Layout - Dalton Help Title Page

This is the title page for the Dalton Help Foundation album I'm working on (but it's also the layout I'm doing for a swap).

Supplies:

Ribbon - unknown; Paint - Plaid; Foam alphabet stamps - Making Memories (Philadelphia & Simply Fabulous) & Provo Craft (Circa 1937).

Layout - The Wildlife of Grandfather Mountain

These are wildlife pictures from our trip to Grandfather Mountain. I'm going to do another page with pictures of us and will include journaling there.

This was done as a challenge to cut up your photos and layer your letters.

Supplies:
Fonts - Castellar & CBX Heber
Leaf accent - Fresh Cuts
Patterned Paper - Scenic Route
Transparency - Staples

Fall Decorations

I haven't done anything outside yet, but here are some of our indoor fall decorations. I just adore fall colors!

Layout - My Favorite Friends

This is for Spencer's school album. These particular pictures are from Kindergarten. They are just various pictures of him goofing off with "the boys". I listed the names of the boys in his class that he hung out with.

This was completed as a challenge to create a layout based on a specific ad. The right page is the ad-inspired page.

Supplies:

Patterned Paper & Stickers - Daisy D's; Punchout accent - O'Scrap; Font - SP Wrightwood; Ink pad - "Tart Lime", Ink It Up

Layout - Honda

This layout serves two purposes.

1) It was my layout for this week's Elsie challenge (use a ribbon border & ribbon cluster).

2) A page completed in the Dalton Help Foundation album, which I have to complete as part of my Scrap Your Stash commitment!

Supplies:
Ribbon - unknown
Letter stickers - Artic Frog
Font - 2Peas Squish

Bragging...

Last week Spencer had moved up to Reading Level 3 in his class (levels were 1-4). Well, Friday he called to tell Matt that the teacher had to create a new level - Level 5. She moved 3 kids up from Level 4 and one kid from Level 3 -- guess who that was?? Yup, Spencer! I don't know what's going on that he moved up three levels in less than two weeks but YAY for him. We have a conference with his teacher in about a week so I'm excited to see what she says. I'm just proud of him for doing so well.

Happy Birthday Bo & Spencer!

Last night, my sister and 2 nephews came over for supper. My oldest nephew Bo's birthday is 2 days after Spencer's. So, we did a little joint gathering. We had cupcakes, as you can see and exchanged gifts. I think the boys had a good time playing and all - but it was a school night so we had to cut them off!

Book - At Risk

I just finished reading Patricia Cornwell's latest novel, At Risk. It was shorter than most of hers, but then I read that it was originally written as a 12 part series for New York Magazine, which probably contributed to that. It wasn't one of her best, but I tend to really prefer her Scarpetta novels. However, it was good and it was a quick read.

Time for some TV...

Well, it's that time of year again. The new fall TV shows are starting up. It's sad to admit, but this is a pretty big deal in our house because we do watch a lot of TV (hanging my head in shame). However, we do have DVR so we are able to record things and watch them at our convenience rather than have our lives ruled by the TV schedule! With that being said, here is my outlook on the fall TV season...

First, I'm happy to report that there are NO shows that I watched last year that were cancelled. This is unusual for me! However, that means I probably shouldn't be watching any new shows because I already watch too much TV as it is.

Best night on TV:
Right now my vote stays with Sunday, which was definitely the best night last year. Extreme Makeover (ABC) and Desperate Housewives (ABC) didn't move. The 10:00 spot where I switched mid-season from Crossing Jordan to Grey's Anatomy, has been replaced by Without a Trace (CBS). It's not a "must see" for me, but worth watching since there isn't another competing show that I love. I also enjoy Cold Case (CBS) in the 9:00 spot so I might end up recording that while I watch Desperate.

Worst night on TV:
I'd go with Monday on this. There is nothing in the 8:00 spot that I enjoy. I like Two and a Half Men (CBS) at 9:00 but it's a 1/2 hour (easily tape-able), which leaves me with a 30 minute gap before CSI Miami (which premiered last night, by the way - a bit "over the top", I thought).

