*My Stamping Space*

Good morning all... I'm still home from work, feeling better than I have been in the last several days, but I thought one more day of taking it easy would be better than pushing it today. I plan on being back at work tomorrow, if all goes well.

One of the YahooGroups I belong to (Canadian Cuttlebug Crew) has been active the last few days with members posting about their crafting spaces... so I figured my space was relatively clean so I might as well share some photos of my creative space.

I stamp in our unfinished basement. While it's not pretty (and can be a little cold in the middle of winter), I like that there is a space in the house that is pretty much mine. Company does not come down here unless they are coming to stamp with me. So, for the most part, I can leave my space as untidy as I need to during a project.

I don't like facing a wall when I stamp so I sit with my back facing a wall, with room in front of me for a friend. My chair is the black one in the background... the blue one in the foreground is considered the "good chair" and the reason the Cal-Gals all try to beat each other to my house each month.

I have two tables... my main stamping table was my father-in-laws kitchen table before he got a new one. It is very sturdy and a good size. I also have a folding table that works when I have more than one friend over to stamp but it's not as sturdy. It is usually home to my big Tonic Paper Trimmer and my Scor-Pal.

On the wall behind my chair you'll find a dowel attached to the wall for ribbon storage (spools) as well as a curtain rod to hold some of my punches. My Cuttlebug is on top of the paper storage under the ribbon and my Cuttlebug plates and dies and folders are in the top drawer of the card beside the 'bug.

Just to the right of these two Iris Carts you'll see a purple stand... not sure if you can see it in the photos but it says "Willy Wonka". My Mother in Law found this at a convenience store and they were getting rid of it so she used it for a while to hold pattern books. She was going to get rid of it so Bruce brought it home for me. It now holds all of my Christmas stamps. So nice to be able to leave them out year round rather than packing them back into a bin after I'm done my holiday stamping.

I have a TV and DVD player in my stamp space... it's not at a great angle for me to watch so I do more listening than watching when I am crafting. I'd love to be able to move it but that would require one of us going to the store and buying more cabling and well, that just hasn't happened yet.

Most of my often used tools are within arms reach of me.... there are a few tool caddys near me with markers, pencils, scissors, Xacto knives etc. The drawers behind my chair house a lot of tools like paper trimmers, layering tools etc.

My ink pads are all on the shelf above my chair on my right side. My Stampin' Up! sets are on the book shelf as well as all of my single stamps (which I don't have a lot of right now). I have all of my clear stamps and UM stamps in CD cases which are housed on the shelves as well.

Directly behind my chair you'll find a black crate filing system. I have all of my Stampin' Up colours on hanging files... two colours per folder... this is where my scraps are housed. I found when they were all thrown into a drawer, I never used them. This way a colour is always easy to find. I don't cut into a new piece of cardstock until I know I don't have an appropriate scrap.

So, that's a quick tour of my Creative Mess..... let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer!