Just look at my rainbow of colored papers!

They’re organized on the Clip it Up Jumbo and Upper Tier by sizes and colors. The top tier is filled with smaller scraps and the bottom tier is loaded with larger papers.


I’ve also arranged them by color by using Renee’s plastic divider tabs plus her labels to separate colors. By putting a colored label on both sides of the plastic tabs, I can see the dividers from any place I’m sitting and creating.

Just the other day, I designed a new series of journals. I knew I wanted to utilize green, brown, and natural papers. The process was made so much easier by spinning the Jumbo, unhooking papers that may coordinate together, and laying them out on my work table. The ones that didn’t work just got clipped back up. Compare the ease of that to unloading and reloading all my manila file folders full of decorative papers.

Some of my papers are delicate rice papers and some are ultra-suedes. Since they require special treatment, I’ve added Clip Grips and they don’t have a single indent on them when I take the clip off.

And now that I’m organized, I’m super motivated to stay organized as I add new papers.

Renee Reese

www.hopscotchart.com

Country Vintage...

This beautiful tree stamp just whispered that to me! ;) But seriously, it was my inspiration for this simple, country card. I chose muted tones for my patterned papers and cardstock. I wanted a soft brown for the ink shade to keep with the theme. I also had fun with my distress ink – I wanted to keep the rustic, country feel so I ‘dirtied it up’ a bit! And the finishing touch is just a simple piece of twine. Viola! A beautifully simple country vintage card!!!!

Supplies:
Canson cardstock,
Graphic 45 papers,
Cornish Heritage Farms stamps,
Ranger Distress Ink

Danielle Holsapple
http://www.danielleholsapple.blogspot.com/

Quote of the Week

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."
-William James

Gone are the tangles and knots...

Armed only with a stud-finder, a level, an electric screwdriver and a pencil, I installed this fabulous Ribbon Organizer myself!

My motivation was getting all those fablous ribbons out of the plastic stackables and up on the wall where they could inspire my next project. The top section houses all my ribbons on spools, and the bottom bar lets me clip up ribbons I bought by the yard or loose antique laces from flea markets. Using the cushiony Clip Grips on delicate ribbons helps protect them (like the pink and yellow crocheted flower trim). If the folds of ribbon were too bulky to clip, I placed them in small recycled plastic bags and then clipped the bag.

Gone are the tangles and knots of ribbons stored in boxes! And having my ribbons off the floor means that they aren’t getting chewed by the art room rabbits, Sir William Wallace and Cocoa Reese!

I ordered a second organizer which I am going to use exclusively for my holiday ribbons.

.

Renee Reese

www.hopscotchart.com

Renee Reese

At the end of one of the days during the National Stationary Show, a darling lady with a cool name… Renee Reese came back into the show after seeing the ribbon organizer in the Winner’s Circle. I commented on her name because my granddaughter’s name is Renee Reese. Then I noticed she was from Hummelstown PA which is right by Hershey PA where I was going to be the next week. So that started a whole other conversation and when we realized we were only about 5 mins away from each other in PA, we decided to get together while I was in PA.

I took my daughter-in-law and my two grandkids and we meet Renee, her bunnies, and had tour of her beautiful home, and her “Creative Retreat /work room. Renee makes cards, paints pictures, etc. and she does beautiful work! She knew it was Reese’s b-day and even had a gift for her! What a talented, sweet, and oh so kind kindred spirit! I’m sad I didn’t take any pictures, but we have some from her room. She ordered some products and took some pictures. Over the next 3 Fridays we'll post her pictures and critiques.


Thanks again Renee!

Butterfly Note Card Gift Set

It is always better to give than to receive. That’s one of my favorite sayings because it is so true! I just love gifts and everyone who knows me knows that. The only problem is it can sometimes be costly, but it doesn’t have to be. Instead of spending a lot of money on gifts that sometimes go unappreciated and unused, you can spend very little and create a gift that the recipient is sure to love and remember forever!

Here is a gift I made that I like to call the Butterfly Note Card Gift Set. It cost me all of $4.00 to make. Everyone who’s ever received it from me has always loved it. It’s a very practical gift that I love to make and the recipient loves to use.

All you need to make this is:·

1 Quarter Box Template-The Cutting Café·

(3) 12 x 12 sheets of Cardstock-Bazzill·

12 x 12 sheet of Patterned Paper- American Crafts·

½ sheet of Glittered Cardstock- Doodlebug·

Butterfly Stamps- Cornish Heritage Farms

Ribbon

This gift can be tailored to your own tastes and subjects. For example, instead of having a butterfly theme, your theme can be holidays, sports, flowers, spiritual, birthday, or whatever your heart desires! My mom loves my gifts so much that she has requested that I never buy her another gift. She wants all of hers handmade by me! So try your hand at creating your own personalizes gifts and see if it doesn’t save you some money and make you feel great!

Robyn Weatherspoon

http://www.herebygrace.typepad.com/

Quote of the Week

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
~Alan Kay