next to the lamp. The storage towers here hold my DVD's, ink pads that I don't use very often and more paints.

Underneath my vertical paper storage is Iris totes. These are mostly filled with paper. There is one for 12x12 chipboard, one for rub-ons and one holds specialty papers like lace cardstock, overlays, stitched paper, vellum etc. Also there are two black baskets there that have my favourite acrylic stamps in them...mostly Basic Grey, Autumn Leaves & CTMH.
These towers hole my 8.5 x 11 paper which is sorted by colour. The little drawer at the top has my stamping wheels from Stampin Up.

This photo was taken from outside my doorway while standing in the hallway. As you can see it's not a very large space at all. In fact, I had DH remove the door to make even more space. I can't believe what an enormous difference it made to remove the door.

...a few more close-ups....



In the bottom left there you can see a little pen holder when I keep my favourite pens/markers. The little white basket has Making Memories journaling notebooks and the little blue bucket tucked in there has little jars of glitter. I also keep my most used ink pads right next to my flowers on the shelf. My favourite ink pads are Black Onyx & Vintage Sepia Versafine. Also my Staz-on ink pads.




Underneath my table.... I keep photos, my crop bag and totes with quilting tools etc. No space goes unused!! The table itself if made with the top of an old dining room table and the legs are just the folding legs you find on craft tables. My Dad made it for me.

The little "Create" altered sign is where I hang Larissa's latest scrapbook page. The basket on the floor has magazines. I try not to let the magazine pile get any larger than this. Once the basket is full then I do a purge. As you can see it's time to soon purge.


This little table is where little Larissa sits down to do her own scrapbooking. She has claimed some of my supplies for her own. She now owns my flower paper punch and I have to ask her for permission to use it ;)

And last but not least...this is the sort of beautiful artwork you can find displayed in my room..... magazine and catalog cuts outs and cows with four eyes... I love when Larissa makes these little treasures for me. She just loves cutting stuff up and playing with glitter glue.

a little wall art

Friday nights I usually scrap with friends but this Friday we forewent the scrappiness for vinyl wall art made on the Cricut....and even though it was after midnight when I got home I just couldn't resist getting it up unto the wall and taking a picture!!! I made this with the home decor cartridge.

It's wasn't overly hard...but there were a few choice words.... and I did mention that if anyone ever wanted me to help them do this then they would have to pay me a thousand dollars!!!! LOL

Finicky....that's the word I would use to describe the process .

I did a mama birdie and baby birdie since it's usually Larissa and I hanging out there in the craft room.


Here are some tips just in case you'd like to embark on a vinyl journey:

~buy the transfer tape. It is also made by Provo Craft/Cricut and is usually sold right next to the rolls of vinyl. It makes adhering the image to the wall much easier. It would be virtually impossible to adhere a large image without the transfer paper.

~before you cut your image on your cricut, cut the image out of cardstock first as a 'test run'

~before you attach your vinyl to the transfer paper, take your pointy tweezers and remove the negative parts of the image and discard them.

~ read the instructions that come with the vinyl. They give you the exact settings for your cricut and you want to follow the directions to get a 'kiss cut' I think it was the blade set at 6 and the pressure at 2 and speed at 1. This way, only the vinyl gets cut, not the backing.

~make sure you are a in a good mood when you start this...maybe a shot of vodka would help as well. I'm not a drinker so a good ole Pepsi did the trick for me ;)

Scrappin' Good Deals

I just had to share the great deal I scored on these shaped Chipboard albums. $1.50 each at Michaels !!!! What a steal! *Scalloped Square*Heart*Flower*Car*House*Butterfly*Star* I plan on making a birthday banner for Larissa's birthday inspired by this beautiful one made by CindyS.

Even if you don't enjoy making little mini-albums you can use these shaped chipboards for all kinds of other stuff....right on your 12 x 12 or 8.x5 x 11 pages. Shaped cards, altered items...the possibilities are endless.

