Stamp Out Chaos: The Reveal

Good morning friends,

It's been WAY too long, but today, Lindsay and I wanted to start wrapping up our Stamp Out Chaos series by sharing with you some pictures of our crafty space.

If you want to catch up on my other organizational hijinks and shennanigans including some really scary before photos, click here. 

One of the pieces of furniture that has worked really well for me is the Ikea Expedit.  I think it goes by another name now, but I started with a 4 x 4 unit and added a 4 x 2 unit and placed it on top taking the storage up to the ceiling and I love it.  The top cubbies hold my scrapbook albums, some project life supplies and the baskets contain extra card stock as well as memorabilia and items for particular album projects. 

The Expedit also holds my stamp collection in Avery Elle storage envelopes and Fridge Binz.  I use divided plastic boxes to contain wood veneers, metal embellishments and a floral storage box to corral stickers and sticker letters.  

I also added drawers to the bottom two rows of Expedit cubbies.  These drawers hold supplies like stencils, paint, specialty tools (punch boards), felt, fabric, bling, buttons, envelopes, bags, and tags. 

To the left of the Expedit is a large bulletin board.  I painted the board white before stenciling a trellis pattern with cheerful yellow paint.  

Moving into my work area, I have the aqua Raskog cart adjacent to my desk.  I used an Antonius insert to organize my working stamps and supplies- including 6 x 6 paper pads, adhesive and my stamp press.

The two remaining shelves hold project life cards and supplies. 

Tucked under my desk is my Elfa File Cart- this holds most of my "good" card stock and has 3 baskets below perfect for holding paper scraps. 

I found these bright yellow desk accessories at TJ Maxx.  I am using them to hold mini ink cubes, post it notes and other bits and bobs for crafting. 

The Pro Ink Organizer from Organize More is hung on the wall above the corner of my L-shaped desk. Sophie gave me the "World's Best Mom" foam sign last year for Christmas and was insistent that it be displayed in my room.  

I have a dedicated space on my desk for my computer and Silhouette portrait.  Sometimes, the crafty mess migrates to this area, but I do try to keep this area tidy.  

Above the desk, my hubby also installed a shelf that I use to hold ribbons, patterned paper scraps and project life embellishments.  I picked up a metal rod at the hardware store and used some clip-it-up clips to hold some packaged embellishments.  With embellishments in particular, I seem to need to see them in order to remember to use them.  

This is the Making Memories embellishment center and it's super handy for keeping items in close reach, but off my desk.  Currently, it's holding the Mini Distress Ink Cubes and Storage Tins that I received for Christmas as well as stamp storage pockets.  

Below the center is a Bygel rail and 4 containers.  I use this to hold pens and other tools and supplies that should be in close reach.  I recently added a dry-erase calendar to my space to help me track crafty assignments and blog posts and with some techniques tending towards the messy side these days, I thought a paper towel holder might come in handy.  

I have a couple accent shelves on the other side of the window and use them to hold twine, scissors, markers and a few special projects. 

This area is directly across the room from my desk.  This is where I house my paper trimmer, die cut machine and giant wall of die storage.  The cubbies below (more of the Expedit series) hold photos, books, 12 x 12 paper and 8 x 8 paper pads

These two wall units were lucky finds.  One of my girlfriends used to sell Mary Kay and her Father in Law built her this unit to hold her eyeshadow refills.  When she stopped selling, she offered it to me.  It works perfect for organizing embossing powder and displaying a few wood-mount stamps. 

Below is a wooden cassette holder that I use to mostly organize my pigment inks.  I found this on Craigslist for $10.00.  Some day I may get around to painting it white to match the rest of the room.  

Next week, I am planning a post that will contain links to the resources I used when putting together the room as well as some lessons learned along the way.  Until then, please let me know what questions you have or if there is anything that you would like to see in more detail, and I will get back to you!  

