Sunday, March 30, 2014

2 birds with 1 stone ...

After cleaning up The Paper Room, I had 2 of these kinds containers that I wasn't sure what to do with.  Hubbie took one to put screws, nails, etc. ... you know what it was meant for :)

As for the one below, I decided to give this one to my friends for her daughter.  However, I just couldn't give it to her like that ... I got this great idea to fill it with die cuts.  I had given some die cuts previously to her daughter, and she loved it.  She even brought some to school to share with her friends ... so cute!


I basically die cut a bunch of stuff ... words, numbers, balloons, butterflies, hearts, arrows, footballs, baseballs, soccer balls, bicycle, t-shirts, polaroids, frames, etc.

 
  
 Since I have sooooo many paper flowers and brads, I decided to fill a few drawers up with this.


I also added some cardstock already folded, so she could make cards.  I put some envelopes and tags as well, but it's not in the picture since I added them after I took the picture.


Lastly, I put some beads, stickers and stamp set in the last drawer.  

 

Hopefully, she will have fun with all this stuff!  It works out for me ... I get to "recycle" this container and use up some of the scraps of paper I have ... win-win!!  BTW, I was still die cutting ... I figure I would do this until they come to pick it up ... gave me a chance to use up more scraps :)  Anyway, my friend came with her daughter to pick it up yesterday, so a little less stuff in the room :)  I think hubbie wanted to get rid of more stuff as he asked my friend's daughter if she had pockets ... a real comedian!!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Fun with Ketto Stamps!

A few years ago, I gave a class where we made 4 cards using Ketto stamps.  Of course, using my favourite ones from the Ketto family (Sake, Ginger, Wasabi, Yoko and Ono).  Here are a few additional cards I made with Sake to show the class ...

 

In January, I decided to take out my Ketto stamps and make a bunch of cards.  As you can see I started with my favorite ones ... Sake and Ginger :)  However, I did have the intention of doing others ... see the one on the far left ... lol.

 

Instead of colouring, I stamped the image on patterned origami paper and cut them out.  Once I glued the paper for the outfits, I cut and embossed a bunch of white cardstock ... and then went on to matching the colours of the outfit.


I was able to use some of my scraps for the cards ... yaay!!


Here are the cards with the Ginger Ketto stamp and different embossing background.


And here's the cards with the Sake Ketto stamps ...


I'm planning on making some more a little later ... probably going to start with the Wasabi and Yoko and Ono Ketto stamps :)

Saturday, March 15, 2014

The Paper Room - Part 2 ...

Well, hubbie sure loves me ... there is no doubt about that!!  Not that there was any doubt to begin with ... but for anyone who wondered just how much :)

Hubbie went to Ikea many, many, many ... did I say many ... times to pick up everything from Ikea.  He picked up 4 PAX system frames, 27 drawers, 16 shelves ... as well as 2 Alex drawer units and a table top, which is my new desk.  Also, he did most of the work putting everything together ... I help a bit ... moving the stuff and putting the shelves up and some of the drawers together ... basically, the easy stuff.  Again, T-H-A-N-K  Y-O-U hubbie!!

So, here's what replace the towers of plastic storage containers.  What do you think?  Yeah, it's pretty high ... I still need to get a step ladder, so I could reach the stuff on the top shelves :)  I'm pretty happy with it!  To quote Agnes from Despicable Me ... "I'm so haapppy!!!"


This is my new desk.  It's smaller than the previous one, but it has enough space for the essentials.  I opted for a smaller desk as it gave me more room when I opened the drawers of the PAX storage unit ... it was more comfortable.


The best part of this desk option is the 2 Alex drawer units on either side that acted as the feet for the desk ... more storage space ... yaay!  As you can see, I still have a few bits to sort out ... for now, I stored it under the desk :)


Yup, lots of punches ... there are 2 more drawers :)


To the left of the desk is another PAX storage unit ... but the smaller one.  It fit perfectly there!  I'm still missing one drawer as they didn't have any more in stock.  Oh, I forgot to mention that Ikea was having a discount on their PAX system ... it was perfect timing!  Hopefully, they will get more drawers soon.


As you can see, I reorganized the closet as well.  I kept some plastic containers and added some other containers from Ikea.


I also reorganized the 2 bookcases to the left of the closet ...


I moved a few things around on my table and got rid of 2 of those containers ... you know the ones that you put screws, nuts, nails etc.  I manage to consolidate things and just keep 2.


As I mentioned, I didn't get rid of all the plastic storage containers.  As you can see, I still have a few under the table :)


As hubbie commented ... I really maximized the usage of the space I have ... he was referring to me putting some stuff in the space between the ceiling and PAX storage unit.  Wha!?  No space should be wasted!  Just like paper :)


FYI, I was able to fit a lot of stamps in those drawers.  Here's a couple of drawers filled with stamps :)


I love the flexibility of this storage unit ... I was able to size the shelf to the size of the paper ... now, I could easily reach for the paper I want.  BTW, I don't think I need to buy any more paper!!


Well, that's the end of the tour.  Hope you enjoyed it!

Saturday, March 8, 2014

The Paper Room - Part 1 ...

You are probably not aware, but The Paper Room was under renovations for about 3-4 weeks ... actually more like 3-4 weekends.  It's been a while that I've been "passively" looking for replacements for my towers of plastic storage containers.  The first plastic container I bought was starting to break down ... I guess that's what happens to plastic over time.  I figure I better start looking for some replacements; however, I still had a few years before the others deteriorated as the first one was purchase years before the ones in The Paper Room.

In January, hubbie and I went to Ikea to look at the Alex drawer unit that I saw on-line and some storage containers.  When I saw it, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for.  I didn't want to settle, so I decided to look some more and just get some of the boxes and magazine file storage from the Kassette series.  I knew I would use those whatever I decide to get.

ALEX Drawer unit with 9 drawers IKEA High unit with many drawers means plenty of storage on minimum floor space. 

As we were heading downstairs, hubbie saw the PAX system and ask if it would work.  It's a wardrobe storage system but allows you the flexibility of putting shelves, drawers, etc. as per your need.  After looking into it a bit and planning out what I would needed ... and I mean planning!  I had different versions of worksheets in Excel trying to figure out how this would work and where I would store stuff ... I even weight some of my stuff to ensure it was in the acceptable weight for the drawer or shelf.  Finally, I had an idea of how many drawers vs shelves I would need; but before we could start shopping, I needed to move things out of the room and that was a challenge in itself!  It's amazing how much stuff there is in that room!!  I think hubbie was impressed with how much I was able to store in there.  He said I'm very efficient in storing stuff ... that's a complement, right!?

For a few weeks, I had stuff in every room upstairs!  In the spare room ... and that is just one side :)


In the bedroom ...


In the family room ...


Oh actually, it wasn't every room ... nothing in the bathroom ... so not that bad, right?  You may change your mind when I tell you that I did not empty the room ... just the area where the towers of storage containers were and where my desk was :)

All this allowed me to do a clean up in The Paper Room.  All those boxes that I had from Papertrey ... I undid them and layed them flat ... now it does not even fill up the box.


I also tidy up the closet and used it as a temporary storage area :)


Look, I've been robbed!!  I don't remember the room ever being so empty!!


Let me tell you this clean up showed me just how much paper I had ... I knew I had a lot but seeing it all consolidated as I sorted through everything ... let's just say .. wow!  Oh and I have a lot of ribbon too ... that I already knew though ... more than a drawer full as that's not all of it :)


I'll end here and continue in another post ... stay tune for Part 2!