If some of you local gals are heading in to pick any up, I found them in the section down past the Wilton cake decorating area, in the same aisle as the children's dollar items.

Sketchfest - come join the fun!!!

Do you need a little motivation to get scrapping? Do you like to work with sketches and challenges? Maybe you are new to sketches and want to give them a try? Perhaps you just want to do a little scrapping and have the chance to win prizes!? Well, you should check out the the 10 week winter sketch fest at Paws on Scrapbooking!

It goes a little like this:

Each week there will be 3 sketches ... sometimes more!
Mondays - sketch and challenge posted together.
Wednesday - your usual Wednesday night sketch
Friday - a weekend 6x12 sketch

See you over at Paws for all kinds of sketchy fun!

a size change - 8.5 x 11

I made these projects for Paws on Scrapbooking. It was fun and refreshing to do some 8.5x11 for a change. When I first started out scrapbooking about 10 years ago this was the only size available.

A Good Read: It is so cute watching you spend so much time reading...or at least pretending to read since you haven't quite learned how to at age 3. Soon though! Dec '08

There is quite a mix of supplies here...Pink Paislee, Sassafras Lass, Making Memories, Bo Bunny, Fancy Pants, American Crafts, Prima...and of course, I dipped into my enormous buttons collection!



Hard at Play: Well, I rarely do double layouts these days but here is an exception to the rule. I decided to do something a little different and put my title on the second page and the journaling on the first ( I would normally do it the other way around). All of the papers here are Sassafras Lass from a 6x6 paper pad (that actually belongs to my 3 year old but I *borrowed* it LOL) . Journaling reads: We spent a lot of time at the park in Borden this past summer. Even though they had a really cool playground, you still preferred to play on the ground with the rocks. Summer '08

When I made this layout at first, it had a white background. I doodled on the white background and hated it!! So, I trimmed all around it and mounted it on a kraft background instead. I like it much better this way.

These Pink Paislee Holly Doodle letters are my new favourite letter stickers (hard & play).


This is a Making Memories album with a zig zag edge. I don't often alter albums but this one was just begging for it with the pretty kraft cover. I bought a package of chipboard woodland creatures etc. and when I opened them up they were a lot larger than I had expected. I figured I wouldn't use them normally but on a album cover they are a perfect size...and so whimsical and fun. I thought they also went well with the Sassafras papers in the layout above.

Have you ever SCRAPJACKED?

Just Like Daddy - featuring Basic Grey's Urban Prairie line (which is my favourite BG line!)

Hosted by super-scraper CindyS , the gals at Paws on Scrapbooking recently scrapjacked a layout by Christine Middlecamp. A scrapjack is when a layout by someone else is posted and we scraplift it with a big reveal at the end. There were over 25 participants. It was a really fun event and girls at Paws plan on doing more of these in the future. Check out the reveal here.

I did my layout about Larissa taking after her Daddy when it comes to mis-matched socks. When I put the laundry away, I put all the socks into pairs (I swear!!). Well, Daddy thinks it's funny to pull the pairs apart and wear two different socks. ARGH! LOL It seems that Larissa has inherited his mis-matched sock gene. FYI: I bought Jason all new socks last fall...about 40 pairs and guess what??? They are all the same....he says I killed the fun. No worries, he still finds ways to mis-match them...like wearing one of mine! LOL

Buttons * Buttons * Buttons!!

I am pleased to announce that I will be doing some work for My Little Bit of Whimsy as a designer. These gorgeous and unique buttons are all individually handmade by the talented Stephanie Hart. Did I mention that she is a Maritime girl!?! I love to support Canadian companies. So hop on over and check out the goods at her store and keep your eyes peeled for a gallery reveal around February 1.

Top 8 of '08

I have thoroughly enjoyed cruising around blogs to have a look at everyone's favourite layouts of '08. Here are some of my favs from last year for different reasons.

