Thursday, June 16, 2011

New Scraproom Storage

Hi, everyone!

Mr. Lifeguard and I have been busy little bees this past week! First, we cut out another 45 house albums & placed what I am hoping will be our last chipboard order for a while {fingers crossed; we'll see how it goes ~ if we need to order more chipboard for you guys, we will!}. So far we have cut out 90 house albums. At 11 chipboard pieces per album, that is 999 die cuts. It's taken 300 sheets of 12"x12" chipboard to get this far, all of which I personally cut down into the 11 smaller pieces we needed. Par-TAY! :D

Despite all this die cutting fun, I still think the album is pretty darn adorable. It must be a testament to its extreme cuteness that I still like it after having cut out, packed & shipped so many of them.




After we got finished with those, we headed off to IKEA. Storage has been a little sketchy in the scraproom lately, I am not going to lie. I have had several projects going on at once & I have been keeping the materials for each project in a 13"x13" box. Well, the boxes were starting to multiply & then the boxes had boxes and there were piles within piles. It got to where you could hardly see the floor. So we headed off to IKEA and made a couple purchases.

The first thing we did was replace one of the legs on my VIKA system desk with the VIKA ALEX drawer unit:




I used these drawers to conquer my desk piles. There are six drawers and they hold all kinds of cool stuff that I use frequently & now will have right at my fingertips: flowers, inks, stamp blocks, stickles, liquid pearls, border punches, circle cutter, brads, charms, dies, etc.




This is a photo of one of the drawers open. The doors are just shy of being wide enough to store 12"x12" paper, but they hold a ton of other stuff. This particular drawer has my favorite Apple Pie Memories stamp blocks, my embossing inks, the new Jenni Bowlin inks from Ranger that I am kind of in love with right now, my Eclipse masking tape, my white CTMH ink pads & my four jumbo Archival ink pads.

Next we purchased the ALEX drawers. This is sort of IKEA's twist on a map chest & it is great for scrapbookers. They are very wide ~ wide enough to easily hold 12"x12" paper + tons of other stuff.




I have been calling them my project drawers because I am keeping all the supplies for each of my current projects in one of these six drawers. Take a peek at the Hometown Summer drawer:




Look how bright, happpy & fun that drawer is! It's so inspiring to see all the elements I have gathered together in one drawer all laid out like that. Not to mention, it is WAY better than having it all stuffed into a box that was shoved on the floor and I tripped on ten times a day.

It was a very busy week, with a lot of running around and manual labor, but I couldn't be happier with the progress we made on the albums and on the scraproom!

Today is Thursday, so I have my UStream shows. I am live every Thursday from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and again from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on my UStream Channel: Live on the {Scrap}Beach!

All times are Eastern USA {Miami/New York}. To convert to your time zone, click here: Time Zone Converter.

We're going to continue working on the Pink Paislee "Butterfly Garden" album today. I have some fun things planned for this one! Take a little peek at the project drawer for this album:




How lovely is that!? Can't wait until 2:00!

~Kathryn :D
totally organized

28 comments:

  1. Are you tired of cranking?? LOL.....silly girl :) I absolutely LOVE that mini album - super adorable. Those VIKA drawer units are THE BEST!! In my old room, I had two of them. I wish they fit under my desk - I miss them so much!! They are the perfect GO TO drawers. Love the way the room is coming together with all that new storage!!! Hugs, T

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  2. That mini album is too cute! You've been VERY busy! I always love seeing posts of your room and organization! Organization is one of my favorite things! Thanks Kathryn!...Nancy :o)

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  3. Lovely drawers! I so wish we had an IKEA closer than 6 hours :)

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  4. I really enjoy reading your blog, Kathryn. And seeing your organized drawers makes me feel like I'm more organized too! How fun to open a drawer and see all parts for one project. Very, very nice.

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  5. i've had my eye on those "project" drawers for a while - jealous!

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  6. I bought both of the those drawers last week...they are still in my car!! Gotta get them out and put them together! You are the QUEEN of ORGANIZATION! I am dropping over to Miami and stuffing you in my suitcase to come back with me when I am in Florida next month!!

