Sorting out my Space!! (part 2)

Right - so here is some pics from before we moved everything around:

- this is my desk. I don't know if you can see it bending in the middle and leaning forward, but it is!! :)

...and this is the OH's desk, on the opposite wall to mine.

...and this is the OH and my soon to be Father in Law setting things up after swapping the desks over.

Well, we went shopping for project craft room last week. A quick trip to B&Q and we were kitted out with all we needed. My desk had been reinforced and remodelled to fit the new space, the filing cabinet was in place and we had a general idea of what we wanted.

Initially there was going to be a built in shelving unit above the filing cabinet, but after considering this I decided it would make the shelves dark and would close my desk in massively. I decided that extending the shelving straight to the wall would be a better idea.

I came home from work earlier on in the week and found that my OHs dad had been hard at work in our study – the shelves had gone up and everything was looking a lot more finished! In fact  the only thing left to do now is decide on some under desk storage!! 

I spent a good few days putting everything back into the study... I am completely in love with my new craft space!!! I LOVE the silver racking – it’s SOOOOO useful!! and it makes me feel like I own a shop!! lol!! 

It’s going to take a few months of using things and re-organising things to get it into perfect order but I think it looks pretty darn good. I think I even have space to store my sewing machine in here - I might actually get round to using it!!!

Thats it for now - Im off to reorganise my stuff!!
Speak soon!xxxx

Sorting out my Space!! (part 1)

I am super excited at the moment – me and the OH are having a sort out in the study.

My desk has been a problem since we moved into this house – we had to take 7cm off the depth to make sure we could get the 2 desks in with enough space for the chair in-between them.....

HOWEVER – the desk isn’t solid wood – it’s full of corrugated cardboard. By cutting the edge off we weakened the structure and the desk bowed in the middle.

We also have a huge table top shelving system on it which makes the desk lean; like a very leany thing in a gale force wind!! With the amount of craft stuff I have precariously balanced on the top the desk is actually quite dangerous!!

So, after talking about what we could do we have agreed to get me some decent storage. I am moving from the right-hand side to the left-hand side, swapping my desk for a wall to wall work bench and gaining more surface space. I am searching the internet for pics of craft rooms and ideas on how to make the space as usable as possible!

It’s amazing how big a room becomes when you take all your stuff out of it! LOL!

Will keep you updated on the project! If you have any crafty storage ideas or tips – please let me know!!

Speak soon.xxx

Pinterest Obsessed!!!

I only found Pinterest a few months ago - but OMG, I am obsessed!!! If I'm bored or have a few minutes to spare I am usually on there surfing around looking for the next amazing thing I wish I had in my life!!!

The amount of crafty goodness that is on there is unbelievable!!! My OH laughs when I show him the amazing things that I am going to make; I have recently bought crochet needles so I can teach myself to crochet, just so I can have the huge granny square blanket in earthy greens and purples!! LOL!
Though he did look quite impressed at the DC/MARVEL themed nursery! :)

Here's a few crafty gems that have caught my eye!

corner bookmarks
this one is made of leather but card would work just as well!
card organiser
I have looked at these in shops before - I love the idea of being able to store my cards in an order - will make it easier to find the ones I want!!
dry wipe notes
love notes, to do list, reminders...free standing piccy frame, or magnets on the back and stick to the fridge, or hang on the wall - why not!!!
bows...
beautiful rosette style bow.
mini pom poms...
brilliant idea using a fork!!

at some point I AM going to make all of these things - I NEED them in my life!!

meal planner
I have made this already - BEST THING I EVER DID!!!
photo frame, dry wipe pen and an insert with Mon - Fri on it and - TA-DAAA!! amazing!! it has pride of place in my kitchen. (and makes planning the weeks shopping/meals SOOOOOO much easier!!!)

well, I'm off to perv some more at crafty things on Pinterest!! I have a board with some of my cards on it - if youre interested, take a look. :)

Bye for now, speak soon.xxx

Calling all Crafters....Coated Card Bargain!!

To Do: find some decent coated card that wont bleed my promarkers!!
ACHIEVED!!!

I went searching the craft forums looking for some recommendations on what type of card to use - the name that kept cropping up was Ryman - so I googled and found the website. This card has been recommeded for Promarkers and Copics, so it cant be bad!! It is coated so enables the pens to blend easier than matt card, which sucks up the ink like a sponge.

Their card is on a 3 for 2 offer this week AND for this week only they are offering free next day delivery on ALL orders!!! This was an offer too good not to take!!! I bought 3 packs of 50 A5 white coated card for £7.98. bargain!! Personally thought I would be less wasteful with the A5, I should be able to get 2 images on each piece so SHOULD end up with less 'scrap' card.

The next day delivery is on all orders completed before 5PM. Wooooo!! thats me!! Cant wait to use it - gonna be weird seeing my digis with white eyes.... so used to seeing the skin tone bleed up into them!! LOL!!

Also - on a non promarker note - I think I may be doing another craft fair!! Its a Christmas Fair, its at the village hall opposite my house! (*shudders* its only August....shouldn't be thinking about christmas yet) My OH brought the poster home yesterday to show me and it says there are still stalls available. will look into the price/day etc... if I do go ahead with it I think I might make some of the matchbox advent calenders! :)

hope you take advantage of the free postage and 3 for 2!!!
Speak soon!xxx

Practice makes Perfect!

Ok, so my mission to practice colouring hair using promarkers has started! I did a bit of looking on the web yesterday for tutorials and tips on how to achieve a nice effect, and came across this hair and skin tutorial on the Letraset website. It uses a Gorjuss girl image and shows how to colour hair, skin and clothes to create highlights and shadows.

I printed off my 4 Saturated Canary girls and had another play...

hair: antique pink, cocktail pink, blush.
skin: ivory, oatmeal

hair: tan, pastel yellow, buttercup
skin: ivory, blush

hair: cocoa, tan, caramel
skin: blush, oatmeal

hair: cool grey 1-5, black fine liner
skin: ivory, blush

I have tried to do different hair colours and skin tones to experiment with the colours i have, and have come to the conclusion that i need more skin tone colours!!!

considering my last attempts I have to say, I'm quite pleased with myself!! I think I am definately getting better at colouring! The highlights and shadows add such depth to the images and really make them stand out. Think my fav is the blond hair. VERY happy with that!!

one thing I have noticed now that I am blending colours more is that the promarkers bleed alot on this card....think I need to make a trip to get some better quality card and some more promarker colours!!! :)

Speak soon.xxx