The Penultimate 'Other Room' Update

Don'tcha just love that word: penultimate? The next to the last. Would that make the last "ultimate"? Not so sure about that one.

Now that I have a full week of No Day Job behind me, I find my senses have sharpened a bit. I walked across the street this morning to get something (more on that in a sec), and I noticed the backs of all the signage in the shopping center are painted green. Never noticed that before. I like it!

And yes, today is a LOVELY day!

So why was I walking to the store? To get one of these: a flat-headed extension cord. I actually have a whole collection of extension cords in my storage unit across town. I have them in a bin along with my lights for my craft shows if I am ever lucky enough to do one that offers electricity. But today I wanted to plug in an extension cord so I did not lose the outlet behind what was to become my tower of cabinets. I drove to the storage unit to retrieve two power strips, but when I got home and plugged one in, I realized the cord was in an unnatural angle and probably would become an electrical hazard, so I decided to walk across the street and buy a flat-headed one.

See? All better! (This is looking down the wall behind the one-high cabinet.) Whoever invented these things was a genius!

Because I spent so much time painting the walls, I felt a burning need to chronicle the covering-up process in painful detail, and subject you to it. So here we go!

Here I've added the second cabinet to the left-most stack.

From afar, this looks like a lovely counter top. Not for long!

Here I've added the third one.

Getting there!

And the fourth.

Lest you think I have any upper-body strength, let me burst that bubble once and for all! You are supposed to assemble the whole section, then place it on top of the previous one. Nuh-uh. I found I can place just the assembled three sides on first ...

... then take the top, set it in place, and secure it. I am so smart. (Please do not alert the IKEA police, though. I hear they are pretty tough.) Did you know all this stuff was manufactured in Italy? ITALY! There goes another myth - here I'd assumed it was a bunch of slaving Swedes making this Swedish furniture. Is nothing sacred?!

Here we have the completed assemblage from afar. I like how part of the wall is still exposed, and the room does not feel so closed in.

Along the way, you've probably noticed I started putting stuff into the cabinets. This was in an attempt to see just how much crap stuff I had left to deal with once I ran out of cabinets, and it is a lot, lemme tell you!

Look what I found under my 2004 Road Trip Scrapbook-in-progress boxes! A pack of sticky-backed textured card stock strips. I have been looking for this forEVer!

And who doesn't have a bag of bags? The latest theory is that I only bought a few of these, and they've been multiplying on their own. Who knew? Now I need to figure out a way to store them, since the cupboards are all full.

Next, I began installing the door knobs. Don't they look good?!

I will let you in on a little secret. Knowing myself as well as I do, I knew that I needed a template to have a chance of getting the knobs installed straight, or close enough to straight for my world. So I made one!

This is all so scientific! I cut a strip from the packaging of the doors because it was the exact size as the door. I folded the strip in half and laid it on top of one of the doors on the floor. I eyeballed how far in I wanted the knob by playing with it until I was happy, then I pushed down on the knob and twisted a little to make a mark in the cardboard. A pencil mark in the center of the squooshed spot and a hole punch (I have a few, you know, and they were out), and I had me a template!

Here's the first four sets of doors and knobs all installed. Niiiice!

Then we have The Shiny Doors. I put together one set to see if I could live with them, but I cannot. Sadly, this means I will have a return trip to IKEA next week to exchange them for non-glossy doors. It also means I will not get the rest of these doors done this weekend.

But on a brighter note, it means I can MOVE ON to my next task: set up a table in there and begin triaging all the crap stuff in these stacks of SU boxes in my Living Room. Oh, yeah!

But right now I think I've earned some stampin' time! I'd like to have some new stuff for tomorrow's market. I sure hope the weather will be as lovely as it is today!

Thanks for stopping by!

I Have Survived Day Four, Barely

I am still on schedule with the tasks for The Other Room, pretty much. On today's list was to go to IKEA, buy 6 more cabinet sections, and also pick up some Bygel stuff and some knobs for my cabinet doors. I was on the road by 9:30 and got there with not much traffic to slow me down.

I hauled in the 4 doors I needed to return and there was no line - sweet! She rang it up, and I went to reach for my credit card ... uh-oh ... empty pocket. CARP! I left the house with no money, no credit card, and no driver's license! The no credit card was bugging me the most. Fortunately I'd paid cash for the doors, so with $100 in my pocket, I headed back to my car to go home. Sigh ...

