Crafters have lots of tools, and I am certainly no exception. I've spent many years being frustrated with options for storing those tools. If they were out on my desk, they were often taking up way too much room, but if they were neatly sorted into bins, I would never use them!

Then one day, I was browsing Michaels (like you do), and I found this amazing and adorable lazy Susan/carousel thing!

I immediately brought it home and started playing. I have collected many little buckets and jars over the years, so I just popped some of them onto the carousel and started organizing.

One bucket holds all the adhesive I use on a regular basis; tape runners, glue pens, liquid adhesive, and a small roll of foam tape. Specialized adhesive (like glue dots and my sticker maker) are in bins on my shelf - if I need them, I know where to find them.

Another bucket holds all my crafting tools. Several scissors, a bone folder, hole punch, poke tool, Quik-stix, X-acto knife, tweezers, and a brayer. These are tools I reach for very frequently. Again, the tools that I don't use often or that have a very specific purpose (like eyelet setter or a stapler) are in bins on my shelf.

Turning the carousel a bit, I get to my paint brushes. I put them in a small mason jar so they'd stand up straight. I know I'm not supposed to store wet brushes pointing up like this (the water can seep down and rot the wood from the inside), but I only put them in here when they are dry. I let them dry on their sides on my desk. I just don't want the brush tips to get bent if I put them into the jar pointing down.

I also have a mason jar with pens and markers. I don't have a lot of markers, so I only need the one jar.

The back of the carousel holds some misc items that I use regularly, but have never found a good place for. My branding stamp, some post-it notes, my CM corner rounder, some business cards, and my small lenses for my phone camera.

I love this carousel! I love the color and the little birdy in the middle, even if I don't see him that often because he's hiding behind all my tools.

It holds a ton, but because it's raised off the desk on a small foot, it doesn't take up that much real-estate. Check out how clean my crafting desk is! What you don't see is the pile of work that got put on the floor for this photo. :-)

I got the carousel at Michaels, the buckets at Target, and the mason jars from my local grocery store.

So how do you store your tools? Is it working for you?

Happy Crafting (and organizing)!

I watch a lot of You Tube videos. I like to have them on in the background while I make dinner or while I'm crafting. I follow mostly card-makers, but there's a few other types of channels thrown in there, too. I thought I'd do a small series on the people/companies that I follow so maybe you can get some inspiration from them just like I do!

This post is all about individual people who make cards (not 'company' channels). I follow a lot of card makers, but these 5 are my favorites - I watch their videos first, and I re-watch their videos often.

First up is my favorite card-maker and the person I get most of my inpiration from: Kristina Werner. She is a master of distress inks and she's so good at breaking down techniques to make them easy to replicate or modify to fit my own needs. I also love to see the photos and videos of her cats that she occasionally posts (mostly on Instagram).

Kristina's You-Tube Channel: Kristina Werner
Kristina's Blog:  kwernerdesign.com
And below is one of my favorite videos of hers; distress inking!

Next on my list is another long-time favorite: Jennifer McGuire. Jennifer's videos are always so well made and calming. She's great at explaining her techniques and she always tests out products before recommending them. She's also really good at making videos that show how to make quick and easy sets of cards, rather than just one card. She uses a lot of different products, but always says what a suitable substitution would be for those of us that don't have every product under the sun. :-)

Jennifer's You-Tube Channel: Jennifer McGuire
Jennifer's Blog:  jennifermcguireink.com
And below is one of my favorite videos of hers; multiple cards using stencils and ink.

Tracy is a newer follow for me, I just found her a few months ago, but I love her style and her simple cards. She uses simple tools and materials and finds different ways to re-use them to get unique-looking cards.

Tracy's You Tube Channel: Tracy Mae
Tracy's Blog: tracymae.com
And below is a recent video I enjoyed; using word stamps to make patterned paper.

Laurel is another new follow for me. She loves to get messy! Lots of water, lots of sprays, lots of ink, and lots of fun! She's great at just experimenting with colors and techniques and working with whatever comes out. I love watching her videos because I'm always inspired to go get messy and create something fun!

Laurel's You Tube Channel: Laurel's Crafts
Laurel's Blog: laurelbeard.org
And below is a recent video where she uses distress inks directly on the paper and stamps over it with water!

And last, but certainly not least, is Catherine Pooler. I debated whether or not to put Catherine on this list or my next one (all about crafting company You Tube channels) because she runs Stamp Nation, a card-making website/store/community. I decided to pt her on this list because she does all the videos, it's not a design team.

I like Catherine's videos because she is so upbeat all the time and she uses simple products or shares simple alternatives. She also tries different techniques with old materials and usually does it a few times to see how different things effect the technique (more or less water, more or less ink, etc).

Catherine's You Tube Channel: Catherine Pooler
Catherine's Blog: catherinepooler.com
Stamp Nation Website: thestampnation.com
And below is a video where she uses distress ink and simple dies and stamps.

I hope you check out some of these fabulous artists and find some new inspiration! Let me know in the comments or on Facebook if you follow any of these card-makers or if you follow any others that I should check out.

Happy Crafting!

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it here or not, but I Jazzercise. It's so much fun, and an excellent form of exercise. I've made good friends and lost some lbs all while having a blast dancing and sweating away.

One of my Jazz friends had shoulder surgery recently, so I wanted to make her a get well card. I wasn't sure what colors she liked, but I know we have matching shoes at Jazzercise, so that's where I drew inspiration from when I made her card.

I love the bright, fun colors! I used the smooshing technique that I wrote about a few weeks ago, but instead of putting the ink colors down in a grid pattern, I put them down in blocks of color. The result was less busy looking that my normal smooshing backgrounds, which let the background stamp really show well. I also used 2 of the new sentiments on the card. "Thinking of You" on the outside, and "Get Well Soon" on the inside.

The geometric background and the sentiment are embossed with black embossing powder. The background is matted on black cardstock and mounted onto a black card base using foam adhesive. The sentiment flag is also mounded using foam adhesive.

I wish my Jazz friend a speedy recovery and hope she returns to full Jazz strength soon!

Happy Crafting!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about some thank you cards I made for my assistants and paras at school. Well, I finally made some more and got them up on Etsy! And the great thing is, I can make as many of any color as I want! Which means if you want 3 pinks, I can do that. 5 purples and a blue? Done! One of each color of the rainbow? Ready and waiting!

The colors I've put up on my Etsy store are: pink, red, orange, burnt orange, yellow, lime green, teal, light blue, blue, purple, and brown. However, if you have a color that you want that is not listed (magenta, forest green, light purple, etc), please let me know and I will make it for you right away!

I love these cards! The embossed thank you text is raised, so the texture is there when you feel it. And the inked background is so varied, it creates texture when you look at it. It's so dynamic, but so simple.

If you'd like to pick up one or two (or more!) of these cute little thank you cards to keep on hand for some special people in your life, please visit my Etsy store.

If you know me in real life and live near me, let me know before you buy and I'll give you a special code to use at checkout so you don't have to pay for shipping - I will deliver your order to you when I see you next!

Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Crafting!