Keia's Craft Room: From Bags to a Wall

Okay, so it's true I started my crafting days as a bag lady in Okinawa, Japan. A dear friend, who was also a Stampin' Up consultant, introduced me  to the world of scrapbooking. For about two years I moved my crafting goodies from one crafting spot to another via plastic bags. Sad, but true.

By the time we moved back to the United States I had acquired a rolling tote along the way...even my husband said I needed to step up my crafting game. I stayed with the rolling tote and kitchen table as my craft space for another three years. In that time I did very little crafting...I wonder why.

The move to our current home provided me with something I did not have before, a wall in a basement. My sweet husband set-up my crafting space before he deployed knowing that just looking at all that pretty paper and cute embellishments would make me smile as a we counted down the days until his return.

The fact that I even have a space to call my own makes me smile. I now run downstairs and pull a sheet of paper or embellishments when inspiration hits me and I do not worry that the little hands of our boys will be looking for a new play toy (i.e Mommy's crafting tools). What I love most about my space is that it came together in peices.  I found new ways to utilize things we had lying around (really packed in boxes from previous moves) to use in organizing my space. Old shelves that my husband had stained for the boys' room, but never installed, became my crafting shelf for my ribbon jar and scrapbooking magazines. I love my Clip It Up ribbon organizer that houses, yes my ribbon, but also my 6x6 scrapbook pads and other embellishments (stored in plasic, resuable curtain bags).

It is not that I do not want to brach out, but space is still at a premium, so I moved vertically. My husband installed my second favorite item in my craft space--a wall peg board. I love it because I literally hang everything on my peg board. I have a hanging paper organizer, which houses my paper kits, there are hooks for a variety of embellishments, punches and a bucket to contain my samples die cuts.

Lastly, I try to remain inspired by fellow crafters or just looking at some of my own work. I feel that as crafters we spend so much time and care making special items: cards, scrapbook pages or paper projects, and then tuck them away after we have completed our goal. I hung a wooden dowel that runs the width of my peg board. It is there that I hang my compeleted cards or projects for inspiration.

Thank you for checking out my crafting space. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Keia