2012 Spring Cleaning Get Organized Challenge - Challenge #1

I attended the webinar hosted by Tiffany Spaulding of ScrapRack on Monday, March 19.  My scrap area isn't overly disorganized because I don't have as much stuff as others who have been scrapping for years and years, so this is more a pre-emptive strike to avoid becoming a  candidate for an A&E television show. 


My scrap area is small (only 7 x 12).  Because I'm in a finished attic loft, the challenge for me is the outer wall of my room -- it's only 2 feet high -- and then I have to contend with a ceiling that has a nearly 45-degree slope.  Despite my short stature (I'm only 5'2"), I am constantly bonking my head on it.  You can see pictures here.  Only about 4 feet of that 7-foot span is usable space for standing.  Plus, it gets pretty warm up there during the summer.


While I am going through the 8-week Get Organized Challenge, in the back of my mind I will be trying to decide whether I want to stay in the loft or move my scrap area down to my dining room (which has stood empty, waiting for the "perfect" dining room table for over a year).  There is tons more space, it stays pretty cool, and I don't hit my head.  But what if I finally see the perfect dining room table?  Therein lies my dilemma.


OK.  Back to the Challenge.  The challenge this week is as follows:

1. Use my craft supplies to create a "Big Benefit" reminder, and a reward list for each of the 8 challenges I complete.  It has to be hung up somewhere where I can see it every day.
2. Read the 4 Section System Article here.
3. Create my "Themes" index.
4. Gather my supplies together in one room or space.
5. Set my purge goals, get a purge box, and find a home for my purge.
6. Evaluate my space for visibility and accessibility.  Make changes and prepare the space for my supplies.
7. Join the 2011 Get Organized Challenge Group on Facebook.

I completed #2, 4, and 7 right away.  Item #5 was a little difficult for me, as I am just a beginning crafter and don't really have all that much stuff that needs to be purged (or I won't have anything left!).  So I've decided that I'm not going to set a purge goal for now.  That may change with subsequent challenges.


I got my "Big Benefit" page (item #1) put together by Wednesday ... but man, I had a hard time with the rewards.  I really don't have to work my schedule around a husband or kids (just a pesky job), so the "leave me alone" time is pretty much whenever I want, and I don't have to answer to anyone else for my spending either ... so I really had to work to get some rewards that would motivate me.  Here is what I ended up with:

I finally got my Themes Index (item #3) done on Sunday night (I was sidetracked by a weekend crop at Archiver's with my sister -- I'll post more on that later).  I had to add a couple of new themes after my visit, but it's also done now.


The last item on my list was #6, and I'm still debating the loft vs. dining room question.  Hopefully, I'll have that sorted out soon.  Tonight ... webinar #2!

Hangin' With Some Local Gals ... Finally!

The 2-hour drive one-way to my sister's neck of the woods was starting to cut into my crafting budget, so I wanted to find some folks locally who were into the "scrapping scene."  I thought about reaching out to a local Creative Memories consultant, but I thought that would be a little tacky since I had already become a customer of the CM consultant near my sister.  Besides, I like her.


I had pretty much given up on being able to find anyone around here.  That is, until I had dinner with some college friends last week.  We always have a good time, but when one of my friends mentioned that she went to a card making class once a month, I almost screamed.  (Actually, I think I might have a little bit).  She invited me to her class the following week (this past Thursday).  I couldn't wait!


So it turned out to be about a 30 minute drive, which is still significantly better (and cheaper) than a 2-hour drive each way.  This was a Stampin' Up class and the ladies there were so much fun.  I had such a good time and we made some really cute cards:

I learned some new techniques and (of course) ordered a few things from the catalog so I could continue the awesomeness.  By the time I left, I felt like I had known these ladies all my life.  I am really glad I went, and I'm looking forward to next month's class!


On a side note, here are a couple of other projects I've worked on lately:

A birthday card for my mom

A valentine my sister and I made at an Archiver's demo

I have another little project that I've been working on ... thanks to a YouTube video.  I'll show you that one in a separate post.

A Tribute to Grampa

After several rounds of trips (armed with 40 and 50% off coupons) to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, JoAnn, and Archiver's, I finally have some sort of organization going on in my craft room.


Here's what it looks like now.  Sorry there's no "before" photo - just use your imagination and then multiply it by 10.

The walls are only 2 feet before they hit the ceiling, and those little storage units are expensive (!), so I'm sort of limited.  But I did manage to get a chair!  Now if I can just stop bonking my head on the ceiling, I'll be golden.


Inspired by my newly organized space, I decided to work on the pages for my maternal grandfather.  Here's what I came up with:

Now I only have 5 more pages to work on, and I can start refilling my planners once again! 

My Very First Page

My sister invited me to a scrapbooking party crop (sorry, still working on the terminology) this weekend.  What fun!  The night before, I did a mad scramble to put together something to work on so I could at least look like I knew what I was doing.  Trying to justify tie this new hobby into my genealogy passion, I printed out some old photos, newspaper articles, and other memorabilia of my grandfather from his time in the service during WWII stuffed in into one of the handy-dandy pocket thingies my sister recommended.  (I recommend them too ... makes it very easy to organize your "in progress" pages).


My sister lives 2 hours away, so packing was critical.  I wasn't sure what to bring - and my scrapbooking supplies are quite limited, it turns out - so I just threw a bunch of stuff I knew my sister didn't also have into a tote bag and threw it in the car.


So the crop was being held by one of my sister's neighbors who is a Creative Memories consultant.  I was proud of myself for browsing through the catalog and only spending $20 ... on this.  Purple.  I know, right?


When all was said and done, I managed to complete my very first scrapbook page:

After I got home on Saturday, I decided to work on the second page:

This one is still waiting for one more element,
but I  haven't finished it yet

I was on a roll, so I kept working on yet another page:

For the first two pages, I used a page map book that my sister had.  So thankful that we had that, or I would still be sitting there trying to figure out what to do.  The last page came completely out of my brain.  I really think I just needed to get some "girly" out after working on the Army pages for so long.


Wow.  Three pages in one 24-hour period.  I feel very creative now.  I've started putting my craft area together in the loft upstairs, but it's going to take some serious work.  Right now everything is just sort of crammed into a recycled TV stand and a folding table.  I don't even have a chair.  I think that might be first on my new list.

In The Beginning ...

My sister inherited all the creative DNA in our family.  I got none.  She is very crafty, and I am SO not.  Without explicit instructions, I am unable to create ... well, anything.  But I want to make cute things with my own two hands!  So I have dabbled in different kinds of crafts - crocheting, sewing, scrapbooking, cardmaking (I even tried knitting once.  I've been making the same scarf for about 6 years now and it's still 6 inches long) - and give up after nothing I make looks like it does in my head.


When my sister asked me a couple of weeks ago if I wanted to join her in a card workshop at Archiver's, I was excited, but hesitant.  What if I embarrassed myself by being a complete noob?  What if my stuff turned out like a 2nd grade noodle project?  I furiously scoured the internet for remedial crafting courses ... to no avail.


First, let me just say that the instructors at Archiver's have the patience of a saint.  Seriously.  Second, I was incredibly relieved when the class was from a pre-packaged kit (whew!).  No real creativity involved, per se; it was more about the techniques and tools, which was perfect for me!  I got to learn the "lingo" (pop dot versus glue dot, etc.) which I never knew before.  I also got to learn what all those fun tools were for (half of which I probably have stashed away in my storage room because I never knew what they did or why I bought them)!


We made Itty Bitty Valentine cards from a kit created by Archiver's.  The final product was this:

You can't really tell, but the cupcake top is puffy and blinged out.

My card with little quilled heart in the bottlecap isn't exactly cooperating

We also got to make a bag!  It looked a lot harder than it actually was, and I was quite pleased with my end result:

Even the envelopes got some lovin'!

In a little over 3 hours, I learned the basics of stamping, scoring, punching, quilling, layering, and all the vocabulary that goes with them (excluding the words of the four-letter variety - those were all mine).  Not a bad deal for $20.


So after this class (and another $80 or so on my way out of the store) this was my first official foray into the world of papercrafting.  Heroin has nothing on Archiver's.  Just sayin.