Most Agreeable night on TV:
Tuesday night would be the most "agreeable" because there is the least chance of a remote control battle being started between my husband and I. We both absolutely LOVE Boston Legal (ABC) which is on at 10. The 9 spot is open and I might check out the new show Friday Night Lights (NBC) that will be at 8. Given that it's a football show, hubby should be cooperative. Law & Order SUV (NBC) is also on at 10 so I might record that.

Best night to go to bed early:
Bones (FOX) comes on at 8:00 on Wednesdays. Matt and I both really enjoy it, but that's about all the night has to offer. There is a new show on after it, called Justice, but I haven't watched it yet to see if it's any good.

Biggest Conflict:
Thursday night is going to present a HUGE problem for me. There is nothing I want to watch at 8 or 10, but THREE very good shows that are all on at 9. My hubby's pick is Supernatural (the CW). This is a pretty good show but if it weren't for him, I could probably do without. My main pick is Grey's Anatomy (ABC)...can NOT miss it. I got addicted last year and there is no turning back. The other one is CSI (CBS). I definitely enjoy this one as well.

Given that we have DVR there shouldn't be a problem...except you can not tape 2 shows and watch a 3rd. So, we'll probably have to tape 2 downstairs where the DVR is and then watch the 3rd one in a different room. Pathetic, huh?

Most Unexpected Night:
Usually Friday night is bad TV. I was happily surprised to see that there is a full line-up of good TV (in my opinion). 8:00 is Crossing Jordan (NBC). I dumped this show last year after I fell for Grey's but will be so happy to have it back. 9:00 is Las Vegas (NBC). This is another one that I kind of lost track of last year and will be glad to watch again. 10:00 is Law & Order (NBC). I think there are major casting changes on this show, though I'm not sure. It'll be interesting to see if it's still as good.

USC vs Wofford

Last night, we paid $25 to order the USC game on Pay-Per-View because Spencer really wanted to watch it. We were playing a "nobody" team (Wofford) and should have destroyed them. We won, but only by one touchdown. It was quite embarrassing. However, as you can see, Spencer enjoyed being able to stay up late and watch the game.

Notice in the first picture...crazy wig, and his new dancing Cocky on the table.

Spencer's Birthday - update

I forgot to share the best little "moment" of Spencer's birthday. After he opened his gifts, I told him that he was allowed to play an endless amount of Playstation this weekend, if he chose. Normally he is restricted to 1 game during the week and 2 games on a weekend day. He started to walk downstairs and then came back up and hugged me and said "thank you". I was shocked (this is VERY out of character for him). He didn't thank Matt, only me. It only took a second for me to realize he was thanking me for the "rule-less" weekend...not the gifts. I'm pretty much the drill sergeant of the family so I guess he realized I was really letting a lot slide.

Yesterday, Spencer pretty much played PS2 all day long. He never took a bath or changed out of his PJs. I didn't make him do his chores. He did, however, finish up his book project for school. That evening he told Matt that he had never had a 100% lazy day like that. So, I'm really glad we let him have that. I never thought in a million years that it would've meant so much.

Layout - Explore, Discover, Embrace

This layout was done as part of a Survivor Challenge. I was sent specific supplies that I had to use:

- 2 clear mosaic tiles - 1 dymo label with the word "embrace" - orange & yellow striped ribbon - large orange snap - wooden star - slash pocket - 6x6 square orange mulberry - stickers of a knife spoon and fork

It was definitely tough, but I think I pulled it off OK. The only additional supplies I used were the Basic Grey patterned paper, 2 additional dymo labels, black cardstock for the background and a piece of yellow cardstock on which I printed my journaling.

Spencer's Book Project

This is Spencer's first Monthly Book Project. I don't know why, but I find these types of things exciting. It's as if it's a sign that he's growing up - bigger assignments from school, etc. I thought he did a great job and I annoyed him by having him take this picture holding his poster and the book he did it about. He also had to brainstorm and sketch his ideas on paper first, so I scanned those to include on the layout when I get around to scrapping them.

Spencer's School Portrait

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Friday was Spencer's 8th birthday (so scary!!). After Matt got home from work, we did his gifts in a scavenger hunt. The first clue was in his card, and then each time he found a gift, another clue was on the package. I think he had fun. Here are a couple shots of him finding his presents.





















