Scrap Space Reorganization

New monthly kit organization

I discovered a Dollar Tree while I was out shopping for decorations for my daughter's 5th birthday (More on that another day) and while strolling around the aisles I discovered a couple of things that triggered a whole revamp of my scrap space!  I'm not done yet but I've made enough process that I can actually scrap!  

For months now I have felt like my set up was not efficient and therefore holding back my creativity.  My monthly kits were piled up everywhere!  It was taking me forever to find what I needed!  And then my mojo left me!  While he was gone I really examined HOW I was scrapping and what was and wasn't working. And so my search for a new set up began!

It all started with this tray and these 4 bowls.

Aren't they beautiful!?! The bowls are VERY lightweight and shallow making them perfect for small embellishments. They stack very easily as well. The tray holds all the bits and pieces from a monthly kit.  

 I went to Michael's to see if they had any PL products and I stumbled upon this!

I love that there are two shelves.  I keep my "in progress" PL pages on the top along with a Martha Stewart desktop organizer full of embellishments that are begging to be used.  The organizer used to hold my most used stamps and monthly PL kit. I found another place for those.

As you can see my 5 year old daughter has claimed the bottom shelf for her belongings. She tried to claim a couple of drawers too!  She is too funny because she is not satisfied with my left over supplies anymore.

A shallow drawer can hold the entire contents of a Citrus Twist main and PL kit.  

As soon as I get a kit in the mail I put it in a drawer. When I want to work with a kit I pull the drawer out, sort the embellishments into the tray and bowls and put the paper in a tray on my desk. When I feel like I have 'killed' a kit I sort the remains into my stash.

Citrus Twist Sail Away July Kit ready and waiting to be played with!

Tray dividers for EACH of the shallow drawers are included with the cart.

I am using one divided drawer for my washi tape and date stamps.  As you can see there is room to grow. HA!

The second drawer holds  my flat alphas.

I haven't decided how to use the 3 deeper drawers. Right now my small stash of 6x6 papers  and wood veneers are in there.

The rest of the drawers hold my monthly kits. And the last deep drawer is empty.

I bought 2 sets of the plastic bowls.  Four bowls for a dollar!  Right now they hold recently purchased embellishments that I want to use.

This led me to sort my embellishments by color and create 'color drawers' (I got this idea from ScrappyJedi)

Then that led me to sort my cardstock and patterned paper by color!  The that led me to (well you get the picture).

How do you store your monthly kits?

Thanks for stopping by!

Marisol

DIY Labels

Labels, Labels, Labels!

I love labels. I love using them on layouts, cards and of course PL spreads!  I have received lovely labels in my kits from Studio Calico and Citrus Twist.  October Afternoon has lovely labels, but they are VERY pricey. Printable labels can now be found everywhere throughout the internet stores as well!   My printer does not like paper other than regular 'ole printer paper.  I have tried MANY MANY MANY MANY times to figure out the right settings on  my printer to be able to print on card stock. EPIC FAIL! 

Not to mention that the cardstock I used soaked up lots of ink and the colors look faded.  I have not tried printing the labels on photo paper...I have read that it looks very nice!  

Therefore, printing downloadable labels is a NO GO!  I love that Citrus Twist is now including a small sheet of labels in colors that coordinate with the  monthly PL kit. Cool right?!

Before I started receiving labels in the CT PL kit I came up with a way to create them on my own with stamps!  My search for the perfect stamp set lasted months!  Then I found it!  The Labels Basic Stamp Set by PaperTrey Ink !  It was an expensive set but well worth the money.  PaperTrey Ink has a coordinating steel die set but I didn't purchase it.  I think the labels are easy enough to cut out by hand!

I first heard of the stamp set in a post by Nichol Magouirk where she mentioned using the stamp set to create a custom colored label for her layout.    Once I received the stamp set I was pumped!  I used a  sheet of 8.5x11 Neehah Solar card stock for each ink color and used several shapes per sheet.  I cut the labels out and put them in baggies according to color.  

I left some labels blank and stamp a sentiment on others.  I love the final product and that I can customize a label at anytime WITHOUT using my printer.  I stamped some sentiments off center because I like to have the labels over the edge of my paper.  

Many of my stamp sets fit perfectly in the labels such as sets from Ali Edwards, Studio Calico, Citrus Twist, Etc.  Roller date stamps are also a perfect fit.

