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Monday, December 13, 2010

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

we got our first real snowfall yesterday. Nearly 5 inches! Looks so beautiful but with windchills below zero there is no way we are venturing out to play in it just yet. So what's a momma to do? How about pop some popcorn, rent a new movie from OnDemand for the kiddos and get some scrapbooking done??
We spent most of the weekend prior to the snow getting some holiday items checked off our checklist-visit to Santa, picking out our tree, and decorating our tree-all done.
So, thusly inspired-I got out last year's Christmas photos and got to work.
This was my crew on Christms Eve 2009:
Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock, Basic Grey Patterned Paper, Making Memories & KI Memories letter stickers, various ribbons
Finally got to play with my Martha Stewart circle cutter-fun stuff! And I used a white gel pen to journal around the edges of the cardstock-I never do that! But it was fun breaking out of my box and doing something different for a change. And my white gel pen is my new best friend-seriously can't wait to use this again.

Love, love, love these letters stickers! I think they are Chloe's Closet by Making Memories. I added the "christmas" from the KI Memories new Frosting Stickers.

I finished another Christmas layout...but I think I'll wait until tomorrow to share that one :) ...Happy Monday!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Future's So Bright...

I wish we had to wear shades. I think part of me put this page together because I am yearning for sunshine. :) Winter is starting to settle into the Midwest. And while I love snow and the time inside to get things like scrapbooking done; I miss the sun already.
I captured these photos of my son, Jackson, at his pine car derby this year. He was trying on his Nana's sunglasses and just looked too funny not to photograph.
Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Patterned Paper, Cosmo Cricket Die Cuts & Rub Ons, American Crafts letter stickers, Journaling cards-unknown
I really wanted the journaling card to be customized to the layout, so I grabbed some rub-ons that matched the patterned paper and got to work. I really like how it all tied together.
One other note about this layout-I very rarely use gray cardstock. Not sure why. But when I saw that patterned paper, I knew I had the perfect opportunity to use some gray cardstock that I had kicking around. Jackson LOVES this layout. He wants me to frame it for his room-silly kid. :)

Monday, December 6, 2010

Head on Over To....

Domestic Blunders, Courtney Walsh's blog, for a super awesome Christmas giveaway. Courtney is a scrapbooker and the author of Scrapbooking Your Faith. I love reading her posts because she is a very honest writer--she doesn't try to be perfect, she's just trying to live her life in God's grace and I appreciate that. Not to mention, she's a real talented scrapbooker.
And did I mention she has an AWESOME giveaway??? Go on...head on over...I'll be back tomorrow with a fun layout. :)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Double Page Design

I took advantage of the great Black Friday sale Ella Publishing had this past weekend and purchased this awesome eBook, Double Page Design.
Love, love, love this book. I highly encourage you to head on over to their site and check it out. I'm typically a double page layout girl anyway but it inspired me to break out of my 4x6 photo rut and use some other sizes.
This is a layout I did of my son's school trip to our local children's museum. There's another double layout that goes with it that has journaling and more photos so this one is kind of his "journey" through the museum.
Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock, Doodlebug buttons, Cosmo Cricket patterned paper, Mrs Grossmans letter stickers
I loved the way this looked so much I did a very similar one about our day at the park.
Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock, Basic Grey patterned paper, Doodlebug letter stickers, Marvy scallop circle punch

I made the flower embellishments by using a bunch of different sized scallop circle punches. (I did this at a scrap night at my local Archivers. I only have one scallop circle punch.)
You could also add a brad in the center and pull up on the edges for more dimension but I wanted mine to stay flat.
I have to say I think this might just be my favorite Ella book to date!! :)

Monday, November 29, 2010

Feeling Thankful....

Awww....you guys! I've been getting some serious love in my comments lately and I'm feeling super thankful for my amazing readers-you guys are awesome! I am truly appreciative of each and every one of you that decide to stop by!
Three of you (Sharla, Mary Pat and Emily) gave me this fun award-Thanks ladies!!!:
Now, this award does come with some rules and I have to pay it forward:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this
2. Share 8 things about yourself
3. Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards

Share 8 things about myself
1. I drink a can of ice cold Coke every single morning. I can't function without it.
2. I went to a French-English Bi-lingual Elementary School for 5 years. I can still read quite a bit of French but sadly can't speak very much of it anymore.
3. I have four sons, including a set of identical twins.
4. I am addicted to all reality shows involving parents of multiples-Raising Sextuplets, Jon & Kate, Quintuplet Surprise, Etc. See #3. I think it's because I can relate to the madness that is life with more than one.
5. I secretly love to shovel snow. Seriously, it gives me such a sense of accomplishment when I am done. We don't really start getting serious snow until January here in southern Ohio and I can't wait!
6. My favorite flowers are daisies.
7. I desperately want to start running every day but I usually get distracted by a show on TV or a layout I want to work on.
8. I would wear flip flops every day of my life if I could but, alas, I work in the business world {and um... live in southern Ohio where it snows} so I can't.

Now I have to pay it forward.  Here are 8 people that I have found recently {that aren't in my list of links over there on the left} and I love to read their blogs. I feel sort of silly contacting some of them since they have HUNDREDS of followers. So I just invite you to check them out. I enjoy reading their posts and seeing their layouts and hope you do too.
1. Over the Rainbow-Keshet Starr
2. the hufford house-Jenni Hufford
3. kelli crowe
4. Me And You + Two-Mary Jo Johnston
5. Creativity By Crystal
6. Designs by Diana
7. Celebrate We Will
8. it is what it is-Beth Proudfoot

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Shutterfly for Christmas

I think I've mentioned before how much I love Christmastime. One of my favorite parts of Christmas is giving and receiving Christmas cards and photo albums.
I love seeing how our friends and families have grown and changed over the years. Our family has been sending photo cards or cards with photos inserted for the past 9-10 years. I love sharing photos of our little family. For some of our extended family and friends this is the only time they see how our children have grown.
I love Shutterfly for so many reasons. I take a lot of pictures-a lot! {Like 400 a month-I know!} For a long time I used Kodak Gallery for my photo printing but I wasn't totally thrilled with the process or quality. Last year I tried Shutterfly. I got my pictures much faster than I had in the past and the quality was much better. Plus they have cool features like printing the date the photo was taken on the back of the card. That's a big deal for me-especially when I order in large batches-it makes organizing my photos soooo much easier. Now Shutterfly has the Express Uploader tool. It's a program that is on your computer desktop that lets you upload pictures to Shutterfly with just a few clicks of your mouse. So cool.
I use Shutterfly a lot at Christmas time. It's a hectic time of year for us, so I don't have a lot of time. But I want to give thoughtful presents-things people will treasure for years to come. Thank goodness for the photo book.
I've made a number of photo books with Shutterfly. Each and every one of them have turned out great. Photo books are quick and easy to do and make excellent gifts. Each year I make my mother in law a photo book of the boys.  I usually do an 8x8 hardcover album-she loves them! You can go here to try it for yourself. If you are at your child's school a lot and are able to take pictures of the students, this would make a great teacher gift, too.
My plan this weekend is to work on Christmas cards. All of our cards have photos in them. I hand make some {for close family and friends} but everyone else gets a photo card. You'd think it would be a super quick and easy thing but Shutterfly has over 800 designs! Oh my. Of course once I decide it will be easy....but I have a tough time deciding. More choice is better than no choice though.
This was last year's card-which I loved! Love the blues and the cream. But I want to do something totally different this year.
I love cards that have non-traditional Christmas colors. There are so many choices-I found this card and this card and so many more. But I think I am leaning towards this card. Love that I can put individual pictures of the boys and write a little note. And how much fun is that font!
This is my Shutterfly weekend-I'll be finishing up the photo albums and getting the Christmas cards ready to order. {I'm going to try to sneak in some time to scrapbook, too!}

Friday, November 19, 2010

Are You on a Scrapbook Budget?

