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plus!

146

DeCorate your sPaCeusing scrapbook supplies!

From Closetto CraFt room: amazing ideas for any size space

with Megan Hoeppner

Inspiring Rooms,iDeas & ProjeCts

“So scrapbookers just . . . preserve their photos and memories?” This

question, posed recently by an acquaintance, emphasized the word “just.”

Honestly, it’s a common enough question from those who don’t scrapbook

or craft. But there’s no “just” about it. Scrapbookers and crafters know that

their layouts and projects are labors of love and creative self-expressions

as much as they are memory preservation. Scrapbookers and crafters are

creative people. And creative people need creative spaces.

That’s why we’re showcasing and celebrating creative spaces of all

shapes and sizes in this new special issue. Throughout it, Creating Keepsakes

creative editor Megan Hoeppner takes you on a tour of dozens of beautiful

and practical places where women create to inspire you. With fabulous

do-it-yourself projects to help you re-create some of these looks, as well as

tips throughout to help you shape your space, this issue will inspire you to

make the most of your creative space—whatever the size—in order to make

the most of your creative time. No “just” about it.

Enjoy!

Jennafer MartinEditor-in-ChiefCreating Keepsakes magazine

Editor's N

ote

Creative Spaces | CREATING KEEPSAKES 5

Editor’s Note : : 5

Introduction : : 9

CRAFT ROOM GRAND TOUR : : 10

Draw inspiration from these fresh, creative spaces!SMALL ROOMS : : 10

MEDIUM ROOMS : : 40

LARGE ROOMS : : 76

DO-IT-YOURSELF STORAGE : : 103 Organize your supplies using these functional and fabulous ideas!

DO-IT-YOURSELF DÉCOR : : 119

Create your own inspiring space with these playful projects.

FANTASTIC PROJECT DISPLAYS : : 138

Creative Spaces | CREATING KEEPSAKES 7

How do you organize your scrapbook space? Do you have things tucked away in a closet

or have you managed to fill an entire studio with your crafty delights? Either way, having

an organized stash of supplies lets you know quickly what you have on hand and leaves

you with more time to create—two very good things. And seeing how others have set

up their creative surroundings can be very inspiring when it comes to arranging our own

supplies, which is why I love seeing different craft rooms. So you can imagine my delight

when the opportunity to write this special issue of Creating Keepsakes came up. Not only

do I get to share a few tricks of the organizing trade with you, but I get to do so with

the help of some of my dear friends from the scrapbooking industry. That’s right—some

of the most popular names in scrapbooking have opened their doors to us, and I’d like

to personally invite you to join me for a look inside their rooms, where we’re sure to find

ideas we’ll want to incorporate into our creative lives.

As if a massive craft room grand tour weren’t enough to get you excited about working

on your own space, this issue is also packed with do-it-yourself ideas for organizing

and decorating in a way that works for you. After all, when it comes to being creative,

environment is everything. More specifically, setting up an environment that both meets

your organizational needs and feeds your creative soul with inspiration is everything.

And whether you’re starting from scratch in a new space, looking to update your existing

setting, or simply want to peek inside where others create, this special issue

has something for you.

Cheers!

Megan HoeppnerCreative EditorCreating Keepsakes magazine

Introduction

Creative Spaces | CREATING KEEPSAKES 9

Welcome to the Creative Spaces Craft Room Grand Tour! Consider this your backstage pass to some of the happiest, craftiest, and coolest craft rooms around. This up-close-and-personal guide will take you inside everything from the smallest corner-of-the-living-room scrapbooking spaces to the full-blown, craft room palaces. Plus, we have an incred-ible list of headliners on this craft room tour, including some of the best-known names in the scrapbooking industry! You’ll see where their creative magic happens, and get their take on what makes a great space. So are you ready to rock? Let this tour of inspiring, impressive, and organized spaces begin!

Creative Spaces | CREATING KEEPSAKES 11

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For the most part, scrapbooking accents are little, which can pose an organizational question: How do you keep all of those small embellishments orderly and contained in a way that makes the most of a space? If you ask Amber, the answer to that question is letterpress drawers like the ones in her vintage printer’s cabinet. The shallow, divided slots in each drawer group small stashes of supplies together in a way that keeps them easy to access. But you don’t have to own a full cabinet to make the most of a letterpress tray. Turn to page 112 for a freestanding tray option or check out our sister publication American Woodworker (americanwood-worker.com) to make your own.