Made the round trip (about 45 miles RT) and got back and set in to shop! First thing I saw were these napkins:

GOR-GEOUS! I actually had a few of them in my sweaty little hands when I stood there wondering what I'd do with all of them after I'd used one to make 4 cards. So I put them back. I DID! I really wanted the ones on the top with the lines.

Here was another bin. Lots of neat ideas in here!

I finally found where they were hiding the cabinet parts I wanted (I swear they were in aisle 1 last time ...) and loaded up.

When I got home, I unloaded all of that into the house and sat down to breathe. Since I'd lost about an hour with that extra round-trip stupidity, I had about 30 minutes to catch my breath and head out to my massaaaaage. She said not going to work suits me. I guess I was not as much of a mess as I usually am, or at least everything released easier.

When I got home after THAT, I started the assemblage process. I put together 2 bases and 3 of the 6 cabinet sections. Lookie!

You have no idea how good this makes me feel! Oh, and see that pile of boxes in front of the closet? Those are now in the left-most cabinet, if only to get them out of the way for now.

The two-high section overlaps the window a little bit, so I decided to leave it at two high and stack the far end stack 4 high. I stopped at this point today because there is an outlet behind there and I need to plug in an extension cord before it is lost to me forever. Tomorrow I'll finish the rest of the cabinets and maybe work on the door knobs and attach some of the doors.

Speaking of which, here are the cheapo knobs I bought. Six for $2 instead of 2/$4.50. I think these will work just fine.

Didja notice all that natural light?!?!?! It will be even better once I clean the windows.

I also picked up a bunch of these S-hooks to play with my make-shift Ribbon Originals and Rub-ons hanging system that is still largely in my head. If they do not work out, I'll just bring them back, along with the 6 sets of doors I think I got wrong. At least my car knows the way, now.

I also had this idea that I'd check out Mike's to see if they carried the Making Memories craft organizer thing for this wall, but instead, I spent way less at IKEA and got three of these. This is a magnetic knife holder for the kitchen, but it also comes with those cute metal canisters. I plan to empty out the few boxes and bags I have of buttons and paper flowers and put them in the metal canisters and display them on my wall. Again, if I see them, I may use them.

And I got two of these lamps. They are white. They are small. They are Halogen. They are good for this space. They are now mine. I got the wrong replacement bulbs, but they'll just go back in the pile with the other stuff I'll need to return, maybe one day next week.

And lest you think I have not been stampin, well, I haven't been. Not today, anyway. But I made this beauty last night. I broke open my pack of Prismatic green papers and cut the circles the same as I did for the turtles and crabs. I used some DMC dark grey floss for the thread, and for the pesky dots on the wings I applied ... black Stickles!

Here's a side view. I have dimensionals under the top layer for ... dimension. You can see the Stickles on the wings better, too. I was thinking and thinking about what to use on those wings when I actually hollered out loud: STICKLES! I even remembered I had it in black! And who says hoarding comes to no good?! Not moi! Uh-uh!

Right now I am sitting here too exhausted to move. I might actually go to bed early and start in on the rest of those cabinets tomorrow morning. Once I have them all assembled and in place, I can get some of the crap, er, stuff stowed away and maybe even find the floor in there! Ohboy!

In closing, here is exactly how I feel right now. Check out the eyes, squeezed shut. Yeah, the pic is a bit dark cuz I did not use the flash.

This is why I do not use the flash. Ack! Bright!

Okay, that's it. I'll report back tomorrow on my progress In There. Hey, pretty soon I'll have to stop calling it The Other Room and come up with a nifty name for it. Craft Room is so yesterday's news. I'll need to work on that. I am open to suggestions. ;-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Painting and Stamping - A Full Day

Day three of my Staycation, and I am on a roll. Sticking to the plan, focusing on The Other Room, and making time to STAMP. Today, I actually left the house and bought some more screws for my Bygel rails and came home to hang the rails.

Here I have 7 of the 8 rails up. I put that bottom one up a little higher than I did on the other wall because it holds smaller punches, and I want to put another one below it with S-hooks to hold ... something ... maybe my rub-on collection. I am convinced I will use this stuff more if I can SEE it!

I found I could not comfortably reach as high on the right side, so I am not sure I'll put another rail up there.

I've decided to keep my seasonal non-SU punches in the closet storage for now. Also my border punches. Lotsa room in there now that all of these guys are out. ;-)

Then it was time to PAINT. Here is where I started.

