Organize your Stuff: Week 19 (round 3): Chipboard Part 1

This week starts the Anniversary events for Tuesday Trio, and Creative me is so honored to have the sketch that she created be chosen for this week! Pop on over to Tuesday Trio and have a chance to get some great free blog candy! Here is my Design Team Card for Sketch #49!

Just so you know, when this sketch was submitted to Tuesday Trio, Creative Me was still a contestant, and did not really think that we had a chance of making the design team. Therefore, she had no problem with suggesting that the bonus challenge was to use stitching…since she was not going to make the team… So, imagine the POW’s surprise when the Sketch was accepted and we made the design team!

You may not be aware, but currently, my sewing machine and I are on strict supervised visitations. Apparently, she has tension issues that she enjoys taking out on Creative Me and OCD Me. This causes extreme amounts of stress and violent tendencies on the parts of my personalities. (Note: It took me forty minutes to stitch four inches with my machine without it jamming up. Creative me could have hand stitched the whole thing in less time. But why hand stitch when you have a sewing machine? With tension issues?!?!)

Now, to the issue at hand…chipboard. Ok, OCD Me has serious chipboard issues. This is where we ended up after Round 2.  Totally under inspiring.  Now, the Inner Hoarder has not acquired that much chipboard, so this should not be a big deal. But, the POW has come to realization that since we do not have enough chipboard for nine (9) 12x12 Iris containers (and Fabulous Spouse, don’t worry! We do not intend to go shopping and get more just to make this mentally easier! …. Hmmm, shopping…. No. Must stick to budget!) like Zen Master Wookiemouse (her blog here), it is actually more of a challenge.

So, provided that the weather gods don’t have a sick sense of humor, and keep my kids home with a snow day or two this week, the POW has promised to support OCD Me and come up with a solution that does not involve a giganticly big bin. Wish us luck and rain instead of snow!

Organize your Stuff: Week 18 (round 3): Tools & Adhesives Part 2

Here is my layout for the Week:

Used my favorite tool from Tuesday for this one! The Tim Holtz tonic piercer put the glue dots on my Thickers…Creative Me knows that supposedly they have changed, but too many Thickers have fallen off my pages, so now they all get double duty adhesive! Also, I used the piercer to pierce holes for the brads in the middle of the flowers. Page 2 in this 2 page layout was inspired by the Challenge Sketch for January from the 2 Peas Calendar Girls.

Now, drum roll please! Adhesives are finally corralled! It was the wild, wild west here for a while (and not the weird Will Smith movie version with all the strange mechanical inventions). We admit to putting off the inevitable, but PA Me kept saying… I know the perfect solution, so when things calm down, it will only take a minute… so let’s do it later!

The POW is pretty sure that PA Me could have been a Jedi (this is not the droid you are looking for…) except that it take work, dedication, and actually showing up for Jedi class. So, last night, after working at my local scrap book store, OCD Me was all jazzed with organized scrapbook energy and was ready to tackle the probably five minute task of organizing adhesive. (OCD Me gets terribly frustrated by PA Me, because most of the time these tasks are rather simple and not terribly time consuming.)

Step 1: Get hanging basket from old scrap room desk and bring down stairs.

Step 2: Hang basket in Expidit bookcase so that there are 2 levels for adhesives… then realize that the basket is too wide for the space provided.

The POW then spent the better part of an hour moderating between OCD Me who wanted to find a new solution, and PA Me who had thrown in the towel and wanted to get some quality DVR time in with the TV since Fabulous Spouse was out of town. The POW finally put her foot down and reminded PA Me that yes Fabulous Spouse was out of town. That means that the Laundry Fairy was out of town too. So PA Me had a choice. Play with OCD Me and a little glue or do laundry for five. Amazingly, with negotiation skills like that, PA Me had linked arms with OCD Me and the two of them set off to create adhesive order (maybe I am wrong, and it is the POW who is the real Jedi Master).

SO, now adhesives are done, my layout is done, and we are ready for next week-Chipboard on Tuesday! …off to tackle that laundry. Darned missing laundry fairy!

Organize your Stuff: Week 18 (round 3): Tools & Adhesives Intermission

We are so Excited!!! This year, Creative Me convinced our personalities that we could conquer Ali Edward’s twelve month One Little Word (OLW) class! (Due to our excitement the POW is warning that we may over exclamate this post). Tonight is our first quarterly live chat… and I don’t have to be somewhere else with kids!!!

Also, in an attempt to increase my productivity… because PA Me needs someone to make her accountable … I am also trying to join/ keep up with the Calendar Girls on 2 Peas in a Bucket! So, that will give me four projects in four weeks to accomplish…or try to at any rate.

So, a couple times a month… we hope… there should be a bonus intermission post! (YEAH!)…

My OLW for 2011: EMBRACE!

Here is a five page mini-album that Creative Me made for the Calendar Girls (one project down, three to go!!!). We had to show what we wanted to see in 2011, and here is what I have so far. OCD Me wants you to know that it isn’t finished yet, but the POW figured that if we waited for perfect, then it would be June before we had pictures. This is the insides...

