In My Happy Place

Yes, I am finally here,

in my happy place!

The place I can dream...

The place I can create...

The place I can escape...

This is it!

As mentioned in my previous post, my husband and I have recently become "empty-nesters."
When my youngest left the nest earlier this spring I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the room... 

My craft room has been in the basement of our home for 12 years now and has gone through many changes. But it has never been the space of my dreams. The basement, although finished, is very cold and dark, and I found that even when I wanted to go down and work on a project, I would not because it was so cold and unorganized.

I started working on transforming the then vacant bedroom on Memorial Day weekend when my oldest daughter (bless her heart!) volunteered to help me paint. The walls were previously candy apple green and hot pink, so I knew it would be quite the chore to cover it. It took 2 coats of primer, and 2 coats of paint with primer to cover the bright colors! If it had not been for my daughter volunteering to help, it would still not be done to this day as I hate to paint!

There's still a lot of work to do, but that's ok!
I've gotten a lot done in just a couple months...
 

~ OK ~

~ Enough talk ~

WELCOME TO MY STUDIO!

  Come on in and sit awhile!

I wanted to have enough space to be able to have a friend

over to create, laugh, and have fun together.

 

My table is the first thing you see when you walk in.

 
The table is made of a hollow-core door

attached to two 9-cube shelf units.
Plenty of space to spread out!
Eventually, the frame propped against the side of the shelves will be a bulletin/cork board.

 

I like having the display space on the end
that holds some of my favorite things:
string, lace, pearls, buttons, tart tins, old clothespins.

 

To the right of the table is where I store most of my
embellishments and paper.
Drawers hold doilies, slides and molds, vintage baubles, seam binding & rickrack,
chipboard, and paper punches.

 

The drawers on the end here hold pieces of ribbon that are not on spools.
The 6-drawer unit on the floor holds scrap paper organized by color.
 
The lanterns in the corner are from my daughters wedding shower.

They were too pretty to throw in a box!
8x11 card stock and 8x8 paper stacks are along the top right.
12x12 paper stacks are in rack to the left.

 

This shelf holds some of my papers for altered art: cardboard, pattern paper, tissue paper, old mail order catalogs and music books. Also: watercolor paper, glossy paper, suede, vellum.
The drawers hold tags and picture slides.
 

I have more 12x12 paper downstairs to place in these bins, organized by theme.
Just waiting to get more holders...
Bottom row is 12x12 organized by color.
My 6x6 and 4x6 paper stacks are in the bottom drawer.

My spice racks at the end wall hold some of my favorite embellishments.


I thrilled to find the test-tube holder at an antique mall last month ~ a steal at $19!
Been looking for something like this since my friend
gave me the test tubes a couple years ago.
Still thinking about what to put in them...



A couple cards I made last weekend in my new space!


This is my "Faith" section.  I've collected a few rosaries and a scapular,
and many crosses and prayer tokens over a couple years.
The containers in the box are for sorting beads and embellishments,
and to hold small items together for projects in progress.


The icon is of St. Philothea.
She was a martyred nun of the Orthodox Church who helped support her home monastery by crafting items to sell at the local market.
 
I used a mail holder for my paper cutters,
and there's room for growth under this end of the table.
Other cubes hold different sizes of envelopes.
The black bin is where I place papers to be recycled.


Before we started painting the room, I threw away the blinds for the windows,
thinking that I would just buy new ones.  Well, I would need to have them cut
to size and just haven't gotten around to it. So instead, I placed some sheer black
fabric in front of a rectangular lace tablecloth, and clipped it up onto the curtain rod!
I love the look, and it lets in just the right amount of light while still providing privacy.
I still need to find a rectangle tablecloth for the other window -
the oval one that's up there now just doesn't hang right...
you'll see that in a bit.


I'm still searching for an old wooden hanger for my baby slip.
Wire will do for now!


And here is the wall to the left of my table.
The tall cabinet holds books, magazines, and photo boxes.
And next to that is my stamp station!

.

The cubes on the left hold my loose, unmounted stamps, like TAC.

The drawers on the right hold reinkers, embossing powders, glitter, markers, paints, chalks.

The stack of sewing drawers hold my Tim Holtz distress inks, paints, embossing powders and markers.

Glimmer Mists are on turn table.

Above the table on the shelves are bins of

Close To My Heart and other acrylic stamp sets.

Bins of acrylic blocks, wheel stamps from Stampin Up,

more acrylic stamps, and some pretties.

The 4-drawer unit holds flat lace scraps and flowers,

and the storage unit on top of that holds
wood mounted stamps.

The hardware bin on the wall has different charms and clips that I use on cards, along with other embellishments.

My friend's dad made the ribbon rack for me!

Right inside the door is my cutting station

for my Cricut and Cuttlebug.

Cricut cartridges are in wood cabinet,

and Spellbinder dies, embossing folders and

other diecuts are in the storage bin.

This is where I will put my framed corkboard
when it's done.

Beside the closet is a little shelf where I have my game pieces on display,

and my collection of bottles and jars.

The folders in the metal cart have small stamps and embellishments stored in divided pages.

(See what I mean about the oval tablecloth
not hanging right?)

I love these old game pieces!

Pails in the middle hold Scrabble tile stands and cardboard for bookmarks.

 

These bottles have been hiding in a closet for many years.

So glad to have them out where I can enjoy them now!

I have the closet divided up with wire cubes
for more storage.

The drawers under the closet hold material
and knitting yarn and needles.

Outside my door in the hallway is my
collection of old books.

Some to be used in altered art, some for inspiration
(poem and prayer books).

My youngest daughter painted the rose picture on the wall when she was in junior high.

I love it, and will NEVER take it down!

So, that ends my tour.

But now...

These are a few of my favorite things:

(caught you humming!)

~ picture of my parents when they were dating ~

~ one of my favorite visitors, Buster Chops ~

I am so excited to be able to participate in this years'

Where Bloggers Create,

hosted by Karen Valentine!

I have been following Karen's beautiful blog for several years now,
and have been so inspired by her work.
Thank you, Karen, for your dedication and support
to all of us out here in blog-land!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my happy place,
and that it has inspired you in some small way.
Please check out Karen's blog for more
inspirational tours of

Where Bloggers Create!