Blackmail is Such a Nasty Thing!

Today my friend emailed me photos she took of my craft room on Monday and gave me 48 hours to post them or she would do it herself. Gah!! The room is finished, at least on the surface, but there was still too much clutter! You know those last little bits of things that just can't seem to belong in any particular place? So tonight I either designated homes for the clutter or move it out long enough to get some photos. So, here it is at last! My craft room from the shaky start to finish, in photos!

Here are the 'before' photos. I really don't have anything to say about them, other than it was actually worse before we put the cupboards in - if you can believe that...
Kind of like a bad episode of "Hoarders" right?
This next set of photos are the 'during' photos.


The first thing we did was remove all the boxes and furniture from the room. Amazing how much bigger it began to look!
You may not have noticed in the before photos that there were several tables in the room. They came out, too. Everything was removed except the cabinets that were permanently installed by my husband in his efforts to help me get organized.
Then we started bringing it all back in. We set up tables in the center of the room and every box was unloaded and sorted and put away in it's very own place. What a concept!
The final set of photos are the 'after' pics. This is my oasis!

The door into my craft room, aka "Girl Oasis" is a double door. This view is from outside the Oasis with both doors open looking in.
Entering the Oasis on the left are my cupboards. At the end of the cupboards is my paper storage. Cards are displayed over head. In the foreground are three tables set up for classes.
This is the view of the wall opposite the door. I love the big storage unit which is also my media unit but I think it's not really the best use of the space. I'll be pondering its future for a while. Some of my first DOTS & CTMH catalogs are in frames on top and will eventually hang from the wall like they should.

This is the wall opposite the big white cupboards. The drawers clear to the left are for all my ongoing projects. The additional paper storage is all retired CTMH background/texture papers with just a few sheets of "non" mixed in. Below the table are drawers of beads and beading tools. The table is my Cricut station and also home to all my inks.
The wall the door is on has the table that is home to my "office." My business tools, computer, printer, pens, stapler, etc.
Looking back to the door you'll see my 4 month calendar, my bookcase full of inspirational books & magazines and my many many totes. Hooks are going up soon for my totes. They will be hidden behind the doors when they are open.

Bailey follows me where ever I am in the house and is my constant companion in the Oasis.

Zori also loves to visit, but is a little shy when others are here.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the tour!

Steppin' Out!

These are a couple of little stair step cards I made recently. The first using a few retired CTMH products... papers and the quote stamp. The little bird in the foreground is current. He was fun to stamp. I inked him up in Sweet Leaf, stamped him off once and then rolled just his head and back in Cocoa. Love how he turned out!

This card is a Thank You for one of my good customers. Papers are the Veranda Creative Basics pack and the stamps are April's Stamp of the Month set, Flower Pot. There is a lot more depth to this card that the photo shows.

Easter Baskets

I made these four little Easter Baskets with CTMH cardstock, stamps & accessories. Then I fashioned a little 6"x6" tray to nestle them in. I filled with some crinkled paper and plastic eggs for an auction item for our NKY WINS group. I think they are just adorable!!

Each little basket has a different stamped Easter Bunny (B1324 Bunny Love) colored with our fabulous exclusive markers.

I used a couple of little clear beads and some smaller dots of Liquid Glass as the "bubbles" this bunny is blowing.

Love this little guy curled up in an egg shell!

Cute little lady bunny with daffodils! A tip on making your white critters "pop" is to use a very light gray or blue marker an outline the image on the inside of the lines (sorry I didn't get a better 'straight on' shot of this one).

As well as different colored punched out flowers on the handles of the baskets, the backs are decorated with colorful blooms layered and accented with a bit of bling! Depending on the side you decide to face out, the baskets can be either cute or elegant. So much fun!!

Birthday Cards!

I joined a Birthday Club wherein we send hand made cards to each other on our birthdays. I want to share with you what I received - it was so much fun getting these cards! L-R from top down: Carolyn L., Esther H., Tracy, Ramona C., and Susan E.