His gifts included: a velvet art poster, a real football, a hoodie sweatshirt, 2 PS2 games, football trivia books, 4 other books, and a dancing Cocky (see below).

Cocky is the Gamecocks mascot. This little electronic Cocky plays the fight song and dances/moves back and forth. It's really cute!





















We told Spencer he could go anywhere he wanted for his birthday dinner. He chose Carrabba's (closest one is almost 45 minutes away). This is us outside the restaurant.

Book - Goodnight Nobody

I just finished reading Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner. You might recognize her name as the author of In Her Shoes, which was made into a movie starring Cameron Diaz. I had read that book and enjoyed it. My sister passed this one on to me so I gave it a whirl. I'm not sure it was quite as good as In Her Shoes but it was enjoyable and I would definitely consider reading more books by her. It looks like she has 3 others published.

Carolina Panthers

Last Sunday, my sister & BIL invited us to join them for the season opener Carolina Panthers game. Here we all are. From left to right - Matt, Holly, my sister Sherry and brother-in-law Chip. We are all wearing white because Panthers fans were instructed to do so.















We had really awesome seats (3rd row). Before the game, the players were warming up right in front of us. Here's Jake Delhomme:




















I was also excited to find out when we got there that Julie Roberts (country singer from our area) was doing the national anthem and halftime show. Everything was very patriotic in honor of 9/11. And The Citadel's Summerall Guards did a special presentation before the game as well. Chip is a Citadel graduate so he was happy to see that.

We ended up losing to the Atlanta Falcons but it was an awesome time and a lot of fun. I'm really glad Matt & I were able to go!

Scrap Your Stash

I have decided to participate in a Scrap Your Stash challenge. It's a little different, in that you set your own goals and prizes. The point is to use up your stash and restrict your buying for a while. I wanted to post my goals, restrictions and prizes here because I'm sure that I will be posting updates as well.

Requirements:
1. Create a total of 50 layouts (any size; 2 cards count as 1 layout)
2. Edit & order prints for Spencer's school album & Dalton Help Foundation album
3. Get Dalton's album up to date (but layouts do NOT count toward the goal for #1)

Buying restrictions:
I am not allowed to make any scrap-related purchases until the above requirements are met, with the exception of the below-mentioned items:
1. Page Protectors for albums
2. Refill blades for paper trimmer and other similar "necessities"
3. Kraft cardstock if need for Spencer's school album
4. Prizes for Elsie Challenge
5. Printer ink cartridges

Prizes:
Upon meeting the above requirements with breaking the restructions, I will reward myself with the following:
1. Personal fullfillment for having completed so many layouts
2. A roof over my head retained by not having to file bankruptcy due to unnecessary scrapbooking purchases
3. The privilege of being able to finally present Brigitte & Strait with their album for Dalton
4. $15 shopping spree at the LSS

Trust me, this is going to take a while...

Layout - One More Candle

I created this layout today for a Super Bowl of Scrapping challenge where I go head-to-head against another scrapper with the same challenge.

The requirements:
- Had to have a theme of "beginnings"
Glitter
Ovals
Alphabet Stickers
Layering
(notice how those spell "GOAL" - cute, huh?)

I was a little stumped at first but it ended up being a fun layout to create. I just ADORE this floral patterned paper! It's hard to see in the scan, but I put glitter in the flower centers.

This was also my first time using Heidi Swapp tape and that was super fun!

I know you can't really tell in the scan, but the staples I used to attach the transparency are brown. I didn't have that color so I took a stick of them and painted them brown. I was proud of myself. Ha ha!

One more thing... I love the song "Trip Around the Sun" by Martina McBride & Jimmy Buffett. The title ("One More Candle and a trip around the sun") is a line from that song.


Supplies:
Alpha stickers - Artic Frog
Tape - Heidi Swapp
Patterned Paper - "Sedona", Scrapworks
Glitter
Staples
Transparency - Staples
Acrylic Paint - "Spice Brown", Delta
Fonts: CAC One Seventy, Ribbon Happy, Terzini, & Tribal Dividers BTN

Library Ramblings...

