See the painfully slow progress as I am organizing my craft room!
My son has recently returned home after finishing university (what? how fast was that?!) and we have switched out his bedroom and my craft room….so I’m in the process of organizing my craft room. Well, to be truthful, I’m still in the process of unpacking and placing, so I’m trying to organize at the same time – so it’s painfully slow. (Plus I’m still running my Stampers Club, making projects and shooting videos and photos for classes and social media, so you can imagine how efficient I am right now….LOL).
My new craft room is smaller than my old one (don’t judge me, I delusionally thought that he wouldn’t be living at home full time again), so I’m also downsizing. My retired product garage sale a while back did help to free up some space, but there’s still so much stuff!
Organizing my craft room – old way of storing dies
I used to store my dies in stamp cases, with magnetic sheets inside, which is fine if you’ve got room. I’m a visual person, so I need to see what is there (and there’s no way I’m relying on my memory these days LOL!)
Organizing my craft room – storing dies now – ignore the typo on my label
For now, I’ve gone back to leaving them in their plastic sleeves; I add in a magnetic sheet if I have one, or if there was one in the case in which it used to be stored. I’m also using a rubber band to keep the stamp set and coordinating dies together (which also helps when I’m getting prepped for retired product sales, so I know what was bundled together!). I also use the labels to show the name of the dies in large print (because my eyes are not what they used to be), and how many dies are in the set (because I tend to take them out and leave them around).
Organizing my craft room – dies with magnetic sheet
This process has just begun, and since it’s a “working craft room”, it means that sometimes organizing my craft room is the last thing on the priority list… I do have some time off from my “other” job so I am hoping to get a bit more organizing done.
I recently finished the videos and projects for my Stampin’ Blends 101 Online Class so when I was putting my Blends markers away in the Blends Storage trays, I thought I would change how I stored them. I am a “Sort by Stampin’ Up! Colour Family and in Alphabetical Order” kind of girl, because I usually search for things by their name. For example, if I’m trying to coordinate ink/cardstock with a Designer Series Paper, I check which colours are used in the DSP (it’s on the backing sheet) and then I go grab those colours. For the Stampin’ Blends, when I’m colouring an image I often find I choose based on hue vs specific colours – “I need a green” vs “I need Old Olive” for example. So…..
Organizing My Craft Room – Stampin’ Blends
I was so brave and did the ROYGBV thing! OK, OK, you’re probably thinking “what’s brave about that?” but for me, this is stretching the boundaries a bit. You can see my little labels on the caps (because I still need to know what colour it is LOL). I did have them originally sorted by Stampin’ Up! Colour Family and in Alpha Order (because I’m me…), but I actually found that putting them away took longer because I had to read the label, remember what Colour Family they were in, and then put them in the right spot alphabetically. (and then I would often wonder if I was putting them in the right spot and had to move them around). Sometimes being slightly obsessive about these things is not good….LOL. So rainbow order it is for now! I also tried to go paler shades to darker shades….
Have any good organizing tricks? Throw them my way! Perhaps at some point in time I’ll have the craft room organized (and cleaned) enough to do a room tour. Don’t hold your breath, though, that’s going to take a while!!! I think the Blends are the best organized thing in the room so far LOL.
This eye catching angled fun fold card is easy to make!
angled fun fold card – slightly open angle
Another in my quest for eye catching, “different” card designs that aren’t overly tricky to make – the angled fun fold card! This is like a “gatefold card”, where the two ends of the card are folded towards the centre. In this case, the flaps overlap, and you just trim the top and front edge at an angle (and it’s the same on both sides) to create this look.
For this angled fun fold card, start with a 5.5″ x 11″ piece of cardstock. Score at 3-3/8″ and 7-5/8″ to create the gatefold design. Mark 1″ down from the top on the front/long edge of each flap, and 1″ in from the edge along the bottom/short edge of each flap. Cut from the top of the score line to the first mark, and then cut from the first mark to the mark along the bottom of the flap to create the angle. That’s it!
I used the Heart & Home Designer Series Paper from the January-June 2022 Mini Catalogue (retiring soon and on sale right now!). I cut two pieces from the same paper to 3-1/4″ x 5-1/4″. I stacked the papers so that the designs that I wanted to show on the front of the card were facing each other on the inside, then I cut them the same way that I cut the edge of the card – from the corner, to 1″ along the long edge, and then from that spot to 1″ in along the bottom edge.
angled fun fold card (closed flat)
To finish off the card, I added some circles from the Stylish Shapes Dies – my new “go to” dies. The sentiment is from Honeybee Home, which is part of the Heart & Home Suite with the Heart & Home Designer Series Paper.
This was another of the Stampers Club Cards in May. We’re getting set for another session of Stampers Club this month and looking forward to welcoming new members starting in June. The good thing about virtual Stampers Club is that when people can’t make the live Zoom meeting, it’s recorded and uploaded to a members only site. I know that many members actually prefer to go through the card construction with the recording and use the “live” time to watch and chat with other members. You can find more information about Stampers Club on the YamStamps Events Page.
Another option, if you want a “one off” for card classes, is to check out my online classes. They are all “stand alone” classes – so you can purchase whatever one suits your crafting needs. Once you’ve purchased a class, you’ll have lifetime access – so you can definitely take your time going through the step-by-step videos!
In the meantime – give this angled fun fold card a try! It’s a great design to have in your crafting repertoire!
This easy Hello There Floral Card is perfect for brightening someone’s day
Hello There Floral Card
I love the new Stylish Shapes Dies that are in the Stampin’ Up! Canada 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue, and we used them to create a fun frame effect on this Hello There Floral Card that we made in Stampers Club in May.
Frugal Friday Tip….the frame and main image are the reverse sides of the same piece of Designer Series Paper! I die cut the largest square with the lattice design up. I then flipped that square over so the floral side was up, and then die cut the next smaller square. The die has a stitched edge on it, so I wanted the main stitched area to be the “right way” (indented) on the floral piece. It’s reverse on the inner edge of the lattice patterned frame, but I don’t mind that as much. This paper is the Design a Daydream Designer Series Paper – and it’s a huge package of 48 sheets which you can only select with your Stampin’ Rewards. You earn Stampin’ Rewards when you place a single order with product of $200 or more – this could be a workshop order where many people place orders at one time (like for my Stampers Club), a single person order, or in my case, a single Demonstrator order…LOL.
Hello There Floral Card Closeup
I thought I’d tie in the stitched theme on my Hello There floral card by using the Stitched Greenery Die on the background. This is one of my favourite dies because it adds texture and interest but doesn’t take away from the main focal element! I stamped the sentiment from the Nature’s Prints stamp set on a small square and then adhered it at the same angle with some Stampin’ Dimensionals to give it some lift.
If you’d like to join our Stampers Club, our next get together will be Monday 13 June. We continue to meet virtually at this time via Zoom. The one good thing about meeting by Zoom is that we can record the sessions and members have ongoing access to the recordings in our Members Only site. The other good thing is that if you don’t live close to Burlington Ontario, you can still join, since all I have to do is mail your class packet to you, and you can join us virtually too! Contact me if you’d like to join us for a 6 month membership. You can get more information on the YamStamps event page, or you can message me if you have any questions.We’d love to have you join us!
Light the Candles has been one of the most popular items in the Kits Collection by Stampin’ Up! – and you can get it for 50% off during June!
Light the Candles Kit
The Light the Candles Kit is back in stock and just in time! Starting today and running until the end of June – Buy One, Get One Half Price on the Kits Collection by Stampin’ Up!The Kits Collection refers to a number of project based kits that are available while supplies last. Often kits will sell out, and then re-appear later on – as is the case with the Light the Candles Kit. That being said, there is no guarantee that they will always come back! The kits contain supplies to create the projects – but you can use your imagination and come up with your own variations! They will often – but not always – include ink spots and adhesive, too. You just need to read the description of the kit to know what’s included.
Who are these kits for?
Anyone who likes to craft! Seriously! It’s great for beginners because most of the supplies are prepped and ready to go. It’s great for experienced crafters because it’s a compact crafting set that you can take with you anywhere. It’s great for when you want to create, but don’t have the energy to come up with a design on your own. It’s great for when you want to come up with your own designs, because it gives you a “jumping off” point. It’s great for crafters with limited space for lots of supplies – it fits in one box!
Stampin’ Up!’s Light the Candles Kit Contents
The BOGO sale is perfect if you have a friend or family member that you’d like to craft with. You could each get whatever kit interested you and then enjoy each other’s company while you work on your own kits. This is a great sale as well to have some kits on hand for the upcoming summer holidays, when you hear the “I’m BOOOOOORED” call, or want some time out of the sun and away from screens for a little while.
The shortcut to all the Kits Collection in the YamStamps Online Stampin’ Up! Canada store is yamstamps.com/kits. When you shop the online store and add two kits to your shopping cart, the more expensive one is automatically calculated at a 50% discount. There’s no limit to how many kits you purchase! (well, other than your crafting budget limit!). Please note that Paper Pumpkin (another great kit offering from Stampin’ Up!) is NOT part of this promotion. Shortcut to shopping is yamstamps.com/shop otherwise. If you would like assistance placing your order, or would like to pay by etransfer, you can message me! Happy BOGO shopping!
The January-June 2022 Mini Catalogue will be retiring 30 June 2022 – and Stampin’ Up!’s Last Chance promotion lets you get some retiring product at a discount STARTING TOMORROW (1 June 2022). There are retiring products on sale for 10%, 30% and 50% off!
Remember that retiring products are available while supplies last or to the end of the catalogue sales period (30 June 2022) – whichever is first.
Shortcut to shopping is https://yamstamps.com/shop or you can message me for assistance placing your order or if you would like to pay by etransfer. SALE STARTS TOMORROW!
I did a film photography class years ago, and one of the things we did was to make sun prints like this when we were learning to develop our photos. I have no idea where those prints are now….but I don’t need to worry because Stampin’ Up! created this gorgeous paper. I know that many times they use actual art work to create the images for the sheets (painted canvas, acrylic pours etc) so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case here as well.
If you like getting a regular dose of crafting inspiration and information, be sure to be signed up for the YamStamps newsletter! Each week brings something new and exclusive to your inbox. The projects and tutorials I share in the newsletter don’t appear elsewhere on my social media, so you’ll need to be subscribed to get them! Use the boxes on the YamStamps site or click here! The big monthly newsletter is going out on Tuesday 31 May (since I can’t wait until the first Tuesday in June – close enough, right?!). Sign up before 1pm Eastern so you don’t miss out!
