erin terrell clarkson [etc]

Organization: My Old Scrapbook Studio (Miscellaneous Storage)

Here are a few miscellaneous storage photos from my old scrapbook room.

 

I use glass containers from The Container Store to hold many of my embellishments. I group them by like items: bookplates, flowers, buttons, etc. I had these stacked on a shoe rack on top of the desk.

The containers below are from the Pottery Barn. I used them to store smaller stickers and rub-ons. I stored them by theme within the containers.

 

Next to my desk, I used Making Memories MOD storage on the wall. This is where I kept frequently used items such as brads and colored chipboard. I like that it was magnetized and I could pull off the section I needed to place on my desk, then easily replace it when I was finished.

Organization: My Old Scrapbook Studio (The Paper Rack)

OK, this is the part everyone loves about the scrapbook room: the paper rack.

 

It does fit a LOT of paper. I'm a paper fanatic, though, so paper storage has always been important to me. The builder I used constructed the main portion from 3/4" plywood and the shelves were made from 1/4" plywood. Plywood is not the safest choice for storing paper, but I thought it was economical. IN RETROSPECT (because all of these posts are made in hindsight), I would have purchased quite a few portable paper storage containers from The Container Store. The storage above wasn't very cost-effective when all was said and done.

So that leads to an important question for my Type A personality: what is the best way to store paper? I love having it organized and easily accessible. I have always stored my cardstock together, grouped by color. I also store holiday themed papers together. I have the following categories: Christmas, Valentines, Halloween, and Easter. I also have categories for a few other themes I like to keep separate: School, Baby Boy, and Baby Girl.

Other than that, I store papers according to my favorite manufacturers, or by color if I don't know who made it. I do admit that I have quite a paper collection. After all, it's my job to scrapbook and it has been for the past 11 or 12 years. That's quite a bit of time to collect paper. I'm still collecting it, but I try to only purchase something if I have a specific use in mind for it.

Anyone have any great tips for storing paper?

Organization: My Old Scrapbook Studio (Daisy's Work Area)

Here is a photo of Daisy working in her little area of my old scrapbook studio, so you can get a better perspective of it:

 

She's just like her mommy: she likes to work standing up. Her desktop was a glossy white painted plywood surface (like mine, discussed here). The coolest thing about her work space was the hinged cubbyhole in the surface of the desk. She could work on a project, then slide it into the storage area to keep her work surface clean (not that she ever DID that, of course). If you look on the photo above, the hinged storage is in the desk, just to the left of where she is standing -- not to be confused with the storage cabinet directly above it. 

Anyway, that was an awesome idea in theory, because kids love having places to hide things. Most of the time it was so stuffed full of junk it wouldn't even shut. ;o)

I kept a bulletin board to the left of her desk so she could rotate her artwork and keep it on display. Just above her head there was a rolling paper dispenser with a never-ending supply of white paper. She could tear pieces off and use as much as she wanted (so she wouldn't use up all of my scrapbook paper!).

All of her tools and supplies were stored in baskets. I love using baskets for kids, because it means easy cleanup. She could just toss her scissors into one basket, crayons and pens in another, and glue in yet another. "Toss and Tuck", I'd say (as in, "tuck away").

It's difficult to see in the photo, but the white cubes on the right side of the photo are paper storage cubes (you can only see the sides of them). I stored cardstock and patterned papers in them. I tried to put items I didn't mind sharing in those cubes, because any item within Daisy's immediate sight tended to be put towards a creative use. What can I say...she is an imaginative little girl.

Organization: My Old Scrapbook Studio (an Overview and the Desktop)

I'm updating my blog and wanted to add photos of my original scrapbook studio. I still receive questions about it on the Scrapbooks etc. website. You can find many of the photos and details at this link:

Designer Erin Clarkson's Scrapbook Room

The room was built into empty attic space, so I was able to design it with scrapbooking in mind. Here is an overall view of the scrapbooking area:

 

The desktop is built-in over air conditioning ductwork. The ductwork was low, and I didn't want to close off the entire wall, so I added the desk above it with a small kickspace below. I tried to utilize as much space as possible.

The dark space behind the desk is an opening in the wall that looks over the living room (it was dark when I took the photo). When I had the room built, my daughter was about 4 years old so I wanted to be able to keep an eye on her while I was working. It was also convenient for TV watching, since the TV was in the living room.

Here is a closer shot of the desk:

It's painted a glossy white, because I thought that would be easy to clean up. In retrospect, it wasn't so great, because inks and markers stained it. I could lightly sand the stains out, but then the areas were dull compared to the rest of the table. If I could have done it all over again, I would have used Corian or some other easy-to-clean surface.

The drawer pulls were from a cute little boutique in town that has since gone out of business. The drawer to the left was filled with embellishments. The middle drawer had tools and adhesive. The drawer on the right was filled with inks. I did it that way on purpose, because I'm right-handed and I worked at the space on the left. The drawer with the tools was in easy reach and could also be utilized by anyone scrapbooking with me at the space on the right.

Here is a view of the wall to the left of the desk:

 

The area painted green is another window overlooking what was my daughter's bedroom, so she could be in there and I could keep an eye on her. The desk space shown above was designed for Daisy, because I wanted her to have her own little area to be creative. That desk is also built over air conditioning ductwork. The ceiling there was very sloped, so it wasn't a very usable space -- but it worked just fine for a child.

I'll be back with more photos and details about the space in the next post.

GIVEAWAY GOES TO...

I just selected a name for the Adornit Blog Hop giveaway mentioned HERE. There were 95 names at the time of the drawing, and the random.org lucky number is...number 49.

Please email me, Patty B. The link to my email is under my profile picture to the left. Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who stopped by for the blog hop.

I love Christmas most especially because of the color red...so red with anything would be my favorite combo.

Posted by: Patty B | 2009.11.13 at 05:44 PM

Giveaway goes to Cindy C

I used random.org to select a number for the Halloween drawing mentioned at the bottom of THIS POST. I had 57 comments at the time of the drawing, so I entered a search between 1 and 57. The lucky number this time around is number 6. Cindy C. please email me (click on the "email me" button beneath my profile pic). Your email wasn't on the comment, so I can't contact you. I need your address to ship the Halloween goodies. Thanks to everyone who participated. Daisy enjoyed reading your comments.

Comment:

Happy 12th Birthday Daisy! Have a great time shopping with your Mom.
My daughter turned 12 in June. It's hard to believe she started middle school this year.

Posted by: Cindy C. | 2009.11.12 at 06:28 PM

Adornit Blog Hop

*Edited To Add* Giveaway Closed. Congrats to Patty B.

Who is ready for some Christmas inspiration?

Because I happen to know where you can find quite bit of Christmas inspiration, if you're interested. I'm participating in the Adornit Blog Hop. Here's how it works. Go HERE and click on the first link. From there, follow the links as the inspiration unfolds...page after page of beautiful Christmas ideas.

OH, and did I mention I'm doing a GIVEAWAY, too? It's for a collection of Adornit Christmas supplies...who can resist that? Post a comment below and tell me your favorite Christmas color combination. I'll draw a name next Thursday, October 19th (in the evening). That will give you almost a full week to get your name in. Good luck!

Thanks to Georgana Hall and Adornit for their generosity in donating supplies for the giveaway.

After leaving your comment, be sure to visit the blog linked after mine: Melita Chow.

Here is a Christmas card I created for the blog hop:

Instructions:

• Trim red cardstock to 6.25" by 8.5", then fold  to create a 6.25" x 4.25" card.
• [TIP: I almost always trim cards to this size because you can easily fit a 4x6 photo on the interior and you can also purchase pre-made envelopes to fit! Just do a search for A6 sized envelopes on the web and you'll find lots of choices available for purchase.] 
• Use a corner rounder punch to round the bottom two corners of the card
• Trim a 2" x 6.25" strip of Adornit Happy Holidays patterned paper
• Lightly sand edges of paper and place on card as shown
• Add a strip of yellow ribbon below the patterned paper
• Punch or trim red and yellow stars into circular shapes (stars from Adornit Christmas Wishes patterned paper)
• Use dimensional adhesive to adhere sticker from Adornit Merry and Bright sticker set
• Add red and yellow stars randomly using dimensional adhesive.

