Craft Storage Ideas

I have set up a playlist on youtube with craft storage ideas if you want to watch them
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DF049DC70E4A782C

Stamps did I need anymore well I think so!

I have new rubber stamps I bought on ebay can't wait to try them out.  They are born to shop designs which I love!

CRAFT ROOM CLEAR-OUT

As you know I am in the middle of sorting out my craft room and am adding things to my site which are unused or used but are surplus to requirements
http://www.simplycards.net

CRAFT ROOM CHAOS

Here is a video of my craft room I am not showing you the floor space (shame) I am in the middle of a major decluttering and it's taking me a while but will be worth it when I can move in the room!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiH_tpAmeRY

Baby Card

My SIL's sister is having a baby end of December so I thought I better get on with the card as they leave Sunday to the states and here it is I used jolly nations decoupage from the kids pack.  I finished it off with a cuttlebug embossed topper with words It's a Boy
It is a great value pack I got mine for just £7.95 on ebay and it has 10 sheets of die cut decoupage and 10 backing papers and they are so cute!

Decluttering Sites

Good sites for decluttering motivation and advice
http://www.clutterclearing.net/
http://www.declutterfast.com/

Craft Storage Ideas

Great blog about craft storage
http://craftystorage.blogspot.com/
I really need some help with my room as it's so messy it's unbelievable I have so much stash and also other stuff in there that makes it looks like a bomb has hit it and it's getting me down but bit by bit I am trying to tackle it not best time of year though for me as I suffer with SAD so feel easily overwhelmed here's a few pix of what it's like at moment (shame!)  Not showing you all the pix these are bad enough you might die of shock it I did lol

shelving units with mostly craft stash but also photos wrapping paper etc

More shelving units and more stash!

My desk with too much clutter on it!

Bookcase full of books and boxes with photos etc which are waiting to be sorted

Decluttering is never ending

I am not really crafting but trying to declutter my craft room is absolutely awful and so I do not enjoy even been in it at the moment so I am determined to deal with the clutter.  I just got two books from Amazon to help me out which look really good.  I am a horder so it's not easy for me to get rid of things as I have emotional attachments to stuff and also I hate throwing stuff out that someone might use so I am making use for freecycle but there is only so much that you can get rid of that way and sometimes it's more hassle than it's worth as people mess you around at times.
The books I got are:
"No More Clutter" Sue Kay
"Organizing from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System for Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life" Julie Morgenstern
Let's hope they do not just become another part of the clutter!

I have been busy making some calendars for the sale
I used a piece of card smaller than A5
To which I added a topper and also a calendar which I mounted onto a matting piece and used a brad to secure the calendar as I did not buy stitched calendars and they were coming apart.

I used quicklets to attach the raffia to hang the calendar

Busy time & Kitchen is almost finished

Sorry nothing much to blog lately as been so busy getting ready for our kitchen renovation which is almost done now but now it's the cleaning up since I was not at home for week either.  I am also busy clearing my craft room as it's such a mess still and I want to be nice as it's affecting my creativity with all the chaos in there!  On October 2nd I have another sale too so will be getting ready for that over next fortnight.

Few pix as requested:) Wasn't sure about the black tiles but hubby said they would look great, I only had a couple of days to make up my mind as the guy who did the tiling is going away for few months so only chance he could do it was week after.  Best thing is having a dish washer:)

Table top sale

Me and a friend organised a table top sale and it went ok but a lot could not turn up so it was not as well supported as we hoped but it was fun anyway

This is my table I had plenty of choice but did not sell that much

I did a bit of card-making with the young ones

And I had a table for a friend of my mum who does paintings.

I have some of Marian's painting on my site Simply Cards if you wanted to buy them she also does commissions

My mum made some cushions and took some of dad's homegrown cucumbers she sold all the cucumbers but only a couple of cushions!

Free Downloadables

Found this great site it was formerly Alan and Barry's Crafts but it's now ICraftOnline
You get accesss to lots of downloadables and there is also a facebook group which you will find out about when you join

One week to go!

Well it's only a week till the Crafty Sisters table top sale I have been busy inviting friends and family and hoping that the word has spread so many will come there are 10 of us with tables including my mum who is busy making cushions.  We also have paintings, health products, jewellery, hand-painted gifts and my cards of course!  I have at least 150 cards made up wonder how many I will come home with, anyway at least I will have a good stock if I don't sell many:) 

Beary Happy Wedding Day Card

I made this card for my MIL I used the topper from this ebay shop

Congratulations Bride & Groom Card

I made this card today
I used a bride and groom die-cut from Dianne's die-cuts
the foil printed Congratulations card I sell on my site and a deckled card panel

Table top sale and House Renovations

I am getting ready for a table top sale I am organising for friends on August 7th so it's very exciting so am busy making cards so no time for blogging just now and then on 16th of August we have our kitchen completely renovated all stripped out and all new appliances etc it's been a long time coming and I can't wait to see the end result just not looking forward to the packing and upheaval meantime!

Card Inserts how to do your own

As a lot of people struggle with doing their own card inserts this site is great
http://www.verses4cards.co.uk/How-to-print-verses-in-cards.html

Not had much time for crafting lately with organising my Brother's wedding party which was last Friday, it went so well so the hard work paid off, I had the job of decorating the cake which we bought from Marks and Spencers.

