A Layout & Some Organization

I only got one layout done in the last 2 days. It is another Scrapbook Challenges challenge, Scraplift It! We were supposed to go to the May Work thread, pick a layout and lift it. I chose a layout by Holli!

And this is my take on it!
I used some cheapo cs I found deep in my stash, October Afternoon pp scraps, some rhinestones, Michael's Christmas ribbon, Thickers, and some brads.
I have been looking for a way to showcase all the inches I got a while back from a couple swaps. I tried putting them on acrylic and putting them on my ATC spinner, but it got too full too fast and I switched to binders. I went to a coin/stamp shop today, and picked up these coin sheets. I think it worked out pretty well! I put them in the front of my ATC binder and I can look at them anytime I want now! I really like it!
I may have said binder, but I have 2 so far. This is the first one, FULL! My second binder is about half full! I like this method SO much better than the spinner!
Short post today, but tomorrow is the Scrapbook Challenges DT Blog Hop! Be sure to check it out, there are going to be TONS of prizes! I saw the prizes and wish I could participate!! It starts at 9 am pacific time, so check back then!!

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6 Hour Scrappy Reorg

Yep, I finally got to redo my tiny scrapspace! It was not by choice though! See the shelf in the photo below?

It fell!!! I was standing right below it, put a package of Thickers on it, and KABAM!! My nose took the brunt of the fall, but it is ok! It turns out one of the wall anchors snapped in half!! Everything fell down, embellishment containers spilled, stamps fell out of thier binders, Cricut cartridges opened up and went everywhere, and my Cricut and Silhouette fell 6 feet to the floor! This is what it looked like after I picked everything up...

I had to fix my desk, it has been coming apart in the middle for a while, so everything came off!! I fixed the desk, reassembled the computer, readjusted the brackets on the shelf and put it into studs this time! Moved some things around, added a couple plastic shelves, and I have more space and I think it will be a lot more useful! Now, the lights on the bottom of my shelf are actually over my work, rather than off to the right casting a constant shadow!! I even found a way to have my Cricut and Silhouette pluged in all the time, just pull it out, set it on a TV tray and use it! That wasn't possible before!! I really like it!

Cards, RAKs, Organization

This was a challenge for The Cuttlebug Spot, Celebrate Spring! I used Bazzill Dotted Swiss cs, and everything else is Crate Paper Kaitlin Collection. I used D'vine Swirls and Swiss Dots CB embossing folders, and a Sizzix flower die. I sanded the D'vine Swirls, and inked the Swiss Dots.

This card is a funny story. I went and made this card, for the challenge above, and realized the colors weren't very "springy". Just for the record, I used Bazzill cs, October Afternoon pp, a borrowed CB embossing combo set (sorry, don't know the name), Inkadinkado Stamp, and a brad.
As if that wasn't bad enough, since the above card didn't work because of the colors, I made this one instead! Very springy, but I realized there was no Cuttlebugging involved!! SO, I made 3 cards for this challenge, but only the top one is "official", lol!! This was made with Bazzill cs, borrowed KI Memories scraps, Stickles, and an Inkadinkado stamp.
So I got another hostess RAK for the Easter ATC I am hosting for AMR. Aren't these to die for?! SO cute, and cupcakes to boot! Thanks Bren!!

Another hostess gift, from Espinola3.

I decided it was time I reorganized my chipboard. This just wasn't working. It was on my shelf and I could barely reach the top row (I am only 5 ft tall). Plus, the letters seem to get stuck when opening the drawers.

This is what I did for now. There will lots of digging involved, and my hope is someday I can buy something else to keep this in. At least for now, I can take my chipboard with me! Now, before you say anything, most of these letters are incomplete sets, and most are pretty ugly and need to be stripped! I do feel like I have more now, but I also never feel like I have enough, lol! We'll see how this works.

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I will try to get in more of a bloggy habit, and not share 20 layouts at a time, lol! Thanks for checking in!!

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The Great Scraps Reorg

I have been wanting to reorganize my scraps for a long time now, as the 2 drawers that are used all the time were crammed full. My scraps were starting to get all bent up.

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This is what it looked like before I started...

Top drawer...Bazzill only scraps. It wouldn't even close anymore!
Second drawer...Designer printed paper only, also, barely closing.
Third drawer...old scraps from crappy paper I used to buy, and cheap-o cs I don't use anymore.
Fourth drawer...Ephemera or memorabilia, do I really need a drawer for this stuff??

Bottom drawer...mini books and things to alter. I can move this stuff right? This is only half of said items!! Maybe I should do more minis!!

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.....organize, organize, organize.....
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The new and improved, but not a whole lot different SCRAPS DRAWERS!!!

You can see they are labeled for quick searching, and less confusion! I organized my manufacturer, as that is usually how I go digging for paper. It works for me!

First drawer...Basic Grey and October Afternoon scraps. I have as many of these scraps, as I do the rest of all the pp!!

Second drawer...Pink Paislee, Sassafras Lass, Cosmo Cricket, Crate Paper, and Dream Street.

Third drawer...American Crafts, Making Memories, Bo Bunny, and Scenic Route.

Fourth drawer...other printed paper, but still designer paper.