Don't forget to check out Lindsay's new space too!  It's pretty fab! 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Katie

Planner Stay Focused Blog Hop {Waffle Flower Crafts}

Hello friends,

Welcome to the Planner - Stay Focused Blog Hop! We have invited some of our planner friends, along with our own Waffle Flower design team, to bring you a fun hop about planners! Some of us are hard-core planner nerds, and some of us have just started. We all have one thing in common, as well as many of you who are reading this post, we are juggling between many roles in life and we want to play them all well. Family is as important as our personal achievement. How do we stay focused?

The main purpose of the hop is to share tips on using a planner to help us get things done so we can spend more time with our loved ones or just playing.

We will be featuring our brand new stamp set called Planner - Stay Focused in the hope that planning can become part of your life if it is not already. No matter how you organize your life, we hope you can find or make something that will work for you to makes things go even smoother.

2014 was the first year in a very long time that I didn't purchase a planner.  I recently acquired a small tablet and decided that digital was the way to go.  It worked pretty well for me for a few months.  I used Google Calendar to track all my submission and Design Team commitments.  I used a calendar connected to my email at work to track all my business appointments.  To do lists were scribbled on post-it notes, index cards, and occasionally the note function on my phone- it was really all over the place, but somehow, I was making it work.

Something happened though at the beginning of this school year. My daughters are in 1st and 5th grades and are becoming more and more involved in school activities.  I had one too many occasions of double booking a child or waking up in a cold sweat trying to remember if I had volunteered to help at a Girl Scout function and whether that would conflict with Sunday School and Cheerleading Practice, that I decided to go back to a paper planner.

After some research and a recommendation from a friend, I ended up selecting the Happy Stripes Life Planner by Erin Condren.

Production and shipping took about 3 weeks.  I seriously thought I might die in the meantime, but I was SO HAPPY when my new planner showed up on my doorstep last week. 

So I am just getting my feet wet again with the planner-thing, but so far, I am in LOVE and the Planner-Stay Focused stamps from Waffle Flower Crafts has made setting up and personalizing my planner even more fun.  Here's a peek inside my real life planner and process. 

Each tabbed month starts off with a two page spread.  I started by noting some of the events- football games, Girl Scout Meetings, Parent/Teacher Conferences, etc...  I also used the stamps included in the Planner-Stay Focused Stamp Set to mark dates for blog posts and other crafty due dates.

After the month at a glance pages, each week has its own two page spread.  Each day is separated into Morning- Day- and Night; however, I am using the top row for Work, the middle row for Family/Kids and the bottom row for my crafty assignments, goals and commitments.  My plan is to take a few minutes each Friday to start thinking about the coming week and filling in the details. 

Each week has a column for Goals and Notes.  I used the Planner- Stay Focused stamp set to add the Work and Personal headers and to add the darling checkboxes to the lines.  There is just something so gratifying about a checkbox.  I love marking things off! 

For this upcoming week, I am trying something a little different with adding a "Due Today" spot at the bottom of each day.  More checkboxes makes me a happy gal!  I am only a few weeks back into "paper planner mode" and already I feel better.  I make sure to check my planner throughout the day to keep me on track with my deliverables and to dos, and at night, I am sleeping soundly once more.

Hop Prize: (The giveaway is now closed)

To celebrate the release of all these amazing planner stamp sets, Waffle Flower Craft will be giving away all 5 of the new planner sets to one Grand Prize Winner. The winner will be drawn from comments left on all of our blogs and announced on Waffle Flower Crafts Blog on Friday, October 10.

I will also be awarding a Planner: Stay Focused Stamp Set to one of my readers.  Just leave a comment to enter.  Don't forget to follow Waffle Flower Crafts on Instagram, Facebook and their blog for even more inspiration (and prizes)! 

Here is a list of the other amazing crafters participating in the Planner Stay Focused Hop:

Waffle Flower Blog 

Jennifer McGuire 

Joni Andaya 

Patricia Roebuck 

Katie Gehring - you are here :)

Candi Billman 

Lorena Canto 

Kristina Werner 

Suzanne Dahlberg 

Debby Hughes 

I know this has been a post of epic length, so thanks for sticking with me.  I hope some of these tips and advice shared on the hop today provide you with some useful ideas that you can apply to your own life.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

A Consumer Relapse {Stamp Out Chaos}

Hello friends,

So, it's been a moon or two since Lindsay and I did a Stamp Out Chaos post.  No we didn't abandon the effort.  We have been working on finishing up some bigger projects in our spaces, and it's summer- you know where the call of spending a lovely day outside with the family is more powerful than a siren's song.