Here is me and Fabulous Spouse.  I thing that it is always important to say "I love you" every night, and give hugs whenever possible!

Here is my tribe.  In the pocket are pictures of them individually with things that I need to remember... like there really is an angel inside Girl Friday.  It may take an excorsism or two to find it, but it is there... especially when you least expect it!

Creative Me thought that it would be "So Cool" to stamp and emboss the photo.  Note:  Embossing guns cause photos to bubble (at least the Costco kind).  Luckilly, it is just nature that was slightly distorted... not that we have anything against nature...except that it is dirty, usually wet (here in Washington State), and lumpy.  Oh, and nature eats stuff (including trash) when you turn your back on it.  Otherwise, totally LOVE it.

Ironically, there are no pictures of me being the Domestic Goddess that I should be.  That is why there is no Domestic Goddess on the sidebar, and I have been cleaning my scraproom for a year!  Need to find and embrace my inner Domestic Goddess!!!

Finally, as busy as our schedule gets, it is important not to let our Traditions go!  Whether it is remembering our Irish heritage by wearing green on St. Patrick's Day, or weekly traditions, like every Friday's Pizza and a Movie Night.  Those are the things that help make Family special!

Hope you liked it!This seems perfect for me for many reasons. I am a big hugger, and love to embrace my family! However, everyone has their quirks, and sometimes I need to embrace that too! There are things…like camping in tents… that my kids LOVE and I need to embrace more. *sigh* There are things that I avoid (I blame you PA Me!)… like cleaning bathrooms. Those I need to consciously embrace.

Organize your Stuff: Week 18 (round 3): Tools & Adhesives Part 1

Welcome 2011 and the first post of the year!!!

This marks the One Year Anniversary of Tuesday Trio weekly paper crafting sketch site! Happy Birthday TT! To celebrate, we have a real challenge… a Circular Sketch! The bonus challenge is to make it vintage, and so here is my Design Team Entry for Sketch #48:

It seems that Creative Me has gotten us into a sticky situation through this past year. Our shelves runneth over with adhesives (glues, sticky stuff, tapes). The Inner Hoarder has helped with this mess, as she is my resident shopper, and you know…if it is on sale…. Oh well! Now it is up to the POW and OCD Me to pick up the mess for the next post!

Fabulous Crisann gave us the Question of the Week, this week at 2 Peas: What is your one “must have” tool that you cannot scrap without?

Last year, I picked my perfect layers (you can see it here). It is still my #1. However, as a close #2 I picked my Tim Holts tonic paper piercer. The funny thing is that I got this a free gift with purchase about two years ago, and now, I cannot scrap without it!

This tool can pierce through paper for setting brads (and Creative Me is a total brad junkie!) or things with prongs, marking a hole to be set with a crop-a-dile or eyelet. I have used it to clear glue bottle(and Stickle bottle) blockages. I have even used it, as with this card, to hold items in place as I used an embossing gun on small items. In short, it is a great multi-tasker (a la Alton Brown) and it just Rocks!

Also, this week is tools! Here is the new tool bag that Santa brought me! 

Not including your templates, dies and die cutting machine, this week covers that box marked- Other! Most importantly, how do you store those things you use to help you create (and that we have not tackled yet)? Do you have canisters on your desk, a lazy susan (rotating circular device), or boxes. Do you sort by type (all your paper cutters stored together) or by the things that you use the most and least (dust those least items…spring cleaning just came early). Where is that eyelet setter stored? That bind-it-all? Those gianormous xyron machine that you got several Black Fridays ago and haven’t used since you volunteered to laminate things for the PTA?  Do you put Everthing away in boxes?  or hang it on pegboard?  I would love to see your solutions, or you can visit Zen Master Wookiemouse again!

Well, off to start the task of cleaning up!  See you later!

Organize your Stuff: Week 17 (round 3): Punches Part 2

OK, Readers! It is time to party like it is 1999! …or not. I had a 1 year old in 1999… not nearly as much fun as today! Maybe we should party like it is 2010! At any rate, it is time to make those New Year’s resolutions, …if possible, complete those ones from 2010 …or just let them go…

As a bit of fun, Marit of Marit’s Paper World in the Netherlands has been hosting Blog hop 2000. This takes the top 2000 songs of 2010 from Netherland’s Radio 2 and has them put to paper art. Kind of neat, eh? This is the page that follows my “I’m Dreaming of a White…” Snow page during Week 15.

It represents Queen’s “The Show Must Go On” as we almost had no turkey or egg nog or pumpkin pie due to the snow and horrible road conditions. That morning, however, we did make it to the stores (but did not tell the kids) and got a proper Thanksgiving (a la Safeway Thanksgiving Feast) done for dinner.

Creative Me has been pushed to the back lately, as the POW and OCD Me tried to make the Perfect Christmas… maybe next year. Let loose again, Creative Me did not fail. Since this week was punches, Creative Me used photo corner punches on the left page, and Fiskars threading water on the journaling tag.

This is pretty neat actually.