This is where I stopped painting before (the yellow is the new color). I needed to finish this wall over to the closet, and also the closet wall.

I started painting this room in the spring of 2006. I know this because that's the date on the paint can color formula. At that time, I was swapping bedrooms and only had a weekend to do it, so I only painted the two walls that were to immediately receive furniture. Three and one half years later, I am getting to the other two walls. HEY, I've been busy!

I taped the whole thing - ceiling, bottom moulding, and around the closets.

And I painted. I did the larger wall and realized I needed more paint to do the closet wall. I did consider not doing it, but nooooooo, must stay on track! I am so sick of having this project on my list of things to do before I die that I went to the store with the old paint can in hand, and got another gallon of paint. I did two coats on the closet wall, took off the tape, and just basked in the glory that was mine.

I went back this evening and painted the bottom moulding, and here is the finished space:

TA-DA!!!! The only thing left to paint are the closet doors, but I'll hold that over for this Winter.

Isn't this fabulous?! I just stand in the doorway and stare at it. But look now, cuz tomorrow I head to IKEA to buy many, many, many cabinets to cover this newly-painted wall. I plan to put a two-high group next to the Big Shot - I need an extension of my counter top!

I have measured, and I can juuuuuust get another set of cabinets next to that pair with room left to open the closet door. I am thinking I'll put that set not three high, but FOUR high. Like a closet, which I am in effect replacing. You see, when I Elfa'd my closet, a bunch of stuff came out that never made it back in, so I need somewhere to put it. Purge? Whazat? I NEED that stuff! I plan to chronicle the assembly and storage process for posterity, so all shall be revealed eventually.

Okay, on to my stamping du jour!

Remember this guy from the Get Ill Soon challenge? The one I did not win? Yeah, that one. Well, I wanted to make more of them, so that was tonight's project.

As most stampers who mass-produce know, you cannot always buy what you need in the quantities you want. For example, I have a PTI pack of the checked papers, but there are only 3 or 4 sheets of each color, so I am limited in the number of duplicate cards I can produce. But, I can always switch up the colors, right?

I also decided this would actually make a pretty nice Get WELL Soon card, so I printed some of both sentiments.

Here is the Get Well Soon version of the original card.

This is my color swap. I switched the card base and background colors (and blankie and ribbon colors). I really like the original better - with the darker background for the Moose, but I am in love with the color combo, so I went with it. I made both Get Well and Get Ill in this color.

And then, as often happens in my crafting life, I needed just one more piece of background paper for the remaining moose and yellow card base. Do you honestly think I planned how many moose I stamped and colored?!

So I selected this olive-y color to use, mostly because it is a really good 'sick' color. Ergo, I made this a Get Ill Soon version.

That's it! Another full day of Staycation is behind me. I have one more thing to do this evening, then I'll need to rest up for my IKEA run tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

More Findings, and Some Cards

Still working on clearing out stuff from The Other Room. I thought I had a lot of crap, but this is getting seriously disturbing. Anyone want a full pack of SU Petal Cards & Tags? I have both Real Red and Confetti White. I will take them apart, stick them in an envelope, and I will even pay the postage to get them out of here. Please, help me.

I also found a pack of Gift Tags, a pack of Book Marks, and a package of mini gable boxes (white). You can have these, too. Just ask. Please. Ask.

I also found another picture of myself. This one was taken in 1977 or 1978, and I am around 23 years of age. Also around 130 pounds, size 7. Sigh ....

Also newly-rediscovered in The Other Room is this partially completed cross stitch piece. What makes this one different than all the others in my tidy box of partially-completed projects, is this one is (1) on a frame, so it can be pulled taught and I can work it more easily, and (2) it uses only one kind of thread/floss - a variegated thread that you just keep going and going and going, just like the Energizer Bunny. No need to stop and change colors - just count. I may actually try and finish this one! It is supposed to be a 15" pillow when completed. Why do I need it? I do not, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, and it is part-way done, and it has no thread-changes, and it is on that stinkin' frame that will not fit into the box. That's why.

This is the pattern. No tiny designs in the tiny squares to be interpreted for different colors. Nope. You see an x in a square, you stitch it.

Moving on. I found a whole cache of old cards, some partial, some, well, they are now trash. But THIS one...oh, this one. When this set first came out, BR#2 and I had big, big plans for this guy. He was going to be peeking out of every window and from behind every tree on every card we made that year. Didn't happen, but I still have this one, and it may even become a saleable card. I do believe I've even sold my set.