The 'date' stamp is from a very old Ali Edwards set

An example of how I used my DIY labels.

Go raid your stash and find stamps you can use to make your own custom labels!  If you make any be sure to link up here, I would love to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by!

Marisol

Project Life Week 10

Week 10

Today I'm participating in the Saturday Project Life Blog Hop hosted by  Michelle Bostinelos . Be sure to drop by her blog...it's fabulous!  If you are visiting me  on Friday be sure to come back on Saturday and hop along with us!

NO... I'm not that far behind!  I am behind just not that far behind. I just never shared week 10. 

This week includes a self-portrait, my hubby fixing the computer (again), my son raising money for the American Heart Association, a deer in the yard, a picture of my daughter playing in her room. The highlights of the week include my son's first paycheck and  my mother-in-law's 75th birthday.  

I fell in love with Seen & Noted collection by Pebbles and used several of my favorite papers in this spread. I created a collage in Picasa that resulted in several different sized pictures. I definitely don't like the very small pictures (2x2).  They look lost in the spread. I do however like the 2x3 picture (of the deer).   I think my favorite size is 4x4 because it allows the background paper to show and the picture remains the focus.

This week includes an insert. I trimmed the design A page protector. My son received his first paycheck from his very first job and because of his level of excitement it deserved to be highlighted.  I even took a picture of the check!  

My mother in law turned 75 this week and boy did we celebrate!  I had a hard time paring down which pictures to use so I decided not to  include any embellishments or filler cards.  I let the pictures tell the story.  

As you read this post we will be celebrating my daughter's 5th birthday.  She chose the Little Mermaid for the theme.  I had lots of fun planning the party!  This week will definitely be hard to pare down which photos to include. I may need to dedicate an entire spread to her birthday! 

I have many more PL spreads waiting to be photographed and shared with you.  Now that I'm off for the summer I should be able to get around to it soon. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Marisol

I found a new mojo! A layout and PL share.

My mojo is back!

Hi there!  It's been a long time hasn't it?!  It is all my mojo's fault. See back in April he left me. He left with no explanation.  He just left. I was devastated! My pictures and scrap stash went untouched for weeks because of his departure.  At first I felt sad, then I felt angry and finally I was motivated! I found another mojo! A mojo that offered a renewed motivation to document my memories.  

I realized that I had to accept that there would be days when I would not have much time to scrap. Days when I am too tired to scrap.  Days when I had no motivation to scrap.  I realized that I had to embrace the days when I had time, energy and motivation to scrap.  And that is what I did.  As a result I have created several layouts AND Project Life spreads!  

I created this layout for a challenge on the Studio Calico Forum. The challenge was to lift the person above you in the thread.  I lifted this layout from SC member ajmcgarvey. Check out her gallery it is full of inspiration!

Let me apologize ahead of time for the awful photos!

Week 12

I included the Iditarod race standings because my son and his 3rd grade class followed the entire race!  I thought it to be very cool that he learned something new and embraced it. He talked about it everyday.  I also included his self-portrait which was featured at the local art show. Cool huh?  I journaled directly on some photos this week.

The right side of the spread is all from Saturday.

My dad comes over EVERY Saturday!  It has definitely become a routine. My kids LOVE it when he comes over!  The board game of LIFE provided 2 hours of play without argument!

I cut a 3x4 grid card in half and stamped the days of the week stamp using markers. I used a blue marker to indicate the day the photos were taken and journaled on the rest of the card. I really like the look of this and will do it again when I have two photos from the same day.

Another example of jouranling right on the photo.  My daughter was using her princess doll as a kite! Talk about imagination!  

The left card said Lucky on it and I added the 'I am' to journal about a scrappy prize that I won on a blog.  I created the card on the right.  I loved the chevron paper and didn't want to cover it up.  I trimmed a 3x4 card and adhered it to the chevron card.  

I have lots more to share and hope to keep blogging over the summer.  I'm really looking forward to this summer.  We just got back from vacation and have the rest of the summer to enjoy.  My family and I created a summer bucket list!  

Right now I organizing my scrap space and reorganizing my embellishments by color.  I bought a cool rolling cart from Michael's  that I plan to use for my monthly kits.  I'll share pics of that too!  

I'm so happy to have a new found motivation to scrap and blog!  

Thanks for stopping by!  

Marisol