Progress, finally!

So, since beginning this blog, I've done a lot of cleaning in my scrap space.  I've cleaned, sorted, organized and done all 3 over again.  I've finally gotten it into a workable arrangement and have been using it non-stop ever since.  Once I get it completely finished (still doing some organizing), I'll post pics of the space.  For now, I have a couple of projects to post.

This was graduation weekend in our area and my daughter's BFF's were all graduating.  Unfortunately, my daughter was only a junior this year, so it was kind of a sad weekend for her as she spent it telling her friends goodbye.  We wanted to make handmade cards for them and this is the result.  We made 2 out of 3 cards, so that's not bad at all.  We had to buy the 3rd card because the party was earlier in the week and there wasn't time to make it.

The first card was made for my daughter's friend Alex.  Alex is a nickname for Alexandria and Allie is a nickname for Alex.  Who can't do a card for Allie without adding a cute little alligator?  The alligator and the "Go Wild" are from the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge.  Additional lettering and elements were done in SCAL.

The second card we made was for Michelle.  Michelle is in love with all things owls, so that was an easy call.  I used the Paisley Cricut cartridge for the Owl and "Woot" and Create a Critter for the Tree inside.  The additional lettering was done in SCAL.

Last, I'll include the card I made for Xander's teacher.  She has been his teacher for the last 2 years.  Their relationship started off shaky, as he likes to "test" people, but by the end of this year, he had firmly moved into her heart as the favorite student in the class and I know he loved her lots!  I wanted lots of room to write her a note to personally thank her for making such a difference in his life.  The apple was made using the Doodlecharms cartridge and the lettering was made using Storybook.

I've got quite a few more projects that I've done and am working on that haven't been photographed.  I will try to get those up ASAP this week.  Thanks for looking!

Ink and Ribbon Storage

My biggest challenge in my new space is storing my ink.  I own the Making Memories wall unit, but after a nightmare experience trying to hang it on Monday evening ("I found a stud!", "Crap, that's not a stud after all!", "How many holes ARE you going to put into the wall?"), we ended up with a crack in the unit after trying to move the metal hanging brackets on it.  I've got it drying with Gorilla Glue now, but decided I'd rather hang pictures of some of my favorite musicians on the nails instead.  On the way home from work yesterday, I decided to stop into Michael's and see if they had any cheap storage solutions that were smaller in scale than the wall unit.  I don't want to pull a ton of stuff in it because I'd have to pack it all up when I go to a retreat.  I stumbled on these on clearance for $10 and grabbed 2.  They're 7.5" thick, so they stand up on their own really well, freeing up wall space for pictures.  You can see where I've put my ink in it and the bins are full as well.  When I tackle my ribbon, I'll add spools to the top.

Items mentioned in my post:

Making Memories wall unit:

Michael's Jet Max shelf (regular price $29.99, clearance for $10):

Current Project

So, I don't have any current scrapbooking projects to share because my current project is to clean out and organize my scraproom.

A year and a half ago, I converted my dining room into an office/scraproom.  Unfortunately, the layout of my home puts the dining room in the very center and as the main focal point.  All of this means that a messy scraproom is in full view of everybody that comes into my house.  It's also the first thing I see when I walk in my front door.

When I went on my last scrapbook retreat in October, I failed to unpack my stuff.  I was too busy with my daughter's color guard activities to really do any scrapbooking, so as time went by, it just seemed easier to leave everything packed up in the travel containers.  Now I've gotten the urge to scrap again so I'm in the process of unpacking/organizing.

Since I've used my room for over a year in the previous setup, I've learned what I liked/disliked about the organization of it.  For instance, I had all of my buttons in cute glass containers from Ikea.  That's great for my room, but when I went to the retreat, I had to take them all out of those containers.  So, no more glass.  Before, everything was stored in cute black and white boxes from Michael's, however when packing for the retreat, everything was taken out of those boxes and moved into plastic storage containers that were easy to transport.  So, no more boxes.  This list goes on and on.

The main storage piece in my room is my 5x5 Expedit from Ikea.  I have since learned that the Sterilite Ultra Deep storage baskets fit in the Ikea, so I've been buying them 6 at a time from Amazon.  I've also learned that the Multi Purpose Bins from The Container Store hold 12x12 paper (cheaply too).  I am now putting everything in plastic containers inside the Sterilite baskets so they can be easily packed up for a retreat.  My paper can be packed into my Crop in Style XXL by moving the Multi Purpose Bin straight from the shelf into the bag.

I don't have pictures of the "in progress" or even "before".  I will definitely try to get some taken and posted online as well as the "after" pictures when I'm finished.

I promise to have some actual scrapbook related posts in the near future, as my deadline for organizing my room is May 28 because one of my BFF's is coming to scrapbook on the 29th.

Here are the items listed in this post:

Ikea Expedit (5x5)

 Sterilite Ultra Basket (Deep) (6 for $21 on Amazon).  These can also be painted with Krylon Fusion once I decide on a color scheme for my room.

 The Container Store Multi Purpose Bins (small is $2.99, med is 3.99 and large is 4.99)

Welcome

I figured that if I wanted to get serious about scrapbooking, I should hold myself accountable through a blog.  I'm going to be joining my friend's design team for her blog and I hope to get some other DT work as well once I get going again.

I'm titling this blog "The Inconsistent Scrapper" because I have been known to not touch a single page for months.  I work full time and have an extremely busy life with my children that prevents me from scrapbooking as much as I'd like.  I'm definitely not one of those lucky women that get to stay home with their children all day while scrapping and cleaning up the house.  So, when I'm not at work, I'm typically killing myself getting things done, running errands or helping out with my daughter's extracurricular activities.  Scrapbooking is unfortunately optional and as such it often gets brushed aside for more pressing issues (or for a night of TV watching!).  

Hopefully, when I start doing DT work, I will be forced to focus on my hobby, because after all, I DO love it dearly!  We'll see how that goes...