I thought I would pop in today with a post to share the current state of affairs in the crafty space.   A few months ago, I had the epiphany that one of my biggest challenges to organization was that I simply owned too much stuff.  It was suffocating me and seriously impeded my creative efforts.  So I purged.  Boxes upon boxes of crafty supplies left my room and were donated to the school, to daycare and some were even sold.

This made all the difference in my space.  Sure there was more work to be done and of course more could (and will) eventually go, but simply freeing up some valuable real estate from items that were in excess, no longer fit my habits, or my style was an absolute game changer.  Rational minimalism was the way to go.

But then something happened...

Looking back, it started in June with the Father's Day weekend sales, continued through July 4th sales, a couple "must-have" new releases from favorite stamp companies, and an online shop's moving sale (40% off people!).  After not making many crafty purchases over the past several months, I had a full-on consumer relapse.  I engaged in the online equivalent of "shopping until I dropped." The padded envelopes started arriving at the house and stuff started creeping it's way back into my little crafty space.

In one way, the delayed gratification and waiting for these sales allowed me to acquire many sets that had been on my wish list, but as a result of all my new acquisitions, the craft room equilibrium shifted and my space was teetering on the bring of chaos once more.

What I came to realize is that as much as my initial goal when I started this journey was to organize my room "once and for all," that's really not how it works.  Do we unload the dishes once and for all?  Vacuum once and for all?  Nope, these are daily/weekly maintenance tasks we (begrudgingly at times) perform to keep our homes running smoothly.  It's the same with creative spaces. It's never done. Maintenance will be necessary to keep the space functioning at an optimal level.

So what's to be done? Two (really three) things...  

The Great Purge- Part IX
As new stamps have arrived, I took an opportunity to go through my stash of supplies and pull out those that have not and are not being used.  I am in the process of listing them for sale online where I hope that they will be able to find new and happy homes.

A Month of Neglect
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there is nothing inherently wrong about crafty purchases.  New products are inspiring and they help fuel this creative industry that we all love.  The problem happens when the items are purchased and not used.  I have many, many sets that I purchased and still love (in other words, I am not ready to let them go), but I need to put them to use.  So to address the horde of unused stamps and supplies in my possession, I am declaring August 2014 as a Month of Neglect.  I will be devoting most of my blog posts in August to stamp sets that have seen little to no inky action.

It is my hope to post daily or nearly daily to share projects created with my (previously) unused stash of stamps.  I hope that you will continue to pop in to see what I have been up to!  The fun starts tomorrow, August 1.

Learning  
I also signed up for an organization class called Workspace at Studio Calico.

The class is being taught by Marcy Penner and starts August 4.  Enrollment ends tonight at 11:59 PM EDT.  I hope that between letting go of more excess, using what I have and seeing some new ideas through the class, I can continue my mission to Stamp Out Chaos.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Stamp Out Chaos- tools and a video!

Hello!

I am back today with another installment of Stamp Out Chaos.  Henceforth to be known as the #neverendingcraftroomcleanup.  If you'd like to catch up on our progress to date, you can check out all Stamp Out Chaos posts here.

This week Lindsay and I are talking tool storage, AND I have something a bit different for you today- a video. What?! Yep!  I made my very first crafty video and I didn't die- no pun intended.  (While no craft supplies were harmed in the making of this video, I was slightly mortified at all the "umm's" and "actually's" that snuck into my rambling... seriously, it's bad, but could make for a fun drinking game someday.)  So without further ado, watch and enjoy!


Some of the sources I mentioned in the video:

• Magnetic vent covers- I picked these up at Home Depot for around $5.00 for a set of 3.  The measure 8"x15".  I have both nailed them to the wall AND cut them and put them in vinyl pockets to store nesting and coordinating dies.
• Simon Says Stamp- Clear Storage Pockets- These pockets measure 5"x5" and I use them to store lots of my nesting dies. 
• Adhesive pouch from VinylEnvelope.com- I adhere these pockets to cardboard and use them to hold dies that are larger than 5" x 5" 

And before I go, a card I made with my very favorite type of tool... dies!

