Craft Hoarders Anonymous Studio Tour (and Blog Candy!)

Greeting, fellow Craft Hoarders!  It’s the 5th Monday of June, and that means it is my turn to share my studio and storage tips with you.  I have both still shots and a video (my very first!) for this Craft Hoarders Anonymous Studio tour. Oh, and some blog candy, too.   Lots and lots of photos….so go grab a snack and a cuppa before we get started!  If you would rather just watch the video, skip to the end and go for it.  I won’t mind one bit!  I’d like to thank my lovely daughter-in-law Shantelle (check out her photography blog HERE) for taking all these photos of my studio space. Also, my fellow teammates, Amber Milone and Karen Zueger are sharing tours of their spaces today as well.  And, there is a prize up for grabs on the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog today as well as my blog candy below.  Details for winning the CHACB candy can be found on the BLOG.  Details for winning MY blog candy are at the end of this post.

Kathy by Design Studio Tour Begins Here

I am extremely blessed to have a large sunny room to work in. I share the space with my husband, although his area tends to get smaller and smaller as mine expands!  This room used to be our daughters’ bedroom on the second floor of our home.  It faces east, has 2 large windows and the lighting is wonderful.  It is a very functional room…but not necessarily beautiful. Kind of like me.  I have cobbled together yard sale pieces, sturdy boxes, repurposed furniture and upcycled storage.  This is the view as you enter the room.  That’s my die cutting/sewing station.  I found the dresser at a yard sale for next to nothing.  It is topped with half of our old butcher block kitchen table.  Dale (my sweet and supportive husband whose life motto is “Happy Wife, Happy Life) attached the tabletop to the dresser, adding shims below the surface so that I would have a die cutting station that is the right height for me.  I have my Sizzix dies, ribbons and envelopes stored in the drawers.

My old timey guillotine also sits on this surface.  It is ancient…made with real wood with real US steel.  It says it was made in Chicago.  This thing is a beast, and cuts heavy weight cardstock like a dream. I got it at a yard sale for $2. I love it.

I have all my threads stored in this cute cabinet that sits behind the door, right next to the sewing machine. This is also a yard sale find (50 cents!) as are the vintage needle packets.

Behind the door, I have stored all my Spellbinder dies in a clear shoe organizer.  They are sorted by type (rectangle, circle, labels, flowers) .

To the right of this, I have a 9 cube storage system topped with a ribbon organizer, my Zutter Bow it All and my collection of buttons.

I keep my 6″ x 6′ paper pads, wire bindings, chipboard, metal embellishments and adhesives in the cloth cubbies.  The buttons are stored in repurposed glass jars. I’ve sorted them by color.  They make me happy.

To the right of this area, you’ll find the dressing room portion of the Jack and Jill bath that is attached to this room.  I love having this space for washing my brushes, letting things dry, scrubbing my hands, filling mister bottles…it’s very  handy!The mirror is reflecting the view back into my studio space.  I also have some art on the walls in here.

This is also where you will find the infamous “Closet of Shame.”

Brace yourself….this double closet is a little overwhelming.  Ready?

This is a view of the center of the closet with both doors open.  I have all my colored cardstock in here and some of my 12″ x 12″ designer paper pads.  Shoe boxes hold flowers, embellishments, bling, etc.  It is loaded with items that I plan to alter.  Either here or in eternity. People who know me give me cool little boxes, envelopes, file folders, “stuff” that they know I will make good use of…someday.  I store it all in the Closet of Shame.  The door on the left holds border punches, housed in plastic shoe organizers.  The door on the right is where I store my ribbon scraps, sorted by color. Oh, and Dale built in all these shelves for me. When you walk back into the main room, there is another long custom shelf that Dale built me for Christmas 2 years ago.  It houses all my designer papers, my printer, more embellishments (she hangs her head in shame) and my beloved Heartfelt Creations and Graphic 45 papers.

