How I Store My Stamps

 I have a bit of an obsession with stamps.  I love using stamps in scrapbooking, making cards, and even home decor.  I especially love Lawn Fawn stamps (lawnfawn.com) and have collected quite a few sets.  I have been storing them in their original packaging, but it wasn't working well for me...especially when my son enjoys using them and he was having a hard time getting them back in the packaging (he kept splitting the sides when trying to fit them back in).  Lawn Fawn sets come with a bunch of amazing stamps and some are tiny...I don't want to lose a single one, so I need to put them in something!

There are many great ideas on the web of how to store your sheets of acrylic stamps.  Some inexpensive options were using plastic bags, but they didn't look sturdy enough...they didn't really solve my problem.   Others recommend using plastic CD sleeves from office supply stores which look great and seem to work well, but when I added up the cost, it was more than I wanted to spend.

So, I raided my craft area/homeschool supply area and came up with an idea and because I had supplies on hand, they didn't cost me a thing!  Perfect!

Here's what I did:

First I got plastic sheet protectors that would go into a 3-ring binder (I looked up cost and they run about $15 for 100 and each will store 2 sets of stamps), a trimmer and a stapler:

I then took a set of stamps and decided I wanted the pockets to be 7 and 1/4 inches tall.

Next I trimmed down the sleeve going across the top (opening side).

I then trimmed off the white part that with the holes that would be used to place in a binder normally.

I forgot to take a pic (oops!), but I then folded the pocket in half and stapled on the folded line twice...one about 2 inches from top and another about 2 inches from the bottom.  You can see the staples in this picture with the stamps inserted.  The staples allow you to put 2 sets in one insert and keeps them from sliding into each other.

With smaller sets I decided to keep the cardboard insert which helps keep the pocket from bending.

I found that the pockets also worked great for my stamp sets that had matching dies (again I kept the cardboard insert to keep pocket from bending).

Here are all my sets in the drawer that I use to store them:

I have been using this system for a month now, and  it's working great.  I can flip through my sets quickly to find what I need. I also like using the cardboard inserts for the dies because they stick up a bit and I can find them easily.   AND my son has been able to use them without any issues...problem solved!

I love when to have my stuff organized and especially like it when I can do it cheap!

Have you solved any organizational problems lately?  I can always use extra help, so please share!

Surprise! It's Kelly Marie's Birthday Party Blog Hop!

 

Welcome all of you from Kelly Marie's Birthday Party Blog Hop!  If you are following along on the blog hop, you just came from Tiffany's Blog.

I am so excited to be a part of this blog hop.  First, because Kelly is a really good friend of mine. I am so blessed by her friendship...she is so sweet!   Secondly, this is my first blog hop ever!  I was so excited to be invited to participate...I just started this blog in June so this is all still very new to me.

Here is the card I made for Kelly:

For my background papers I decided to go with teal and yellow since I know Kelly likes those colors (and so do I!).  I was inspired by all the chalkboard art I have been seeing on Pinterest, so I combined several different sets to come up with a similar look.  I just rubbed a piece of chalk on the paper to complete.  I had to add some of the new silver sparkle Lawn Trimmings...I love it!

I love the vintage look of galvanized metal so I took some Pumice Stone Distress Ink and rubbed it directly onto white cardstock.  After that, I sprayed it with water mixed with some Perfect Pearls.  I then used the stars included in the Stitched Journaling Die Set to cut out these adorable tiny stars.  It's hard to see in photo, but they really do look like they are made of metal.  I think they add a nice touch!

Happy Birthday, Kelly!!!  Hope you enjoy an amazing day!



Make sure you visit all the blogs in today's hop!  So much inspiration and creativity!  Your next stop on the hop is Laurel's Blog

First Week of Second Grade!

Last week Cole started second grade...and so did I!  We began our 3rd official year of homeschooling together.  I love that I get to spend so much time with my son and that we get to learn new things together. 

My goal this year is to be more structured.  Cole thrives on structure and so I am working on making our days more predictable for him.  I tend to wake up in the morning and decide what to do based on how I am feeling which worked for younger grades, but now I need to change my ways! 

Another change is that we will be doing the majority of our homeschooling in our garage.  I spent time this summer working on making it a more usable space (you can check out my post on it here: garage redo ).  In the past we used the kitchen table, but it stressed me trying to clean it off for meals.   Now we have a space that is always ready for us to do work...it also doubles as my craft space so I can create a card while Cole works on a worksheet...bonus!!!

This first week went really smoothly and I actually liked having a schedule to follow and a space that is dedicated to doing school work.  Cole seemed to really like it too!

Sprucing up the Master Bedroom

At the beginning of summer I had a long list of projects I wanted to complete.  One of my main goals was to work on sprucing up our master bedroom.  Over the next couple of weeks I will reveal some of the projects I have been working on and then show you the whole room reveal...suspense!  (It's even a surprise to me since I still have one more thing I'm trying to work on!)

One of my first projects was this iron piece I found at a garage sale for $8.

I loved the size and shape of the piece and thought it would work well in my bedroom.

I did not love the color, though, so I got out my trusty gray spray paint and gave it a make-over.  Remember that several light coats are better than heavy coats that can cause ugly drips...I always have to remind myself of that because I want to hurry up and see how my project will turn out!

Here's what I ended up with after several coats of spray paint...looking good.

This little bench seat works perfectly at the foot of our bed.

I always go for form over function (not the most practical person), but this time I got both.  The bench works perfectly for my husband to set his business travel suitcase on it.  He was plopping his suitcase on our bed which grossed me out...what germs were on it after pulling it through airports?  yuck!  Now he has the perfect spot to set it down while packing which makes me very happy.

I love the power of spray paint!  Have you ever used it to transform something in your home?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

This Week's Card

Here is my card for this week...woo hoo!  I've done it 2 weeks in a row! I am also submitting this to the "these are a few of my favorite things" Lawnscaping Challenge http://lawnscaping.blogspot.com.

 

I made this for my sweet sister who had a baby girl last week!  So excited to have a little girl in the family now!  Babies are definitely one of my favorite things!

I used my new favorite Lawn Fawn deer stamp http://www.lawnfawn.com.  It is so sweet!  I also used Lawn Fawn dies which I love.   I used my new favorite shadow inks (came in the mail last week) from Hero Arts http://shop.heroarts.com.   Oh, and I couldn't resist using my white gel pen to add the white spots on the little deer!

I love how girly and soft this card looks.  I hope my sister likes it!