We bought some ribbon, petals and roses from Country baskets in wine colour as that was the wedding colour

Craft Fair at Morley Town Hall May 8th

Well did the stall last Saturday at Morley Town Hall I was not able to get there till 10.15 my friend Annemaritta got there at 9.45 and it started at 10 so that was slightly embarassing:)
There was 2 other card stalls one right at the side of us so that was not great.  We had a few people who already make cards as usual so that is why I only took supplies with me as I learned from the last stall that cards do not really sell well.  I did not sell much at all, the stall was £18 and I don't think I took my share of the stall so that was a bit disappointing but anyway it was an achievement having ME. 
I sat making decoupage toppers it passed the time nicely and before we knew it was 2.30 and time to pack up.  Here is picture of me at the stall.

Wedding Invites

I have been busy making wedding invites for my Brother's wedding in June never done them before so it was a nice challenge I made use of my cuttlebug embossing folders here is the one I made I did it also in silver but the gold and cream shows up the design better.  I used the Spellbinders class heart die

Using Small Cuttlebug Folders

I love the small embossing folders for the cuttlebug but was having a problem with getting lines round the folder I just searched youtube and found this video which is really useful I have not tried the solution but plan to next time.

Big Shot Express - Dream Machine!

My friend bought a Big Shot Express machine for a bargain price of £70 I only wish i waited now to decide which was best but I do like the cuttlebug anyway and I am going to try and resist to buy the Big Shot if there are any left at that price or speak nicely to hubby this weekend - not sure which!

Here are some of my creations so far
http://janescardz.fotopic.net/c1836097.html

I tried out Brass Stencils today and a good way to use them I found was:
A Plate
B Plate
Brass stencil
Card/paper
A shim ( I used cardboard piece)
B Plate

Morley Fair

There was a craft fair in Morley today so I went along of course good news is I am doing a stall on May 8th with a friend of mine Annemaritta so if you live locally then please come along.  We are hoping to do craft demos and will have cards, card supplies and wedding invites.  The fair is at Morley Town Hall Morley Leeds West Yorkshire.  From 10-3pm free entry and refreshments available.
View pictures of this fair and the others I have attended here
http://janescardz.fotopic.net/c1499601.html

Cuttlebug Advice and Tips

There is a good group on UK Scrappers which is for Cuttlebug users so join it if you have just got one and want to know how to use it etc

Great Site!

What a fantastic site this is Craft Superstore
They have cuttlebug folders on offer and the cuttlebug is cheaper than I got mine.
Always the case when you buy things but shows the value of shopping round instad of been hasty like me:)

sunflower card

I embossed this card using my cuttlebug machine using the Embossing Folder Stylised flowers which I love!
I am now going to buy many more embossing folders as I am hooked and I just found out you can use brass stencils in the bug so I am finally going to be able to use the ones that have just been in a drawer unused for ages:)

Harrogate Papercrafts Show

Me and 3 friends went to the show yesterday it was FANTASTIC so many stalls, infact 50 exhibitors and so many tempting stash but I only bought a sheet of EZ foam mount, one sheet of die-cut decoupage and 10 pens including sakura glaze, souffle and gelly roll and 5 of those were for a friend who could not come so I was pleased with myself.  My friends were equally strong.

Wedding Card I could not resist!

I made this card for friends who got married I could not resist!

Cuttlebug ideas and inspiration

I found a good blog for cuttlebug users http://ikkiscuttlebugcupboard.blogspot.com/
There is also a group on UK scrappers for cuttlebug users http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/group.php?groupid=120

At last I got a cuttlebug machine!

Been wanting one of these in ages finally got the money to buy one and I have already tried it out with the embossing folders I got with it here are some I did earlier, I used rainbow paper they look really effective.

Clearing the Clutter

I am at last getting my act together and clearing the clutter, I am huge horder and it's time I got to grips with it as they say clutter in the home creates clutter in the mind, my goal is to make my craft room a haven where I can relax at the moment it is very messy and cluttered and I must deal with it!
I joined this site http://www.flylady.net which is really inspirational and since then I have been able to keep on top of things better I do 15 minutes of decluttering every day and have got my husband to join in with tidying his clothes in the bedroom which tend to be all over the floor (still working on him)
This was the state of my craft room in June 2006 prior to decorating

then in Sept 2006 improving

Made my day!

I got this cute card from Faith a little girl who is only 3 as a thank you for the scrabook I did for her and her parents, it made my day:)

Surprise Scrapbook

I have spent the last 2 months working on a surprise scrapbook for some friends who moved away I had planned it before they left in November I wanted to get messages from their friends and also pictures so it took some organising and I was even working on it the night before I gave it to them.  It was fun but I won't be doing it again in a hurry, I now have my life back:)  It was worth it when I saw the look on their faces though.

Here is the album I used and I decorated the windows with some toppers.  It is Kit N Kraft album

This is a page of her best friend so I wanted it to be extra special.
I made the mini envelope to enclose the handwritten note to make it private. I used the My Minds Eye Asparagus card stack for the pages