I love libraries. There is something magical about being surrounded by all of those words and thoughts and information. I hate being rushed in a library. I like to take my time. I go in prepared with a list of “books to read” (an Excel spreadsheet I keep updated and print before a library visit). First I spend a while on the “card catalog” computer, looking for books on my list. I make note of ones that are available and where to find them. I made additional note of ones I’d like to put on hold. I take my time, heading to each section where I might find one of my treasures. This is usually the sections for paperback, fiction, large print fiction and North Carolina fiction. On occasion I will browse the books on CD to see what’s available that might strike my fancy. After carefully making my selections, I head to the checkout counter where the friendly employees will check out my books and place several options on hold for me.

The library I frequent most is the one in the town where I work. I prefer this location for a variety of reasons. It is convenient to my office, being only a few minutes away. My lunch hour is the perfect amount of time to go through the above-mentioned steps. It goes without saying that such a quiet and peaceful place is a perfect retreat in the middle of a hectic workday. This library also allows one additional week of checkout time than my local library, which isn’t even convenient to my house.

In this particular library which I frequent, there is an older portion that was the existing library prior to the recent expansion. The “North Carolina Fiction” books are kept here and I often find Nicholas Sparks and Patricia Cornwell novels gracing the shelves. This is my favorite section to visit. It’s incredibly isolated and quiet. The carpet of the new building changes to hardwood floors at the entry, always startling me with the sharp click of my high heels. The lighting is dim and the scent of antique book pages overcomes you as you enter. I rarely linger in a library long enough to actually read while I’m there, but if I were to, this would most definitely be my location of choice.

A few blog questions...

What's in your fridge?
I'm not actually at my house so I'll try this by memory...

• Lots of condiments (Heinz 57, ketchup, A1, mustard, mayo, Worchestershire, a couple of marinades, Tabasco)
• Salad Dressing (ranch, 1000 Island, Italian, Caesar, Raspberry Vinagerette)
• Dairy (Lots of cheese - shredded, block, sliced, mexican cheese dip - sour cream, cottage cheese, butter)
• Drinks (Gatorade, Sweet Tea, Coke, Miller Lite, Lemonade, juice boxes - HiC & Yoohoo, bottled water)
• Meat (ham & turkey sandwich meat, bacon - I think everything else is in the freezer)
• Veggies (tomatos, onions, lettuce)
• Misc (corn tortillas, spaghetti sauce)

What's in your purse?

• Keys
• Cell phone
• sunglasses
• iPod
• makeup compact
• a couple of pens
• ID badge to get into Lowe's headquarters
• breath strips
• Chapstick, lip gloss (x2), and lipstick
• receipts
• checkbook
• pocketknife
• 2 stamps
• small thing of Aleve & Excedrin Migraine (my 2 miracle drugs)
• a stack of coupons
• $2 and some change
• License and a couple of cards (debit, credit)

What's in your closet?
Again...doing by memory

• Lots of my clothes and lots of hubby's clothes
• Tons of shoes - for both of us
• a suitcase
• accessories such as belts, scarves, pocketbooks, ties, hats - lots of all of these
• gym bag (topped off with a nice layer of dust)
• tote & duffle bags
• dirty clothes hamper

What's on/in your DVR/DVD?

Again by memory, what's on our DVR:

• several episodes of The Closer, including the season finale
• the last Gamecock football game, I think
• A few random movies whose names I don't recall
• Probably some episodes of Dirty Jobs or Drake & Josh for Spencer

What's in your car?

• Junk in my glove compartment - mainly car related paperwork and some napkins, hand sanitizer
• Junk in the little console between the seats - an old kitchen towel, a brush, some pens, Learn Spanish CDs
• Cell phone charger
• Visor holder full of CDs
• Spencer's headphones
• an umbrella (which is technically inside w/ me right now because we are having a yucky, rainy day)
• a couple of bags from my trip to The Dollar Tree yesterday that I forgot to take in the house
• 2 library books that I just got on today's lunch hour
• a booster seat for Spencer

five years later...

I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on the 5th anniversary of 9-11. I don’t have any incredibly personal and heart-breaking stories to tell, but just need a place to reflect for a bit.

