Hop Art Studio

Purging

It's been a lonnnnnnnng time since my last post. I guess summer just gets the best of me. With the boys home I tend to keep really busy with "stuff". But I'm still alive and well. 

I made the mistake of watching one of those Hoarder shows and I just had to start purging. I'm not one to hoard, well not like they do. But I do like to "collect" stuff. However, I get to a point when I've had enough and I just have to re-organize and purge.

I found some great canvas boxes at Walmart with coordinating magazine organizers. I do have a harder time throwing away some magazines. I have every issue of Mary Engelbreit's magazine. Now that it's no longer being published I just can't bring myself to part with them. I do not keep other magazines, with the exception of a few gardening ones. And then only a few of them, not every issue. And yes, I do re-read them or use them for inspiration.

I have yet to tackle all of my old Stampin' Up! stamp sets. The tasks of photographing and posting them, for the moment, is overwhelming. I'm scared that if I only list them by the name that I'll get emails asking about them and their condition. So I figure it would be best to avoid all of that and just force myself to take a pic. I promise, I will get to it. And I will post it here on my blog, not my Etsy site. 

I did purge all of the other stamps and stamp sets that I have and I will begin photographing them this week. Then you can start looking in my Etsy store for the listing.

Other items I've managed to part with I will be selling at our local scrapbooking store. I know that what doesn't sell will be donated to a local school. I like that idea.

And no, I still have not been stamping. Although I must say that going through all of this stuff did spark a "bit" of interest in it again. I guess in time I'll start again. Maybe..... starting with coloring.......maybe...

Apron ATC

I mentioned on Facebook that I was working on some ATC. Well here they are! I love to create ATC's using scraps of things that I have extra of. Or supplies that I've bought, are outdated and I've never used. I stamped my apron gal from my set "Sew Pretty" for Ginak onto ivory cardstock. The paper for the apron is from a 6x6 pad "Kitchy Kitchen" (Melissa Frances) The background paper is Girlie Paperie. I used Copic markers to add some shading to the gal and apron. So much fun sometimes to just do repetitive things that don't take much thought (after the first one is created of course....LOL.)

And how cool is this! I found the sign at Marshals (outlet store) for $7. Added some cup hooks and found a way to not only organize my Spellbinder dies but add something cute to the wall of my new room!  

My Room

When I put my mind to doing something I focus all of my energy and get it done quickly. I can't stand to have things half done around the house. And I don't like a mess. So when my husband convinced me to use the study for my art room I made the change over in a couple of days. It's not perfect, mind you, but it's mine! If money were no object and the perfect room were available things would look differently. Yet, it is "my" room now and I have just about everything in a place that is convenient  for me to get to. And in the end that's really what matters, being able to get to my stuff so that I can create.

 

The room is small. It's at the front of the house and almost octagon shaped.  It had four very large windows that allow a lot of light into the room, but take up wall space. I used our old dinning room table for my desk. It's green legs match the curtains I made. Go figure!

I finally have a place to display this awesome dollhouse that I found 2 years ago in Pennsylvania. What a bargain. It brings back so many great memories. I had one just like it as a child. I bought the furniture, bit by bit, on Ebay.

Had my husband and son build the bookshelf (Matches the other 2 smaller ones I moved to the opposite wall. These house our collection of books in them.) They also built the 4 white shelving units (Found them on clearance at Walmart!) Tried to put to use the many Longaberger baskets that I have accumulated over the years.

My desk fits all of my essentials needed. Plus I was able to tuck my favorite stool beneath it.

For now I've tucked these 2 drawer units underneath the desk. I don't like them there but I need them for storage. One thing I want to get rid of slowly are all those punches. I have tons! They take up way to much room. 

I put my extra ribbon in this cake stand I found at Target last year.

Put my Copic refills in a organizer I found at Target. I'm almost finished collecting all of the Ciao refills.

More places to stash stuff. My baskets and my McCoy pottery. Love them! Any time I'm at an Antique store I have to hunt for McCoy pots. My collection started when my husbands Grandmother passed away and we inherited a few of her pots. 

Found these cute baskets in Targets dollar bins. Bought a bunch at the time thinking that they would come in handy. I put my paints and extra refills in there.

Buttons in re-used candle jars. Sometimes the jars that candles come in are so pretty and practical.

All my extra stuff, papers, embellishments, supplies are stored in the white shelfs. I put them in various containers and they seems to be right within arms length of the desk. Working out rather well I must say.

I bought this cedar chest, one of my first antique purchases, over 20 years ago. I've used it to "hide" many things over the years. I placed my paper cutter on top.

The coolest part of the chest is the drop leaf in side. Right now I've put all the extra punches in it. The rest is full of my papers and Cuttlebug folders.

Stamps?

My GinaK are stored in Binder Boxes. Other loose stamps are stored in SU! Clam Shells. I don't like to hoard stamps or stamp sets. All my extra stamps are in a different storage area of the house. I plan to slowly start selling them. 

Well hope you liked the tour of my space. I'm really enjoying being able to finally have a place, inside the house, that I can go to and find my creative muse. It's liberating! 

New Space

Have you ever had one of those moments of total awareness?

I was sitting in my son's school cafeteria watching the 6th grade promotion. I was listening to a long, drawn out, boring speak by their principal, when he said to the children, "This is the half way point of your education. You've had 6 years of school and you have 6 more years until you graduate from High School."

I looked over at my hubby, he looked at me and I said, "OMGosh! We still have 6 more years left!" LOL

It hit me. 6 years left! 6 years left until Ben graduates form school. I'll be 51! Not that that's old, I don't consider it old, but I hadn't thought of it until that moment when the principal said,  "6 more years until you graduate from High School."

Then it hit me. I will have 6 years, plus 4 more for college, before I get to convert one of the boys rooms into my art space. Oh no! I can't wait that long. 10 years! There will be a lot of changes in the next 10 years.

So my head started spinning and I realized that stooping and bending and trying to find my supplies in the darkness of the space under the stairs was just not going to work for the next 6 years! ( plus 4...lol.)

So I ran to Target, bought a cheap desk and filing cabinet. Spent the afternoon in 90+ degrees of the garage building it. And carted all of my supplies up the stairs!

I decided to use the space that I had originally planned would be my space. I knew that it was in a good spot. It had extra lighting, extra plugs, cable hook up and was accessible to the breezeway (where I planned to set up my easel to paint) and the bonus room.

We are planning on insulating and drywalling the bonus room. Until then I placed all of my stuff along one wall near the door. All I need do is cross the breezeway to access my supplies.

I like the way the space turned out. And I like the fact that I don't have to bend down and reach around in a pretty dark space anymore. As time goes by I'll be better organizing the space.

But hey I only have 6 more years left!

Building Storage

This has been a really busy week at our home. As you may remember we will be moving in June. Yesterday the "For Sale" sign went up in the yard.

I'm really excited about the move back east. I can hardly wait to start house hunting. So much fun!

One of my dreams is to have my own art room. Hopefully it will happen.

I came across this magazine while I was out shopping today and I just had to buy it! OMGosh, I'm totally inspired to get hubby working on some of these projects. I'm an organization freak...I admit it, I have a serious problem with messes. And I can see lots of possiblities in my  next home.

Well, all I need do now is pray that the house sells by June (when he needs to report.)  Should work out great since schools out in June. (Shhhhhhhh, don't tell the boys that school get's out in May in Florida and that their summer will be a short one once we get there!)

Storage

Oh Lookee what I found at Tuesday Morning!!!

I feel like a kid who just got a very cool toy!

Now, do I have any place to put this? Noooooooooo! But did that stop me from buying not one but two of these very cool storage thingys? Noooooooooo!

I don't know if Tuesday Morning has the same merchandise across the country or not. But I thought these were a great deal. They were $9.99.

Oh I can't wait to find a place for them in my next home when I get my own art room!

Coming Out of the Closet!

Okay, I admit it, I'm a closet stamper. I have been for years. But now I finally feel like I can actually share the truth...LOL. I actually love my little space. It's a great compromise when you don't have a lot of room.

My wonderful husband put the shelves in there for me one mother's day. The lighting, outlets, and phone jack were already there. I found the perfect size chair and desk. It does get a bit cramped at times but I have everything well organized and within arms length. The best part is I can put the stamp storage on the table and close the curtains. The room looks nice and neat!

Ribbons! Oh lovely ribbons. They call to me every time I go to the craft and scrapbooking store. I got this wonderful idea from Creating Keepsakes Magazine. I wrap the ribbons and drop them into the compartments. This has really helped me to match my ribbons to the projects I'm working on.

Directly next to the closet is my craft bookshelf. I keep more stamp sets here. It also contains scrapbook papers, Sizzix, Xyron, Acrylic paints, catalogs, a basket full of this and that, and envelopes.

My stamp pad storage system is a tape cassette holder by Fellows (I believe they no longer make them.) On top of the system I stack paper that are ready for card making. Another smaller stack is kept on my table.

Stamps sets are conviently stored  next to my chair. I have 2 of these storage units. I have a binder where I have stamped all the sets I own.This way I can pull out the binder and locate the set I need. I don't have a lot of sets, so this system works for me.

To store all the other odds and ends that I have I use an over the door shoe rack organizer. This really helps when you are tight on space. In this area are things that I don't use very often.

Hopefully in our next home I will have my own art studio. A place where I can actually spread my stuff out. Set up my easels. Have a drafting table again where I can work on some Prismacolor pencils illustrations. A place where I can leave all of my creative mess out and have fun. But for now, I remain a closet stamper. And I love it!

Flowers

I have been admiring all the Primaflower containers at the scrapbooking stores and on line. But I just couldn't bring myself to buying them. I know that they would sit prettily on my shelves and I wouldn't use them often. Ahhhhh Ha! Brain storm moment. I have Stampin' Ups! wonderful flower punch. So during one evening I punched out beautiful flowers from my scraps. Took out one of my saved glass containers (ya never know when you'll need a jar or two) and made this lovely Faux Prima container.( The jar is a McCormick's spice container). I actually use the flowers more often.