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.