Last night a neighbor told me that she doesn’t talk about 9-11 because she feels she doesn’t have the right. She says she wasn’t affected enough. Her having actually lived in New York, I can see why she would possibly feel this. But, I feel that everyone was affected. It changed our way of life in America. It affected our economy. It gave us a fear from which we may never recover. It bonded all Americans and gave us a renewed since of patriotism. It made us appreciate things in a new light. We were all affected, though on a variety of levels.

I consider myself blessed that I did not know anyone that was killed or injured by what happened this day five years ago. But I still mourn for our country and what this has created. In five years, we have accepted the tighter restrictions in airports, sporting arenas, etc. We have adjusted to being at war…five years and there’s no end in sight.

I was at a professional football game yesterday. Beforehand, there was the typical display of patriotism. The national anthem, a large flag on the field, colors presented by uniformed officers a jet flown overhead and even a special presentation from The Citadel’s Summerall Guards. It was touching, but I’m the type that has always gotten misty-eyed at the sounds of the national anthem…even before the tragic event five years ago. However, as we sat in a stadium of 70,000 loud and rowdy fans, I was amazed at how silent the entire place was when the anthem was being sung. The level of respect that Americans possess for their country is awe-inspiring. The halftime show was also patriotic, with the entire field being covered the largest flag I've ever seen...held by the men and women of our armed forces. We were serenaded, yet again, with patriotic songs.

I think the reason I felt compelled to write something here is because I simply did not know what to do. I feel like something should be different today, but it’s not. I got up, went through my normal morning routine and came to work. I wore patriotic colors with a bracelet to match. On my way to work, I realized I forgot to switch out my small garden flag from a Gamecock flag to the American flag, and then I felt incredibly guilty. So, feeling compelled to do something, I wrote.

God Bless America.

Watching the USC v. GA game...

Here are some pictures from last night. Matt, Spencer & I went to another family's house (Shannon, Dan and Austin) to watch the football game. Austin is 9 (Spencer's almost 8) and they had a good time playing PS2 and XBox all night.

Most of the pictures I took, didn't turn out very good because of poor lighting, but here are a few anyway.

George

Meet George...

Every year when we go to the beach on vacation, Spencer just HAS to buy a hermit crab. This year, however, they had turtles. Though it was more expensive, we encouraged him to get this instead, because frankly I'm tired of hermit crabs. He's pretty cute and could potentially live a long time (we'll see...). Notice how he sleeps with his back leg in the air... weird (he should fit into the family just fine!)

College Football -- not a good night...

Not a great night for football for me. As I'm sure you've figured out...we're huge Gamecock fans. We lost to Georgia tonight :( and Texas lost to Ohio State :( Ugh.

Oh well, we did hang out w/ some friends and have a good time - will probably post pictures later.

We are going to the Panthers game tomorrow afternoon and PLEASE let things take a turn for the better over night.

Yard Project

When our house was built, the builders put in some basic trees with pine straw around them. In June I took on an exhausting yard project (with NO help from my husband). I expanded the area around one of the trees and planted a variety of plants there. Below are the before and after pictures.

Everything has done very well, but there are some things I might want to move around this fall. One of the ground covers is very aggressive and hides a lot of the other plants. So, I am thinking of leaving the ground cover (it goes well with the purple fountain grass) and moving some of the other plants where they can be better appreciated.

There is a line of irises along the back. These were passed on from my sister after blooming this year, so I won't know how well they'll be seen until next spring.

Paniculata

I planted this in June, I believe. It was just a tiny green vine that didn't even reach halfway up the mailbox post. It grew pretty well but would not bloom. Then BOOM, all of a sudden (about a week ago) it was covered like this. Isn't it GORGEOUS???

I had asked the lady at the nursery what a good vine for my mailbox would be and she pointed me in a general direction. I just kind of grabbed one that sounded good. I actually picked this because it said "vigorous grower". None of them were in bloom so I didn't really know what I was getting. I'm so lovin' it. All the neighbors are envious!!

Anyway...enough bragging...just wanted to share :)

Purple Fountain Grass

This is Purple Fountain Grass...one of my (and Matt's) favorites. It is quick-growing, which is fabulous for someone like me, who has the patience of a 2 year old when it comes to waiting for plants to grow.

