I'm A Rather Visual Person...Can You Tell?

Yeah, so I really like to be able to SEE my stuff. If I can't see it, I pretty much forget that it exists, leading to it never being used and me, wondering years later why the HECK I thought that was worth buying in the first place....Ahhh....the joys of trendy crafting....SO...my system is set up in a manner that allows me to see EVERYTHING! Well, at least most of it. It also let's me get to things quickly and easily and put things away without a lot of fuss. That's important, because if it requires much in the way of effort to be put away...it's quite simply not going to happen. So, I have a scrapbook room that is designed around the person who uses it. I love it. It makes me happy. That's a good thing.

Recently, I was affirmed in my personal organizational methods by a fantastic article in the March issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. The explored different styles and the last style was the Creative Chaos style! Yup! That is SO totally me! And I handed my husband the magazine and I said, "You totally need to read this." So, being the wonderful husband that he is, he willingly picked up the scrapbook magazine and read the article....TOTALLY should have taken a picture of THAT, but alas, I did not. LOL! He laughed when he read it, because, quite simply, the article described me so well, that I should be collecting royalties or something! LOL! BUT....the good thing is....knowing that I am not alone in my methods and that they are 'normal' and 'acceptable' methods! See, I actually LOVE to sort stuff, organize, and create wonderful, workable spaces! The problem is...a lot of people don't believe that when they see my room because they don't 'get' the system. HA! Guess what! They don't HAVE to 'get' my system because it is my stinking system and it is for ME! ME! ME! Hee-hee. Yes, that makes me happy. I love that I can do it my way and be successful in my creative journey. LOVE IT!

Thus, I decided to share my system in hopes of inspiring others who dwell in the glory that is Creative Chaos! My friends...there is no guessing what gets done in this room! It's all out there!

This is my desk. It is my only work space and it has my BG cutting mat, my rulers, my Mac, and my Purple Cows cutter on it at all times. Most of the time it has a stack of photos, my camera, and my ATG on it, as well. I also keep a small jar (that I shared with you awhile ago) where I slide in slips of paper with each project to track my creative journey.



This is my IKEA Expedit shelving unit. It's my hero. LOL! No, seriously, though. I wanted it for SO long and when I finally got it I knew I would never regret that purchase! I have my embellishments sorted by color and kept in their color-coded cube. That's pretty darn inspiring and SO STINKING CUTE! I love it! then, on the bottom shelves, I store my albums, my card box, a few of my older idea books, and random tools that don't get used as often like my light table, postage scale, and other stuff that's not very pretty, but I need it. LOL! In the middle I keep my stamps, glorious stamps; paper, fabulous paper; punches and cutting tools - yummy!!!!; my photo boxes; and a shelf of random cool stuff that I SO need to alter someday because I love it. Yes, I have a shelf for that.



This is not a big section of my room, but it is important. And...a mess. Usually. I don't want it to be a mess, and I am working on that, but you know how it goes....

On this gross table, that I hope to rid myself of someday and replace with a beautiful 2-up, 4-across IKEA Expedit in espresso to match my other one....(oh...there's that digression again...bummer)...I keep a very cool 'box' of four drawers that I picked up at a consignment shop that sadly burned down. It is just a freak'n awesome wooden box with wonderful label holders on the front and luscious handles that make me smile. I need to add labels, but I am just now determining what will finally be kept within the compartments, so, I'll be getting to that eventually. I have my Studio G and other small stamp sets in one drawer, fabric scraps in another, metal embellishments - the ones that just aren't pretty colors and stuff - in one drawer, and my BIA supplies in the last drawer. I keep my BIA on top of it, so that keeps all of that stuff together. I also keep a basket of my PrismaColor markers (flat, of course), a jar of Pixie Stix - because they are just plain pretty, and my dress form because I love it. I also keep a couple of cards that I have made recently up there until I give them to someone and put up new ones. Beside the wonderful wood box is a black melamine tray...you can't see it very well due to the disaster which is set upon it, however, know that this is where I drop partially completed projects and completed pages prior to condemning them to an album sleeve for all of eternity. There is some other stuff up there right now, but mostly that is that.



The final photo shows my giant bulletin board. It is HUGE. And I was keeping all of my stickers sheets, rub-ons, tags, and other embellishments and lovelies. I hung them there so that I could see them, easily get to them, and easily put them away. It was a wonderful inspiration, however, if you have noticed, I am speaking of this in the past tense. Alas, I am ready for a change. The article of which I spoke earlier inspired me to make some changes in my own space, and I've been feeling a bit cluttered in here, so I am in the process of moving all the items form the bulletin board into other storage options and removing the board altogether. I have a conundrum of sorts, however...I am not sure if want to keep the board up and paint it a yummy caramel color or if I want to take it down and have wall space! Something of which I have little to none at the moment. I am leaning toward removing the board. If I leave it up, it will have to be sectioned and part would be used as an inspiration board, part would be used for useful info and part would have to be left blank for my personal sanity. Because I'm in an apartment, I don't really want to paint the wall, itself, because I would have to paint it back to the original color when we move out and that's just a pain in the neck! LOL! So....I am probably gonna lose the board. What do you think?



So, there is a tour of my space! I really love this room. It is just wonderful! It makes me happy. It is my play room! And....I'm allowed to have creative chaos. That is a very good thing.

Q&A: What does your space look like and how does it reflect who you are and how you create?