You start with a strip of punched threading water.

Score at the indents.

Cut along score marks (if thick paper and this was).

Stagger pieces… with a space slightly smaller than the pieces… (blogspot has decided that this picture needs to be rotated and I cannot fix.  Sorry!)

Place remaining pieces. Voila! Pleat on a curved surface!







Punches that everyone should own:
At least 1 corner rounder, a circle punch (at least ½ inch), a scalloped punch. (Level 2:Threading punch like Fiskar’s Leave it to Weaver). However, like everything else in scrapbooking, the more that you use your punches, the more you will seem to need, and remarkably, they will breed like rabbits (or Gremlins with a cookie after midnight) when you are not looking.

As for Punch storage, there are many cool ways to do it. I have seen every manner of Ikea gadget (where were we before Ikea?) to shoe racks on doors (another cool idea). However, my room only has 2 walls and no doors, so neither of these storage solutions worked for me. However, if you were blessed with 4 walls (darned you open floor plan!!!) and a door, Zen Master Wookiemouse did a fabulous job of gathering all sorts of links with different ideas, if you need them, here.

OCD Me did the punch organizing last round. Since Creative Me LOVES to go to crops, OCD Me had to find a solution that worked. For now, I have three (3) Iris 12x12 clamshells that hold my punches. The first has shapes, the second has border punches, and the third has corner punches.

They store in my hutch on a roll out shelf that was originally meant for a printer. Great Easy Access! So, as a New Year’s challenge, break out that dusty punch in your drawer, and like the Velveteen Rabbit, remember why you loved it and play!

Next week, Miscellaneous Tools. (Remember that eyelette setter and some of those other tools you may not have used in a while?) Uggh! We will get through this together!

Organize your Stuff: Week 17 (round 3): Punches Part 1

I hope that everyone has survived the Holiday Season! This week is the beginning of the last milestone of the year- New Years! (Or is it the first!) So shake of that eggnog and cookie coma, put away those latkas, and let’s get Scrappin! New Years is a time for resolutions and a chance to start anew!

Speaking of New Year’s Resolutions- here is my Tuesday Trio New Year’s Eve Card (Sketch 47). For any of you who want to put in a Christmas Card for Sketch 46, you could win a blinkie (it closes Saturday Jan 1st!).

I used a Fiskars Notebook border punch on this card to create the resolutions piece of the card. It started as plain paper, but I used two CTMH ink pens to add the lines and make it look as if it really did come from a notebook!

Punches seem to be one of those things that you love or you hate. It does not mean that you are a punch snob if you have 5 or less, but that you might not have had the right teacher to inspire you! Believe it or not, these are not your 1980’s punches, and to be honest, Creative Me used to be a punch snob too! Until 2008, I probably had 2 (and 3 pairs of those scalloped type scissors). Now I find that a couple of punches can add that something to a layout (especially at a crop or workshop) to bring it to the next level without having to haul my Cricut or die cutting machine. Even the magazines are using punches again! ...and you thought that punches were dead. (I’m not dead yet!-Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

Besides, Girl Friday and the Illusive Middle Child can be entertained for hours with a couple of punches and some scrap paper. The end of the week will have my storage- which may be very different from yours, and a Layout!

What is your Scrapping or Organizing New Year’s Resolution for 2011? (OCD Me wants the Inner Hoarder to take a long vacation so that she can clean!)

Organize your Stuff: Week 16 (round 3): Paints, Glitter, and Stickles

For those of my readers who are Christian, Merry Christmas!!! Feliz Navidad!! God Jul!! Joyeux Noel!! Or however you say it Happy (and hopefully not to stressful and busy) Holidays!! It seems that many of us get caught up in a tug of war with our selves as the POW tries to make every commitment, OCD Me tries to channel Martha Stewart and Norman Rockwell, and PA Me keeps thinking that if we keep ignoring it, December 25th will never get here. PS- Out of state Family- PA Me regrets to inform you that she has yet to get to the post office, so presents will probably be late.

Today starts a Christmas Card week at Tuesday Trio, and this is the Design Team card that I posted for Sketch #46.

It has both paint and stickles…but no glitter.

Creative Me loves paint. However, it is very understandable if you are a papercrafter who does not paint, or a painter who does not scrap or make cards. I love adding a touch of something with paint, or painting up the edge of a chipboard. Creative Me has also recently started an addiction to Glimmer Mist (LOVE IT!) To Creative Me , this week’s tools are the things that have the potential to bring Dorothy to OZ in full Technicolor.

In a kind of trip down memory lane... here are pictures that you have seen before, but OCD Me will not allow pictures in the scrap room while it looks like a seamstress shop threw up on it (Creative Me is making Christmas Pagent costumes right now.  One Wise man down...one Angel to go!)

 
 
Here is my sack of acrylic paints and glitter.  Big jars are on the bottom and small jars are on top.  Girl Friday loves paints and uses them often.
 
 

 
 
Then here are my stickles and glimmer mists.
 
 
 

 

I am off to do more baking and sewing and at some point actually get to that post office!