    Laura

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  7. Love those Alex drawers! Hope to be able to see the show today. ;o)
    Hugz, Z

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  8. Thank you and Mr. L for always going above and beyond for us all!!! I am loving your new storage and am thinking I might be able to squeeze something similar in my lil corner of heaven LOL. I am headed to the bookstore to pick up my school books now so I can be back in time for your 2pm show since I will be in class from 8-10pm! bummer! I'm off, see you soon~Kay

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  9. Teri, we are getting to be a little bit tired of cranking ~ I'm not going to lie! The gears on the BigShot Pro are AMAZING though and it is so much easier to crank these big dies through then we thought it would be. I honestly think it cranks easier than the original BigShot. I am with you on the ALEX desks ~ they are fabulous! Too bad they don't fit under your desk anymore. :(

    We have been super busy, Nancy, but it has been totally worth it! I love to be organized & love ideas for organization, too. I am always tweaking my system and finding ways to improve it to make it better or more streamlined ~ an organizing addict's work is never done! It's on my list of things I want to do to write up an organizatiion series for my blog one day.

    It's a bummer tht you don't have a convenient IKEA, Becky! Their shipping can get expensive and there is so much stuff you can't even get from them online. aybe you need to plan a little mini road trip one of these weekends! :D Those project drawers are pretty awesome.

    Dianne, it is so fun to open the drawer and see everything in there! The other great thing is that the drawers are within arm's reach of my chair, so I don't even have to get up to do it! So glad you're enjoying reading the blog! :D

    They are great, Heather! You have wonderful taste & when the time comes to get them, you will not be disappointed in the slightest ~ I promise!

    Laura, get them out of the car! LOL! They are SO nice. I was really impressed with how sturdy they were & how smooth the drawer action is. I think you will really like them! You guys are going to have so much fun at Disney!

    I hope you can watch without any issues today, too, Zandra! UStream needs to get its act in gear and stop picking on the same people all the time!

    You are totally welcome, Kay! Thank you so much for your support! I hope you get some good deals on books & I'll see you soon! Sorry we'll miss you tonight, though, but school comes first! If you can squeeze some of these drawers into your corner, be sure to show us the result!

    ~Kathryn :D

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  10. Ok...did I totally miss how to get one of the house albums? I try to keep up but can't find a pay button anywhere. Help!

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  11. Hi Kathryn,
    Glad you like your new storage. :-)
    I have 2 of the narrow Alex drawers under my desk, and the wide one under the other desk.
    I LOVE them Sooooooooo much!!
    We only have 1 Ikea over here and its 100 miles away!! Boo Hoo!!
    My sister in law lives near it and she got them for me around a 1 1/2 years ago.
    Am hoping to get up to visit myself over the summer, can't wait. :-)
    We are hiring a van need some billy bookcases.
    Got the job of doing up my mothers craft space too. :-)
    Couldn't get into chat on U Stream for the last few shows, just want to say the Album you are working on is GORGEOUS!!
    Hugs,
    Michelle xx

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  12. Hi, Sheila! There isn't a PayPal button up for these yet. If you'd like to order some, please just click here and send me a quick message with your contact info: Contact Form. Thank you or your interest!

    Michelle, they are wonderful drawers, aren't they? Love them! Sounds like a fun trip for you this summer ~ between a trip to IKEA and a visit to sister in law. Hope you get some cool stuff!

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  13. I'm heading to IKEA this weekend - this solves my under the desk Sandford & Sons storage problem. Thanks, Mary Werner

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  14. Mary, I showed your comment to Mr. Lifeguard and he just had to laugh at your under desk storage because that was EXACTLY how my scraproom was looking before. He feels your pain!

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  15. I would think that you would be cranky by now! Lol, just got my house love love love it. So glad that the album is a success I love those project drawers I am going to start saving for some of my own.
    Deanna

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  16. Love those drawers and how organized they look! Wish we had an Ikea around here. I don't know how far the closest one even is, and I've never been to one either. Love seeing all your stuff all nice and organized. Now that I've got Ustream working again, I need to start watching the old shows and catch up. Love watching you!