Who isn't these days? But there are still things that I need {okay, want}. Well, just look at my "Things I Love" posts. :)
So what's a girl to do? How about earn some easy money doing things I'd be doing anyway?
I have a $25 craft budget each month. I can either carry the balance over and save up for something I want or make money outside our household budget. I can almost never carry money over month to month, so looking for money outside our budget is something I've gotten really good at.

Here a few reputable ways I do that:

-Swagbucks. Oh, how I love swagbucks. You earn points for doing web searches, answering polls, etc. I earn about 15 a day. Every month or so I turn them in for Amazon gift cards.
Search & Win
Earlier this year I bought a Cuttlebug with my cards. I have about $60 worth saved right now; not sure what I'll do with those. For more information on Swagbucks, go here.

 -Online surveys. After a lot of trial and error, I know which companies are worth signing up for and which aren't. I am a member of two panels. Both are great and send surveys pretty frequently. I've made about $50 every 3 months with each panel. Plus I've got to try cookies, crackers, diapers, toilet paper and more before it hits the market. I love being able to give my opinion about products to help make them better.
The first is Opinion Outpost.  They pay you in checks, Amazon gift cards, or Citibank gift cards.
The second is Mindfield Online. They pay you in checks.

-MyPoints. This one sends you emails every day or so and when you click on them you earn points. You can redeem your points for gift cards. I used my points to get gift cards for my children's teachers for Christmas this year. I have an email account set up just for My Points-that why my every day inbox doesn't get too full.

-Cash in on your old supplies. That adorable Crop in Style binder you just had to have but is sitting unloved and unused in your closet? Put it up for sell on Ebay, Craigslist, or a For Sale area of your favorite scrapbook message board. I love selling stuff on Two Peas in a Bucket. It's a great way to get rid of the clutter and earn a few dollars at the same time. If your local scrapbook store has a yard sale, consider  joining in. You'll usually get a store credit to spend on all the new stuff that catches your eye.

Have any questions? Please feel free to leave me a comment or email me. :)
This weekend I'll be doing a post about my favorite photo processing website-Shutterfly! Stay tuned...

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Things I Love Thursday...

Just a few quick ones this week...
-The new Over the Rainbow collection by KI Memories. Perfect for a year in review album! Love the paper and love the puffy stickers. They are all on my wish list on Amazon (hint, hint, family members reading this blog)
-I've decided I want a mini sewing machine just for paper crafts. I have a regular size sewing machine that I have used a few times {she and I have a love/hate relationship} but I want something small that I can put in the craft room. I've heard great things about the Janome Sew Mini. But I can't find it anywhere. I found a Michley Lil' Sew machine that looks really similar-but I'm not sure if they are the same thing. Who knew it would be this hard to find a little sewing machine.
-I saw this collection at JoAnn Fabric on my lunch break this week. Woodhaven by Colorbok-just love it. It would be great for spring photos. I want to use it for the album of our Michigan trip that I have been putting off forever. Hmmnnnn...might just have to use that 50% off coupon.

Have a great Thursday!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Things I Love Thursday

It's sketch week over at Alison Davis' blog! I love Ali's sketch and I have at least two of her sketch books on my Christmas wish list.

Love this idea of framing a "Gratitude" poster and having the kids talk about what they are thankful for. I might put a little twist on this idea and do this at Thanksgiving with the whole extended family-how fun would that be?

Speaking of Thanksgiving-Beth Proudfoot has some seriously adorable downloads for Thanksgiving favor tags. The boys have a Thanksgiving fest at school soon and these will definitely come in handy! If you aren't following Beth, you totally should.She has super cute downloads nearly every week.

Non-scrapbook related:
-The weather in Ohio this week has been AMAZING! Sunny and 70's in November? Yup, I'll take it!
-Football season is over for my boys! {Hello life, it's nice to have you back for awhile.}
-I am coveting this bag something awful. I don't need a new bag but man, do I WANT this one:

It's also on my Christmas/Birthday wish list!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Baby Layla's Mini Album

I can finally post pictures of the mini album that I've been working on. My husband's best friend and his wife welcomed their first child a couple of weeks ago. Chuck asked that I make a scrapbook for Layla as a gift. I was a little nervous about it-I always get a little nervous giving "homemade gifts".
Fortunately, Layla's mom & dad seemed to like it. :)


I used the Making Memories Animal Crackers album kit. I realized about halfway through that the album kit did not include nearly enough paper. And no one carries it anymore. Anywhere.