Because I like making cards so much, I may just pop in randomly and add cards to this post. That will give you a reason to check back every now and then! Here is another card idea:

 

Instructions:

• Trim green cardstock to 6.25" high and 8.5" long, then fold  to create a 6.25" x 4.25" card.
• [TIP: I almost always trim cards to this size because you can easily fit a 4x6 photo on the interior and you can also purchase pre-made envelopes to fit! Just do a search for A6 sized envelopes on the web and you'll find lots of choices available for purchase.] 
• Use a corner rounder punch to round the top two corners of the card
• Trim a bottom border of red cardstock to 1.5" x 4.25"
• Add ribbon trim to top of that border
• Trim a basic triangle tree shape (4" tall and 3" wide at the base) out of light green cardstock
• Adhere the tree using dimensional adhesive
• Trim miscellaneous red swirls from Adornit Swirly Wishes patterned paper, place on tree.
• Add puffs of red from leftover ribbon to the tree as additional ornaments
• Trim star for tree topper from Adornit Twich patterned paper (from the Birthday collection)
• Trim "Deck the Halls" sentiment from Adornit Christmas Wishes patterned paper

Here is one other Christmas card idea. Remember to check back on this post, because I will likely add more!

*EDITED TO ADD*

I've finished two more cards. These stickers are so easy to work with! I am happy to already have quite a few completed handmade Christmas cards.

Here is the red card:

Instructions:

• Trim red cardstock to 6.25" high and 8.5" long, then fold  to create a 6.25" x 4.25" card.
• Trim a bottom border of green cardstock to 1" x 4.25"
• Add ribbon trim to top of that border
• Add Adornit sticker using dimensional adhesive
• Add chipboard bracket stickers to each side of the sticker

Here is the last card:

This is what it looks like open:

I created a window for the sticker to peek through. 

Instructions:

• Trim yellow cardstock to 6.25" high and 8.5" long, then fold  to create a 6.25" x 4.25" card.
• Punch 1" circles in tone-on-tone yellow cardstock, place along bottom edge of card
• Use large circle punch to punch window in card front
• Trim border off right edge of card (only the front portion)
• Trim Adornit patterned paper strip to place along right edge of card
• Add green cardstock to card interior
• Place sticker on green cardstock so it is centered in window
• Cover chipboard star with red cardstock and place on card front, overlapping window.

While you're visiting, check the end of yesterday's post because you can also enter a giveaway for some Halloween goodies.

Today is my Favorite Day of the Year

It's Daisy's birthday.

Not to get mushy or anything, but my life changed forever on this day 12 years ago. She is the most wonderful blessing in my life, by far. I don't want to embarrass her too much, so that's all I'll say.

Wait...

I guess I wouldn't be a mom if I didn't embarrass her a little, right? Here is one of my all-time favorite layouts of Daisy. These photos are from 2000 and they definitely show off her fun personality. Not too much has changed in the past 9 years since I created this layout. She is still "Miss Hollywood".

 

This layout appeared in Creating Keepsakes magazine, but I don't have the particular issue in front of me. The photos make me laugh every time.

It's also interesting to see how my scrapping style has changed through the years. 

On a completely unrelated note: is anyone scrapping Halloween photos? I have Halloween goodies to give away. Post a "Happy Birthday" comment below for Daisy and I will draw a name on Sunday night.

*Edited to Add: I'm having another giveaway on Friday, so be sure to check back then!*

Thank You

Thank you to all who have selflessly served our country. We appreciate your sacrifice!

Tech Tuesday: Dropbox

I wanted to discuss online storage options today. I mentioned in this post that I am pretty good about backing up my computer files. My photos are so important to me: I would hate to ever lose them. Because of that, I  back them up to an external hard drive, but I also back them up online. It's nice to know if I ever lost my photo albums (aka: scrapbook pages), I'd still have a backup I could access online.

I've used Flickr for years, but I have so many photos I have to pay for a Pro Account there. Recently I was searching for additional storage options and my pal Laura sent me to Dropbox. (Laura is a wealth of information!) I signed up for an account, and I'm now using it religiously to back up more and more stuff.

Other than the secure feeling of having my photos and documents backed up, I love how easy it is to share photos with family through online photo storage.. I am a slow scrapbooker, so by the time I finish a page about an event it may be weeks, months, or years later! I don't scrapbook in any particular order -- just whenever the mood strikes. My family appreciates when I share photos online so they don't have to wait forever to see what we've been up to.

Here is an example of one of the photos I just uploaded (Daisy with one of her favorite birthday presents):

She is quite the little poser. That's a makeup kit and we had just exited ULTA -- where she experimented with every type of lip gloss and eyeshadow in the store (or so it seemed).