My craftroom: Let the work begin

Like many scrappers, I started out working at my dining room table. Next it was a small desk in the corner of the living room then that got moved to the family room and traded for a larger desk. Most currently, I have been working in what would normally be the formal dining room. I have made that space work for me pretty well but I have always wished for a space that I could leave my projects out and just close the door on the creative mess. Now that our daughter has married and moved from home, I am getting my wish. We are converting her room into a craft room/home office. I am very lucky my husband doesn't mind that I am taking over the space. He has been such a great help in this project.

 This is what we started with. It was very modern, perfect for our daughter, not so much for me.

 I took down the wallpaper border and hubby took down the too modern fan/light. We decided to take advantage of the room being empty and have the "popcorn" ceiling removed and all the walls retextured. Pictures can not show just how much better it looks with the new texture.

My son really had a blast helping us prime and paint.

 

 

I LOVE the new color.

And the new ceiling fan/light.

 

While we were working on various stages of the room, I was also working on some furniture that
would go into the room. I wanted a mix of old and new furniture. I was really excited to find
this cool vintage post office cabinet from the 1950's. I plan to get a little stool to go in the
 open space so I can pull it out and work at this spot. I didn't want it restored, I just cleaned it up really well and darken the stain in a few places, that was perfect for what I wanted.

 

The other big project I completed was my craft desk. My husband and I found

 this cute little desk that was  just the right size for the space.

 

 It just needed a little fixing up.  My plan was to change the hardware and to restain the drawers a lighter color, giving the desk a two-toned effect. I sanded the drawer fronts and top edge of the desk  and used a couple of different stains to get the color that I wanted. I found some great new hardware that matched the stain colors perfectly. I am so happy with how this turned out!

After Ken put together my big cubby shelf and new computer desk, we added the rest of the furniture. Including some cool new office chairs that are not only cute but super comfy! 

The view looking into the room.

 It looks plain right now but once everything else gets in I am sure it will look awesome.

 

The view looking out of the room.

It is all coming together. Now that the main parts are in place, we'll move the computer in and I will start organizing and decorating the room. Look for more pictures of that in my next post.

 

If It's Groovy: February challenge: It's in the eyes

Our challenge this month was to create a layout about a loved ones' eyes. You can view the challenge here.

I was happy to make a layout about my husband and what I see “in his eyes” To draw attention to just his eyes, I used vellum cut to fit the photo of us, then cut out the section where his eyes are. I left the bottom of the vellum unattached so you can lift and view the whole picture. This whole layout was made primarily with supplies from Echo Park’s “Times and Seasons” line.

You can also view my layout here. I hope you take the challenge yourself. Thanks for stopping by!

My retro ATC

or at least that is what Groovy Deb called it :) For one of my projects this month at If It's Groovy I created this ATC(Artist Trading Card)

This was just me playing around with a new stamp set I bought. I started with standard 2 1/2 inch x 3 1/2 inch sized cardstock. I used distress ink to age the background a bit then began stamping, starting with the background dotted pattern, I continued layering the images until I was happy with it. It was a simple, easy project. I encourage you to get out your ink and stamps and just play!

Scrapping Stamper December and January Sketch

I am always inspired by the monthly sketches from The Scrapping Stamper.
Here is the sketch for December:

And my take on it:

I love using scraps to make cards. I usually put my scraps from making a layout into a page protector, making it easy to whip up a card with coordinating papers. 

January sketch:

 

My take on it:

This layout came together very quickly. I love how all of the patterns go together. I started with that awesome floral(from Tim Holtz) and then just grabbed some others I thought would go. They all are from different manufacturers but blend together well. My title was a pre-made phrase and I thought it fit perfectly but it was beige. So you know me by now, I got out my fav distress inks and made it match. I am happy with the final product and the fact that it honors my greatest friends.

If It's Groovy Birthday Blog Hop

Hello and welcome! We are celebrating three years of If It's Groovy with a one day blog hop!! Each of us "Groovy Chicks" are using a letter from "BIRTHDAY" to create some fun things to share.