Along the way I also found a card kit I purchased at The Paper Source. I must have had a lucid moment amidst all the grabbing of Parent Sheets, as I escaped the Parent Sheets area and found my way to the card-making section. On the wall they had a bunch of card-making kits, and I thought I'd buy one to see what all the hooplah was about. Also, I thought I could maybe MAKE some to sell, but later found out this was verbotten as an SU Demo. Oh, well.

So I had this kit and I tried to use it today. I tried. I am not a kit person, I guess. I never like what they have as samples, and I always feel the burning need to add to them. Even the Basic Grey kits - I mess with those designs, too. So I opened the kit and pulled out 4 card bases & envelopes, and some pieces of patterned paper, solid papers, and a few extra pieces of card stock. There were also 4 letterpress Happy Birthday sentiments included.

Here is the first card I made. That pretty green paper is 1/2 of the piece in the kit, and, in my opinion, the best part of the kit! Kind of a blend between washi paper and mulberry paper. Thick. Nice. And green! I declared it Artichoke, and layered the sentiment on an Artichoke scrap. Since this came with a purple envelope, I took a piece of the included purple paper and layered it with a piece of Artichoke and part of the extra piece of card stock that matched the base. The ONLY reason there is any purple in it is to tie it in to the envelope.

I added the ribbon, popped the green layer on dimensionals, and stuck on the sentiment. Eh, passable.

The second card is on a palepalepale green base. I ran a piece of the included grey paper through the Big Shot with a texture plate to liven it up a little; rounded two of the corners of the green piece; added the layers to the sentiment; added the photo frame corners and brads; added the ribbon; and you cannot see it, but I stamped an image in Versamark onto the card base to try and un-boring it, but it is really difficult to see, even in real life. So, yeah, I totally messed with this one.

The third card was MUCH easier. I took this piece of striped card stock from the kit and cut it in half for cards 3 & 4. I added the scalloped edge and orange layer behind the sentiment, and of course, the ribbon. This one was really easy to do! Very 'me'.

The fourth (and last) card was just about the same as the third one. Easy, peasy. Totally NOT worth being part of a kit.

I have all the patterned papers left over, plus some solid papers and card stock pieces. I can probably get another card or two out of them, but the patterned papers are the same as two Parent Sheets I have, which I never use, so over all, these were very expensive cards to make from a cost-of-materials standpoint. Not gonna do that again. But at least the kit is gone from the stash and I can move on.

Speaking of which, I actually made a wide enough path in here to vacuum the carpet where the cabinet and trunk used to be, and I started to tape the walls in preparation for painting. Yay! I hope to finish the taping tomorrow.

I also plan to go to the hardware store to get more screws for the Bygel rails, a new halogen lamp since mine died and I am in mood lighting right now, and I am sure there was something else I needed there, but I'll remember what it was after I get home tomorrow. Isn't that always the way?

That's all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by!

Neat People Never Make The Exciting Kinds of Discoveries That I Do

Welcome to Day 2 of working on The Other Room. Today I have been working my way through the pile of stuff in the middle of the room. Unless I get rid of this, or at least get it organized, I cannot paint or build cabinets or ANYthing. First things first.

A friend of mine said to completely empty the room, then start putting things back. The only problem with that is I'd need to have somewhere to empty it TO, and there is just no where. So I am doing my version.

I just finished unloading two canvas backpacks of stuff. I used to carry a backpack to work with me every day in addition to my purse, and it would get heavier and heavier. I also have a backpack I used to take to FL with me when I would fly. This will explain most of the following discoveries.

First, a 13+ year old photo of MOI! I think this was taken just after we implemented our new billing system (of which I was a part), so they tied us to our desks and forced us to have our photos taken. This was about 50 pounds ago, and look how short my hair is! And no grey!

Here are the two empty backpacks. I refuse to use the flash, so it is a little dark. Sorry.

A bag-in-a-bag. These things are SUPER to take with you when traveling. I think I last used this one to take home all the shells we collected on the beach. I would buy Rubbermaid containers (this was pre-Gladware) and fill the canvas bag with the containers and have one of the kids carry it. Built-in labor. ;-)

Hand sanitizer. Does this stuff ever expire?

