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