I have the letter "H" and I chose to make things that are "Happy". . .

A "Happy Birthday"card. . .

I love how this card turned out. It was roughly based on a card I saw in Paper Crafts. I stamped the sentiment on the base, cut out the patterned paper slightly smaller than the base, tore and rolled the top of the patterned paper to expose the sentiment underneath. I inked all the edges. The finishing touch, the ribbon tied across, love the trick of slicing a little slit in the fold and sliding the ribbon through.

An artist trading card about "Happiness". . .

I have really been enjoying making ATC's, especially when I have something new I want to try. It is less intimidating to try it on this small scale. I started with  cream card stock, cut to size(2 1/2 x 3 1/2), using some bright, happy yellows and oranges and my handy ink blending tool, I created the background then used this stamp from Stampers Anonymous for the rays. Finally, I added the quote, which I stamped on scrap, inked and added some color and stickles to the flower to finish it off.

And a tag using "Happy" colors. . .

And finally, I made this fun tag, perfect to add to a gift bag. For this, I started with a tag base, gathered some scraps, tore them into strips and glued them on to the tag, I don't worry about the edges hanging off, I just put them on there very randomly and when I am finished adding the strips, I simply cut off the excess all at once. I did ink each strip and the outer edge of the tag. The final touch, I punch a circle, stamped it "a gift for you" and attached with a brad.

I hope that my projects inspire you to get out your scrap stash and have some fun!
Thanks for stopping by! Next up is Jean with the letter "D"

If It's Groovy: January Challenge; You're so negative!

Groovy Deb always give us creative challenges. This month is about using negative space. You can view the challenge here and  Deb's post here.  My post is below. I hope you decide to play along.

I love layouts with white(or negative) space. When I first learned about “white space”, I took it literally to mean blank, white space on my page, that didn‘t appeal to me. I was glad to learn that white space didn’t have to be white at all and now I love making layouts with white space. This layout was easy to put together once I chose my gold, background paper, I pulled several scraps of blues/grays that I thought would go with the picture. I cut them in blocks and arranged them until I was happy with the design. I finished up by adding my title and date. I love that this layout showcases one of my favorite pictures of my kids.

December Daily wrap up

So, I started with great intentions for my December Daily album but when it came down to it, it just didn't work for me or at least not the way I planned. I am in the process of finishing up my book and I will share some of my pages with you. I learned a lot. This was my first time attempting something like this. I think I will do it again this Decemeber but with some changes that suit me.
Things I liked:
-loved having the everyday mixed in with the holiday events
-loved telling stories that my have been missed in my "normal" scrapbook
Things I didn't like:
-the pressure I put on myself about what I put in the album and how
-feeling like everyday had to have something, sometimes there just isn't anything
How I'll do things differently this time around:
-mostly digital pages
-no pressure to have something everyday, just go with it. Also, use these days to include holiday decor( I did this year as well, it just felt strange to put a date on it so I didn't)
-I won't pre-make my numbers, the ones I made this year were too big and I didn't like using the same one throughout like I thought I would.
Here are a few of my pages:

Day 1, love that I have Devin and his Lego Advent to begin this book.

This is so random but we had our pool removed this December and I love that it is documented in here too, shows what was going on with us during this already crazy time.

Pages about getting ready for the big day.

loved this page, my sons wish list for Santa. I created a pocket page and tucked it in.

We got an electronic invitation and it was so pretty. I wanted to include in my book. Instead of printing it out(was going to be the wrong size) I took a picture of my screen and printed the photo in the correct size. It turned out better than I thought it would.

My Daughter's fiance is in the Navy and sent her gifts early. Next year she'll have moved where he is, glad I have this documented, change is coming.

The last page that I am sharing with you shows  the internet can be a great resource. I didn't take pictures of us having the movie night, instead I did an image search and used the pictures of the movies instead. I was able to resize them to fit on my page.

Thanks for checking out some of my December Daily. I would love to hear from you. Did you do one this past December? Did you finish it? What did you like or not like about it?

Thanks for stopping by!