PRINTER’S CABINET

Amber Packer of My Mind’s Eye (mymindseye.com) has created a space that takes you back in time. Her room, full of antique pieces passed on to her by family members, takes furniture from yesteryear and repurposes it as incredible scrapbooking storage. From her spacious roll top desk, with its many glorious slots and drawers, to her stunning printer’s cabinet, her furniture will inspire you to make what’s old new again. And, as Amber’s room showcases, you can mix in new elements without disrupting the style of your surroundings by selecting vintage-inspired pieces (glass jars, clocks, wire baskets, etc.), which mimic the timeless look of a general store.

#15

Creative Spaces | CREATING KEEPSAKES 41

PUNCH JAR

You won’t find a sugary beverage in this punch jar. Nope, this one is for your shaped scrapbook punches. Amber opted for a large candy jar, which has ample room for her border and corner punch collection. This is a smart use of the space and it’s easy to see what you’re reaching for. Sweet!

Who says do-it-yourself (DIY) organizing has to be a series of bland storage containers and recycled shoe boxes? As the inspiring ideas in this chapter illustrate, an orderly craft space can also be a happy, well-decorated one. From gumball machine button storage to a garden of pretty paper boxes, you’ll find solutions for organizing your entire scrapbooking stash in style. Plus, many of the container ideas are also projects, making them both functional to use and fun to create!

Creative Spaces | CREATING KEEPSAKES 103

BUTTON MACHINE You won’t need any spare change to make the most of this sweet storage solution. Fill a gumball machine with buttons and pop the top off when you need to access your dish of creative delights. To complete your unique container with a little added flavor, wrap twine around the machine and tie on a cute label. Don’t worry about this approach bursting your budget bubble; gumball machines are not only easy to find (especially on the Internet), they’re also affordable.

Button machine by Andrea Friebus. Supplies: Patterned paper: BasicGrey and Pink Paislee; Ribbon: Berwick Offray; Ink: Clearsnap; Embroidery floss: DMC; Adhesive: Therm O Web; Other: Buttons, gumball machine, o-ring, and stickers.

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104 creatingkeepsakes.com

STAMP BASKETAn apple a day may keep the doctor away, but a stamp a day will have your creativity here to stay! So, in place of produce, why not use your fruit basket as stamp storage? Hang a multi-tiered container in your craft room and keep your work space free from clutter while still keeping your supplies out where you can see and access them. The different levels make organizing your collection easy, and a few pretty inkpads sure beat a boring old bunch of bananas. Talk about an a-peel-ing idea!

Creative Spaces | CREATING KEEPSAKES 119

Decorating a craft space is almost as fun as playing in one, especially when your décor is handmade with supplies from your scrapbook stash. Consider those bare walls of yours a giant canvas and the ideas in this chapter your collection of paint. From creative calendars to striking picture displays and so much more, the following pages offer a beautiful palette of project options you can use to dress up your space. After all, a delightfully decorated space is a surefire creativity booster!

Creative Spaces | CREATING KEEPSAKES 133

Cool calendars never go out of style, especially if they’re created on an antique clipboard like this one. Whether you have a similar flea-market find or a more modern clipboard alternative, this kind of handcrafted calendar will look incredible hanging above your workspace. Create a separate calendar page and a pretty background for each month of the year. Use photo corners to attach the calendar pages to your backgrounds (so you can keep the backgrounds and switch out the calendars each year). Mark your calen-dar; it’s time to create this classy appointment keeper!

Clipboard calendar by Cheri Piles. Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper; Patterned paper, chipboard, die cuts, rhinestones, and ribbon: Teresa Collins Designs; Flowers and metal accents: Advantus; Glitter glue and ink: Ranger Industries; Spray ink: Tattered Angels; Punches: Fiskars Americas, Martha Stewart Crafts, and We R Memory Keepers; Pens: Newell Rubbermaid and Sakura; Calendar template: Microsoft; Adhesive: 3M, Beacon Adhesives, Kokuyo, Plaid Enterprises, and Provo Craft; Other: Chipboard, clipboard, reinforcement labels, and Velcro.

TRY THIS!Keep your calendar seasonally up-to-date with a little Velcro. Attach the Velcro to the back of several seasonal accents, and switch the accents out as the seasons change.

Make a date with vinyl and never miss an appointment again with this crafty calendar. Start by adhering a piece of chalkboard vinyl to your wall or, for a less stationary décor option, add the vinyl to the center of a frame. With your chalkboard base secure, add your calendar vinyl over the top to complete your calendar. Now you can add and remove information with artistic ease.

Vinyl calendar by Kim Jackson. Supplies: Vinyl decals: Stampin’ Up!; Paint: Ranger Industries; Other: Vintage frame.

TRY THIS!Stitch a little chalk pouch from leftover scraps of fabric, and hang it from your frame for convenient (and cute) chalk storage!

CLIPBOARD CALENDAR