So I found some papers that matched pretty close in my stash (Basic Grey, DCWV, Becky Higgin's baby kit) and worked with what I had.



I have another friend that is expecting a little girl. Wish I had more Animal Crackers to work with but she'll probably get something done with the super cute October Afternoon paper I picked up at Archivers recently. {Note to self-get started on that!}

Been a little lazy blogging lately, had a whole house full of sickies. The stomach virus going around seemed to stagger itself by two days through each of my four boys. Sigh. I even had one sick at Trunk or Treat.
So glad things are getting back to normal and I can start crafting again!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Things I Love Thursday...

-Echo Park and Crystal Wilkerson have teamed up for a brand new line, called Little Boy. It just went to the very top of my wish list. I literally can't wait to get my hands on it.
Seriously? How stinking cute is that?  November can't get here soon enough!

-I have a Making Memories Slice die cutting machine and about 6 or 7 cartridges. {I also have a Silhouette machine but I hate lugging it out for one or two cuts.) Slice just came out with a bunch of new design cards and I have my eye on the Zootopia one. I'm a sucker for cute animal die cuts.

We have Trunk or Treat tonight at our church, so I'll be in the mood to scrap some Halloween photos this weekend-good thing I still haven't got around to working on last year's pictures! :)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Things I Love Thursday {Inspiration Edition}

So I mentioned in my magazine post that there is all sorts of fabulous (and FREE) scrapbook inspiration on the internet. This week's Things I Love Thursday post, is all about inspiration-the places I go to get inspired!

-Two Peas in a Bucket-this is the very first place I found on the web for scrapbook inspiration and a place I visit daily. Two Peas has message boards, galleries, shopping and more. For a long time, I didn't really know anyone who scrapbooked in real life. Two Peas was the ONLY place I had to talk to other scrappers. {My pea name is twinsandtwo {because I have twins and two singletons-get it?}-if you see me on there, please say "hi".}

-Monika commented on my last post the she really missed Simple Scrapbooks magazine. I do too. BUT...a group of contributors from Simple have formed a wonderful website called Write. Click. Scrapbook. WCS is chockful of great ideas, downloads, and more. And did I mention the weekly give-away? :)

-Another brainchild of former Simple writers is Ella Publishing. Ella publishes eBooks that are priced at about what one magazine would cost at newstand. But they are BOOKS-that you can print at home or download to your Kindle {or like me-your iPhone to read at football practice}. Ella also has a blog and a newsletter that are completely free and have tons of amazing ideas!

-Blogs, oh how I love blogs. Do you have a favorite line of patterned paper? Google the manufacturer. Odds are pretty good that they have a blog and likely a design team {who each have blogs of their own}. I've listed a few of my favorite over to the side of this blog.

-How about a FREE MAGAZINE! That's right I said free magazine. Okay, you have to print it out yourself or download it to your computer {or, again, like me put it in iBooks to read at football practice}. But, Scrapbook & Cards Today is totally free to download. How cool is that??? And it's good-with articles by Stacy Julian and Aly Dosdall, it's almost like having Simple back.

So, there you have it- tons of free inspiration right here on the web. What about you? Do you have a favorite website for inspiration? Leave a comment with a link!

