My Craft Room

**Warning: This is a long post with lots of pictures.**

I've been wanting to take pictures of my craft room just to document for the future. It's also a good idea for insurance purposes. But, my room has been cluttered and disorganized since I haven't had time to clean it up.

Now that things have slowed down a little, I found some time to tidy up and also add a few new storage features. So, here's a journey into my sanctuary.

My craft room is a small room that's connected to our Master Bath. In the model home, it was staged as a work-out room. Yeah...right! It used to be my husband's office space, but he graciously let me have it last year. Here's the entrance to my room. 

Here's what it looks like once you step up the stairs and walk into my room. (Sorry for the poor lighting. It was a gloomy foggy day.)

Right in front is my cutting table. I keep my die-cutting machines underneath. Here's my Cuttlebug, Big Shot, Grand Caliber, and Dream Kutz. I also keep my Cinch there. Under that shelf are my SEI album kits. I like putting the albums together and giving them as gifts to non-crafters. You can also see my Janome Mini sewing machine. I'm still trying to get the right tension on my stitches.

Right next to my cutting table is storage for all my cutting plates. Underneath are my CDs full of Nestabilities as well as stamps and dies from My Favorite Things, Verve, There She Goes, Clear Dollar Stamps, Hannah Stamps, and a few others. On the left are holders where I keep all my invoices from PTI and other on-line craft stores that I order from.

This is the top of my cutting table. That Clip It Up stand displays some of the cards I made and haven't yet filed away.

Now we get to my area. This is where I sit and try to find my mojo. 

To the left of me is a tackle box I bought from Target a long time ago. I use it more to store things that really don't belong anywhere else. My room can get a bit warm during the summer, even with the AC on. My two tiny fans help keep me (and my stamps) cool.

These are my inks. I've got my full PTI and Stampin' Up pads on the tall carousel. The refills are on top. The small set of drawers hold my ink cubes from Memento, PTI, SU, SEI, and Technique Tuesday.  The white box to right holds my Versamark inks, glue pad, and Staz-Ons. The back of the box has drawers for my twine and bling. 

This is where I keep my ATG guns. It's a faux leather remote control holder. I keep it right in front of me so I can get to them quickly. I also keep my stamp cleaner sprays there. To the left are a variety of pens and markers: Spica, gel, Deco. To the right is my collection of Copic markers.

Here's my Copic collection in its entirety.

There's my white carousel that holds my essentials:  scissors, rulers, glue dots, glue, pop dots, and more.  To the right of my desk is my cabinet. Notice the kite on the wall?

That's the kite that Dawn McVey made for the PTI booth at the Summer 2010 CHA in Chicago. Nichole Heady had a contest and gave away many of the Design Teams creations. I was lucky enough to win Dawn's kite!

Next, we have my cabinet. On top is my Xyron machine and craft tote for when I go to scrapbooking retreats. Inside my cabinet are my binders. Take note of that dark brown Franklin Planner on the right. I'll mention it again later. To the right of my cabinet are some drawers that contain miscellaneous items: circle cutter, clear plastic bags, blank stationary, old wooden stamps, and a bunch of other things.

Three of the binders hold my templates. I put my PTI templates in alphabetical order. I have most of them. I also have templates from different bloggers and from Splitcoast Stampers.



Besides the assembly instructions, I also print out the template, cut it out, and store it in the binder. I use the template to trace my pattern onto cardstock.

Two of the binders hold my Cuttlebug and Sizzlits dies. I got these page protectors from Staples. They're meant to hold trading cards.

They also hold my Cuttlebug embossing folders.

Two other binders hold my Studio G and other miscellaneous stamps. These are stamps that I bought long before I discovered Papertrey Ink. I loved buying Studio G stamps because they were only $1. At the time, I thought all clear stamps were of the same quality as Studio G stamps. Boy, was I wrong! Once I discovered PTI, I started buying higher quality clear stamps and stopped buying Studio G. Still, I can't seem to part with my collection. The images are so cute! I'm keeping them and letting my children use them whenever they want.

I also keep my PTI patterned paper and Color Couture binder inside.

Remember that dark brown planner? That's where I keep my PTI dies and impression plates. 

Here's how I store my PTI border dies. I used my sewing machine to make pockets in my page protector. Don't look too closely. My sewing is horrible! My scallop border dies are on the left side.

I love making all kinds of 3-D projects. So, I have a collection of Sizzix and Bigz dies. The clear boxes hold my brads, snaps, clips, googly eyes, and other trinkets. There's my Big Crop-a-Dile.

On the bottom shelf are my XL dies and boxes of DMC floss. I used to cross-stitch (and still do on occasion).  In that plastic bin are my Anya and Ian stamps from The Greeting Farm. 

Right behind where I sit are more drawers. They are on casters in case they need to be moved.

On top of my metal storage is where I keep my small scraps of paper. This unit was made to hold photos. Instead, it holds my small scraps of paper. I sort the PTI paper by color. My SU scraps are sorted by color collection.

The drawer underneath holds all my precious PTI buttons. I bought these containers from Michael's. I punched out a scallop circle from coordinating paper and used my label maker to add the names.  Here's a close-up of all that colorful goodness.

Below that is the drawer that holds my larger scraps of paper. I separate my PTI paper from my SU paper. For my PTI folders, I punched out a piece of cardstock and adhered it next to the name. This way, I can find the color I want even when I forget the name of it.

Behind this unit is where I keep my PTI cardstock. I reach for them all the time so I need them to be close by.

Below are drawers. The bottom drawer holds my Stampin' Up and Bic markers. The middle drawer has all my SU ribbons. The top drawer holds my die-cuts.

  

My husband gets a bunch of these plastic boxes at work. He doesn't need them so he gives them to me. I've been making gift card holders out of them, but I have so many. So, I decided they would be great for sorting and holding my extra PTI die cuts.

Under my desk are a couple more sets of drawers. One holds my stash of glue-dots, scor-tapes, Xyron refills, Zots, skittles, and Stickles. The other drawer hold my many many punches: Martha Stewart, Stampin' Up, EK Success, Marvy. That black thing is my old SU stamp cleaner. I removed the pads and put a large piece of Absorber to clean my stamps. That circular piece of wood on the floor is what I use to heat emboss my projects on. It protects my desk. That blue thing next to it is a large piece of fun foam for placing under my cards for stamping.

I also have two roll-away carts. They hold items that I reach for often:  label maker, heat embosser, Copic airbrush, baby wipes, Crop-a-Dile, small Xyron, mini trimmer. I keep two garbage cans: one for recyclables and the other for garbage.

So that's it for my desk area. Let's move on to my bookcase. This holds a lot of my empty or pre-made scrapbook albums. On top are old photos that were pre-digital days. I also keep some of my wood-mounted SU stamps here, the ones that I'm more likely to use. I have a ton more in another room. I don't use them anymore and I hope to sell them or give them away some day.

This shelf has my newer clear-mounted SU stamps. That white box holds more stamps by Taylored Expressions, Pink Cat Studio, Martha Stewart and There She Goes.  The small drawers contain older pigment and chalk ink cubes for my kids to use as well as miscellaneous SU items. You can also see my corkboards, Prisma watercolor pencils and Prisma colored pencils.

This box contains all my extra CD cases. I bought 200 of them from someone on e-bay. I use them for the Fillable Frames sets, nesties, and calendar projects. 

Here's my bin of all the empty clear boxes that my PTI stamps came in. I've got tons! These plastic ice cream cones are from Michael's. At $1 each, I scooped up as many as I could. They will make great party favors for my kids' birthday parties. I thought I'd fill them with candy and a gift card from Coldstone or Baskin-Robbins. That grey file cabinet doesn't contain any crafty things. It holds our personal documents. It's a remnant of when this was our office space.

Next to the bookcase is my PTI storage. I keep all my PTI stamps, ribbons and felt in it.

I had planned to use the top drawer for something else, but it came with a divider. So, that's where I keep my felt, for now.

Here's how I store my ribbon.

You may be wondering how they stay lined up in a row. I used some old Cricut 12x12 mats and hot-glued some hot glue sticks to them. It keeps the spools in place when I open and close the drawer.

Since this stores all my wonderful PTI goodies, I've displayed the beautiful cards that I've received from some talented PTI forum members on top of the unit. 

Next is an area for my kids to work at. I wanted there to be a place where they can create. They're allowed to use any of my supplies, EXCEPT my PTI stamps.  On that table is my color printer, Cricut Expression, and Prisma markers. The shelves holds my alterables, envelopes, cards, and other tools.

Here are my Cricut Cartridges. I removed most of them from their boxes and stored them in the plastic bins. The ones that are still in the boxes are recent purchases that I haven't gotten to yet.

On to my back wall. Here's my wall of punches.

Below the punches are my Stampin' Up cardstock and patterned papers. Under the shelf in the metal bins are kits and patterned paper pads that I've accumulated.

This tower contains my themed kits and papers. They're labeled:  Valentine's Day, Christmas, Cupcake/Birthday, Baby, and Girly. Most of them are from SEI.

Finally, head this way to exit my room.

Well, that's it. Thanks for taking a tour of my craft room.