For this card, I inked up a few Avery Elle sets including Weather It and dies, Texture Tiles: Be Cool and Woodgrain and More.

First, I stamped the thatched background from Woodgrain and More in Pink on some light pink cardstock.  Next, I die cut the umbrella and clouds from Weather It from a bright pink and light blue cardstock. I stamped the outlines, then added some more interest by stamping polka dots on the clouds and tiny triangles on the umbrella. 

I adhered the clouds to the card and stamped the raindrops in blue pigment ink- I love how bright and vibrant this ink looks!  It's Bahama Blue by Memento Luxe. Finally, I stamped the sentiment in navy ink.  

Be sure to stop by Lindsay's blog to check out how she stores her tools-I LOVE that she found a way to get them off her desk... I am going to have to borrow that idea! 

Well, that's all for me- thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Stamping Lightly- Letting In and Letting Go

Hello friends,

Friday evening I took a deep breath and started to implement the changes I am planning for this blog, my little corner of the internet.  I updated the design to something that is both simple and graphic, and I changed the name of the blog from "Our Charmed Life" to "Stamping Lightly."  Due to the blog template settings, technically, the blog name is showing up as "stamping" and the tagline is "lightly." I am not going to worry about it. Less is more, right?

So what does "stamping lightly" actually mean anyway? As I shared last week in my Stamp Out Chaos post, I have been doing some reading on the minimalist movement and one of the authors spoke about traveling lightly.  Beyond the benefit of not having to check your luggage on vacation, light travel speaks to life being a journey which can be enjoyed better and more fully if we only carry with us the barest of essentials.

After 13 years of paper crafting, I have managed to acquire a lot of stuff. As I sit in a 10 x 11 room that my girls refer to as the "scrapbook store," I sometimes wonder how I got here.  When I first started scrapbooking, all of my supplies fit in a single shoulder tote.  And you know what, I never had more fun doing a hobby.  I was hooked. It was simple and I didn't agonize over every decision.  Now I don't necessarily want to return to the land of colorful cardstock triangles in opposite corners of my pages or trimming all my photos into ovals, but sometimes I long to recapture that simpler time.

For me, it's not fun to be overwhelmed by things or having more supplies than working space. "Stamping Lightly" is about this journey to return to a voluntary level of simplicity and keeping only things that will help my creativity soar and not weigh me down.

I think as a community, paper crafters love to organize and reorganize our stashes of crafty supplies. They are pretty and oh, so inspiring, but I have come to realize that there is more joy to be found in owning less than in organizing more.  I have a lot to say on this topic, so I will break it into two parts- Letting In and Letting Go.

Letting go (Purging)
A few weeks ago, I painted my craft space and in order for me to access the walls, a lot of stuff had to come out and found a temporary home in our bedroom (Jason is the most patient hubby in the world!) and the hallway (yep, just like hoarders... #winning).  The act of emptying the space (mostly) was an absolute game changer for me and my space. What I found was that once the room was emptied and quieted, I was reluctant to let stuff back in.

source

Some items were 'no brainers' to allow back in, like my die cut machine, computer and photos, but other items were put through a discernment process where I asked the item and myself the following questions: 

• What purpose do you serve?
• Have I used you?
• Do I have plans to use you?
• Do I have some place to put you?  This is important- without a home- stuff, even useful stuff can become clutter. 
• Are you still "me?"  Styles and preferences change over time.  If there is a supply that is no longer you- think about letting it go or at least pairing it down.  I did this with my ribbon stash recently and will share pictures in an upcoming post.  
• Do I have anything like you?  One of the minimalist principals that I am trying to adopt in my life is embracing the power of 1.  For example, do I really need 3 pairs of Crocs or will 1 pair suffice? Same could go for crafty supplies, if two stamp sets are similar or serve a similar purpose- what is the need for keeping both?   For me, baby and wedding sets come to mind.  If you can't find a unique purpose for an item, maybe it's time to let it go.