    Heather aka momofcody

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  17. So glad your mini arrived and that you love it, Deanna! The project drawers are awesome ~ totally love them!

    I'm really happy UStream is working for you again, Heather! It's such a pain when technology doesn't do what it's supposed to ~ LOL! IKEA can be cool ~ they do a good job at maximizing storage and minimizing space, but if you don't have one within driving distance, their shipping can be monstrous. Check out their website and see if maybe there's one near you where you can go check some of these things out!

    ~Kathryn :D

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  18. oooo i just luv Ikea those drawers are fabulous havent had a chance to go to have a look of late they fit perfectly under the table yes I need to get one!!!!
    Just look at all your yummy goodies! A dream!!!
    Lotsa Hugs Deni

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  19. First, thank you and Mr. Lifeguard for cranking out all those "cute" house albums for all of us! I complain when I have to do one class set, lol! LUV IKEA for storage solutions. I just recently got 3 of the VIKA ALEX drawer units and they're great. WOW, I think I may have to get the ALEX drawer now that I saw yours. My patterned papers are all stored in those Michael's plastic containers fitting on one shelf, organized by theme and it has really seemed to work... storage looks Awesome!!!! :)

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  20. Yes, Deni, they fit perfectly under my table ~ they're so nice! That table is a little on the tall side for a desk, but the casters come unattached so if you have a tighter squeeze, you could just leave them off. Hope you have a good time checking out what IKEA has to offer!

    You are so welcome, Sharka! We have got it down to a science by this point, so we are really efficient now. :D I made a comment to Mr. Lifeguard along the lines of "Next time we do this we will be so awesome at it!" and he gave me a little bit of a dirty look, though ~ hee hee! I like both the VIKA ALEX and the ALEX, but I really love the ALEX more. It has just the right dimensions for paper crafters.

    ~Kathryn :D

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  21. i just saw your new storage - awesome!! I could walk to my IKEA so I think I may go over there but I'll be sure to drive so I can bring home some storage drawers!

    Btw, you know Mr. Lifeguard secretly looks forward to 'assisting' you with crafty goodness....he's got to maintain his manly image which is most likely the reason for his 'bit of a dirty look'...I'm sure of it!!! He may appear to have a hard shell on the outside but we all know he is filled with sweetness!! He's a man in love!

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  22. Lois, I hope you find something great at your IKEA ~ how fun that you have one within walking distance! I would be over there for their meatballs & lingonberry jelly all the time. :D

    I'm not sure if he looks forward to assisting me exactly, but I do know that he doesn't really mind helping me. He gets into a zone and we watch something silly on TV and the time goes quickly! We both do a lot of complaining, though, but that is just our nature. We are a couple of whiners!

    ~Kathryn :D

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  23. Kathryn your mini looks fantastic...i am sure you have lovely arms by this stage of the game!! I love the idea of using your drawers for currnt projects...so much better that boxes on the floor!!! enjoy

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  24. Thanks, Zeffy! I am so happy to be rid of the boxes on the floor ~ it's amazing how much more relaxed I am in my scraproom now without them there. My arms are getting there, but my shoulder hurts! I am over all this exercising ~ lol!

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  25. Well, I am a few days behind. Let me just say I LOVE your new organization and your Ikea drawers. If only I had room [sigh]. Your project drawers are truly an awesome sight to behold. ::envious:: I can't wait to work on the house project. I do appreciate all of the "exercising" you had to do. I hope you shoulder gets better soon and you never have to do that nasty "E" word again. BTW, I just discovered Aleve for my aching feet [another story]. ;)
    ~QPP

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  26. Thank you, Diane! The project drawers have been SO AWESOME to use so far. It's been so handy to have everything right there in one place and not have to put it all the way away at the end of the crafting session. I hope I never have to exercise again, but I already know I have another 50 albums in my future.

    ~Kathryn :D

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  27. New to your blog, but will follow! I wish we had an Ikea even close to us! If only they knew how much business I would give them, they would build a store in Covington right now!
    Thanks for sharing all of your great stuff!!!

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  28. Thanks for following, Susan! :D I used to work at IKEA, so I try not to go too often, but they do have some awesome stuff I can't resist!

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