Distress?

This isn't an overly exciting post.  There are loads of examples of detail oriented "distressing" of details to make projects more visually interesting.  I'm all in favor of colours, not just edging everything in brown or black.  This is how I use the sponge from CTMH.  Sponges can be rinsed out and reused, no big deal.  I have started a system of tabbing my sponges, and just putting a star on the inks that have a mate sponge.   White Daisy paper cut to 1" x 2" fits the top of these sponges perfectly.  I note the ink colour, swipe it on the paper & staple it on.  This is not a new idea, Stampin up demonstrators use a tab punch to make prettier handles, same purpose. 

CTMH recommends sponges be cut into quarters, shown on the right.  I don't care for how thick it is in my hand so I cut in 6ths.  Uncut sponges stay in the package with papers waiting to be assigned.  The whole works store in a zipper baggie, until I get fed up with that system and try something else.

Thanks for stopping by, at least its not housework!

Rechargeable batteries

It seems every time I need something, it needs batteries.  I have been transitioning big time into using rechargeable batteries, especially since almost all kids toys need batteries!  So, they get dumped somewhere, skittle to the floor, charged & uncharged get mixed together, good grief!  I thought about it & decided I need a system easily understood & simple to use.  I thought about it & had a MyCreations card box begging for prettying up.  So I used pieces of this Chantilly paper pack and Twilight ink pad to edge the papers. 

 I really dislike measuring simple stuff.  I snipped a template of cardboard that is sitting in the middle of the box there.  I folded a piece of cardstock lenghthwise, then folded the middle, then put in the template & folded back the paper.  The picture below shows it on the right.  I snipped away about .25" off the ends & it fits nicely. 

 I secured it in place with Liquid Glass adhesive which dries strong, clear, and quickly.

A word of foresight, I would've been simpler to stamp the X for charged, O for dead, before I glued it all down, LOL!  I wish Costco would bring back these "Eneloop" batteries by Sanyo, they're really good because they stay charged when they've been sitting around for awhile. I'm glad you stopped in to have a look.

Organizing ink

I like things simple and obvious in organizing.  If its complicated or fussy, its not gonna happen.  I have some of the TimHoltz brand inks.  I scored from a community sale and found the exact brand case for $2.  It looks more sturdy than it is, but it's functional.  Each ink pad is labeled, and stored upside down to keep the ink juicy.  The ring of tags clipped to the handle is a doggie footprint stamp of each ink colour, on the back of each tag I swiped the same ink to show the colour range and noted the colour.  This kit fits perfectly in my new cabinets, bonus!

 Here is one of the shoeboxes from Canadian Tire I am using to sort & store assorted flotsam & jetsam from the nasty plastic drawers that were replaced by lovely cabinets.  These boxes are labeled with their contents and easy to grab.  Click to enlarge if you need to.  This container has various inks, embossing powders and some chalk palettes too.

 They fit 6 sideways neatly in the new cabinets.  As you can see, its coming along but not really ready for reveal pictures yet.  As any organizing, once its all done, I'll probably change my mind when I get sick of it & change some things again.  One step at a time...

Happy organizing!  Sigh, who am I kidding, its work and not really fun at all, no excited exclamation point will change that.  It is satisfying to make my crap accessible and culling as I go.  Onward, I chip away at the mountain of everyday chores with my lil plastic spoon, hee hee!

Organization: Embossing Supplies

Merry Christmas to me!  I received a Cuttlebug (WARNING: LOUD Youtube video).  With this comes new organization issues.  This tool gives me ideas.  Many people have even made their own embossing folders from rough fabric, mesh grocery bags, coins etc.  All sorts of things can be texturized with it, paper, tissue, vellum, aluminum foil, but nothing thicker than 1/8."  Cuttlebug was one of the original manual cutting systems, cutting "die" plates can still be used.  I can't be bothered to invest in those since the cricut does that, any size I need.  I determined I needed to label each folder so I would know which was what.  That might help prevent purchasing a duplicate down the road.  I read that it is best to put the labels at the very edge of the folders, just the thickness of the label can affect the embossing.  I still need to label the machine itself with a reminder to always put the fold of the folder through first.  Prevention of inadvertent folder destruction?  I took apart all the packaging, trimmed away the bulk & kept the flat parts.  Never know when clear plastic is needed for a window or something.

My first label-maker, that lil guy is handy for all sorts of things.

I cut down a package of Recollections brand paper 8.5x11" into 4 pieces per sheet and punched holes into the corners using my crop-a-dile tool, and then my bind-it-all corner rounder.  I figured out a colour coding system & just kept the paper packaging for reference.  Erasing some of the brown becomes tan for TimHoltz, green for Provocraft, fushia for Sizzix, and plum will be for Fiscars texture plates when I figure out how to use them in this machine.  I still have room for 2 more brands if I should need them.  I did a reference emboss of each folder & put them on a single ring.  I noted the size of each folder on the sample, that may save an oops someday?

 Here is the box I found that fits them perfectly. 

The lid has a spot that I can tape the colour code against for easy reference.

  This box has a nice adjustable bookend thingy in it to keep the growing file from flopping over.  I used leftover cardboard for the dividers. I made the tabs with my McGill tab punch.  That is a heavy slightly clumsy punch to use, but it always works well.  I haven't quite mastered how I want them organized, but I'm starting with floral, theme, and texture and can improve as I go.  Some people have over 200 folders!  Not me, this is almost 30 since I found a decent sale last week.

I have learned a lot from the circle message-board members, the Provocraft message-board, and youtube is a great resource too.  Sometimes the hardest part of organizing is figuring out what to do with it all.