A bag of bugs. I have absolutely no explanation for this, but you just never know when they might come in handy.

An out-of-focus mini tool set! I think Understandblue could have used this the other day to dismantle her Crackberry. She wanted to clean it.

A new package of dental floss. Too bad it is unwaxed or I'd use it for removing all the mis-stuck dimensionals in my life.

A cross stitched mirror. I made this! It is very small, like 2" across.

This air freshener is great, and they sell it in the grocery store in FL. I would stock up every year. I've wondered where this stuff went .... I think I can get it now at Whole Foods, but back then I don't think so.

And the results of one of our usual end-of-the-week-in-FL book exchange bonanzas, where we'd take home each other's beach books.

I also ended up with a huge pile of trash and recyclable paper, and a pile of stuff to be shredded.

So there you have it. An hour's worth of work yields two empty back packs and a pile of carp I need to put somewhere or shred. But I am making progress!!!!

Oh, the lady upstairs is vacuuming. Sure, make me look bad.

Okay, off to deal with this stuff, then move on to the next pile. Back a little later!

Still With The Tea Bag Holders!

I finally finished packaging my Tea Bag/Candy holders. I had no idea it would take me this long to do! This is probably the reason I stick to cards - packaging for those is easy!

I thought I'd show you the 23 holders I did, all packaged and ready for sale. The rest of the tissue paper I used on the first few toppers went missing (I know!), and I had to resort to using regular card stock from my stash for the others.

Here they all are in their packaged splendor:


Not bad, not bad. Looks pretty good, actually. Now all I need to figure out is where to put them on my display table.

The bagging part was not too tough. It was the labeling that almost killed me. Check it out:


I made the address labels and stuck them on the back of each topper. Then, because I've done enough shows to know these things, I needed a way to know which package had what inside of it without opening it. Even if I used the exact same thing in each one (which I did not), and even if I put it on the sign (which I usually do), people will still ask me what is inside. Trust me on this one.

So I scanned one of each item - the tea bag and two different chocolates. Then I copied the pics into a word document, re-sized them, copied, copied, copied, and printed them on regular printer paper. I cut them all out and put one in each package.

I lied again. I am almost done with these... I have a few more to go. I need more tea bags and more chocolate. I'll get those today and finish the packaging.

I will also stop by Staples and get a new stapler. Maybe a Swingline. Red. :-) I am sick of my staplers breaking. The one I used last night will staple just fine if I hold it over the trash can. It only fails when I try to staple the topper to the cellophane bag. Hmph. I will show that stapler who's boss. It will be retired today in favor of a real, functional stapler. Ptttht!

I will report back later on how today's projects go in The Other Room. Thanks for stopping by!

Loads of Ribbon

Whazis? Four posts in ONE DAY? YES, my friends! YES! I am busybusybusy. It seems that not working at the Day Job frees up the creative juices in my brain and things just WORK. I will not fight it, so I am still crafting.

I actually had everything put away. Okay, that was a lie. I had the lights at my crafting table and in The Other Room turned off, and I was trying (in vain) to get caught up with my Google Reader backlog, when I read Lauren's blog post where she just happened to mention that today's Caardvarks' challenge involved not only making a card using ribbon, but you can WIN ribbon, too! HELLOOOOO! I am so there!

Here is what I just whipped up:

Not your typical Crooked creation, I will admit, but lemme tell you how it came about. Remember those baby shower invitations I made a while ago? I had a bunch of ribbon scraps left over - too big to toss, and I'd always planned to weave them and do something with the woven piece. Guess what?! Today is the day! But first, a few details.

I grabbed one of these crocheted flowers from a pack I got from SU. I do not do much with pink, so I thought I'd actually use one of them on this card. Who knows when I'll get that opportunity again!

I also went a little nuts and not only added a row of punches down the left side into which I wove some ribbon from my stash, but I ALSO punched holes down the right side and tied these teeny tiny knots. Yes, I have a headache, but it had to be done!

Here is the beginning of my weaving. I ran a line of adhesive down the right side of a piece of card stock and stuck the ribbon ends to it.

Then I started weaving the vertical pieces and went until I ran out of one of the colors. There is no science here, people ... I just go with the flow. I added adhesive to the other three sides to hold the ribbons in place, then trimmed the woven piece. The rest was just futzing. I do that a lot.

I am pretty happy with how this turned out!

Okay, NOW I am done posting for today. Thanks for stopping by - again!