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Saturday, June 5, 2010

Reorganized!

As promised, here are the pics of my newly reorganized scrap and play room.  It's nothing architecturally impressive or beautifully decorated...it's functional. 

And organized.

(HERE is the post with the before pics.)

I have an actual work area with more than a 6x6 bit of empty space!  LOL.  We'll see how long that lasts. 


Top shelf is stuff I don't use often. 
The next row has all the Stampin' Up! sets that I don't think the kids would ever use (they're stacked 2 rows deep here), next to those are my embellie chests (there's another one in the back of the orange one showing, and a couple of large flat ones that are hard to see), and next to that are boxes of naked chipboard sorted by theme. 
The next row houses all my Cuttlebug folders and machine, clear stamp sets (the binders hold Technique Tuesday sets and yes, they're completely full), and the first of 6 chests of individual stamps and small sets.  The next row is another 3 chests of stamps. 
The bottom row is patterned paper.  The first box holds individual sheets sorted by theme (there's another rack full of these, too), the middle box is themed pads (like DCWV), and the right box holds Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Stampin' Up!, SEI, & Crate Paper collections. 
Underneath the shelving are a couple boxes of other scrapbook sets from SEI and QVC. 
Hanging off the top are my apron (which I rarely use), a ring holding templates, a ring showing all my punch shapes, and a ring holding some old American Crafts ribbon sets.  I don't know why I can't seem to use these up.  I've had them for years.  My daughter has taken lately to wearing it.

(yes, she has underwear on)

That rolling cart holds the rest of the loose patterned papers organized by theme.  The green tote to the right holds other collections, mainly of My Mind's Eye.  The box on the left has alcohol inks, paints, and blank card supplies.  On top is my ScrapRack stuffed full of embellies organized by theme. 

This is 3 ScrapRacks hooked together.  I think it's almost 5 feet long.  (Yes, I know.  I have waaaaaaay too much stuff.  For years, mainly when the kids were small, I was a shopper but not much of a user.  I've probably got enough cutesy baby embellies to make 20 books easy.)

The two racks on the left are cardstock.  The white chests hold the rest of the individual stamps and small sets.  That box next to those holds my Ninja Addicts kits!!!!!!  (And woohoo!  My "Sing for the Moment" kit JUST arrived.  As soon as I finish this post I'm gonna break into that baby!)  The basket on top is full mainly of clip-on butterflies.

My quick-grab embellies on my desk.  Ooh, do you see Josie? 

This corner has a couple cabinets housing things I can lock away if I want, such as my Cricut and other machines, spray paints, and a stash of jelly beans among other things.  The papers in the vertical file are all my newest, fave, wanna-use-them-now patterned papers.  Next to that is my specialty inks chest.  And I finally made myself a ribbon rack for easy ribbon access.  See the hubby's boxing nuns on top of the pool cues?  LOL.

Mostly the rest of it.  The bottom shelf is going to hold all my pics.  They're in the other room right now waiting for me to finish organizing them.  I've got some organized according to the Library of Memories method, in albums (see the green & brown ones?).  The rest will just be in boxes in order.  The LOM method doesn't seem to suit me anymore. 

Here we have loose ribbon sorted in jars by color, jars of flowers and buttons, and misc. tapes among other little tchachkes.

On top is my Stampin' Up! ink carousel.  Then we've got drawers full of "dimensional" alphas (like corrugated, chipboard, etc.).  The bottom set of drawers has painting supplies, heat embossing, Stickles, specialty paints (like Shimmerz & Lumiere), PearlEx, glitters, mica, metallic medium, watercolors, and chalks.

Finally, I have 3 free rolling carts that just get moved around as they get in my way.  They house my most-used alphas, bling, mists, masks, borders, microbeads, & oil pastels.  There are also drawers of dry embossing tools, and texture medium & clay.  I have a drawer for "found objects and textures" which has things like corrugated coffee sleeves, bubble wrap, aluminum foil, fabrics, meshes, etc.  And there are drawers with misc. tools, staples (incl. my Fastenator), and adhesives.  On top is a little box full of paper scraps and misc. items I think I may one day use.  This is what's left after I went through the original, much bigger box and threw out lots of, well, crap.  I'm a hoarder.  Can you tell?

So, whadaya think?  I'm sick, no?  But at least now it's an organized sickness. 