In our old house, we bought some and put it around the mailbox. It did wonderfully so this spring we planted two more in our front yard (did I just say "we" - I meant "I"...Matt didn't help a lick!). Anyway...love 'em. The one thing I'm not sure about is what happens in the winter...guess we'll see.

Layout - Noah

As a challenge, I had to scraplift a specific layout. I definitely veered off on my own path, but I think it's still obvious that I borrowed some ideas. Here are the concepts I used from the other layout:
- white background
- enlarged photo (original was vertical orientation, though)
- Circles
- large, bold title
- strips across the page
- bright color against the white background

Supplies:
Patterned Paper - Rusty Pickle, Outdoors & More, and Diecuts with a View
Circle punch - Marvy
Ink pads - "Jet Black", Staz On; "Tart Lime", Ink It Up
Ribbon - American Crafts
(Letters were traced using a Basic Grey alphabet)

Layout - Frog

Here is another sketch challenge. I also had a list of things I had to choose from and the 4 things I choose were: the color orange, photo corners, rubons, and inking.

Supplies:
Navy Zig Writer
Heidi Swapp tabs
Frog - ?
Ribbon - American Crafts (I think)
Rubon letters - Creative Imaginations
PP - Basic Grey "OH Baby Boy"
"Royal blue" ink pad - Rubber Stampede

A little bragging...

Spencer had FOUR tests on Friday (which seems like a lot for 2nd grade, but who am I to judge??). Anyway, he made two 100s, one 105 and a 92. Woohoo. Plus he got his first Progress Report, which the teacher will send biweekly, and he got all E's (which means "Excellent).

Gamecocks Party

Thursday night was the first USC Gamecocks football game of the season. This is a big deal in our household. Since it wasn't a Saturday game, most of our friends weren't going to the game so we thought we'd have some people over to watch it. It turned out to not be a very exciting game, but it was a conference game against Mississippi State and WE WON (13-0), so it was a good game!! Here are some snapshots...

This is my friend from college, Cassidy - isn't she Miss Priss?? LOL! Gotta love her!




















This is Meghan, our resident alcoholic. As you can see, her beverage of choice is Corona.




















This is our friend Scott and his girlfriend Cameron.




















This is me with our two neighbors, Warren (left) and Les (right). Les has lived next door since February and we've become great friends with him and his wife. Warren is English and they just moved in two weeks ago. We already have a great relationship with him and his wife as well (and her parents who stayed with them for a week).















This is Austin playing basketball in our garage (during halftime).














The guys playing darts during halftime.

Book - LowCountry Boil

A few weeks ago, a friend let me borrow a book she had read and recommended. It's called LowCountry Boil and is by Carl T. Smith. She was right - it was very good. It is set in South Carolina (though it's a fictional town, I believe). It has that lovely crime element that I can't help but love, but also some love stories to go along. Since I enjoyed the book, I checked out his website. It turns out he only has one other, older book (Nothing Left to Lose) but just released a new book (and I mean JUST...9/1 was the release date). I will definitely put these on my "to read" list. Oh, the new book is entitled Louisiana Burn. I also saw on his site that he'll be making some appearances in Charlotte next week. Hmmm...might have to think about that.

Layout - CK Convention

This is a layout that I did of me, my mom and my sister at last year's convention.

The layout was for a challenge and based on a sketch. I also had to use "bling", for which I chose some shiny microbeads in the flower's center (hard to see them well in the scan) and 3 small heart gems.

It is very rare for me to use a white background so this is kind of stepping outside of my comfort zone. It's not my favorite layout, but it's OK.

Supplies:
Flowers - Heidi Swapp
Microbeads - unknown
Stickers - Miss Elizabeth's
"Cotton Candy" ink pad -Ink It Up
"Jet Black" ink pad - StazOn
Date stamp - Staples
Heart gems - unknown

Scrap Studio - 18

This is basically my computer desk. My computer and scanner are here. The printer is on a small table to the right. My wall calendar hangs to the left. The wall I face has a wipe-off board/bulletin board and two shelves that hold decorative thingies. The drawers and cabinets of this area pretty much all hold computer and office type stuff...not much actual scrapping stuff over here.

