Where Bloggers Create 2013

Good day and a very warm welcome to you All

You have arrived at the southernmost tip of the African continent.  The country I live in is South Africa, and at the tip of this continent, is the beautiful coastal city of Cape Town.  This is my home town.  I get to see the majestic Table Mountain, one of the many Wonders of the World, every single day.  Please take time to click on the links.  I have not added any photographs, as some of them are copyrighted.

 

Firstly, a huge thank you to Karen Valentine from **My Desert Cottage** for organising this event. I heard about it from a friend and was encouraged to take part this year.  It is my very first time and I am beyond excited to be a part of this party.

If you want to know a little bit more about me, you can view my complete Profile on my Blog.  I am an avid Blogger and Card-maker and I try to expand my horizon by attempting to create other forms of papercraft. Since joining blogland about 4 years ago, I have met many wonderful Crafters and hopefully this event will provide the opportunity of meeting new friends.  I  hope you enjoy taking a peeking into my crafty world and I look forward to visiting you too during the course of the next few weeks.

Right, with formalities out of the way, let's get started shall we?  The first photograph is of my Craft Room. This is where I get to play in the evenings and weekends, as I work full day.  It was only completed 3 weeks ago, so everything is still brand spanking new!  

I proudly designed the room myself and the carpenter did the rest.  Although small, this room is incredibly cosy.  Once inside, I forget about the time and before I know it, it is midnight and I have to hit the sack or else I'll be late for work the next day.  I have never had a designated Craft Room before, so I really feel blessed to have this room, where I don't have to pack my things away before I retire for the evening.  You will note as we go along that I only have pictures of one side of the room.  The reason for this is that I share the room with my daughter, who is an Attorney.  Her side is more formal than mine.

Moving from left to right (above), you can see that I have created a narrow shelf just above my workstation, where I have displayed some of my wooden sentiments.  It is great to be able to see them when you are making a card, instead of them being hidden away in a box somewhere.  If you're like me, I tend to forget what stamps I have if they are not right under my nose...lol   I also have some ribbon and flowers on the upper shelf, which are easy to come by when decorating my cards.  The little pencils in the jar are what I use when making my little Notepads.  They are excellent gifts and sell well too.  I have included 2 for you to view.

Now just below the shelf where my wooden sentiments stamps are displayed, is my work area and here is a close up pic.  As you can see, my Copic Colour Chart is close at hand, as well as all my glues (in the oval white container), to the right of that in the pink drawers I keep my Memento Ink pads (I love stamping my images with Rich Cocoa) and the white drawers house a variety of products, viz. ready stamped and cut sentiments, double-sided sticky foam tape to create dimension on my cards, tiny scissors, etc.

As we are in our Winter season, the coffee mug is always close at hand and filled!  In Summer, it is a completely different story, as temperatures here soar to over 40 degrees celsius.  The little red fan helps to cool me down, when I have one of my "power surges"...LOL

My favourite medium of colouring for now are COPICS and I store them in these very sturdy plastic containers, purchased from our local Plastic Warehouse store. This really works for me, as I can move and place them next to me when I colour. I can also stack them on top of each other, if I am working with a variety of colours.

Here is a card I made recently using my Copics.  I feel I still have a lot to learn as far as the colouring technique goes, but one needs time to practice these things.  Under my TUTORIALS page on my Blog, I have saved a variety of links to video's showing you the Copic method of colouring.

Magnolia stamps are my absolute favourite stamps for now.  I am also partial to the very talented Elisabeth Bell's stamps and Clare Rowland's, Molly Bloom stamps.  I just love making cute, girly cards, but realise that it is not everyone's taste, so I try to make a variety of cards. Below are 2 of my latest creations.

Right... shall we move on?  I've stepped further back, so that you can get a good view of the entire bookshelf above my work area.  As you can see, there are a variety of Cards and other Crafty projects right on top. Some are my own creations, others are what I have received from friends worldwide. I love my Teddy Bears, so they need to be showcased too.  At one time, I went on a Teddy Bear-making course and sold quite a few of them.  The jars on the left hand side of the shelf is where I store my Card Candy and below that I have plastic containers where I store my Beads, Brads, Buttons, Charms and my favourite accessory item... Pearls.

Here is the container where I store my flat-backed Pearls. I absolutely love them.  I am not a "bling" girl i.e. rhinestones do not tickle my fancy, but Pearls sure do!

