Michelle’s Creative Space

Jealousy is a horrible thing. But I have to admit - I am so jealous of all those fantastic pictures I see all over the blogosphere of some craft rooms. An entire room for papercrafting, giftwrapping, all that fun creative girly kinda stuff. Jealous. For sure. I see brilliant, clean and colorful organizations and I just swoon over them.

 

Unfortunately for me, we live in a teeny tiny house. We don't have an extra room that I can have just for me. So I've had to make do. I found this little spot in my bedroom for a craft table. My husband put up shelves, lights, a tall cupboard, a shoe hanger for my punches and now we are sleeping in my craft room *giggles* But hey - you gotta do, what you gotta do.

 

One issue I have struggled with for the longest time is ribbon storage. I buy tons of Papertrey Ink ribbon because it coordinates with my cardstock, inks and buttons, but I don't have a good storage solution for my ribbon which has been really frustrating for me.

 

I have this rolling cart under my craft table where I house the opened packages of cardstock, PTI patterned paper, and my inks and ribbons. This is where I have my open ribbon spools - what a mess; inks and ribbons in one drawer. Sad.

 

 

Then I have this box on the side of my craft table which houses new/unopened packages of PTI cardstock and ribbon. The obvious problem: I can't see what I have. Out of sheer convenience, when I am making a card, I just reach for whatever I have open and maybe I don't have a color or a style there that would go better on my card and I miss out on something that could coordinate better.

 

 

And now my problem is solved. The 36" Clip it Up! ribbon organizer from Simply Renee is exactly what I needed. My husband put it up for me, right over my craft table and it's just about the entire width of my area which is perfect. I took all my open ribbons and loaded them up in the ribbon organizer. And, the ribbon organizer even comes with these great little clippees to hang ribbon or other things that you need to reach for - I've got my fancier Couture ribbon from Papertrey Ink and my beloved sheer ribbon from May Arts hanging down here - if I don't think about it, and I don't see it, it's forgotten and pretty ribbon is a terrible thing to waste.

 

 

Oh and hey - did you wanna see something I made? Here's a cute lil' card and gift bag set I made with some fun papers from GCD Studios. My stamps are by Hero Arts, those great pins are from Maya Road (pearlized) and Dritz (pink), and I added some fun stitching because I love the warm, homemade feel stitching gives to a project.

 

 

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek in to my creative space. I used to be so ashamed of my little crafting area, but you know, if you love your craft, if you enjoy your hobby, make it work for you - and most of all: have fun!

 

TTFN!

Michelle