Where does it go?

Once you decide to let items go, the question become- what do I do with all of it?  There are two options here- Sell or Give away. To help you decide, I love this decision chart from The Handmade Home. 

I think you can also use Crafty Message Boards/Facebook resale groups in addition to Craigslist/Ebay. I also factor in the ease and price of shipping in making my decisions.   Stamps and dies- easy to ship- I am more likely to sell. Paper and bulky embellishments- not so much- these wind up in the donate pile. 

As I am evaluating my stash, I have a box of items that I plan to list for sale on Facebook and Message Boards and an even bigger box of items to donate.  I am giving my donations to Sophie's Kindergarten teacher who in turn shares with the elementary school staff.  If you don't have kids in school, you can always call a local school to inquire about donating craft supplies.  Preschools, daycares, and even children's hospitals and nursing homes are also great places to share your crafty stash.  

I am also setting a time limit on my sale items.  If they don't sell after a certain amount of time, I will give them away.  Before Archivers closed this February, I attended the store's last crop and brought with me a huge bag of craft supplies and stamp sets in need of a new home.  I placed the items on the back counter and let my fellow crafters know that these items were up for grabs.  Not a single item was left and it felt great to make others happy by sharing my excess. 

Now that we have talked about letting our items go, how do we handle new items? 

Letting in
Let's face it, part of the fun of our creative hobby is purchasing the latest and greatest stamps, dies, paper, and embellishments.  New purchases can jump-start creativity and allow you to experiment with new trends and techniques.  Brilliant designers and manufacturers seemingly create a new round of must-haves on a monthly basis.

Consumerism is not the issue; all of our purchases keep our little paper crafting community growing and thriving. The problem is when it becomes excessive.  Excessive is when is extends past what will be useful (used) and necessary (needed). Sure there is the initial joy of opening a package of happy mail or getting a delivery from UPS, but that happiness is fleeting and can be replaced by guilt and frustration.  Guilt at having spent money on something that is not being used and frustration at having even more to sift through while trying to create.

I have come to realize that I don't have enough time to use and love every stamp set, paper and die that I fancy.  As a result, I need to pay close attention to what I chose to purchase and invite into my space.  I need to be good gatekeeper. Before making a purchase, I am asking myself these questions.

• Do I have stamps that have not seen action?  I have started keeping my new purchases in a basket on my workspace as reminder to use them before I incorporate them into my stamp organization system.  Currently this basket is full and it's a good visual reminder that I still have sets that are unused.  Unused supplies are like wasted money.  While you may be able to sell them and get back some of the money, it's never the full amount you paid.  Before acquiring more, I need to use what I have.   
• Do I have anything like this?  I spent some time this weekend organizing my dies and came to realize that I have 15 "hello" dies.  Granted, many of these dies came as part of a larger sets, but for someone who doesn't really send THAT many "hello" cards, it seems a bit excessive.  Now a set of 15 "sorry I flaked out and bought a card for your major life event" or "happy belated birthday" dies, I could justify that.  :) 
• Can I think of 3 unique ways to use this product? Versatile products are going to get the most usage in a streamlined environment, so before purchasing try to think about three designs for the item.  They don't have to be designs that you dreamed up- casing another crafter or a design team  member is perfectly acceptable, but the designs have to be do-able for you. 
• Is this a wise investment?  Let's talk about a $15.00 stamp set.  With the going price of greeting cards at the store running around $2.99,  are you willing to make 5 or more cards with this set to recoup the price of the set?  
• Will I still love you tomorrow?  More than once, I have purchase supplies for no other reason that everyone else was really excited about them.  In these situations, I need to step away from the computer (that's were the enablers live-LOL) and examine my reasons for wanting something.  Is this a long term interest or a passing fancy?  One guideline I am trying to adopt is that when feasible, I am trying to wait 30 days before clicking purchase so that I can be more certain that my acquisitions will suit me.  More often than not, the initial "want" has waned and I am able to apply more logic to my purchase plans.  
• What am I willing purge to acquire you? Once your stash is at a manageable level, many organizational experts ask their clients to adopt the one in, one out principle.  When you acquire a new stamp set or paper pad, one should leave. 

