Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Pre-SHO-LOAD Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to my part of the Pre-ScrapHappy Only LOAD Blog Hop!  I am Katrina and if you've been following the hop you've come from Leslie.  If not, don't worry it will cycle you around & you can still get the whole hop.  Sorry I'm a little bit late getting this posted, I've had a bit of excitement here with a lightning strike messing a few things up.  Nothing permanent or even terribly expensive though, so I feel very fortunate.

I live in Colorful Colorado Springs, Colorado.  I have been scrapping pretty much my whole life, but more seriously since Ryan was born in 2002.  I am on the Design Team for the Clear It Out Challenge Blog & the Creative Team of Ready Set Create magazine (The new issue comes out October 1st. I got to interview Lain & I'm really excited about it!). My favorite color is purple and I love all things sparkly & lacy! (The things in more boyish colors tend to dissapear or get broken before I can use them...) My pages reflect that too.

This will be my 8th LOAD (Wow!) My first was October 2010, and I joined ScrapHappy before it was over!  I must say that it really changed my whole life, not just my scrapbooking.  If this is your first LOAD, you probably don't believe this.  But once you've done a couple, you'll know what I mean, and you will think so too.

October is going to be a bit chaotic!  I am spending 2 different weekends out of town (Including for True Scrap-Sniff!) and am still in the process of moving the stuff out of my old studio in the basement  and into my new one in my former dining room.*  While I have most of the "Pretty Stuff" moved including pretty much everything I need to scrap, there is still a TON of stuff in the old room...  I have an old LOAD prep blog here... with plenty of good advice, but this time things are a bit different for me. 

I don't usually do much "Prep"  because I try to go with the flow & do the prompts as they come.  This means I don't know which stories I will tell or which photo's I'll need.  It is one of the best parts of LOAD and makes me so much more creative.


Another thing I've been trying to do the last few LOADs, and am continuing this time, is using up my stash, and not purchasing new.  During the moving process I came across a whole bin of mostly scraps. 










So I decided to put them away in my scrap drawers organized by color:


As I was doing so I became puzzled.  I simply couldn't remember some of the papers I was putting away.  "I've never bought orange terrycloth paper...I've certainly never used it, where did these scraps come from?"  Well I thought that about several different papers that I had quite a few scraps of.  Suddenly it occurred to me.  A few months ago when we started the Round Robin Stash Swap, I broke apart some old kits from "Scrap Jammies" and gave away the brads & embellies & put the pre-cut paper pieces in a bin...that's where these came from!  So that's one mystery solved, and several full bins of scraps for mats and borders and many other layout possibilities!  I've been working on going to my scraps before I cut a 12x12 piece up.  I still end up cutting sometimes, but that's okay, It isn't as if I had a shortage of paper.  So If you've been in the gallery you may have seen a picture of my new scrapper studio, but I'm going to share some more anyway.

Here is my layout for September's Sketch:

Now one of these pictures is facing north, (the left one) and the other is facing south, so here is a current picture facing out the same windows to the south:

As you can see, my former dining table fits perfectly in the bay window, so I now have enough space for a guest or two to crop along with me, which I have always wanted!
Here is the opposite wall as seen from the desk:


Here is my desk as it looked this afternoon:











 And here it is after some more LOAD prep as it looks right now:

All clear & ready to work.
  I've got all my favorite tools at my fingertips.
  The most important rules of Scrapping have been followed.

Which as I see it are as follows:






1.  Have a good sized trash bin closeby

   2.  Have plenty of chocolate handy (no picture sorry...I didn't need too many visitors ;) )







 3. Don't run out of Adhesive.

                      Or Stickles.

        Or Distress Ink



4. Keep your most used tools & supplies handy & Have a  (comfortable) swivel chair so the space on at least 3 sides is accessible without getting up.

 5. Make your space welcoming for the rest of the family, & near enough to the Family activity centers (kitchen , TV, video games etc.) to supervise as needed.  (That was the biggest trouble with having it in the basement & another reason why I'm so glad it's now upstairs).

6.  Have a place for the cat to be close by, without having to be between you & your layout/project:



Can you see where this is from the picture above? well maybe this will help
This picture shows my big project from this afternoon.  I took all of my brads from these little plastic bins that used to hang on the wall in the basement:

There were 2 of these, with six bins each 1 color of brads per bin.  But alas there isn't much wall space in here and they didn't fit in the Expedit cubes.  Thankfully, Target had this lovely cupcake stand! (Okay I bought it before I knew what I was going to do with it, it is so cute after all!)  And these jelly jars just fit perfectly in it's little round spaces.  So Voila! Decorative brad storage! And it goes quite nicely on the top of my Expedit shelf.  Still within reach (On my stepstool anyway) and much prettier than the plastic bins!  Here is a poorly stitched "panorama" of the shelf:

(It is really one straight shelf, but standing in the middle makes it tough to get a good photo!)