And, as mentioned, this room is also the kids' playroom.  So they get the other half.  This is a very large room.  It was designed to be the formal living and dining rooms but who needs those???  We knew when we built the house that it'd be a playroom so we walled it off with double doors and installed Pergo.  It was my husband's playroom in the beginning...

Now I have a very large elephant in the room to work around.  Although I have to admit the hubs was teaching the boy how to play a couple nights ago, now that it's been unearthed from the mounds of scrap stuff.  We've even got kid-length cues for them.  I house boxes full of cars, musical "instruments", and dress-up paraphernalia underneath. 

Here's where they can watch tv or dvds or read. 


More books, lots of games, and then I've given them access to lots of my scrap supplies.  I've promised them over the summer they can start making their own scrapbooks. 

 
I've given them access to most of my Stampin' Up! sets.  Someone should use them...  Note that all of the SU! sets are stacked two deep.  I was my own best customer when I was a demo.  They've also been given access to all my punches (in the purple tote), some foam stamps, and those white chests hold border- and picture mat-sized cardstock organized by color. 

Here's their work table with all my specialty scissors, and buckets of pencils and glues. 

The first drawer is full of crayons, colored pencils, and markers.  The second has stamps, templates, tools, rulers, etc.  The bottom is coloring books and notebooks.

I gave them all my large-sized cardstock scraps (in the top bin) and lots of patterned papers that are outdated to my taste (bottom 2 bins).  It doesn't look like much in these pics but each bin has probably at least 5-6 inches of papers each in them.  They've been instructed this is still considered special paper which is not to be used to make confetti or "wrap" pretend presents, etc.  They have an ample supply of cheap construction paper for those shenanigans. 

The rest of their supplies are in that cabinet.  I've used one with doors so I can lock it in case other small children come by.

The bottom 2 shelves are supplies they can use at their whim.  There are jars of beads, yarn, dry pasta tubes, rolls of paper, pipe cleaners, and stickers among other goodies here.  The top two shelves are items that they can use but only with permission first.  I had a ton of "extra" ink pads I'd collected over the years that I hadn't been using because I mainly use my SU! ones so they have a fully stocked ink chest.  There's ribbon, fabric, tons of felt, glitters, buttons, googly eyes, bells, beads, feathers, cheesecloth, craft sticks and many other fun things up there. 

OK, so there you have it.  My scrap & play room. 

Let's see how long it'll stay clean. 

I'm off to tear into that Ninja Addicts kit and do me some scrappin'!!!!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Winner of Torendi Bam Pop Chipboard Giveaway

The lucky winner of the Bam Pop Chipboard Giveaway sponsored by Torendi is...




Julie, send me your addy so we can get your Bam Pop Chipboard out to you!  Lucky!!!!



Thanks again to Torendi for having me on their DT these past few months.  I wish them all the continued success in the world!!

Heidi

Thursday, June 3, 2010

First Grade Here I Come!!!!

I know I'm repeating myself here but by 9:45am PST today my little, itty, bitty, baby boy will be an official

FIRST GRADER!!!!!!!



This picture was taken the morning of his Kindergarten graduation photos.  He just looks so darn grown up here to me!  ~sob~

I used this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch:


Does it look a little familiar????  I based it on one of my fave layouts I've made:


This layout was based on another sketch I made a few months back.  LOL.  See the original post HERE to see the original sketch inspiration. 

Check out what the rest of the Sketchy Thursdays DT made for your inspiration. 

I'd love for you to play along with us, too.  Need a little extra encouragement?  How about that the prize is Copics??!!!!

I'm off to continue lavishing the new first grader with well-deserved praise and love! 

Heidi

P.S.  Don't forget my Torendi GIVEAWAY.  All you need to do to enter is add a comment on THIS POST HERE.  The deadline is tonight, Thursday 6/3, 11:59pm EST.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Pink Ninjas Kick Ass!

I am so HONORED to have been chosen to be a Pink Ninja again!!!!  The Pink Ninja community is full of the most awesome, sweet, bad ass, funny, amazing, amazingly talented people ever. 

The newest Pink Ninjas are a rad compilation of current, past, and brand new chicks:

Ninja Master Ally
Ninja Master Nely
April
Sarah
Michelle
Lynnette
Christina
Emily
Mo
and Moi:


So, all us Ninjas answered a few get-to-know-you seriously random questions.  Here are my answers:


1 - where do you live??  Gilbert, Arizona

2 - favorite etsy shop??  Ninja Addicts, of course! And Design By Diana.