My journey is continuing, but I can already see tremendous progress and it motivates me to keep going. I can visualize my completed space, and it's one that will be a joy to use.

I know there have been lots of words in this post and no pretty crafty projects (what?!), so thanks for hanging in there.  Before I go, I wanted to share with you a few sites that are offer fantastic inspiring reads on minimalism and letting go of excess. 

• The Handmade Home- Lazy Gal Survivor Guide
• Zen Habits
• Miss Minimalist
• Becoming Minimalist

Thank for stopping by and have a lovely Monday!

Katie

Stamp Out Chaos: Paper, Ink, and Stamps

Hello, hello friends!

Happy Wednesday and welcome to another installment of Stamp Out Chaos.  In case you missed our first post on this series, you can catch up here.

This week, my dear friend Lindsay and I are tackling supply basics- stamps, ink, card stock, paper- the foundation of many paper crafts.  I wanted to tackle this area first because it's so important to have these supplies handy and functional.   I have lots to share, so let's begin!

Stamp storage 
For my stamp storage, I use the Avery Elle envelope/Fridge Binz system that Jennifer McGuire introduced about a year ago.  I have two Fridge Binz full of stamps which fit perfectly in two of the cubby openings in my Expedit.  I apologize that I don't have photos of this system in place in my space.

I set up this system last year and it works so well, that I didn't even touch it in preparation for this week... When evaluating your space, take stock of which systems are working for you and which are not.  Focus your time in efforts on improving the ones that are not working.

Card Stock
Ahh card stock...  I use this supply most of all.  It's really the starting point, so I wanted to get the right solution for me in place.  Previously, I was keeping my full sheets of card stock in one of the Expedit openings using a Large 4 sort divider from the Container Store to keep it upright.  It worked ok, but it was really best suited for full sheets of paper and scraps needed to be stored elsewhere.... enter these...

source

I was storing all my scraps in Iris drawers like what you see above.  I had 4 sets of drawers and each drawer was a different color (ROYGBIV), plus a few drawer for patterned paper.  The problem with this set up, for me, was I was not reaching for these scraps.  Most of the time, I would just cut another piece of card stock rather than go hunt for a smaller piece... AND it took up a lot of space. And putting my scraps away? Forget about it!  They would pile up and threaten to take over my workspace. 

I spent some time considering my habits and which organizational tendencies came naturally to me.  As it turns out, I am really good at dropping things and piling things.  Keeping my strengths in mind, I ended up going with an Elfa File Cart from the Container Store. 

This works so well for me because it's already built for 8.5 x 11 paper and it makes the most of my organizational strengths.  I just drop the paper into the files and pile the small scraps in the drawers below.  I love that the paper files are open and easily assessable, plus it's on wheels and can wheel out or tuck back under my workstation.  Here is my cart in action. 

I keep full sheets and large scraps (card base size or bigger) in the file folders any scraps smaller than that go into the drawers below. One tweak I made to the cart was to adjust the number of sliding drawers.  The unit comes with one 1-runner drawer and one 2-runner drawer; I opted to purchase two additional 1- runner drawers so I could devote a drawer to colors, a drawer to white & cream, and a drawer for neutrals. 

I printed some labels for the drawers on card stock and slipped them into an Elfa drawer label holder.  Now this unit was a little pricey at $99.00, regular price, but I did purchase it during the annual Elfa Sale which The Container Store holds each January-February, so that certainly helped.    

Patterned Paper

Next I moved onto patterned paper.  I don't use patterned paper as much as cardstock and I took an opportunity to purge my stash considerably.  I also trimmed down my scraps as well as paper patterns that I thought were particularly well suited for card making to 6 x 6 sheets and placed them in a plastic bin that I picked up at the Target dollar spot.  I also placed my 6 x 6 pads in one of the plastic bins which will sit on my desk. I placed smaller scraps in a paper mache suitcase shaped box that I also picked up at Target. 

The patterned paper that I left in 12 x 12 sheets I placed in a Medium Multi-Purpose bin from the Container Store. 

