Finally all settled in and back to stamping!

Hi there! Ok, so I have to start with a huge apology for being gone for so long and not visiting and commenting on the blogs I follow and love for a long time. I've truly missed my online crafting world and the friends I was getting to know- hopefully we can pick up where we left off :)

So, we're all moved in now, the last box is unpacked- and most importantly my new craft room is up and running, yey!!

You want pics right?! Well of course....

I did the whole project myself and I'm very proud of it :) so I'm going to start right at the beginning lol! Here's the small guest bedroom at the beginning of its transformation. Starting to get colour on the walls...

We decided to keep the guest bed from our old house as it's always good to have that extra bed in case you get more than just a couple of people staying at one time. This meant losing space in my craft room of course, but I came up with the idea of removing the closet doors and using the closet as an alcove for the bed. This way we still had room for an office area at the end of the bed. I painted it a contrasting green to bring another pop of colour to the room.

 I really loved how it turned out, the bed fits perfectly- and just look at this bedding I found on clearance at KMart after I had painted.... doesn't it fit perfectly :) My kitties think having the bed in the room is a good idea too as they can now snuggle up on the bed and keep me company while I craft! ( I have some butterflies from Target to stick up in the alcove but I haven't got round to that yet!!)

As I said, with the bed being in the closet (lol) we had room to put our office area at the end of the bed, freeing up more space on the other wall for my area :) Here's the office set up...

Now onto the good stuff!! My new craft room, YEY!!!!

With my much needed standing height cutting station for my Cricut- hopefully I'll use it more now it is out and easily accessible! I made this by just placing an Ikea table top over the bookshelf and using 2 of the adjustable legs you can get at Ikea at the other end.

 All of the furniture and storage is from Ikea- Love That Store!!

I am so in love with our idea to use the Ikea kitchen storage system to store all my inks above my desk so they are in easy reach. I loooovee my Distress Inks and Alcohol inks and I'm using them even more now they are right there in front of me. I'm a lot tidier too as I can put each one away as I use it rather than having a stack of inks on my desk waiting to be put in a drawer.

I know there is some discussion about whether you can store Distress Inks on their sides, but I have ever since I had them and have no problem with the ink pooling or drying up. If you don't like to store them on their side though, you could just as easily lay them flat in those racks. I have the sponges stuck to the back of each one with velcro, so it's just easier and more stable to store them on their side.

 I had been wanting to figure out a better way to store my clear stamps so I can see them easier and so use them more. I was ready to try to convince hubby that I really needed one of those Clip it Up systems, but then while in Ikea I saw these hooks that go on the kitchen storage rail system...... LOVE!! Also love that they were something like $5 for the pack of 5, much cheaper than that spinny thing and doesn't take up desk space :)

Did you notice the divider insert in the top right shelf of the bottom storage? My cards fit perfectly in the smaller cubbies, all lined up waiting for me!! That bottom storage is an Expedit bookshelf from Ikea on its side so I can use it as counter space too.

While browsing online for craft room inspiration I kept seeing people using these Ikea picture shelves as storage for their wood mounted stamps. So, I can't claim this as my own idea, but I love how it looks :) I also didn't realise how many stamps I already have after 7 months of stamping and so need to buy more picture shelves for future purchases :)

Did I say I love Ikea?! I had so much fun picking everything out to make my room functional for me, and attractive at the same time. I love how cheap it was too, I can't remember exact figures now- but it was well under $500 for the lot! I do have all the names for the pieces, so if anyone wants them just leave a comment and I'll get them to you.

Ok, so you're probably all photo'd out by now so I won't go into the cards I have made recently yet- we'll save that for another post. I'll just leave you with one that I already posted on my Flickr pool but hadn't put up here yet. It's a card I made for our friends' wedding last month. It was my first time using this layered background technique, and I pretty much followed Shari Carroll's video on how to do it.

I really loved how this technique came out, and so used it again for one of the Easter cards I made and donated to our local cat rescue. They sell them on their stall outside our local PetSmart to make money to feed their rescues,  and spay and neuter the local feral kitties :)

Ok, so that was 2 cards! I have plenty more Easter cards that I have made for the cat rescue, but I will save those for another day to give your poor computers a rest from all these pictures!!

I look forward to catching up on what everyone has been doing over the past couple of months.

Love Lynsey