This is a layout that I did while on bedrest after having my tonsils out last spring. All the calla lilies are stamped, hand cut, painted with watercolours, layered with hot glue and embossed with radiant pearls. The chipboard circle has sheer ribbon wrapped around it. A close up of the lilies is actually my blog header. I was just grateful to be playing with some crafts while laying on the couch for what seemed like forever when in all reality it was only a few weeks (a little longer than expected due to some complications). Although there is no journaling and nothing overly noteable about the photo (except that it is my beautiful girl) I enjoyed the creative process throughly.

I'm not quite sure what it is about this layout that I love so much...I do know that it sparked a love affair with my circle punches like none other. Now, almost every layout that I make has a punched circle on it somewhere.

Ah, and the superhero layout. Something about the graphic/comic book style has me lovin this. Of course, the amusing story behind the title also earns it bonus points.

There is just something about a sleeping child that makes us feel peaceful, content and probably a little relief! LOL To me this is one of those photos that is the embodiment of childhood....falling asleep on top of the covers for an afternoon nap while still wearing your flying fairy princess costume. *sigh* Stop growing up so fast wee one.


This is another that tugs at my heart strings. I snapped this photo of her while she was inspecting a flower. She just looked so tall and old for her ripe ole age of 3.25. Of course, that was last spring and now when I look at the photo I think, I thought she looked so grown up in this photo but she has changed so much since then. Why does childhood seem to fly by at warp speed?


Totally princes.... this past year came with an enormous increase in costume wear. I rarely made a trip to the grocery store or post office without being accompanied by Tinkerbell, a flying fairy princess, a unicorn, a skunk, Cinderalla, Snow White or an Eeyore (that was 2 sizes too small). I just love the progression of photos in this layout...from outside playing, to heading in the house and finally, passing out in total exhaustion and having a great afternoon nap. Of course, these photos made me step out of my comfort zone. I have a strong distaste for purple but I just couldn't get around it with the purple costume and all. Note to self: no more purple costumes!!! (I already avoid purple clothing whenever possible!)


This layout doesn't have any journaling at all but with a photo like this, who needs journaling !?! You know the saying...a photo of a father and daughter sleeping is worth a thousand words. This was one of my first layouts with a Hambly Screen Print and I totally fell in love with transparencies all over again. The Shakespeare quote on this layout is also on Larissa's bedroom wall above her crib (Wall Talk).


Our Kitty...Little Larissa is obsessed with kitty cats and when I saw this mask at the Dollar store...well, let's just say she ripped it from my hands and stuck it on her head immediately. I love the b&w/colour mix in the photos as well as the tearing. Something that I hadn't done in years but recently started all over again. You know, what they say 'what's old is new again'.


Here's to a scrappy 2009! I hope to accomplish at least as many projects as I did in 2008 which was approximately 250 layouts. Perhaps '09 will have me get my 250 layouts into albums....yes, they are all stacked up in my scrap room waiting to given their proper home. I suppose it would be a good thing to get that taken care before I embark on a journey of another 250!

CHA & Upsy Daisy Designs

CHA (The Craft and Hobby Association) is just around the corner. January 25 - 28 is set aside for the world's largest craft and hobby show. It's where you get to meet all kinds of wonderful companies and of course see/touch/ogle and order all the newest, latest and greatest that the scrappy world has to offer.

Upsy Daisy Designs is happy to be attending this year, hanging out at booth #4045!! They also have a blog giveaway....just pop over to the UDD blog and leave a comment for a chance to win one of their new, gorgeous paper lines!!

I'm an Upsy Daisy Girl!

I am so excited to share the news that I have joined the Upsy Daisy design team full time. It is a great time for me to be joining this proudly Canadian company. They have 6 new lines out. SIX!!! I can't wait to get started and share my projects with all of you.

I will miss you - The Paper Attic

There is only one local scrapbook store in Prince Edward Island. A store I have loved dearly with wonderful staff and always the best up to date products. Sadly, the store will be closing this week. I will miss their crops and my many visits to their store to get my fix. Here are a few goodies that I picked up today on my last visit for shopping purposes.