12 x 12 sticker and accent sheets were also placed in a small multi-purpose bin and placed on a shelf in the Expedit. 

Ink

Before I blew up my craft room, I was using a wooden cassette holder I found on Craigslist to store my ink.  While this worked pretty well, some of the slots were not tall enough to hold thicker ink pads like Hero Arts Shadow ink.  

I decided to gather all my full size ink pads together and stack them on my old Making Memories Embellishment Center. 

I took some time to label the sides of the ink pads with my handy dandy label maker.  

I love having all my full size pads at arms length and putting them away is super easy- just stack and go.

I store my ink cubes in a plastic supply box that I picked up at Hobby Lobby.  Three cubes fit in each opening.  I am in the process of labeling the sides of the cubes.  This system is perfect for crafting on the go and fits neatly into drawers. 

 So whew, that was a lot to review, so I have just two more pictures to share... a little card I made with all my newly organized "basic" supplies. 

Using some of my card stock scraps, I put together this thank you card.  The sentiment and stars are from Paper Smooches Bold Buzzwords stamped in black ink.  

That's all for me today.  Don't forget to stop by Lindsay's blog for her organizational brilliance.  We will be back in two weeks time with ideas and solutions for organizing embellishments!  

Thanks for visiting!

Katie

Stamp Out Chaos

Hello friends, 

Today is the start of a little something different here at Our Charmed Life.  For the next several weeks (months really), my dear friend, Lindsay, from Note to Self, and I are peeling back the curtain to share our journey towards a better organized and better functional crafty space.  We are calling it Stamp Out Chaos. 

I am fortunate to have a dedicated room in our home where I can create and pursue crafty endeavors. A few short months ago it looked like this... mostly... it was particularly clean on the day I snapped these photos.  

While the space worked well overall, there were a few things that I wanted to tweak.  

• Additional desk space in the form of an L-shaped unit. 
• Carve out a dedicated spot for my laptop and printer (hence L-shaped desk).  
• More drawers- my stash includes lots of bits and bobbles and I was tired of looking at everything all the time and drawers are handy to organize and put away.
• Ribbon- I adored my dress form, but I haven't been using ribbon much lately and it was taking up a lot of space for a supply that was was not being used. 
• Space for my Scrapbook/Project Life Albums.

So in November, I passed along my crop in style cubes and DIY desk to Lindsay and took a field trip to IKEA.  I purchased another 2 x 4 Expedit (which I stacked on top of my 4 x 4 unit), an L-shaped desk and many, many drawer inserts for said Expedit. 

And today, my crafty room looks like this (Warning: if messy rooms give you an eye-twitch look away now): 

I know.  It's bad.  Don't judge.  Well, judge if you must, just don't tell me about it.  ;)

So what the heck happened?  Well, a lot, and most of it ended up on my desk and some of it on the floor.  LOL!   I think what it comes down to is being in a huge hurry to get the space set up that I did not set up the space to fit my needs and work habits.  It's just not working and the effects are evident. 

In addition, there's a lot of change taking place in this small space...  I had to get a new laptop (hence the 2 computers on the desk), my old trimmer died and needed to be replaced and I started exploring new storage solutions for my ink, dies and cardstock- couple all that with school projects with the kids and limited crafty time, it's no wonder the room sort of threw up everywhere. 

Needless to say this is not an environment conducive to creativity without ample frustration, so I am on a mission to Stamp Out Chaos!  I long for a space that is simple, streamlined, and functional. 

Something like this: 

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Or this- I adore the white with touches of pink. 

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I love this bright and cheerful space.  I'm thinking about creating a focal wall in my space- more to come on that.

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Change is not going to happen overnight.  This will be a journey, and I hope that you will find value in coming along for the ride.  Every other week, Lindsay and I plan to explore a different supply, share a few ideas along with the solution we chose to implement.  I would also LOVE your advice!  If you have any rockstar tips for keeping your space organized and efficient, please leave me a comment and let me know!  As you can see, I need all the help I can get!  

We will be tackling basic supplies in 2 weeks- think ink, cardstock, patterned paper and stamps.  I can't wait to get started and bring back some order and the joy to my crafty space.

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie