FROM THIS TO THAT ....

I was over at a friend's house a couple weeks ago and she had her wooden stamps off of the blocks and stored in cd cases.  This idea has always appealed to me, but I could never find cd cases without the "insides" - the plastic pieces that hold the disks.  She said she just used old, old cds and then it hit me - I went home, looked at our old cds and sure enough, I could snap out the insides of the old ones and use them for storage.  I spent two days unmounting stamps, but it was so worth it.
I went from this

to this

An added bonus - now I have all these cute little wooden blocks.  So I went from this

to this

And this

And this

WHERE BLOGGERS CREATE 2012 BLOG HOP

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!  I'M SO HAPPY TO BE A PART OF THE 2012 WHERE BLOGGERS CREATE BLOG HOP.  I'VE ALWAYS FOLLOWED THE HOP, BUT THIS IS MY FIRST TIME PARTICIPATING.  I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU AND IF YOU ARE INCLINED, I'D LOVE FOR YOU TO FOLLOW ME  -- I JUST STARTED THIS NEW BLOG (AND DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO TRANSFER MY FOLLOWERS (newbie!) SO I COULD USE SOME NEW FRIENDS!!)  WELCOME

MY ROOM IS A SMALL BEDROOM IN OUR NEW HOUSE.  IT DOES NOT HAVE A CLOSET AND I REALLY DIDN'T WANT ONE BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN UP TOO MUCH WALL SPACE, SO I HAD TO BE CREATIVE IN MY STORAGE.  I MANAGED TO PURGE AND SQUEEZE MOST THINGS INTO IT.  MY GOAL NOW IS TO USE MY EXISTING STASH AND NOT ADD TO IT FOR AWHILE - WE'LL SEE HOW THAT WORKS! 
ENJOY MY HAPPY HAPPY PLACE.!!

This is one of my favorite pieces of furniture and does a great job for storage.  We had this old armoire in a guest room but when we recently moved I grabbed it and love it.  My room has so many items that mean so much to me - the little bears on top of the armoire were at the venue where my husband and I had our wedding reception.  So they sit on top of the armoire and supervise.

The inside door of the armoire holds my color charts, etc.  I took some thumbtacks and glued little ceramic flowers on them, attached them to a decorative clip and they are ready to hang for easy reference.

This corner holds my wonderful thrift store cabinet find which I profiled earlier.  There are two binders on top of the cabinet that hold my nesties on magnetic sheets.  The shoe lace drawers were another thrift store find.  The tags on top are tags that I've received in swaps that I keep for inspiration.

This is my "sitting" work area.  The shelf along the top of the wall is draped with an old curtain from our last house.  I loved the lacey material and just couldn't get rid of it.  Now I'm glad I saved it.  One year for Mother's Day my husband asked what I wanted -- I asked him to make me a table and this is the table he made me.  I love it and it is extra special.

These shelves contain my stickles, distress inks, little bottles of this and that, liquid pearls, embossing powder and glitter.  I love to keep my stuff out so I can see it so try to get open shelving whenever I can.  Just looking at it all makes me happy!

On this dowel between the 2 shelving units, I had a ring with an example of each punch I have, some "technique tags" I made from the TH Creative Chemistry classes, and a ring of an example of each embossing folder I have.  It is much easier to refer to these than to dig through my stash!

This is my "standing" work area.  As  you can see, I've had to squeeze a few things in, but it works for me.  The paper sorter on the left is my newest purchase and is wonderful.  It holds almost all of my paper (yes, I admit, I just may be a paper addict!).  I found it on ebay and it was a great purchase.  

 The top frame holds my grandparents' marriage license in the same frame my grandmother put it in.  They were married 1913 - is priceless to me!  The cross-stitch underneath the license was stitched in 1929.  My dad found it years ago in a thrift store and I love it.  Love to imagine who "LMH".

I like to store some of my items with old/meaningful containers.  In the first picture, I've used a very cool cigar box to hold some sparkly flowers; right next to it is a vintage spool which holds tissue tape.  The green container jn the next picture may not look special but it held some tea which our son brought back from China.  It now holds pencils.  Next to it is another vintage spool which holds twine.
My ink pads are all labelled and sit on my work bench next to related tools.  A "purpled" old ink holder holds some of my smaller embellishments.

And last but definitely not least, DARBY!  And you will notice this picture was taken in a more natural state - I cleaned up before taking the other pics.

 
THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY - I LOVED SEEING  YOU - HAVE FUN HOPPING!

MY LITTLE PIANO STOOL

Another thrift store find that I fell in love with.  This was a beat up piano stool - I forgot to take a picture before I painted it  :(  I painted it a lightish blue and swiped some white with a dry brush.  Then I dry brushed a little darker blue to try to give a water spot kind of look.  I painted "Hang Ten" and the two feet on the stool seat.  Our guest room has a beach-y feel to it.  I added the piano stool in the corner by the bathtub along with a basket of towels and bath treats.  I love the way it looks.  Probably don't see too many piano stools in a bathroom!

Christmas in July

For the first time EVER I have made something for Christmas in July.... Usually it's November or so.  Of course, the fact that I'm now not working has a lot to do with it!  I used a Kaisercraft advent calendar box.  The center paper is Graphic 45's Christmas pad from last year; I also popped up part of the picture to give it dimension.  The remaining paper is a little of this and a little of that.  I used Tim Holtz stain and stickles for coloring the dates.  These are soooo much fun to make.  I want to try a blue, silver and white one next - love those colors for Christmas.