I love Clementines…those itty bitty oranges that come in wooden crates. I save all the crates and use them for storage in my studio.  If I find a really sturdy box that is the right size, I use it.  I’d rather spend my crafting money on more “stuff” than on fancy storage containers.  Some day I will paint the fronts of all these boxes with Chalkboard paint.  But for now, the boxes work for me.  I also found some Tupperware spice organizers at a yard sale and realized they would be fabulous for storing my re-inkers and alcohol inks.

This is my desk.  It’s made from the other half of our old kitchen table, supported by file cabinets that are filled with paper work. embossing powders, ink pads, gesso and all sorts of wonderful goodies. This is command central.  I keep everything that I use on a regular basis right here within arms’ reach.

I store my clear acrylic stamps in binders that are housed beneath the desk, sorted by manufacturer.  The basket on top those holds all my Heartfelt Creations dies and current projects for that design team.  This is a BIG desk…4 feet long by 3 feet deep.  The shelves above do double duty. They hold my Spectrum Noir pens (housed in an old spice rack)

a vintage tin with needles, and crochet thread, my vintagey green clock, a desk organizer and pretty things to inspire me.  I use the middle space as my photo studio.

I just have to move the small tin and spool (which also serve as props in some of my photos) move my OTT lite into position and I have eye level access and perfect lighting any time of day or night.  I have 2 backgrounds…one is white lace against my green walls, and then I have neutral vintage paper that can be used when the lace isn’t quite the right choice for a photo background. It’s really convenient!

These double windows and modular shelves (also built by Dale) sit to my right. I have my design team stamps in these wooden crates.  They are all organized by release number so I can find them easily.  Below, I have containers that hold my heat guns, glue guns, tools and more embellishments.  I also have my Gelatos, pencils and more pens located here.

This unit sits to the right of the window.  It houses more embellishments, yarns, fibers, flowers, more paper (she hangs her head in shame) and vintage jewelry that I’ve found at yard sales.  I also have some of my tools that I don’t use all the time stored here.

I store my scraps in the little white cart.  And that’s all I’m going to say about scraps!

On top of this little cart I have two more of the boxes Dale built for me, I have a big acrylic basket liner filled with my spray mists,

some Stampin’ Up stamps

and on the very top,

my Stickles and Perfect Pearls collection in another clear acrylic basket liner.

This little rolling cart sits just to the left of my desk.  Dale got it for me this Christmas.  I needed a place to put supplies while I am actively working on a project so that my desktop stays fairly neat.  I get flustered when my work surface is completely covered.  I use the 3 drawers to hold the paper collection, stamps and dies and embellishments I’m using on a project.  When I finish the project, I put the items away in their “real” home and then the drawers are empty for the next project.  This way, I can focus.  My Really Reasonable Ribbon is stored on the side

and the punches I use all the time are stored in the cubbies on the top along with two other cutting tools I use most frequently.  it’s very handy.

And here’s the link to my very first video.  It is raw and unedited and I held my phone the wrong way, but it helps you get a feel for the flow of my space.  You also get to hear me blather on about my hoard.  Which can be amusing.

Thanks for hanging with me.  To celebrate making my very first ever video, and my 300th blog post, I have a little blog candy to give away. To be eligible to win, become a follower of Kathy by Design on Facebook or sign up to follow my blog via e-mail (see the sidebar) and then leave a comment at the end of this post before midnight ET July 4th. I will ship anywhere within the continental US. The winner will be announced here on July 5th.  Here’s what is up for grabs:

Two stencils (MFT chickenwire and brick) 24 sheets of 8″ x 8″ cardstock, a 6×6 pad from MME, ivory seam binding, delicate stitched satin ribbon, two different pink satin ribbons, a spool of pink burlap string, ruffled brown ribbon, some adhesive, a chipboard book to alter, buttons, mini cards and envelopes and some jute twine.  To add to your hoard!

OK, that’s all for me!  Thanks for coming to visit my studio.  It really is my happy place…time spent here makes me happy right down to the tips of my crafty little fingers.

Cheerio,

kathy