Monday, October 18, 2010

The Magazine Wars

I love magazines. I always have. Love the thrill of opening up my mailbox to see that glossy 8 1/2 x 11 piece of goodness. My favorite part of my old job was sitting next to the media department and getting all the free magazines I wanted. {They still hook me up with People magazine because they know I am hopelessly addicted.}
Sadly, the optical company I work for does not advertise in scrapbooking mags, so I subscribe to two-Creating Keepsakes and Scrapbooks, Etc. I've had my CK subscription for about 4 years, and sadly, this month it runs out. My SBE subscription is about 3 years old and I recently ran into a smoking hot deal on Tanga for a year's subscription for $8, so somehow(?) I'm good through 2012.
So this month, I have a decision to make-do I renew my CK subscription? A lot has been said about the changes at CK. There's this article at Scrapbook Update and this thread on Two Peas. I'll be honest, I miss seeing columns by Becky Higgins, Jessica Sprague and Ali Edwards. I like the columns by Mandy Douglass and Jennifer McGuire but are they enough to justify the high (in my opinion) expense of a subscription? Especially considering the issues with customer service and how their parent company has treated some of it's designers?
So I did what I am trained to do: I sat down and looked at this month issues from an analytic point of view.
Creating Keepsakes
What I liked:
  • Mandy Douglass's article on Recipes for Quick & Easy Layouts-loved that she used common photo print sizes and the layouts were adorable.
  • I loved the article on Kraft-I'm just learning to love kraft, so this was great for me! 
What I didn't like:
  • The scrap room article. I usually really enjoy this feature but this month the photos were taken from such a distance that you couldn't see much detail.
  • The CK Shows You How article on paint, seemed amatuer-ish and thrown together. 
  • Overall, the whole magazine seemed off. I can't put my finger on what it was, maybe it's me and I've outgrown it but I wasn't feeling it. :(
What I wanted to like:
  • The Scrap Your Faith article and The Deck Your Pages article-both just missed the mark for me. The faith article was pretty superficial and the deck your pages article didn't address the most common concern with adding that type of texture-how to limit the bulk. I just found both a bit lacking.
Scrapbooks, Etc.
What I liked:
  • Ali!!!! You are back! Yay! Ali Edward's article on her December Daily was great-concise and informative. If you visit her blog, you probably are already familiar with it but if you don't you got all you needed to know from the article.
  • Jen Lessinger's tip on how to create those cool scratch off cards was awesome. I'm totally doing that with the boys, just for fun. {Jen needs a blog-I love her layouts and sense of humor!}
  • Loved the last minute gift ideas article. I have so many gift idea lists bookmarked on my computer, it's nice to see them in a magazine article for once.
  • I've made no secret of the fact that I hate sewing but I actually enjoyed the article on sewing in this issue-in fact {i kinda want a teeny little sewing machine to try to do some sewing} there I said it out loud.
  • Yes, this was a holiday issue but they didn't beat us over the head with holiday layouts, there were plenty of non-holiday layouts too.
What I didn't like:
  • Ummmm...maybe the paper piecing? That's about it though, because I seriously wore this issue out looking through it!
Conclusion: I'm super happy my SBE subscription doesn't run out until 2012-I have literally looked through this month's copy like 12 times! I'm sad to say that I will likely let my CK subscription go. I might eventually pick up past issues on eBay or at Half Price Books but it's not a "must have" for me anymore.

That being said, there are tons of great non magazine sources for inspiration out there-I'll share a few of my favorites and why I love them on Thursday! See you then!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Things I Love Thursday...

-I need a new circle cutting system. While I love my Creative Memories cutting system, I'm pretty limited on the size of my circles.
Erika over at Scrapbook Obsession used her 50% MS coupon to get the Martha Stewart Circle Cutter. I have a craft budget of $20 a month (includes cardstock and adhesive). I haven't bought anything at all this month. AND I have my 50% off a Martha Stewart product from my copy of MS' Living magazine. So for just $13.00 + tax, I could have this:
My dilemma is this...I also like the EK Success Circle Scissors tool.

I'm just not sure which will be easier to use. I've found MS products to be VERY well constructed and easy to use, so I'm really leaning towards the Circle Cutter.
I will do a review of whichever I end up purchasing.

-Jill Marie has a wonderful and FREE fall download on her blog HERE. If you have never visited Jill Marie's blog, I encourage you to take a peek. She has some great downloads and ideas-I have her bookmarked and visit her daily.