Scrap Studio -17

To the right of one of the "work stations", I have some random storage pieces. The taller piece was in Spencer's old bathroom above the toilet. The smaller piece on the floor was in our bathroom in the old house. Now, all of our cabinetry is dark, so these white pieces no longer worked. Instead of getting rid of them, I moved them in here for more storage.

Starting from the top... I have two framed photos on top (one of me and Matt and one of me and my sisters). There is also a 12x12 clipboard that holds my most recently done layout.

The larger storage area toward the top holds (in containers) paintbrushes, paper clips, puzzle pieces.

The shelf in the middle holds a few western decor items, 2 postcards from my sister's trip to Alaska, a cool mini album my mom made me, and a gift from my sister that says "The nicest thing about having you for a sister is having you for a sister".

The skinny storage part holds all of my acrylic paint. I lay them on their sides with the bottoms facing outward. This helps me easily see all the colors.

The bottom storage part holds a hodge-podge of stuff. A lot is stuff I have bought or saved to alter and haven't gotten around to it yet. Sitting on top of it are a flower pot bunny made for me by Spencer and a memory box of wedding stuff (gift from my sister's inlaws).

The horse shoe thing on the floor to the left was my husband's when he was a little boy and I stole it :)

The "vase" to the right on the floor was made by my mom. I saw it at her house and stole it (see a pattern...). I bought some cattails to go in it.

The yellow thing hanging (the higher one) was on my birthday gift from my sister. It's a yellow ceramic star that says "celebrate" and has some wire with beads. It's super cute.

The bottom hanging thing is from my other sister. She made it with a new stamp set she was VERY excited about.

You can also see my TV and my altered "H" hanging on the wall. It's hard to tell but it's hanging from a cowboy hat hook.

Scrap Studio - 16

This is one of the drawers in my cabinets. It holds three skinny baskets of often-used tools.
- hammer
- anywhere hole punch
- eyelet setter
- erasers (chalk, adhesive, artgum)
- rubon tool
- small scissors
- rulers
- bone folder
- Xacto knife
- tweezers

Scrap Studio - 15

This is a basic spice rack which I've filled with a variety of small things.
- Bulky alphabet items (such as letter eyelets & brads, etc)
- charms and other metal embellishments
- post extensions for albums
- ribbon scraps

Scrap Studio - 14

This is where I store all my pens. I stole this 100% from a magazine so I take no credit. I bought a wine rack (clearance at Linens N Things) and 5 plastic brown glasses (Target). It's perfect for storing my pens horizontally and making everything very easily accessible. I love it. Looks cool too.

Scrap Studio - 13

Under the wall shelves I have three more organizational containers.

1) A covered milk crate (not pictured) that contains 12x12 envies each labeled with a color family. This is where I keep my scraps.

2) The four drawer cart, seen at left, holds a variety of embellishments. Top drawer is all Christmas. The 2nd drawer is for card embellishments (which are basically scrap supplies that I've used and have "leftovers" or the specific theme lends itself more to cards - like "thank you" rub-ons). The third drawer is for all my alphabets. It's mainly stickers or rub-ons but also diecuts, chipboard, etc. The bottom drawer is for general embellishments that do not fit any specific theme.

3) The paper holder seen in the photo. Each section is labeled with a theme and this is where I organize all my themed embellishments (stickers, die cuts, punch outs, tags, etc, etc).

Scrap Studio - 12

The middle wall shelf...

Three white photo boxes contain 1) card supplies 2) Glue Guns and Glue Sticks 3) Unmounted Stamps

Leather photo box contains leftover photos that were not scrapped.

Denim covered shoebox contains stamps.

Denim covered magazine holders contain magazines, idea books and catalogs.

Scrap Studio - 11

On one of the shelves, I have this set of 3 matching baskets.

The far left holds all of my ink pads (upside down). This method works ok, but I would rather have something where I can see the colors better, while still storing them upside down. I saw a cool idea at a friend's house and might try it.

The middle basket is where I keep all my notepads (I'm addicted) and some address labels.

The right basket holds most of my adhesives - tape runners, Glue Dots, pop dots, vellum adhesive, corners, photo tabs, etc. It's within easy reach of my main scrapping area (the "island").