3 - what did you do last night??   ummm...same old weeknight ritual getting the kids fed, bathed, read to, and into bed. then i watched glee for the first time ever. got room in the viewing schedule now that lost is over.

4 - do you have a crush?? we wanna know more,,,    after 20 years i still think the hubs is a hottie. top of my celebrity "freebie" list is taye diggs, has been ever since he was in "how stella got her groove back". and i'm getting to get to be a diry old lady. a couple of the boys from "big time rush" are eyebrow-poppers and damn! taylor lautner makes me all gooey. i'm still team edward on paper but team jacob on the big screen. mm mm good.

5 - are you tatted?? if yes, share,,,   i have a crescent moon with a kanji for "strength" on my bicep. even though the two things make one tattoo the image meanings are mutually exclusive. someday when i have disposable income again i plan on a few more.

6 - wal-mart or target??   target all the way!!!!! i love that little dog Bullseye!!!!!

7 - tell me something random about yourself -   i'm a control freak when it comes to driving. i must drive. i'm ambidextrous (although since i don't practice writing with my left hand, the handwriting sux...it's legible but ugly. i can do most other things with both hands, though). i can say the abc's just as fast backwards as forwards. (and no, i didn't learn it for sobriety tests!) so would that be my zyx's? i'm double jointed and very bendy (channeling phoebe here). i can bend my thumb BACK to touch the top of my wrist. i once had a personal trainer convinced there was something wrong with his flexibility test because i tested so flexible. i'm just as *&#!%$@ salty as any sailor out there!

8 - in which era do you belong??   the end of the 60s. it was ok to be a strong woman while staying home with the kids.

9 - first kiss??  the best feeling there is. eye-closing, breath-catching, stomach-swooping bliss. wish i could get another one.


Check out the Pink Ninja blog to read the other Ninjas answers.  They're so much fun! 

Our first prompt as a new group goes up next Wednesday 6/9.  We're returning to the old prompt format of "just a prompt" so you all can interpret and create from it whatever your heart desires.  Hope to see you play along!!!!!!

And make sure you check out the newest Ninja Addicts kit "Sing For the Moment".   The colors are so yummy!!!!


Have a Ninjalicious Wednesday!

Ninja Heidi

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The Giving Tree


I'm so excited!  Today is my first layout for Scrap That Poetry!  And how serendipitous that the poem I cited as one of my faves for my DT application was "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out" by Shel Silverstein and now my first STP poem to work with is "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein!


The poem:

Once there was a giving tree who loved a little boy.

And everyday the boy would come to play
Swinging from the branches, sleeping in the shade
Laughing all the summer’s hours away.
And so they love,
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

But soon the boy grew older and one day he came and said,
"Can you give me some money, tree, to buy something I’ve found?"
"I have no money," said the tree, "Just apples, twigs and leaves."
"But you can take my apples, boy, and sell them in the town."
And so he did and
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

But soon again the boy came back and he said to the tree,
"I’m now a man and I must have a house that’s all my home."
"I can’t give you a house" he said, "The forest is my house."
"But you may cut my branches off and build yourself a home"
And so he did.
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

And time went by and the boy came back with sadness in his eyes.
"My life has turned so cold," he says, "and I need sunny days."
"I’ve nothing but my trunk," he says, "But you can cut it down
And build yourself a boat and sail away."
And so he did and
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

And after years the boy came back, both of them were old.
"I really cannot help you if you ask for another gift."
"I’m nothing but an old stump now. I’m sorry but I’ve nothing more to give"
"I do not need very much now, just a quiet place to rest,"
The boy, he whispered, with a weary smile.
"Well", said the tree, "An old stump is still good for that."
"Come, boy", he said, "Sit down, sit down and rest a while."
And so he did and
Oh, the trees was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

We have a tree in our front yard that the kids love to climb and hang on. 
 

 
So I chose to extract these lines from the poem:
 
 
I LOVE that Prima obviously makes their packaging to be used as an embellishment also. 
 
I used a few goodies from Torendi on this layout, too.
 
 

The adorable houses canvas fabric is called "Stroll" by Shinzi Katoh.  It's from the May Torendi kit "Color By Number".   I made the flowers with the "Material Girl" mini deck from Cosmo Cricket, also in the Torendi store.   I love how that paper really looks like fabric flowers. 