Heather S., Nancy R., Mary B., and Kathy M.

Thank you Ladies for the beautiful cards and birthday fun!!

More Veranda!

I absolutely LOVE the Close to my Heart Veranda paper! They are so pretty and fun to work with!

This little card uses the February Stamp of the Month set, Piece of Cake. Alyssa and I made it for a hands on project for her gathering. With our left over supplies I think I'll turn some of them into party invitations for a quarter auction.

Isn't it cute?? And so easy it's a crime!



This card I did for the Ink or Dye stamp club I joined. (Awesome and talented ladies, can I just say?) Our 'theme' was a round card for a square envelope.

I wish I would have taken photos of the other cards the ladies did. It was fabulous to see how many different ideas there are for one theme.





This pop up card was our Ink or Dye project. Again, I used the Veranda papers & colors. I can't wait to use this template for Easter cards.... Stay tuned!!

Networking projects

Tuesday, provided we are not snowed in, I will be participating in an event that I hope will be another step in promoting my CTMH business. I am working on some items for the event. First is a framable layout. I picked up an album frame at Michael's for $4.99 which is just 1/2 inch bigger @ 12.5" x 12.5." The back is spring loaded which allows nicely for my raised embellishments. The layout photo is prior to it being placed into the frame.

This layout is inspired by the Veranda Workshop on the Go project. I thought providing photos would make a better "sell" so I simply printed photos of my daughter on copy paper with the laser printer and cropped them to fit. The recipient of this item will just replace my photos with his/her own.

My second item(s) is a set of 6 cards - 2 each of three designs. I took these directly from the Workshop on the Go guide. So pretty and easy to make.


I need 2 more projects before Tuesday night so stay tuned and see what I come up with. Whatever it is will most likely use paper from the Veranda set because I am totally in love with it - GORGEOUS!

Clean Sweep - Reality not-for-tv comes to Betsy

Yesterday, at the weekly IFOS meeting we welcomed a new "member," Capri's old friend and my new friend, Ramona. We had a lot of fun, as usual, and Ramona insisted on a house tour, which eventually included the Craft Cave. (Click on their names to see their craft blogs.)

Here's where it gets ugly. After a year and a half in this house I am far Far FAR from being organized in my craft cave. It's still floor to ceiling with boxes, many of which don't even belong in there, I am sure, and what is unpacked is scattered [what appears to be] randomly throughout the room. I have four tables in the room, none of which has sufficient surface space to work on, that is providing I could access them without risking a broken limb. No photos today, but I promise I will post some in the future.

I don't know how it happened, it might have occurred during a weak moment, but these two women apparently tackled me, threw me to the ground, tied my arms behind me and waved craft supplies in my face as torture. They proceeded to inform me that I would not be allowed to play with, purchase or even look at another craft item until I agreed to their terms. These terms are not pretty and cause extreme stress for me... I would have to allow them access to my craft cave to sort, organize and rebuild from scratch. They made me pick a date and put it on my calendar. Excuse me, I have to find an inhaler - I don't think I can breathe!!

This made Capri very happy as she has been trying to twist my arm to do this for a while. I suspect that is why Ramona joined us yesterday - Capri knew that it would take an intervention of more than just herself to achieve results of any type.

Springing the news on my husband resulted in shouts of joy. He is so on board with this. He's willing to cook gourmet meals for the crew, build shelves, just about anything to get that room into shape and usable.

My palms are sweating. I can feel a flush moving up my neck. There are going to be people going-through-my-stuff. I don't know if I can take this!! The big day is February 27th. I think I'll have to learn yoga or some sort of mediation techniques before it gets here.

This is where the photos come in. I will post before and after. But no *before* until *after* has come. It will be worth the wait. In the meantime, enjoy the slide show of my newest downline's (lovely daughter, Alyssa) acrylic album. Btw... the card at the top of the page is hers, too. She made it yesterday after claims of not having made a card in years. I think she's really talented and "Wishes" by Jeannette Lynton is an awesome book for those (like her and me) that want some inspiration.