-Oddly enough I got both my Creating Keepsakes and Scrapbooks Etc monthly magazines yesterday-it was interesting to read them both in the same evening. I have a post planned that compares and contrasts them coming up for this weekend. But I LOVED having not one but TWO new scrapbook magazines to read in one sitting.

-I have no words for how happy I am for this lady. No words. Congratulations Angie!

-I'm working on wall art for my scrapbook room and stumbled on this post by the very talented Kelli Crowe. (Who was inspired by Ali Edwards.) I'm so stealing this idea. Not sure what shape I'm doing yet though. But I'm thinking I'll use my Slice to cut the design. {Full disclosure: I had no idea Kelli had a website and spent hours reading back posts and grabbing ideas for layouts-that girl has crazy talent.}

-How much fun is this Monsterville line of papers from SEI? Perfect for my rowdy boys. It's on my wish list.
Happy Thursday!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Summer Fun Mini Album

We finally got some fall weather this weekend-rain and cooler temperatures. I also got a cold, so instead of going to the boys' football games I stayed in all day Saturday and {gasp} scrapped! Rather than working on the baby albums that I should have been working on, I decided to work on my Summer Fun mini album.
I've kinda been on a mini album kick lately. I got this mini album from my friend Monika from a giveaway on her blog-but you can buy it from her etsy store here. She even has a fall version available! 
I've never done a true 4x6 mini album but boy did I have fun with this. It ended up being about 2 1/2 inches thick when I was done. Monika's kit had a ton of embellishments with it but I ended using a bunch of my own too. :) Love that the kit inspired me to go look at my stash and pull some things out.

I used photos from the summer of 2009--my six year old came down when I was almost finished and was sooo excited to look through it. Totally inspired me to do one for each season.
Here's a look at the inside{warning: pic heavy!}:


The last page is one of my favorite pictures of the summer, of our littlest looking out of the slats on the front porch, waiting for his brothers.

Of course, that baby album isn't going to put itself together, and our friend isn't getting any less pregnant, so I think I know what I'll be working on this week!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Things I Love Thursday...

this idea by Beth Proudfoot! Totally stealing this for goodie bags for my boys for Halloween!

The Scrap Review has a great post about Color Core'dinations new line with Stacy Julian. I'm loving these "Happy Colors". I'm especially excited about the embossed words paper.
Finally, I am stalking the poor ladies at Archiver's hoping that the Matilda mini-deck will finally arrive. {Bonus-the 30% off coupon showed in my email today too! Woot!}
Oh, Matilda, you will be mine!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I'll Take the Scallops, Please...

Well, not really. I'm more of a lobster girl. But I do love the Stampin' Up Scallop punch. I mean serious, serious love. Use it all the time. On layouts. On cards. On crafts. That poor thing gets used to pieces. Gonna need to buy a back-up, because if it ever breaks I might just cry.
Christmas Kisses layout Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock, Basic Grey Patterned Paper, CTMH Ribbon
Used it a lot on this layout of my nephews from their Christmas card. By the way, how genius is that photo? My sister in law is an amazing photographer, and lucky me, she is taking our boys' pictures this Friday! Woo-hoo!
Here's a close-up of the scallops:
I think I might just go back and use my Slice to make a title for this one-"Christmas Kisses". Yup, that's exactly what this needs! :)
What's your favorite punch?

Friday, September 24, 2010

A Pirate's Life For Me


A few years ago, the twins were way into pirates. Loved everything about them. So it made total sense that for their birthday, we'd have a pirate themed party. The boys and their friends had so much fun "walking the plank" and "finding the pirate's booty" that I couldn't fit it all onto one two-page layout.

So it's a four page spread.

That's okay though. They love looking at those pages and talking about that day.
This layout was my first time covering chipboard letters with patterned paper (the ARGH), I think it turned out pretty cool.
Gotta say that I am also a huge fan of the font that I used for the journaling. Alright, I'll admit it, this layout is one of my favorites too. It's just so piratey. Argh!:) Have a great weekend!

Pirate's Life layout supplies: Bazzill cardstock, OTC patterned paper & die cuts, CTMH ink, Creating Keepsakes chipboard letters, Studio G alpha stamps

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Head on Over to....

Write.Click.Scrapbook.

Today {and every Thursday} is giveaway day! This week's giveaway is extra special awesome because it features my friend Monika's work. And if you don't win, you can always find something you love at Monika's etsy site here.
{Hint: There's a coupon code over at Write.Click.Scrapbook. for any one item in her etsy store.}

While you are out and about, stop on over to Ella Publishing, where they just released their newest e-book, Ella's Essential Guide to Scrapbooking Boys.

I love Ella's e-Books! As a Momma of four boys, this one is a must have for me!
Those are my Thursday picks.....hmmmnnnnn...maybe this will be a new blog feature. :)

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Scrapbook Room Revealed and Ribbon Storage Idea

Well, here it is-- the unveiling of the scrapbook room. Before you see the pictures, please keep in mind, I have no flooring down (no carpet or rugs-that will happen after the next tax return-maybe!), and I haven't had a chance to decorate just yet. Once I get everything decorated and the flooring down I'll take some more pictures, but this is what I am working with for now.
View from doorway
 I have a good amount of space in the room-on one wall is my huge built-in bookcase and the newly refinished antique desk and on the other is my JetMax cubes with my paper storage. The end wall has my Making Memories embellishment cabinet and opens up into a storage room. The opposite wall (that you can't see) is blank and has an extra chair propped against it right now for when one of the boys come down to visit with me.
Paper storage

All of my paper storage is in Jet Max cubes. These were purchased one at a time, over time with 40 and 50% off coupons at Michael's, and on clearance at Target. I'd like to eventually get about 3 more. I have 2 for 12 x 12 patterned paper and one for 12 x 12 cardstock. All of my Thickers, letters stickers, dimensional stickers, and sticker sheets are in the drawers. All of my 6x6 pads, mat stacks, etc. are in the open top cubes. Albums are lined up on top. My Cuttlebug is acting as a bookend. :) My most recent magazine issue are in magazine holders on the shelves to the left. The back issues are stored in the built-in bookcase.
Built-in Bookcase
This built-in bookcase was designed and built by my Dad. It was originally created to be used as my sons' playroom-which is way it isn't quite big enough for 12 x12 albums. But it is perfect for my HUGE magazine and idea book collection! It also stores old year ooks, photo albums, memory dock photo storage cases, and much more! Love it!
My Labor of Love
Ah....my desk. My labor of love. I worked so hard to bring this back to life. You can see what she used to look like here on my family blog. It turned out even better then I had hoped. So much room to work. My Making Memories tool caddy sits on top along with my ribbon storage (which we'll get to in a minute). I lined smaller Jet Max shelves along the top with things I use most often like like pens, markers, inks, adhesives, etc. In the drawers are a treasure trove of supplies-punches, Cuttlebug folders, stamps, all hidden away. I also have (not shown) two wood butcher blocks that pull out (like a lawyer might have to sign papers) for even more space to work. Awesome.
This desk is a dream-holds so much stuff!
That glass fishbowl you see sitting in the upper left corner of my desk holds my ribbon collection. I had no idea how much ribbon I had until I started moving my things. I think when things are out of sight, they are out of mind and just don't get used. And that was definitely the case with my ribbon stash. 
 
I was brainstorming ideas to get them onto my desk but not taking up a ton of space when I saw these baby wood clothespins at Michaels. I used my 50% off coupon to get 50 of them for less than $2 ( I had to go back and buy another pack a day later-I have a lot of ribbon). We had the glass fishbowl on hand from Chuck and the boys' adventures in fishkeeping. I just wrapped each ribbon around the clothespin and threw it into the bowl. I love that it adds a touch of color and is very functional. For about $4, I have all of my ribbon neatly organized and displayed where I will actually use it! Love it!


So there it is, my new scrap room. It still needs a little bit of work but I am very excited to have my own space to work in.