I also store my Buttons in a similar container.  I, unfortunately, do not use these items as much as I should on my work.

In my Craft Room I have 4 plastic sets of drawers.  Each set has 3 deep drawers. You will see these in a pic later on.  This is where I store items that do not fit on the shelves, for example, excess flowers and ribbon.  I love ribbon, but use flowers sparingly on my cards, as they are so costly.  My friend mocks me at times by telling me to use them, as I can always buy some more... Yeah right, I don't have an unlimited craft budget ! LOL

Moving along, you'll see I have some lovely coloured boxes on those shelves.  I just love pretty boxes. This is where I store all my RUBBER stamps.  Each box is clearly marked with the Artist or Company's Name. Amongst my collection, I have Bildmalarna, Elisabeth Bell, Lily of the Valley, Magnolia, Molly Bloom, a variety of Sentiments and Whiff of Joy, to mention a few.  I have provided links for those of you who are not familiar with these names. 

As Magnolia stamps are my favourite stamps for now, I have 2 boxes full of them.  

They are stored in empty CD cases which are numbered (see below).

Each CD container has 1 or 2 Magnolia stamps inside, depending on the size of the stamp.  I stamp and paste the images on the front cover. Above each stamp I write the Name of the Stamp and at times, which Collection they are from.  I also write the name of the Store where I purchased it from, at the bottom of the image.  This really helps me when typing out my posts.  I don't have time to search for the names of the stamps online or struggle to remember which Store I purchased it from.

These are then stamped and catalogued into a book.  When I require a stamp for a card, I open my book, search for a stamp, which has the CD number next to it and then I retrieve it from the relevant box.

Below is a cute wooden container which I purchased the other day.  This is where I store my Camera, the Camera cord and Batteries. These are very important items for when you are blogging.   As my time is precious, I need things to be on their place, so that I don't waste time LOOKING for them.  OK, so the pics and labels don't quite match what is inside, but this was not a custom-made item.  At least I know what is inside and that's the most important thing !

To the right of me or behind me is my wall-to-ceiling cupboard, where I store my 12x12 sheets of cardstock, patterned paper and other crafty items.  Things don't look 100% to my liking as yet, but this is Work In Progress.

I also have a small collection of Upikit and Fiskars punches, but my favourites are the Martha Stewart ones.  I store them on one of the shelves, so that I can see them all the time.  Out of sight, out of mind, so I need them near me, so that I can see what I have.

We are almost done, promise!  I only have 3 more pics to share with you.  If you're still with me, congratulations! Karen said she'd love us to post as many pics as we can and I certainly hope I haven't disappointed her or you...lol

I would just like to share the contents of this box with you. As my crafting time is limited, I need to have some items ready for use straightaway.  This box is filled with pre-scored and folded white cards, with matching envelopes, so that I can just grab them when I need them !  

Here is the pic (see below) which I promised you earlier of my big plastic drawers.  This is where I store a variety of craft items, for example, excess ribbon and flowers, my plates for my Cuttlebug, my Dies and padded envelopes for when I need to send a gift to a fellow Crafter.  Did I mention that I like having everything at my fingertips ?  The high-back chair is a wonderful luxury, as I can sit and play for hours in this room, without experiencing any backache.

I have met some wonderful people through my Blog, whom I have the pleasure of calling Friend.  Although many miles may divide us, modern technology has brought us closer together and we spend many an hour chatting and crafting whilst at our desks, during our Skype sessions.

And what would a Craft Room be without Music, huh?  Here is my trusty little Radio/CD player, which I listen to whilst I craft.  A must for every craft room.  Don't you agree?

Before I end this lengthy post, it just wouldn't be right if I did not mention my trusty little companion, who spends time with me when I sit and craft.  She is our gorgeous fur-baby, Nikita.  She is 9 months old and we love her to bits.   As you can see, Madam Fiffy loves climbing onto my shelves.

That's finally a wrap from me.  I must thank you for taking the time to pop around to my Blog.  I hope you have enjoyed your visit and that you have found some valuable tips and ideas too.  If you have the time, please browse through the rest of my blog to view some of my creations.

However, if you're rushed for time, consider following me on Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin' and you can always pop around later for another visit.  You can also find me on Pinterest.  There is a link on my Blog.  I'd love to welcome you to my group of friends.

Please leave a comment before you go, as I so enjoy reading them.  Enjoy the rest of your blog-hopping.

Hugs