MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

It's not perfect, but my craft room clean up is (almost) complete! I actually spent some time creating in my room this afternoon and it was so nice!! I don't have any "before" pictures, but suffice it to say that I hadn't seen an inch of my counter in months and you couldn't walk anywhere in the room without stepping over something. Here's what it looks like now.

Desk area. Mostly, I just cleaned this. I've had the tilt bins for embellishments for a long time. (Very convenient, although not portable.) I love these stackable ribbons holders from Michaels. I also have a little ribbon storage tutorial here for ribbon that's not on spools. That thing under the right side of my desk holds my ink pads. It's actually some kind of tool box I bought at Home Depot years ago.

 

Here's the corner of my desk, which is obscured in the above photo by the grid cubes. My absolute favorite thing is my new craft tote for my Copic markers. I was inspired by Shelly's storage idea (I even have that same tote) but, alas, her Copic collection is obviously much bigger than mine. I couldn't fill the tote enough to keep my markers upright. This tote is just the right size and, if my Copic collection ever outgrows it, I can move the refills to separate storage and use those pockets for markers. (I only put them in the tote because they fit.)

 

My Scor-Pal is hung on the wall (I'm paranoid it will get broken so I keep it up and out of the way). Some of this storage is repurposed - ribbon scraps are in a mason jar, and my pencil cup is an aluminum can covered with pretty paper. Most of my TAC stamp stamps are in CD cases. I bought these new photo boxes (50% off at Hobby Lobby this week) because my old ones had broken lids. To decorate the boxes, I used strips of some Tim Holtz paper I bought recently on clearance at Michael's. I've decided on a black/pink/white color scheme. I'm never going to have the time or ambition to repaint the walls, so I decided to work with what I've got!

Bookshelves: This isn't all scrapbook stuff. (there are books & office supplies in there, too.) I store all kinds of things on these shelves - everything from magazines, to more stamps (in binders), to all of my 12X12 cardstock and paper stacks/pads. This area needs more work, but I need to decide how to store some of my larger stamp sets. (I'm not thrilled with the binders -- too awkward to leaf through.)

 

More paper. The crate stores 8.5 X 11" paper in hanging folders. The clear 12X12 paper holds my patterned paper. I got these on sale at a local (now extinct) scrapbook store.

Area next to my desk: This saw the biggest re-do. I switched out a plastic cart with 3 deep drawers for this set of grid cubes (Target). I added extra "shelves" by attaching panels with zip-ties inside the cubes. The 2 black boxes were a "buy one, get one" deal from Michaels last week. One holds all my autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving themed paper and the other holds Christmas/winter paper. The papers were previously stored in 12X12 plastic envelopes, which were getting old & cracked. The boxes can also hold autumn and Christmas embellishments with the papers - an added bonus! Wood mounted stamps are in plastic trays (re-purposed shadow box frames) on the bottom shelf. These were previously exiled to my craft room closet. I think they'll get more use now. I left my paper flowers in their original packaging, but corralled them in the little white bin. My bulk buttons are also in their original snap-top packages on the top shelf (next to the flowers).

I love the wooden shelves in this photo & above my work surface.) Purchased at a going out of business sale, they were display shelves made of real wood -- sturdy and pretty! Oh, and if you're wondering about the weird holes in the wall... For several years, I was plagued with water seeping into the room. (My craft room in my basement.) DH finally had to do a little "excavating" to determine the cause. (I'm hoping now that the room is clean, he'll be inspired to patch up the wall.)

Oh, and of course I have to close my post with the card I made today in my CLEAN room! :)

I've used one of my favorite female DSB characters, Birthday Poppy. The birthday ticket is part of a great new Birthday Sentiment set also available in the shop. I'm happy to say this card also features paper from my scrap stash, ribbon from my scrap jar, and some buttons from those sometimes ignored tilt bins. :)

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