Featured storage: Magnetic Storage of Spellbinder and other dies

Happy Monday!
I am so happy to have one more day this weekend. I have a list a mile long of chores, errands and other around the house things to do. But alas, where am I? I am taking photos, and uploading them on my blog.  LOL! I am so addicted to crafting. That's ok, my obsession is your treasure!  Anyway, on to my project.

Again, I came up with a storage solution for my spellbinder dies and other smaller metal dies I own. I searched the Internet and saw bits and pieces of ideas I liked, but nothing I wanted to incorporate completely.

I knew I wanted to keep the front pages of the spellbinder dies. I needed the visual picture of the shapes and the names of the collections.  But I needed strong magnetic sheeting to adhere these dies to. My loving husband uses large sheets at his company, so he brought home a scrap piece for me to use. It was perfect!

Next I took the front information page from plastic packaging of my spellbinder dies. I cut a sheet of magnetic sheeting the same size. The white coating peels off, and it becomes a sticker. (how perfect is that?) I adhered it to the back of the spellbinder information sheet. I corner punched to round the edges.

front and back 

I am a very frugal crafter. I ONLY buy what I use. No more. I am not a collector, or purchase items and never use them. With that said, I only own a handful of spellbinder dies. They are simply too expensive to have a large quantity of. I love them, don't get me wrong. I only buy them on sale with a coupon.

my extensive collection thus far

 I know what the next two collections I have my eye on are: plain CIRCLES, and PLAIN ovals. (I don't care for doilies and frilly edges. I think of grandmas and old coffee tables decorated with paper doilies, lol) yucky.  :)

this system works great for all heights of dies (tall and shorter ones)

I have found a few flower and butterfly dies that I adore. Some of these third party companies are breaking away from spellbinders and creating their own lines. I own a few from Cheery Lynn. They are a bit easier to afford and just as high quality. I simply cut the label from the front of the plastic bag they were packaged in, and decorated a piece of cardboard with stampin' up! paper, and adhered the magnetic sheet to the back.
(see the purple dies in the photo)

Sits on my desk right in front of me

I store them in a cute box like a file box where they are always in view, and I flip to the one I want. No, they don't stick to each other. (I was thinking the same thing, he he). I hope this idea helps! It works perfectly for me. Enjoy. Leave a comment, it would seriously make my day!

Featured File: SU! Inks Excel spreadsheet

Hey Everyone,
As I stated before, I am new to the blog world. I am testing to see if I can share a document with you through my blog. In this post, I am inserting a few ways to obtain the file, and see which method works best. Please bear with me.

What am I sharing you ask? I created a list of EVERY Stampin up color, retired to current. I couldn't locate one online that I could manipulate. (they were all .PDF's). I attempted to add which collection each color belongs. This proved to be challenging because Stampin' up changed their collection names a bit at one point. Not only that, but the collection the color fits in seems to change depending on who you ask!?! lol. Long story short, the list is most likely not 100% correct. But it is a good start.

My sheet has all the colors I own at the top, but if you alphabetize them again, they will be all the colors.  Again, if I went to all this trouble to create it, maybe it can help you! Here is a preview of the excel spreadsheet below:

1.  Try this link to see if you can obtain it: Can I upload an excel sheet?

2.  Try this one to see if you can obtain it:  http://www.mediafire.com/edit/?5haaag8apb69dkjmeln6lo43wxfdiv8

Featured: Organizing blending pads!

Happy Friday everyone! Happy Memorial Day Weekend,

     I am very pleased with myself and this item I envisioned, designed and put together. It took me about three weekends to get enough time to complete it, but it was well worth it! I am excited to share it with you. Maybe you were looking for this idea as well...

     I looked all over blog-land, pinterest, websites, stores and everything in between for ideas to store blending pads. I was not impressed by anything. I knew I didn't want a three ring binder, or a container full of random colored pads. I wanted them easily accessible and labeled with the colors I currently owned, with room for more colors as my collection grew.

    A while back, Jo-ann Fabrics.com had a 5¢ shipping sale, and the blending pads were on sale too. (4.99 down to 2.99) I purchased 7 packs.  Yup...seven packs with ten pads in each...do the math...70 pads.

     I wanted to have enough for the 51 stampin up pads I have, the 12 distress pads, and a few for the other multi-colored pads that I use for blending. Not to mention room to grow...

PROJECT STEPS:

     I started my project by designing a four by four grid in Microsoft word. Then printed twelve of them on neenah cardstock and ran them through a heavy-duty laminater.

     On top of the lamination, I placed small rectangles of commercial grade Velcro that I found in the sewing department of Joann's. Using my coupon, I got three feet for less than $5. Of course, don't use the loops half, stash that away for another project.

      Then I downloaded and printed out the stampin' up labels, cut them apart and placed them alphabetically in order on four sheets. Be careful, I learned the hard way that tape is preferred over glue with the labels. The glue actually discolored the labels because it couldn't soak into the lamination. I had to peel them all off and print them out a second time and adhere them with clear scotch tape.

     I created a binder (not three ring) using a large sheet of cardboard (like science board) and decorated it with Stampin' up paper. I inserted an additional page in the middle and duck taped it in. (see photos)

     As you can see from the above photo. the bottom corner has my first blending pad on it. Each page hold 16 colors, 4 pages...do the math....64 colors! That is more than the 51 colors I currently own. I know, I know, stampin up just released their new colors. I JUST ordered the new catalog today. I can't wait to see it!

Here is an added photo of it full of pads. I placed a new pad for each color. The velcro works like a charm! 

     I have one more binder to create. I need binder to hold all my distress inks, and all the multicolored pads I own. I will be sure to add those photos too. I also re-organized my metal dies, and my acrylic stamp sets too, with minimal amounts of money invested. I will share those in my blog this weekend too. Check back soon!

****I have added details, and how-to's on this project. If you would like to make your own, click here.***

Card Challenge: Seize the Birthday!

Happy Saturday!
I really like how this card came out. I took my time with it, and used many techniques. I really enjoy these butterflies, I use them as much as I can. Take a look.

Please take a moment and leave a comment, or better, look around, it will make my day!

Card Challenge: CAS(E)

Happy Saturday!

I enjoyed this challenge. I got the chance to use a stampin' up! set that I haven't used since Valentines day. I took this sketch pretty literally. I used Real Red and Bermuda Bay together on glossy cardstock. Take a look.

It's been a very laid back, yet productive day. I am finishing up two card making organization projects that I am anxious to share with you as soon as they're finished. I completed the first, and hit a snag with the second. Maybe by next weekend.