My Crafty Corner of the House

I've been an avid scrapbooker pretty much since scrapbooking started. I think it was in 1997 or 1998 when I first heard about it. No stores existed (gasp!), just "Creative Memories".

I went to my first Creative Memories class, and thought that it was too expensive. I was 17 and working at Tim Hortons at the time, so an album cost me a couple days of work! I bought one package of stickers, not really knowing what I'd use them for, and the rest is history. 

I became a Creative Memories consultant in 1999 at 19 years old. I don't know if I ever thought I could make a living doing it, but it supported me and my mother's habit. The problem was that most of my clients were my age, and had minimum wage jobs. With Creative Memories, I had to order $400 worth of product every 3 months. So if my clients didn't order much, I still had to.  I stopped being a consultant as soon as I got out of the hole, maybe two years later.

I didn't stop there though. Been cropping ever since. 

I mentioned on my Mothers Day post that I got a new scrapbooking desk! Now that it's totally organized so I thought I'd show the details incase it inspires anyone. It was some random person on a Google search that inspired me, after all.

So bear with me if you are a regular reader who doesn't give a hoot about scrapbooking. 

My very own part of the house

The desk is covered with white paper (big massive roll free from my Father-in-law!) so I can draw ideas or test stamps on it. All my cutting tools are on the keyboard tray so I can slide them away when not in use. This is my favourite part. It saves SO much desk space!

Colin installed 2 magnetic racks (IKEA) on the wall. Storage cups (IKEA) and the magnetic strip keep all of my tools within arms reach. Also holds the "garbage can" (a cutlery rack from...IKEA!) which perfectly fits a brown lunch bag I can easily empty into the trash when it gets full.

There's a bathroom towel rack (IKEA) installed directly onto the side of the desk. The bottom rail holds my ribbon and adhesives, and the top rail holds another favourite part...the inspiration cards!

These are the inspiration cards. I've sketched out an idea, some scraplifted (the scrapbookers term for "plagiarized") and some of my own. They're organized by the number of photos that fit onto that layout. So if I have 2 photos for the page I'm working on, I'll flip through the "2" pile for the one I want, and then it hangs right in front of me on a 3 x 3" square as I work on my page.

My circle and oval cutter templates hang on towel knobs (IKEA) screwed to the side of the desk.

My sewing machine lives where the computer tower is supposed to go.

My paper storage bin holds my printed paper. The middle drawer is special though. See the ziplocs (massive ones about 14" x 16")? They hold my scrap paper. There's one for each colour. On the left side of this bin is a built in, hidden bookshelf that hold other crafty stuff I rarely use but maybe someday I will...

My big storage bins (um, IKEA!) are on top of the hutch. The contents are labeled on the outside (stamps, cardmaking, fibres, rub-ons).

Left drawer in the hutch holds books, notepads, memorabilia, etc.

Right open shelf holds the current album I'm working on, extra pages, plain cardstock and the decorative paper I'm likely to use soon (like all my blue papers).

Here's the pretty part! I got clear jars (IKEA and loonie store) to put my colourful embellishments in. Not just for display, but because I find that if something is displayed in front of you, you're more likely to use it. So in the jars are buttons, a whole bunch of brads, eyelets, felt flowers, coloured staples, etc. Looks good enough to eat.

Well, hope that wasn't too dry! Now, I need to go try it out!