Tutu Much: 2011

All my life I have been crafty. I never had a dedicated space to call my own. I always worked in a corner of the kitchen, or bedroom, or laundry room. Wherever there was a flat space. However I would always have to totally tidy up as I had young children and was worried about them injuring themselves or ruining a project. A few years ago when my oldest 2 children and moved out on their own and my younger two were teenagers, I started to crave my own space. I was looking at a small room (7' x 12') that we had built as a bedroom for my oldest son and then my youngest had claimed as his media/computer room. I struck a bargain with him to let me have the basement space if we renovated his bedroom. The following is now my hideaway, my mom cave, my sanctuary. Come on in...


This is the entrance, the curtains were 4.00/pr from Sears Outlet and an Ikea curtain rod. The windchime is my doorbell. My family must ring the chime when they come in so I am not startled by them appearing behind me.

This is the view from the doorway showing the left side

This is the right side of the room from the doorway


The middle

Inside the room this shows the 2 bookcases repurposed from my son's room. On the far left one are all my magazines for paper crafts as well as miniatures and dollhouses, also i store envelopes. The near bookcase has a few boxes of embellishments, my flower collection, my Riley stamps, 2 small plastic drawer holders with cats eye inkpads, glitter, flocking, luminarte, extra pens and markers, underneath that is my copic marker papers, art pads, photos and another small plastic drawer holder with my cricut cartridges, overlays, booklets and accessories. Also one shelf has a hanging file system with reference papers for miniatures and my jukebox as well as finished cards. My bind it all and circle cutter are on the top shelf. On the very top are some storage boxes, a few little dolls, a picture, my daughter's 1/2 scale dollhouse and some embellishments.

My desk area is an L-shape consisting of a folding 4 x 8 table and a small piece of laminate on top of a pair of Ikea table legs. On that sits my laptop, my wireless photoprinter (love it!) . On the wall behind it is my bulletin board with family photos and memories, a magnetic board and peg board (Micheal's bought with coupons) that hold small embellishments in magnetic holders from Micheals and the dollar store. The peg board holds my scissors, a few stickers and some hole punches. Above that is a piece of slot wall (road kill) that holds a bunch of different tapes, glue dots, tape runners, stickers, heat gun, a couple of stamps, monogram stamp maker, 2 dremels. There are small plastic shoe shelves that hold my dremel bits, embossing powders and paste, stickles, alchohol inks & the pads for them, a few specialty paints and armour etch. Above all that is a larger wooden shelf with a roombox that I am working on, a stand with a layout of my grandson (1st!) and a few other little miniatures.

The is my main work area. As you can see it is well stocked! I have a cutting board work surface. In the corner is a corner cube (Micheals) that holds my tv, dvd player, some inkpads, scrappy glues, Making Memories toolkit, my quickcutz, xyron sticker maker, current clear stamps I am working with. Beside that is my rotating tool holder from Micheals that holds glues, misc. tools for the cricut, rulers and my ATG. To the left of that is my copic storage that I made today from some foam board, a cardboard divider from a box of new glasses and some modpodge paper, one of my light sources beside that and the pink file holder has plain coloured cardstock. My gypsy is also on the table. On the wall above is another piece of found slot wall with a myriad of tools for miniature making. The shelf above that holds some glues, miter boxes, my thimble collection, some dvds & cds, a few pictures of family and in the corner a video player and a radio/cd player.

To the left of the main desk sits 4 cubes from Micheals (coupon) that holds my paper collection in cropper hopper organizers, in the drawers are clear stamps in cd cases, vinyl for the cricut, grommet and eyelet tools, watercolours, overflow rubber stamps and the monogram maker. Also in the 3 drawer section are all my various cables, extra punches, and a drawer of bits and pieces. The clear drawers under the table hold my ink refills for the printer, wallpaper for the dollhouses, misc. electrical cords, glue gun and some craft coasters. On top is my Cricut Expression (<3) and my new Yourstory laminator and binder. Behind them are 2 peg boards with cricut cutting boards. Above that my spoon collection and 3 small wall shelves (bought at Goodwill and garage sales) that hold some of my miniature collection.

At this end of my room are my wall units that my mother in law gave me when she downsized to her apartment. They just fit in the space. I love them as they give me lots of storage and display space. They have lights in them too. The right one has a collection of miniatures from things I have made to things I have won or received from friends. These are in the glass section. Beneath that is a display of rubber stamps on stepped spice shelves from the Storage store. Beneath that is my paint carosel (Micheals) and my albums as well as albums my daughter has made. In the 3 large drawers underneath are all my building supplies and misc. miniatures for future projects. The left unit has a larger display glass area with room boxes I have built and furniture I have collected and/or built from scratch. The cupboards underneath have boxes with all our photos, boxes with furniture to go into my big dollhouse when it is done, my golf balls, (so they dont disappear).

Another view of the display cases, to the left of that is some plastic drawers with more miniature tools and electrical works, and above that a smaller one that holds rubber stamps, scrap paper and off cuts or left over die cuts from the cricut or quickcutz. In front of that is my cutting station on a mobile cart (Micheals - 40% off). On the top I have my purple cow and another cutter from Provocraft, my ribbon collection, my bind it all supplies, quickcutz dies, 8x8 papers and albums, You can see the heater I use in the winter and there is a small mirror propped up from the dresser we are refinishing for the powder room as a vanity.


The shelf above the cutting station holds a myriad of things, from spray cans, to glues, cleaners, our old baby monitor, some things I will use for miniature making, my apron, my hat from Miniature camp, a small tool holder for crops or mini meetings. There are some family pics on the wall above the light switch.

So you can see that I have made use of every inch of space and yet I still have plenty of room to create. Everything is at my fingertips and there is even room for one person to craft with me. I have spent very little on the room and dream some day of opening it up to the laundry room and making one very large room. Someday! Thank you for visiting and please leave me a comment to let me know what you think.

Debbie

Hi Everyone - Happy New Year!!

I have not been a very good blogger, and to promise that I will be in the next few months is not a good idea as we head into a very busy time for me both business wise and personally.

I am entering a card making challenge for the first time ever. This is the card I have made for the iCopic Lover Color Challenge:

The recipe for this card is as best as I can remember

Paper - Bazzill Pink glitter
   Card stock, Micheals value pack, white, yellow and rose pink
Stamp - Tilda as a Butterfly, Magnolia
Sentiment - my own printed with a stamps by judith heart
Copic Markers - hair, y11, y21, e55
                      skin e00, yroo, rv21
                      dress and socks, rv21, r 43
                      panties, shoes - left white shaded with c1
                      wings - v17, bv00,y11,y21,rv25
                      accented with pink glitter gel pen and clear spica on wings

card flowers - from a package purchased at the Creative Craft Festival accented with a gold heart brad.

Thank you for taking a look.

Debbie