January Organization

January, oh January, you are the armpit of winter.  It is a time of forced busyness to keep the grey doldrums away.  Resolutions, goals, fitness and organization.  None of those things really inspire me.  I am inspired when I am fed up with something that isn't working anymore.  I am also inspired by beauty, spring, summer, sunshine and life.

There's a topic on the circle message-board being bantered around about organizing our craft-rooms.  Channeling Flylady they have broken down the organization into topics of products:

1 ribbon/fiber

2 cardstocks/patternpaper/scraps

3 glues/stickles

4 stamps

5 Organizing Inks, chalks, embossing powder

6 cartridges/handbooks

7 markers/pens

8 brads/buttons

9 organize embossing supplies

10 glitter 

Etcetera etcetera.  

As I get organized I will try to remember to update the topics with links to my blog posts of what I've done, that might be handy.  I do have some organization in place, but not enough and certainly not in this sequence.  I've fondly nicknamed my craft room, "the pit of despair."  It became a dumping ground over December and I'm not happy.  It became particularly worse in October and November when 1/3 of the room was boxed up and put out of commission waiting for new cupboards.  So, like many others I will venture forth chipping it out in between work and everyday life jobs.



I don't want any comments about a hoarding TV show needing to come in.



Although the basement is comparable.  No, I won't show that.


The rest of the house is better, honest.

Seriously.  I'm trusting you.  No intervention needed.

Here goes, public viewing of, "The Craft Lab."  These pictures were taken in October 2011, so they are a full blown "before" vantage of this mess.  Before you ask how I can make anything in there, be aware that I have been known to clear part of the table to work.  The first picture is when you walk in.  on the left hand wall there is an armoire storage unit.  in the corner behind that is my Baby Wolf floor loom, safely tucked in where it can be whipped out because there is a sewage access point there.  During December the pile-o-crap camped out on the floor somehow multiplied, I blame the stupid-crap-gremlins for that!

 I really like all the natural light from the patio windows.  I have a decent florescent ceiling light to use when it's dark or I don't feel like rolling up the blind.  As you can see, plastic storage containers are functional, but they look awful.

 This is the wall on the right hand side of the room.  Cabinets went here and the plastic containers are almost all unloaded, 3 drawers to go & they're GONE!  Whoo hoo!!!

 This is the wall opposite to the big patio windows.  Yes there is a closet in the left hand corner, it's getting better.  Surprise surprise, there's a plug-in in the very left lower wall of that closet, and one behind the metal grid cube organizer.  I learned awhile back that those cube organizers can be used as mini shelves, all you need are zap straps or zip ties I think they're called.  They're tough little plastic cinch straps that stay where they're put.  More on those in another post.  Remember, these are "before" pictures to give an impression of what's going on.

 I mentioned 2 plug in's being hidden & useless?  I wasn't going to allow my one & only accessible plug in to be burried behind the new cabinets so it had to be moved.  Much youtube research & conversations with people in the know, it was moved, YIIPPEEE YIPPEEE YIPEEEE!!!!

Since these pictures have been taken, that hole has been filled in, and the cabinets have been installed.

Go GO Gadget HUSBAND POWER!

Organization of Cartridges

Cricut cartridge organization, a relatively new bane to my patience.  Even following my mantra to only buy on sale, they take up a lot of space.  Provocraft has been releasing piles of new cartridges to meet customer demand.  Unfortunately, more & more cartridges are 50, 100, 200, 300 images when a full cartridge usually has almost 700 images.  This creates a storage problem.  And then, some come in boxes, some come in plastic boxes, some come in plastic packaging. Well, they all come in plastic packaging that you risk slicing your hand to remove, But I'm stepping away from that soapbox...

Many creative people are getting rid of the boxes to just store the cartridges, booklets & overlays.  I've seen plastic bag systems; binder systems; plastic buckets using plastic embroidery grids custom cut to contain cartridges; and file systems.  I use my Gypsy a lot, but sometimes I need to reference the handbook to figure out the image or how something fits together.

These green file folders have been sitting around forever.  Using a heavy duty chopping paper trimmer I cut them down to 11 3/4" x 7 1/8" (except the tab height) I was able to cut 2 mini folders from each full size folder.  I measured to find the centre (except the tab) & aligned 1/4" more each side to accommodate 1/2" wide cartridges.   Then I enlisted my Martha Stewart scoring board & a nail-file to score since I couldn't find the scoring tool (my house ate it).  I put a sticky note on the board to remind me where to score repeatedly.  As always, scoring makes folding easier.

After cutting them all to size I started rounding corners one at a time until I realized, Hey, I have a tool that will do this faster and easier.  I used my new Zutter 1/2" corner rounder and found I could clip 10 corners easily.

Here is my results.  On the right it shows 7 cricut boxes in a Recollections brand photo storage box.  Of course different brand photo boxes do not have the same dimensions, I checked.  My mini-file measurements may not work for everyone, so always measure before cutting.

On the left is my mini file folders.  I found that if I aligned all the cartridges on one side it padded out & I couldn't fit as many in.  Alternating cartridges to the left & right of the book/overlay easily fits in 15 cartridges. The cartridge boxes will go in the basement into the empty cricut packaging box until I decide if I really need them anymore.  This was an exercise in assembly line production.  I made over 200 mini file folders this way.  I knew I would never find file folders for this purpose so it made sense to make them.  If I'm going to the trouble of making them, I may as well make a lot and be done with it.  Yes, its time intensive, but I'm working for me and that is important too.  6 hours well spent: 1 hour figuring out design, almost 3 hours cutting them down, 1 hour scoring, 30 minutes clipping corners, 30 minutes folding and they're done.  The nice thing about assembly line style is that I can do one stage at a time and still progress through the job.