A Peek in My Studio

Happy Sunday, friends!  I hope you have a wonderful day today!  Thanks for stopping by.  Instead of a card today I have a peek into my studio where I have been busy organizing my stash!  The system I had for my paper simply wasn't working anymore and my table was way too crowded.  Time for some work!

This picture shows my table in all its messiness!  I have a real problem with horizontal surfaces....I put stuff on them!  *sigh*  It's a terrible habit I'm working one.  Slowly.  I knew I wanted to get rid of everything on the table that I didn't use for most every project.  I took everything off the table to start.  I had a mental list of what I wanted put back on there so those things made the cut.  The rest of the things found new homes.  To the right of the window I have a bookshelf and a 7-drawer organizer from AC Moore that hold the rest of my supplies.  No pictures of those today....they are still a bit messy!

And the nearly finished project.  I want to get a small antique crate for the back corner.  I'll put my ipod dock and a small box of tissues on the top.  Inside I'll put the stuff that's currently in the basket as well as my planner and the box of pearls that's sitting next to the dock.  My laptop sits on the back right corner in front of the window.  You can see my pvc file holder I built in the lower left corner.  I thought about it for months, planned it out, and finally bought the supplies and built it.  I kept thinking I could find something already made that would work but I simply did not.  Anything for 12" paper was usually out of my price range.  I knew I wanted my paper stored vertically.  I wanted it close at hand, not over on the shelf where it had been since I started making my cards.  I also wanted the full size and half sheets stored separately from my scraps.

I built this from 1 1/4" pvc.  I planned out the length and height according to the size of my table.  Eventually I would like to figure out how to put casters on the bottom (I left room in the height for those) but for now this works.  I added some 1/4" copper tubing (held on with wire ties) to the top of the pvc for the file folders to rest on.  I measured the legal size folders between the notches to get the right size of the cross pieces.  I had to alter the folders to get them to fit.  Legal size folders are more than long enough for scrapbook paper, but not deep enough.  So the first thing I did was slit open the bottom of the folder and add some thin cardboard (12"x8" folded to 12"x4") to the bottom.  I also had to cut about 1/2" off each side of the folder so it would fit in between the pvc.  I have more folders to alter but I have a good start and only have 3 colors of card stock not filed away.  I also added folders for the next card I'm going to make and my calendars where I keep track of design team obligations and challenges I want to enter.

As I said, my full and half sheets are in my folders.  Anything smaller than that I separated by color, then by size again.  Anything smaller then 6"x6" but larger than 3"x3" was trimmed and filed in this box.  I think I will use some packing tape to fold the flaps down and make the top of this a bit sturdier.  Most of my cards are 6"x6" and I matte pretty much everything including any layers.  It was hard to find small pieces to matte everything before when all the papers were stored together.  This is so much easier to look through and really didn't take too long once I got started.  One evening I sorted everything smaller than 3" into a large bag.  The rest was sorted by color.  Once I had them sorted I took each color and trimmed down the scraps to get rid of any uneven edges (like when you die cut a circle).  Then I stacked them neatly and was so excited to find this perfect size box in my basement (it is a hair over 6" which is just right!).

This is where I put all the scraps smaller than 3".  I am planning on getting some dies for tags and labels and know I will eventually use these so for now this is where they are.  They aren't organized at all but at least they are neatly contained and not mixed with the bigger pieces.

Now I want to show you my creative buddy.  He lives in a cage next to my table and I just love him.

This is Precious.  He is a Netherland Dwarf bunny and I believe he is 8 years old.  My husband bought him for our anniversary and he was so tiny when Joseph brought him home all I could think was how precious he was.  He makes me laugh all the time.  We have lots of animals inside and outside our home.  However, the sewing room/studio is his territory!  Especially the 12" perimeter outside his cage!  Sometimes Joseph will come in when I am working on a card and sit on the floor next to my chair.  Unfortunately that is within Precious' boundary and he will thump and run circles in his cage until Joseph moves.  Tonight both of our dogs decided they needed to sleep right next to mom's stamping chair (I don't know why).  Precious had himself so worked up I made Joseph call the dogs out so he would calm down.  And it's not fear!  I frequently take him out of his cage and let him hop around in my room.  If the dogs or cats come in he will hop right up to them.  He is scared of none of them.  The cats and one dog will leave very quickly.  The other dog is from the pound.  It took us a long time to get her used to the other animals (who we think she simply saw as opponents for food) and she looks at me with the most pitiful face when Precious comes up to sniff her face.  I know she really just wants to eat him but she also doesn't want to disappoint mom so she puts up with him!

This is where Precious hangs out when I am working on a card.  He hops around a bit but mostly just sits under here.  He loves to sniff my feet and nibble on my slippers or pant legs.  The only time that's a problem is when he nibbles the strap on my flip flops and gets too much skin!  When I yelled when he did that he simply sat up on his hind legs and stared at me!!  He really is very sassy.  (One of my boys says he is just like me....)

So anyway, that's a peek into where I create.  If you have any questions about my pvc frame feel free to contact me.  I'm not an expert but I can tell you basically what I did.  Oh yeah!  My dear hubby let me use his pvc glue too.  Don't forget that stuff!  The frame is fine if its standing still but I want to pull it in and out from under my table.....it fell apart twice leaving my folders all over the floor.  It's glued solidly now!

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle