Saturday, November 24, 2012

Organized Like Jen Two Year Anniversary Contest (YouTube)

One of my favorite You Tube organization gurus (organizedlikejen) is hosting a two year anniversary give away on her channel.

She challenged her subscribers to choose an organization project and then either send her a video response or an entry in the form of an essay. I filmed a bunch of footage for a video response, but when it came to editing, my lack of experience caused me to opt for a blog post instead. I will learn video editing in time, just not in time for the contest deadline!

Jennifer asked that we start with a photo and an introduction so here we go!

My name is Shannon and I was born and raised in California and moved to Colorado 3 years ago. I have been married to my husband for 7 years. He's in the USAF and was stationed here 3 years ago and we fell in love with the area and have since purchased a home and decided to live here. It's so beautiful and we love the outdoors and there is so much for us to do here. I have two step daughters. Kendall is going to be 18 on Dec 3 and she lives with us full time and Nicole just turned 15 and lives with her mom in Kansas. My hobbies include photography, papercrafting, cooking, decorating, organizing, reading, movies, exercising, gardening, make-up, and just about anything creative.

Here's me with my wonderful hubby. This was taken Memorial Day 2012.


For my project I chose my jewelry storage. This is a project I have been wanting (and needing) to tackle for YEARS! I am so glad that this contest gave me the motivation to finally tackle this project. I spent a total of $58 on supplies at Michael's (I got killer deals on everything) and it took me roughly 2 hours. Seriously, why did I not do this a lot earlier?

Before


This jewelry box I have had for over 20 years and the necklaces always got tangled and the items in the drawers got very little attention. In the top two drawers I was storing my bracelets. I never wore the majority of them because they got buried at the bottom. In the third drawer I was storing watches - with dead batteries that I completely forgot about and in the bottom drawer I was storing my rings.


Earrings were spread out between these three little jewelry boxes. The one on the left stored the majority of my earrings and it took forever to find a matching pair. The middle one stored smaller hoops and the one on the right stored my larger hoops. Not very organized and definitely not easy to find things.


The little container on the left was holding earring backs, the one in the middle held necklace charms and the one on the right was empty. Loved ones keep giving me these little boxes and although they are pretty, they just aren't working very well for me.


This was such a mess! This jewelry box was hand painted for me and things just got piled inside. All of my long necklaces were in the front piled on top of each other. Beneath those were some bangles and in the back were some more long necklaces and some pouches with various other pieces. Not practical and very difficult to navigate....


This is a shot from the bottom drawer of my night stand. The jewelry in all of these boxes never gets worn. I forget all about it and there are some beautiful pieces that I love and really should wear.


All of this went to Goodwill. On the far right there is a pile of jewelry and the rest are jewelry storage pieces I donated.

And now...the AFTER!

I walked into Michael's to look for some new organization pieces and they had the jewelry display pieces marked down 30% off and I also had a coupon for 50% off of one item and 25% off my entire purchase. My total was $58 for everything and I am thrilled with the results. I can find everything I'm looking for and am already finding myself wearing things I hadn't worn in years, simply because I can now see them.


This is how I am now storing my long necklaces that were all tangled and piled up before. This piece sits on my dresser and not only is it functional, but it's also decorative. It's like I have my own little jewelry store.


This is how I'm not storing all of my shorter necklaces. The rack spins around and on most hooks I only have 1-3 necklaces and I can see exactly what I'm looking for at a glance. It's also very decorative as well and nothing gets tangled up like it used to.


My bracelets are stored on these two display pieces. It's hard to see in the photo, but there is a shorter one in the front and a taller one in the back. I didn't realize how many bracelets I even had until I put them all together. I'm already wearing things I had forgotten about. It's like Christmas!


I also purchased several of these little plastic sectioned bead holders. I have two of the larger ones for earrings. One holds the dangle-styled earrings and one holds my hoops. It's so much easier to find matching earrings now!


The smaller ones hold pins, necklace charms, safety pins, etc. These bins are all stored together in a drawer and are very accessible.

That's everything. I am sooooooooooooooo pleased with the results! It's like I have an entirely new jewelry collection because I'm wearing so many pieces that were hidden before. It was a project that didn't cost very much money and didn't take a of time, but has made a huge impact.

Thank you Jennifer for giving us this challenge and thank you for the opportunity to win the fantastic prize package. Your channel motivates me all the time and I know you invest a lot of time and energy into your videos and I want you to know how much you are appreciated.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Jen del Muro's July SFYTT



Well, my creativity slump continues. I've been in it for quite some time now and I know I'll get past it, but it's very discouraging to be stuck for so long! I broke down and went to Archiver's the other night and picked up a couple of paper pads (paper always gives me inspiration) and a couple of stamp sets. I didn't end up using any of my new product on this project, but I did "shop my craft room." I have done this on  the last couple of projects and it's been helping. I start out with a sketch like this fantastic July SFYTT by the fabulous Jen del Muro and then I start picking out patterned papers and then go to my embelishment drawer and my alpha stickers drawer (although I didn't end up using any on this project.) I find that I am using my of my supplies and finding little gems I'd totally forgotten and it's almost like shopping for new product because I'm discovering all of these products I completely forgot I'd purchased, or received in a Studio Calico kit. Speaking of Studio Calico, most of the products I used on this card were from the July kit. So fun1 Anyway, I hope you enjoy :).


Supplies
Patterned Paper - Studio Calico, My Minds Eye
Cardstock - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Ribbon - American Crafts
Tag - Came in a little bag of tags with my Studio Calico kit (July, I believe)
Stamps - Unity Stamp Co (Image), Hero Arts (Sentiment)
Wood Veneer Birtds - Studio Calico
Mister Huey's - Studio Calico

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Jen's Sketch Challenge May 2012

Well, I'm running late as usually in playing along with Jen del Muro's Sketch for you to Try. I have had zero creative mojo lately and it's starting to really make me sad. I have been training for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, which takes place June 23-24 and I think I'm just totally wiped out physically and emotionally. I am hoping that I get my mojo back soon because I really miss crafting!

I didn't have a specific person in mind for this card, so I decided to make a birthday card because I'm always in need of birthday cards. In the end, I was really happy with the results (even without my full mojo.) Tomorrow is the last day, so if you haven't played along, run...don't walk to your craft space and get started!!!!


Supplies
Patterned Paper - American Crafts Dear Lizzie
Cardstock - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Letter Stickers - American Crafts Dear Lizzie
Scalloped Border Stamp - My Mind's Eye
Flourish Border Stamp - Stampin' Up!
Heart Punch - Stampin' Up!
Tag - Studio Calico's May Kit (Not sure of the brand)

Monday, April 30, 2012

Jen's Sketch Challenge April 2012

Time for another fun sketch by the amazing Jen del Muro! I'm very, very late in playing this month. It's just been one of those months with a lot going on and getting inky has felt like more of an obligation than a relaxing fun activity. I actually went out and bought a bunch of {gasp} Hallmark cards tonight. I got behind on my card making and just didn't want to force the issue. Do you ever feel like that? This is my hobby and I  LOVE it, but when it feels like something that has to be done, rather than something I enjoy then it's time to take a break. And, the break did me some good. Tonight I used Jen's sketch challenge to make some thank you cards. I am always in need of thank you cards because I have some pretty terrific people in my life, so I made two of these to have on hand the next time I need them.

I'm hoping now that my juices are flowing again, I can do some more creating soon. Happy Stamping!




Supplies
Paper - Echo Park
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Stamp - Hero Arts
Brads - Echo Park
Baker's Twine - The Twinery

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Jen's Sketch Challenge March 2012

It's already March, can you believe it? I feel like this year is already flying by. The good thing about that is we are almost out of winter and Spring is almost upon us! We've had a very mild winter this year here in Colorado and this California girl has been loving it! I've been able to do some hiking and outdoor jogs/walks and it's been so wonderful! I can't wait to see buds on the trees and flowers blooming and green grass again. Now that we are back to Daylight Savings time, I was able to workout outside today after work. In March! My body and soul get very happy with outdoor activity. I am obviously getting very excited for warm weather :).

Now...onto the card! Here is the sketch for Jen's SFYTT for March. This month's sponsor is the Craft's Meow. I don't own any stamps from the Craft's Meow but I still wanted to play along with the monthly sketch and have a chance to win the prize at the end of the year.

I used papers from my March Studio Calico Kit. I also had a little fun with paint on this project. On the white panel, I did a bit of water color style stamping. I took some Butterscotch and Lemonade sponge daubers from Ranger and sponged some paint onto my craft mat and then mixed the two with a paint brush. I found that it was drying way too fast, so I sprayed a spritz of Perfect Pearls and ended up with a beautiful color and just the right amount of moisture. I then took a flower stamp from Hero Arts and dipped it into the paint and then stamped it onto the paper. Once dry I spritzed it with some Starburst Spray from Lindy's Stamp Gang. I am really happy with the way it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by!


Supplies
Paper - Crate Paper, Studio Calico
Border Sticker - Crate Paper
Pearls - Michael's
Stamps - Image - Hero Arts, Sentiment - My Mind's Eye
Paint - Ranger Industries
Perfect Pearls - Ranger Industries
Starburst Spray - Lindy's Stamp Gang
Ink - Clearsnap
Flower - Prima Marketing

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

For My Valentine


I have the most wonderful Valentine in the world! We don't go overboard for Valentine's Day. We try to keep romance alive every day and treat each other special all the time, rather than waiting for our anniversary or Valentine's Day.

This year we went out for dinner last Friday night and then went to a movie. Restaurants inflate their prices and have too many pe
ople on Valentine's Day so we celebrated a little early. Tonight the plan was to stay home and I had planned a nice dinner but I've had a terrible headache all day so instead we went and got a quick, casual dinner at Schlotzsky's Deli and then came home and exchanged gifts. I got a bottle of Fierce cologne from Abercrombie for my sweetie and he surprised me with a couple's massage on Saturday. I can't wait!!!

This is the card that I made for him. I used this sketch from the Stamping Bella Blog.


Supplies
Cardstock - Stampin' Up!
Patterned Paper - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Hero Arts
Chipboard - Maya Road
Stickles
Bling - Michael's

Jen's Sketch Challenge February 2012

Sketch challenge time! The fantastic Jen del Muro has created another fabulous sketch for us. This month's sponsor is Your Next Stamp. I don't own any stamps from Your Next Stamp, but I played along anyway. Remember, Jen has a huge prize package at the end of the year and if you participate in the sketch challenge all twelve months of the year, you will be eligible to have a chance to win. Details can be found at Jen's blog.

Unfortunately, I had to make a sympathy card....my dear, dear friend lost her mother rather suddenly and she's in California and I'm in Colorado so I really wanted to make a handmade card to send her, rather than just buying a store bought card.

I used my new February kit from Studio Calico to make this card. I am new to the kit (just signed up in January) and I love it already! Last month I made a layout with the kit and this month I've made this one card so far. The kit is very versatile and I'm forced to use some products I might not have purchased otherwise. It's been great to stretch myself creatively by having someone else put together a kit for me.

All products used in this card are from the kit unless otherwise specified.


Supplies
Stamp - Hero Harts
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Buttons - Basic Grey, Unknown
Scrappers Floss - Karen Foster
Glimmer Mist - Tattered Angels

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