Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Sisterhood 29 of the Blogging Stampers and a new organization Project


  I joined a new Blogging Group-Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers.  Before I introduce myself, I want to show you what I am up to lately.
  Slowly as I have been accumulating stamps and supplies over the years...my 'stuff'' has almost completely filled up my kitchen pantry- which is not small...... And, because I stamp in the kitchen, sometimes my stamping supplies are out on the table for a few days....... I decided that my task was going to be to reorganize my sewing supplies- get rid of alot of unused fabrics and patterns and make room for my stamping supplies in 1/2 of my sewing room.. 
Two things you should know about me- I am a little Obsessive/Compulsive -as in I buy alot of 'stuff'-cause I stamp (or sew) late at night when the stores are closed..... that is the obsessive part. The Compulsive part of me is a sorter- so I have lots of stuff packed into the space it is in very efficiently.
  Ok, for the past month, I have sorted the sewing supplies and gotten rid of tons of stuff, and now I am moving into my new stamping space.  Where to put it all.........
  I took a load of the sewing supplies to the Hospital resale shop to donate- and while there I found this desk- nothing fancy- but very sturdy and the bottom Rt drawer holds file folders- perfect for storing paper in!  I am in heaven!  So, I went to donate a pile of stuff and came home with this desk- it fits perfectly in my space and will work great for stamping on.  (God has opened that window for me!!!).  I won't show you the closet or the bookcase full of stamps and supplies until I get it better organized...........
  Next- where to put all of my stamp pads....... I found a tutorial for these stamp pad holders last year- Here is the link to a blog where Stacey King  introduced this core board stamp pad holder-holds 60 ink pads- that you can make for $6.00.  The receipt for my core board is dated 1/29/09.........  OK, well I saved it for a freezing cold day in 2010! I made 2 of these holders and still have Chalk inks that I will have to store somewhere else- I am really liking how this is working- I have the pads at my fingertips and my markers as well.


Ok- you have probably noticed I am a little chatty- yep!  I come by it honestly- it has been passed on from my Father- there is a 100% proof silly gene that I also inherited that I am also quite proud of-also from Dad.
  I am from an Irish Catholic family with 7 kids. I grew up in Kankakee,Illinois (right on the river-south of the damn.....).  I left home to go to college at Northern Illinois-where I studied Nursing. I lived for one year in Cincinnati, Ohio, and my husband came and got me and once we were married, live in Wheaton, Illinois. 
  I have always been involved in some type of creativity- in my younger years I learned to sew, knit, crochet, Macrame, etc.....I smocked beautiful garments for my kids when they were younger.  I started Stamping once the kids hit school age and the teachers gave me stamped cards as a Thank You gift.  I found Stampin Up- but needed more than workshops- once I got home I had no clue what to do with the stamps.......  I found Splitcoaststampers in 2004 AND Technique Junkies in 6/04.  I was hooked!  I have learned alot and my stamping has come a long way since that time.  My joy comes from trying new techniques.  The cards where I stamp, color and add DSP are not my favorite- I enjoy the challenge of learning something new.  If you look back at my cards, I truly am inspired by the Techniques I learn from the technique Junkies. Color and shading are my 2 biggest challenges, and I am currently working on Copic marker and Prismacolor coloring of images.  
  I look forward to getting to know you all better and to have fun trying some new challenges.  Oh- I cannot always do all of them, as I forgot to mention- I mentioned my husband Ray, but not the kids- I have 3 children-2 are in college, so I work......... I enjoy my work, but do not have as much free time to stamp as I once did.  (I work one week on, one week off as a nurse in a Pre-Procedure Dept).  My twins are Juniors in College-Chris at University of Illinois (Champaign) and Katie at Ohio State University.  My youngest daughter Stephanie is a Junior in High School.  She likes to study and is very bright. She keeps herself busy with sports- Cross Country, Basketball and Track, so we spend a bit of our time watching the school sports- we will miss it when she graduates. 
   I started my blog just recently when I saw a Design team call for Firecracker Designs by Pamela- so I am new to this- there is still alot I have not figured out about it.  I love networking with others to learn and grow as a stamper, plus to meet some friends along the way. 
  I believe I have gone on long enough.  Happy New Year to all and I look forward to getting to know you all better.  Thanks Kim for the call out to join in a blogging group!

Shelly

16 comments:

Anne said...

Wow what a great space to work in! I also need to sort some of my sewing stuff that I'm no longer using, to make room for the new obsession, they're both such fun but papercraft is winning for me now :)

Cheryl said...

Very nice to meet you! Congrats on your find. I am a wee bit jealous of all those ink pads. :)

I am looking forward to getting to know you better and seeing your projects.

Cheryl
SBS29

CarlaKH said...

great find in that desk and yay for organizing!

Tammy said...

Hello! Boy you are a busy person. I wish I had the motivation to get organized the way you do. Looking forward to seeing your work.

Annie said...

Shelly, thank you for such a wonderful post. It's so great to get to know little more :) Congrats on your new desk - what a great find. My gosh, you've got lot of stuff, and you have a closet full of stamps? WOW, I would sooo love to see that too :)

Cindy's Creative Corner said...

I can certainly relate to the organization thing, it seems I'm always re-arranging and trying to find better solutions - I'm beginning to wonder if such exist :)

Cindy (SBS29)

Kellie said...

Wow, Shelly I love all your STUFF. My space is about the same size and I will have to check out that stamp storage. Also, thanks for all the nice remarks on my blog. We will have a fun 2010 together.

Unknown said...

What a nice post!! I think being "chatty" is a great gene to have inherited...Thanks for insight into your life and your stamping places....I enjoyed reading it very much!!.. Micki

Kathy said...

Shelly, I enjoyed reading all these little facts about you. Your new crafting desk looks great and holds so much! Great use of space.

Heidi said...

You? Chatty? Nah- fun to see others areas.

Cindy said...

Shelly, What a great find!! I love how you have everything so organized! I need to work on my organization!!

Renee said...

Great job on the organizing....that's my next project so I know where to find all I have!

Rhonda said...

Nice to meet you! I constantly work on organizing but have yet to have things like I want them. I think you are going to inspire me to keep working at it..lol

Ronnie said...

OMG, I want that stash,lol...love your blog, very talented. sisrer from sbs 29, Ronnie

Joanne Gilch said...

Your handmade ink pad holder looks great. Sometime I'll show all my work areas and storage. joanne sbs1o29

Payne Holler Cards said...

love your post! so nice getting to know you!!! had to smile when you described your obsessive-compulsive nature - sounded like you were describing me!!! heeheehee
looking forward to seeing your "space" when you're all done!