 So Now I have these empty, very useful & practical bins and no where to put them. So if anyone would like them, leave me a comment or message me at ScrapHappy. I have no idea what to do with them otherwise.  Maybe I'll put them on the new Swap board... 

So no doubt my room will be neater at some point  (Hopefully before LOAD)  but it will probably be messier by the end of October!  I can hardly wait to see what Leslie & Lynette have in store for us, and what all of you will create!  Hooray for Scrap Happy & Hooray for LOAD!!!

So your next stop on the hop is Kelly P.

And in case you get lost here is the whole hop:

Lynnette http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com
Leslie http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com
Katrina http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com
Kelli P. www.scrapbookgirl71.com
Alison D. http://adayinthelifeor5.blogspot.ca
Cathy H. http://pikespeakscrapper.blogspot.com
Dani www.acoffeeaddict.com
Heather H. http://heathazscrapz.blogspot.com
Alison C. http://scrappinginsingapore.blogspot.com
Heather D. http://heathersdragonsden.blogspot.com
Danielle H. http://ecoscrapbook.blogspot.com

Come back and see me sometime.  There is always something happening around here!

29 comments:

  1. Wow, that's a whole lot of scrap stash there! Have fun using it up, getting your save all messy and eating that secret supply of chocolate! See you in the gallery.

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    1. Thanks Lisa. Nice to see you! I bet your chocolate is even better! I have a friend who always brings some back for my son (& he gets to eat some of it,lol) when she visits her family in Germany. We just can't get it like that here!

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  2. What a great view of your scrapspace! I wish I could come scrap with you at that great table in the bay window :) I know what you mean about scrapping in the dining room vs. the basement. I was set up temporarily in my dining room after we had a flood in my basement, and there were definitely advantages to being closer to the action. Now that I'm back downstairs, I do miss that sometimes. Love how Mr. Hobbes is your partner there! Thanks for joining in the hop, Katrina!

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    1. Come on over! I was actually planning to be in Jersey one weekend of LOAD, but DS has already missed 4 days of school, so he can't afford to miss even the 2 for us to go :-( not that my parents live near you anyway...

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  3. Oh Katrina! I love your scrap space!! Can't wait to see all your wonderful creations in October's LOAD!

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  4. Great Scrap Space Katrina!!! I love the spot for the cat I need that as well :)

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    1. Thanks Dani!It's the only way I can get him off my paper!

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  5. HOW TRUE IS THIS?!?! >> Get a big trash bin ready!! :)

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  6. How fun to see your new scrap space! I can't wait to what fabulousness comes out of there in October!!

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  7. Great scrap space! I dont think I would ever come out of there if that was mine!!!!!!!

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    1. It is true that I am in there a whole lot of the time! Good thing it's open to the kitchen & I can see the dining room from there.

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  8. Fun tour of your craft space and so happy you shared your scrap organization - I organize by color too! Love how you have a spot on the shelf for your cat too ;)

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    1. Thanks Danielle, I learned to do that from Stacy Julian. It really works with how I scrap.

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  9. Love your scrap space! I think I may need a cat corner too. :)
    I hope you have some wonderful company when you LOAD this month :)

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    1. Thanks Heather! The best company during LOAD is my ScrapHappy family on the message board! But I will definitely have some furry company and my kiddo, maybe a friend will join me once or twice besides that...

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  10. Funny -- I converted my dining room to my scrap room since the last LOAD, too! :) Thx for sharing all the lovely photos!

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    1. Don't you love being near the action? For me it was perfect since DS got too used to getting into mischief during LOAD. We never ate in there anyway, always in the kitchen...Thanks for hopping!

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  11. Great scrap space! I can definitely see your love of purple there!! LOVE that you made a corner for your cat! And those brad jars are so cute! Wish we had a Target ...
    Looks like you're all ready - see you on the message boards!

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    1. Wow I can't imagine life without Target, LOL! See you in October!

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  12. Katrina, this looks great! I also moved into our dining room when Conner was born and though I have wanted to move into the basement, I really have liked being closer to the guys and the kitchen and the TV. Wonderful organiation. That I need more of, too!

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    1. It's only organized because half of it is still in the basement LOL!!

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  13. I just adore that your room is purple!!! DEFINITELY your happy place :~D And good on you to post a "real" pic of your desk - I meant to (REALLY) and forgot by the time I was done. Thanks for your help with the hop! xo Leslie

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    1. Maybe we should all post pictures of our desks on October 31st LOL!

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  14. Great space and tons of goodies for a fabulous SHO LOAD :) Love that your kitty likes to be close! I wish I had a cubby to put my 90 lb yellow lab in - haha!! He's always at my feet (or rolling chair legs) and I'm shocked he hasn't given up on me with the number of times I've almost rolled over his tail! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. LOL! He'd rather be closer...as in between me & whatever I'm working on, but he'll settle for this.

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  15. I love your scrap space and the color! Thanks for sharing!

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  16. ummm... I think I'm going to invite myself to come scrap with you in your new room! It looks great! And it looks like your walls are the same color as mine.

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