Bottom drawer...Bazzill cs, separated by size and put in Ziploc baggies (thanks Jingle for the awesome idea, hope you don't mind). The bigger pieces, are in a large Ziploc in my Cropper Hoppers with my other Bazzill, along with Hambly transparencies and lace cardstock scraps.

Here are the Ziplocs, showing the degree of my separation.

That is it! I hope it works, I have faith it will. What did I do with all that other paper in the middle drawer that I never use???? I can't get rid of it, so it is currently in another large Ziploc baggie, stuffed next to the drawer system, with everything else I don't know what to do with, lol! I redid another little drawer system, combined a couple drawers, and put all my minis/alterables in 2 drawers.
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Oh yeah, Walgreens had a one day special on online prints, 20 FREE! You know I was scraping the bottom of the barrel on my photos, so Cliff (by Cliff I mean me) and I both took advantage of that, so now I have 40 new photos to scrap!! WOO HOO!
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That is all for now, look out soon for a post with more challenges I have gotten done!

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A Better Way

I found a better way to deal with all those challenges/Swaps. This is so much better than bookmarking, printing all the pages, constantly creating and changing word documents, and losing due dates!

I got this flipable photo frame at the dollar store and altered it! I write down what the challenge/swap is, who/what it is for, the due date, and a brief description of what I am supposed to do!
I slide the 4x6 card into the little page protectors, in due date order.
Here is the back! It is REALLY cheap quality and the legs won't stay open. A little ribbon to hold it open and now it will sit on my desk in plain view where I won't lose the info or forget about it!
As I was finishing this up, yet another challenge was posted on AMR, so I just moved the cards around and the new one got added into the frame in order! I think this will work out for me really well. I can put the dates on a calendar on my computer, but don't always check it. I can put the dates into a little organizer (for your purse), but I won't look at it a lot either. This way, it is right in front of me, it looks pretty, and I don't anticipate losing it or forgetting about it! What prompted this? I forgot about a blog challenge that I was very excited to do. I was so bummed, I set out immediately to find something that works.

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Fourth Of July and More

I hope you all have a safe and fun 4th! I know we did. I said I would have pictures from the 4th of July fireworks, here they are. I got some great shots, here are just a few of them.

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I got some shots of the kids, waiting for the show to start...not bad for not being able to see anything on the screen to line up the shot!!

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Before the fireworks, I was able to organize my ribbon, finally, with these new containers I found on sale at JoAnne's! All the ribbon, except the bottom tray, is on floss cards. The bottom tray has ribbon on spools , the next one up has the fattest ribbon, the next has medium ribbon, the next has skinny ribbon, and the top as floss/fibers. The trays all stack together into one easily transportable container. I think this will work out for me.

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I also finished up my Summer themed ATCs for AMR. This is what I came up with.

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Today I worked on the next "Book About Me" challenge for AMR...This is the cover page. I really couldn't think of what to do, so until I think of something else, this will have to do.

Here is the close up of the "inchies" I made for it. I just put matching rhinestones over the dots already on the paper..

This is the pocket page we were supposed to make for the same challenge. The pockets are meant to hold keepsakes, ie birth certificate, clippings, announcements, etc. I just adhered the entire page to the inside of the album. In order to show the pocket, I stuck some paper in there. My keepsake documents are currently scanned and in the computer waiting for editing. I don't want to use the originals, and my mom was nice enough to tape the stuff in there and over the years the glue from the tape has turned brown.
Here is a close up of the stickled title.
I am so excited to be doing this album. At one/two pages every two weeks, this is very manageable. By the end of the year, we will have an entire album about ourselves!

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Thanks for checking out my blog, feel free to leave me comments...I love them, it also lets me know who is checking it out.

Holy Scraps Batman!!

My scrap space reorg was inspired by the new file cabinet which I purchased in lieu of new drawers for my scraps with needed a home. Not having anymore money to buy before mentioned drawers, I emptied out my rolling drawers into filing cabinets, and VOILA, I have drawers for my scraps. Do you think I need them???

Trust me, this picture does no justice in portraying the amount of scraps that I have. Being the cardstock snob I am, I am separating my bazzill scraps from the rest of the cardstock. I have more sorting to do, I just hope it is easy to find scraps now, and maybe I can start using them. Most of this paper is old and ugly, but I am determined to find a use for it all.

As Promised

As promised in a previous post, I said I would post what I did at the crop......

I went to a crop last night and my cousin couldn't make it. The store (to be left unmentioned) wanted to still charge me the crop fee for her. After arguing with them and 2 phone calls to the owner, they finally agreed to let it go this time. As a thank you to the owner, I made her a quick thank you card. I hadn't brought any supplies with me, so a couple other gals let me use some of their supplies (thanks Kay and Kelley). I think it turned out just fine.

I spent my cropping time organizing my acrylic stamps-it took me forever!! After a few trials then I did n ot like, I ending up putting my stamps in between 2 8x8 transparancies and slipped them in an 8x8 album. I am still not satisfied with the outcome, but it is better than the ziplocs I was using before. I would love to find a way to store them with the orignal backing so I can see the stamp's image better. It is definately still a work in progress.

I didn't get around to organizing my ribbon last night, so I worked on it this morning while watching the Nascar race in Bristol. I took all my cheap spool-o-ribbon, cut about 3-4 feet off, and made my own "pull-eeze" ribbon holder that I can keep in my cropper hopper. Anything less than a foot is in my scraps ziplock baggie.