Pages

Monday, March 31, 2014

Craft Room Update, Part 4

I hope you guys aren't getting tired of my craft room posts', hehe. I know I'm moving at a slow pace but I'm just always excited to share everything little update of this process with you. I've had a few questions about the paper tray I purchased from Ikea, shown above. This was only $20.00 and I love it because it has pull out trays--and I think that's really awesome. When I saw it at the store I couldn't resist buying, especially because it's white. I've mentioned in my first post about my craft room, that I wanted the color scheme of this room to be white and gold; however, it's kind of turn into a white-gold-turquoise/teal scheme. When Gabe (my boyfriend) bought me the kitchen cart shown below I realized that this color would fit in nicely and I wanted to add more it around the room it subtle ways. So, I purchased some ombre curtains from Target and that little splash of color on the wall looks really beautiful. 
Before moving into my craft room, I actually worked in the living room on a picnic table and it was a mountain of all of my crafty tools, paper, and trimmings--it was basically a huge mess (and an eye sore). When I had arranged all of my stamps, ribbon, twine, etc. on my old desk I thought it would be convenient to have all of the things I use on a daily basis surrounding me so that it would be within reach; but, after a while it felt too crowded and I felt like it stopped my creative energy from flowing in a way. So, when I knew I was going to move into a new space I wanted to try and have a clean desk, and have all of my tools in drawers. The kitchen cart was a perfect solution. As shown above I have all of my favorite stamps sets (and sets I work with to fulfill my orders) on the top shelf of the cart, and below that I have all of my ribbon and twine, and on the bottom my cuttlebug and dies. Having these things mobile is actually really convenient for me--rather than having them all in front of my on desk I can have them directly at my side and it makes it easy to navigate through them. Usually, with them at my desk, I'd have to stand up when shuffling through them in order to see what I was looking at. But now that they are in a rolling cart by my side it's definitely a lot easier to sort through. Plus I can put it away at the end of the day and keep my desk clean and free of clutter. 
I cannot express how much I love this roller drawer! When I first assembled it I wasn't sure if all of my tools would it in--but to my surprise every single thing I have fit in here. Between the rolling kitchen cart, and this rolling drawer I can fit so many things in it and have so much more space on my desk and that makes me so happy. I love the simple look of my desk and I was hoping to keep it that way--so I'm a happy crafty gal right now, haha. 
When I was ready to hang all of my frames, I suddenly remembered that I'd purchase this amazing frame from Ikea about 4-5 years ago. I had it in my closet for years and I was so excited to be able to use it for my craft room. But, since my color scheme doesn't include the color black I decided to spray paint it gold. At first I was hesitant to paint it because I was afraid I would ruin such a beautiful piece but once I began adding the gold I knew I had made the right decision. 
 Isn't it beautiful? 
The room still has a long way to go but I'm officially moved into it and working in it now. I think this might be the last post about my room until it's completed and once it's officially done I'm going to be doing a big post full of pictures and a video. I can't wait till it's done so I can share the entire thing. If you have any questions about anything I've purchased feel free to ask. 

Monday, March 24, 2014

Craft Room, Part 3

My craft room still isn't' finished yet, but I'm working on it little by little. The floors were put in over the weekend, and I was able to do a little shopping at Ikea this weekend too for the some of the things I really needed. I wasn't able to buy everything I wanted this weekend either because my car decided to break down on me and it's going to cost me a lot of money to fix--so I'm gonna have to be patient. So far I love the way the room is coming together. I think later tonight (after I'm done working on orders) I'll go ahead and start putting up my frames and organizing a little bit more. I'm sorry this post is so short but I have lots of orders to fill today. Yay! 

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Craft Room Update, Wall Art

While we’re waiting to get the wood floor installed into the craft room I thought I’d get some of my wall art ready. As I mentioned in the previous post, I wanted to make some of the wall art myself, buy some online by other Etsy artists’, and also use some of my own pictures of my work. First I made this really adorable “Born to Craft” image using some of my Lawn Fawn stamps, and sequins. I really love how it came out, and now I’m thinking about making an even bigger one!
Next I bought this “Live, Laugh, Love” art print from the etsy seller, Tambocreations, you can find the link to this art piece here. Isn’t it so gorgeous? I just love all the confetti.
Lastly, I have this print of a cupcake topper I made using some lawn fawn stamps and dies. I also downloaded a free vintage filter; and, I really like how this came out too.
So far these are the only art pieces I have, but I’m still looking forward to finding more online, making more of my own, and even printing my own pictures. Everything is coming together little by little and I can’t wait for the new wood flooring to be installed. I think it’s going to make the room look really nice. 

