Carol Hartery's Creations: Creative Spaces and Marker Storage

Hi Everyone!

This is my second post for today. I have so many things I want to share with you that I may double up on posts for a while.

A few weeks ago I purchased a copy of the Creating Keepsakes special issue magazine called "Creative Spaces". I carefully studied each page and ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the different scrapbooking spaces. There were some truly amazing ideas. When I finished reading, I walked into my dining room and sat in "my own little corner" and looked around me. I felt very content and happy with what I saw.

"Creative Spaces" is in stores right now and I highly recommend it to anyone who papercrafts. You'll get some great ideas and you'll have a chance to peek into the rooms of some of the best known names in the industry.

While we were driving to the Stamp Show on Saturday Janet told us that she was going to Ikea with her husband on Sunday to purchase some furniture for her new crafting space. We talked about her plans for that space and I learned that many of her materials will be behind closed doors and her stamps will be stored in clear containers.

I prefer to have my materials out in the open. I love to sit back and admire my wooden stamps and think about ways to use them. I love having my ink pads and scissors within arm's reach. I told Janet that the one and only thing I wanted to change in my corner was the way I stored my markers. They were sorted and organized in one of my drawers, but I constantly had to search through them to find the color I wanted.

Janet said that she has also read "Creating Spaces" and that she had seen a photograph of markers being stored in cups on a wine rack. When I got home I studied my magazine and found the photograph that Janet had mentioned. I loved the idea so yesterday I went to HomeGoods to see if I could find a wine rack. I found a small wicker one that could hold just 3 wine bottles. I tested to see how plastic cups would fit in it because I knew I had some at home that I could use with it.

I came home and sorted and arranged my markers into 3 plastic cups and set them on their sides in the wine rack. I can see what color each of my markers is and can easily pull out the marker I want. I can also pull out a cupful of markers to use while I am working. Love it!

I've told you how happy I am with my paper crafting space. That doesn't mean that I don't change things around from time to time. I rotate my stamps and ribbons mostly according to the season. Jeanne hung all but one of my cutlery trays and fabric drawer organizers on the wall as "shelves" for my wooden stamps. There's one left to hang and not a lot more room on the walls after that unless I remove my brads bulletin board, my framed sample border edges, and/or my button collage. We'll see about that when the need arrives.

Meanwhile, here's how I am storing my embossing folders and my Bazzill In Stich'z templates. I purchased 2 of these mail holders, but cannot figure out where to hang the second one so it may go back to the store.