My Art Loft!

Back in 2007 when we started talking about adding an addition on to our house, I never dreamed it would include my own scrap space. We were adding about 600 square feet of living space which included a family room and additional bathroom. But, after talking to the architect, it also included an art loft for my daughter & I! Turns out that the roof line had to be redesigned which would mean having tons of attic space. I was actually excited about that because our storage space is limited. But during that meeting, my husband (love him!) asked the architect if that space could be opened up and be a loft instead of an attic! I was on cloud 9! From that moment on, I began to create my space in my mind and collect ideas and stuff from garage sales and thrift stores. By the time the remodel was complete in 2008, I was ready for my space!

The stairs to the loft are right off the kitchen/dining room area so I am still right in the heart of my family while I create!  I just finished going through my space and purging supplies, so I still need to reorganize and put stuff in better spaces --- but that will have to wait!

Here you go -- mess and all!

View from the top of the stairs - the back wall of the loft:

View from the sofa looking at my work space and over the edge of the loft - brown wall goes all the way downstairs in to the entry way hall of the house:

One wall - this wall has a large tall art table on it with shelving above:

The other wall - this wall has most of my daughter's painting supplies on it along with her canvases:












My to do list --- with a love note from my daughter:




Baskets of mini books:




and the view of the wall from the stairs:

Ok, now it's my turn to show my little scrappin' haven.  It's very compact, but it's also in the heart of our home so I can always be in the action!

I work at the table, I store most of my paper in a drawer of the desk, most of my supplies are kept either in my XXL tote or my 3 drawer iris cart by the computer.  My favorite albums are stored on the self of the couch table along with layouts waiting to be put into albums.  On the easel stand is where I display favorite layouts (and sometimes in progress layouts that I need to think on for a while). 

My most used smaller supplies, pens, inks, rub-on letters, scissors, etc. are on the corner of the table, always within easy reach, along with my "scraps" trash can a friend gave me.

And last, but not least, my constant scrappin' companion, Toby.  He's usually laying on his blanket at my feet while I'm creating but today while I was taking these photos he just couldn't resist mugging for the camera.  He thinks he's a scrapper too (I'm not going to tell him he's just a dog).

Thanks for taking the time to look at my scrap space.  I know it's small.  I know I don't offer any great storage solutions, but I hope it helps show that whatever your space, wherever you scrap, if you're comfortable and it brings you joy that's all you need.

My Scrappin' Space :)

Happy Easter everyone!!  I hope you are all having a blessed day filled with lots of good food and family.  I know I will be spending the day very close to the Cadbury's chocolate, which I have not had since the beginning of the Lenten season :)

Like Carolyn, I too had reservations about sharing my creative space. My room is shared with the kids’ computer and the piano (or should I say dust magnet, since no one actually plays it!) It may not be something that shows up in a magazine, but it does have everything that I need. I have my computer, my TV and all my scrapping' items within a short reach. On my desk I keep a few essentials, my little green paisley box that houses my chalk inks, my Sizzix, sidekick and my cutter.

Off to the left of my desk is a wall of cubes that house all my punches, cardstock, paper and some easy to grab embellishments. The frames have been up on the wall for quite some time and probably should be changed out, but sometimes I like to see how far I have come :)

My back wall includes more goodies, lots of rub-ons, letter stickers, chipboard letters & best of all, my finished albums.  Unfortunately, I am still waiting for my last 3 black frames to make it to the wall :)  Maybe next week!!

At last but not least, the first altered item I made quite a few years ago. It was my first assignment on a Design Team at my local scrapbook store. I really didn't think I would be chosen and I was over the moon with this first assignment.

That's it...short & sweet.  Stayed tuned this week for the rest of the design teams' scrapping spaces. 

My Scrap Room!

That's right - in our upcoming posts, the Scrappin' Sports and More's Design Team Members are going to share their scrappin' spaces with you!

I will be honest, I was stressin' about sharing my scrap room with the public eye - lol!  I had way too much stuff and I was not using my space or my storage to the best of their abilities!  This blog post  kicked my butt into gear!  I cleaned, purged, painted, rearranged - whew - the end result is SO WORTH IT!  My room has needed this for quite some time now!

The green paint is new - isn't it lovely?  I was holding on to a piece of cardstock for a few years now and I found the exact color of paint from Martha Stewart Living -Oolong Tea!

My scrap room was the opposite, my scrap area and computer area were swapped.

My scrap room / office is our formal dining room, a big space shared with our formal living room, which is my son's game room. :)  The few views are standing in the formal living room looking into my scrap room:

I share both of these areas with my DS, he is very artsy and craft too - he loves to draw, so I love that both of my tables are big enough to share space with him:

This view is walking into my scrap room from our kitchen, you see now that I cleaned & purged I actually have empty shelves & drawers - whoooo-whooo:

The cheerleader stickers are very old - my son, then about 4, bought a sheet of stickers, used all of the sports guys and thought I would like the cheerleaders lol!  They have been on the drawers for about 4 -5 years now!

The largest part of this reorganization was convincing my DH that my shelves & MM boards needed to be moved from the wall my computer desk is now on to this wall, but I need to have this stuff within reach when scrapping:

and this stuff within reach LOL:

This wall hasn't changed in the past few years, occasionally I swap out the layouts, but I love having layouts on display!  These layouts are in album frames from Michael's:

There you have it!  This is where I create!  This is where I spend a lot of my free time!  I love that I am in the middle of the family happenings (I used to be upstairs in a spare bedroom!).  I don't have any new or great storage solutions ... only that I hope (and so does my DH!) that I can keep this place lookin' this good! :)

~Carolyn