This layout actually also marks my last project for the Torendi Design Team.  Be sure to stop by the Torendi blog from time to time and check out what Jenn, Tiff, Kelly Marie, and BR-T (Beth) continue to make.  Such a wonderfully talented group of ladies!  I'll miss being included as part of this team but life just keeps getting busier and busier with the kids growing up and it's just so hard to keep up with DTs with weekly requirements at this time (other than ST, of course!!).  I'm hoping once I get the house reorganized I'll be able to shift more of my focus back on scrapping TONS again!   (On a related note, the scrap room is thisclose to being done!!!!  And I REALLY reorganized that sucker so it took A LOT of effort.  I should be finishing it up TODAY, WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO.  I'll share pics later this week.  It's not all designer and gorgeous but it's organized and functional which is exactly what it needs to be.) 

So, anyway, back to the layout at hand...check out what the rest of the Scrap That Poetry DT made for your inspiration.  This is also the introduction of the other new STP DT members, too!!!!  And the STP Guest Designer for this poem is none other than Diana!!!!  Can you believe it? 

I would LOVE for you to play along with us, too.  You can you can use the entire poem, a line, a verse or a few words from the poem, or just let the poem inspire you in some way to create your card, layout, or altered art!


You have until June 14th at 10am EST, to link your entry to this post.   The lucky winner will receive a $15 gift certificate for Precocious Paper with FREE shipping!!!!!  TRUST ME - you WANT this prize!!!!  Tessa's Precocious Paper goodies are to die for. 
 
Only 2 more days of Kindergarten for the boy.  Gotta remember to take all the requisite pictures (standing in the same place as on the 1st day, walking in to school, with his WONDERFUL teacher), get a handwriting sample, reinterview him about his current faves, apply my waterproof mascara and pop some gum in.  I'm in his classroom that day and I'm sure I'm going to get all weepy again.  What a HUGE milestone. 
 
Hope you had a great weekend!!!
 
Heidi

p.s.  Don't forget I also have a Torendi GIVEAWAY going on.  Check out THIS POST to enter.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Graduation Card

We moved into our neighborhood the same time as our neighbors on either side of us.  At the time, the neighbors on the left had 2 boys, the oldest of which was just a little bit older than my son is now. 

Last night, that boy graduated high school. 

That really puts into perspective to me just how quickly the next 12 years are going to fly.  ~whimper~

April 2011 issue

I melded together a couple of Torendi kits to create this card.  The Dick & Jane text paper is from this month's kit "Color By Number", which is SUPER cute, playful, and fresh.  The red & white checked paper is from the "Modern Red" kit, probably my all time fave so far from Torendi.  AND it's on sale right now!!! 

Speaking of on sale, the Torendi Item of the Week is Buzz and Bloom's On Cloud Nine denim clouds.  They're only $4!!!!  Check them out here.  So stinkin cute! 

And while I'm on a Torendi roll, how about a Torendi giveaway??!!!!!  Woohoo!!!!! 


This set of Bam Pop! Bubble Love chipboard can be yours, all for the low, low price of a comment. 

Tell, me...if a word bubble (or thought bubble) floated around with you everywhere, what is the funniest thing yours would've said today? 

You have until next Thursday at midnight (EST) to leave your comment on this post for your chance to win. 

Hope your weekend outlook is fun!  It's the Memorial Day holiday here in the States so lots of you will be enjoying 3-day weekends!!  I know we will!!! 

Heidi

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Game On

Wow!  Is it already Thursday?  I've been so focused this week on organizing the scrap room (yes, it's taken that long because it was that bad...you saw the pictures!) and my son's Kindergarten Celebration last night.

I'm happy to report that the scrap room should be almost completely done today.  AND I made it through the K Celebration with only minor, quiet tears.  I don't think I made that much of an ass of myself.  Waterproof mascara ROCKS!

I don't think my kids have ever watched any "Professional" wrestling but one day they decided to put on their best wrestling get ups and show us how it's done. 


This week's Sketchy Thursdays challenge is being sponsored by one of my favorite sites, Picnik.com!!!!  They're giving the winner a 6 month subscription!!!  That's awesome.  Because while there are many processes you can perform for free, there are lots of super cool ones that require you have a subscription.  So, besides all the normal cropping and minor touch-ups, my layout is FULL of examples of some fun Picnik processes.

Here I've used color boost, an Orton filter, and vingette:


This one has color boost, the Orton filter, and focal zoom:


On both of these I've used cloning to remove distracting background items, the cross-process filter, and stickers.  (Notice the "tattoos" on the boy??  LOL!!  Tough!)



And I also used Picnik to make collages so I could easily print 4x6 pics with smaller pictures instead of having to mess with the Kodak kiosk to do that.


Yeah, overall this is a pretty simple layout but my mind's been a bit preoccupied. 

Of course, the layout is based on this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch:


Can you tell this is another one of my sketches? 

Be sure to check out what the Design Team made for your inspiration.  I think everyone played along this week!!  And check out Picnik.com.  As I said, there are lots of processes that you can play with for free.  Check it out!  I guarantee you will love it.

Off to the boy's classroom for undoubtedly another day of stapling, copying, and cutting.  I love it!!!!  :o)

Heidi

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Got Balls?

For Mother's Day I made my mom a few scrapbook pages for her walls.  Most of them were very similar to ones I'd made before (of which I'll share with you on some future posts) but this one was mostly new.


(Sorry the color on these pics is so jacked up.  Not sure what happened.  It looks like I put some funky 70s filter on the pics.  Huh.)

The boy played both baseball and basketball this past year.  He was naturally good at baseball but found it boring.  Too much waiting around.  He is loving playing basketball even though it doesn't come as easily for him.  He'll be doing basketball camp this summer so hopefully that'll raise his skill level so the game is just that much more enjoyable for him. 

I used a combination of the Ninja Addicts' Mommy's Little Monster and Accidentally Kelly Street kits for this layout. 


Off to continue working on my scrap room.  I think I'm getting close! 

So what are you doing this weekend?

Heidi

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Ballerina

This week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch is a 2-pager!


I had taken lots of pics of my daughter at her Fairytale Ballet class so the extra area aloud me to get quite a few different shots in as well as an artistically edited close up of her adorable ballet shoes.


Oct/Nov 2010 issue - "Ballerina", animal prints call


 
{insert full sized left & right side pics here}


I used the Ninja Addicts "Carousel" kit for most of the layout. 


It's really hard to see but each flower petal is actually a stamped image of ballet shoes.  (Maybe if you click on the pic and zoom you can see it better.)  Isn't that bottlecap center adorable?!!  It's in the "Carousel" kit.


Thank goodness for the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  This quote is a stamp and with the help of the Stamp-a-ma-jig I was able to stamp each individual line perfectly on the lines on the journaling spot. 

A close up of the artistically edited ballet shoes shot.  (Thanks again, Picnik!)  I might have to blow this up and hang it in her room on its own!


Check out what the rest of the Sketchy Thursdays DT made for your inspiration.  There is even an example of breaking the sketch down for a one-page layout!

Back to tending to a sick little boy, a curiously clingy dog (not sure what's up with that), and an extremely jealous but otherwise healthy girl (she's just not getting all the attention, darn it all!). 

Heidi

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Random Quotation "Marks" & Superfluous Apostrophe's

**  Update - This layout can be currently seen in its entirety in the July 2010 Scrapbook News and Review issue!!!!!  **

The newest prompt on The Pink Ninjas is Randomness.  You're also to include a paper clip and the pink twist is to use embroidery floss.


I'm driven to distraction by random quotation marks and superfluous apostrophes.  I mean, seriously,

?

Had lots of fun with paperclips.




There are even paperclips in my picture of my daughter's doll as Super Apostrophe Woman lounging by our pool.  She's randomly quotation marked by the same giant ones hanging from the same paperclip chain as in the above pic.  Can you see the paperclips in the picture?  I know it's a bit hard because of the zoom I put on the picture.  (Yea, Picnik.com!)




You can click on the pic for a close up.

Check out what the rest of the Pink Ninjas made for your inspiration.  Lots of awesome randomness!!!!

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with as their random idea. 

Heidi

Monday, May 17, 2010

Scrap That Poetry

Yea!  I'm so excited to be a new member of the Scrap That Poetry Design Team!!!!!   There are so many awesomely talented girls on the DT and amazing people who play along.  (Did you see Diana won the last challenge?)


My term won't start until the 6/1 poem but in the meantime stop by to play along with the current poem, Maya Angelou's "Woman Work".