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Designing My Craft Room Part 1

 1. Roller Blind 2. Kitchen Cart 3. Curtains 4. Basket 5. Clear boxes 6. Table 7. Storage Combination 8. Glass-door cabinet 9. Floor Reading Lamp 10. Table 11. Drawer Unit
I'm so excited because I'm finally getting an actual work space! I will no longer be working in the living room or the hallway, haha. This is something I've wanted for a long time and the time is finally here. My business has been growing and my collection of tools has been doing the same. I'm currently working on one picnic table and one drawers system--and let me tell you it's not easy to work in such a small space but I had to do what I had to do. My brother recently moved out of our families house and yes it's kind of sad (just a little, haha) but on the positive side my sister and I get to share this large room and make it our own. I've already started the painting process and I'm still not done because I only get to work on the room when I'm not busy and these I'm always pretty busy--so operation 'fix the room' is moving at a glacial pace. 

I already know which things I want buy for this room and they're all shown above in the first image. I plan on purchasing a lot of things for this room from Ikea but I plan on buying the wall art from Etsy--got to support the handmade community. My awesome boyfriend already purchase one of the things on my list for me, and I was so happy about that! He bought me the Kitchen Cart (number 2 on the list above). Lots of crafters have this cart and I love it so much and I can't wait to use it. 

As far as the theme for this room I thought it would be nice to have a white and gold theme witch pops of really right colors here and there. I would like most of the work space to be white and simply have accents of color on the wall, like pictures of my tools, pictures of things I love, and art work by Etsians. I found a really cute calender today when I was at Paper Source (buying things I shouldn't be buying aka craft hoarding) and I found a really pretty water color calender that I'd like to get for this room as well. They're calenders are 50% off right now! I totally went off topic, but as you can see from the ceiling fan image above I've spray painted it in gold. I wasn't sure how it would turn out and before I did it I just thought if I hate it I could always just buy another one--it was previously all black. 

Right now the room only has the primer coat on, and my sister and I still need to apply the final white coat of regular paint. I can't wait for this to be completely finished, we still need to pick a carpet and purchase all the stuff on my Ikea list but I'll get everyone updated along the way. One thing I must mention is I never knew how expensive it would coast to repaint a room. Aye. 

Friday, March 7, 2014

How to Make Mini Journal, Part 2, Video

Today I’m super excited to be sharing this project with everyone! I’m using the new large stitched journaling die by, Lawn Fawn, to create these really adorable mini journals. If you’re a fan of Lawn Fawn you’ll know that I did a video for them last year where I showed how to create your own mini journals from scratch; however, LF came out with the most perfect die that makes mini journal making a cinch. This die was intended for scrapbooking but I love that it can also be used by crafters like me that aren’t really into scrapbooking.
In this video I’ll share how I made the journals using both of the new paper collections, Hello Sunshine and Let's Polka—both collections are made by Lawn Fawn, too. I’m also using a two of their new stamp sets: Hello Sunshine, and Starry backdrops. Both sets are amazingly versatile and really fun to use.
Take a look at this close up image above, you’ll notice the beautiful sequins I’m using. These are by Pretty Pink Posh! I love their sequins and ribbon—they add so much to all of my projects. For more details on the colors used feel free view my video below. 
Now it's time for the video! 
I hope you enjoyed this post and video. I had so much fun creating these mini journals and I hope I’ve inspired you to pick up all of the items used. Happy crafting! 

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Fun with Product Packaging

When it comes to product packaging, I like to have fun with it and even change it up every now and then. So this time around I thought it would be fun to make some tags that say, “Thanks for shopping with Unify Handmade”. I thought about printing stickers, and even thought about getting a rubber stamp made with my shop name on it but then I had the idea to make some simple hang tags. I made these on Photoshop, printed them out and used my tag shaped craft punch to cut them out. Next, I thought it would be fun to wrap the product in tissue paper, and secure it with some white and coral hemp twine. I think the final result looks so lovely; and, I’m hoping buyers will be excited to un-wrap their packages!