New Blog Direction

Hello!

As previously mentioned my Blog will be changing in the coming months. I hope that the changes will help me provide new content on a frequent basis and keep things interesting by covering a variety of topics.

As some of you may know, this blog was designed to highlight my paper crafting hobby as it relates to my Close To My Heart Independent Consultant Business; however, over time I have discovered a vast variety of crafts and cannot contain my creativity to just one crafty type. Therefore, I have decided to expand the topics discussed on this blog to all things crafty and life related.

The majority of my posts will focus on paper crafting, organization, DIY, home decor, cake decorating, and life in general. I will still have current information related to my CTMH business on the side bar but my intent is to increase my postings to include more project related topics. As always, for information on current CTMH promotions, you can visit http://www.abitofitallforcraftin.com/. I will, however, post artwork and information related to project classes I hold.

Additionally, starting September 1, 2012, I have decided to designate each day of the week for specific topics/projects.

Monday - "Making It Monday"
Tuesday - "Sketchy Tuesday"
Wednesday - "Well Wishes Wednesday"
Thursday - "This & That Thursday"
Friday - "Sweet Friday"
Saturday - “Squeaky Clean Saturday”
Sunday - OFF (no posting to be expected)

Features of each day:

Make It Monday's will be dedicated to posts related to DIY home projects. I have really become interested in repurposing items to make them fit my liking and I would love to start documenting the transformations.

Sketchy Tuesday's will be dedicated to sharing those creations that interpret the sketches and other inspiration found across the net. 

Well Wishes Wednesday's will be dedicated to card projects. Since I am mostly a card-maker I need to ensure I take the time to share my projects with the world!

This & That Thursday's will be dedicated to whatever I feel like chatting about or sharing with my readers. Everyone needs a chance to say what’s on their mind.

Sweet Friday's will be dedicated to posts related to my cake decorating and other yummy creations. I have recently become quite intrigued by cake decorating, candy making, etc. and I'm ready to share it with you!

Squeaky Clean Saturday’s will be dedicated to posts related to organization. I love the feeling of being organized. I also love reading tips and ideas from others for an organized life. With my move, organization will play a huge role in getting me settled. Sharing my organization adventures will keep me on top of staying organized and hopefully offer tips to you for your organization tasks. 

My intent with the designated topics for each day of the week is that I will keep active with my blog and hopefully provide something interesting for all audiences. I also hope to have guest bloggers for some of these segments from time to time.

I know it is not very realistic for me to think I can go from hardly posting to posting on a daily basis in a snap so with the help of some blogging pals I am going to ease into my new idea. I intend to start out with Making It Monday, Well Wishes Wednesday, and Sweet Friday. As I get into a routine of creating new projects to share I will begin posting daily re: the topics mentioned.

Sooooo....what do you think of the idea? Am I crazy to want to post everyday with everything else going on? Wish me luck!

 

Until next time!

Craft Room Inspiration

With the task of creating a new craft room comes the need for inspiration.

WARNING, looking at other people’s craft room can become very addicting and you may find yourself in awe and envy.

Source: houzz.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: craftaholicsanonymous.net via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: craptastickatie.blogspot.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

 

The last photo is a craft table created from Ana White’s Craft Table Building Plans. I’m thinking a light green replica would go well in my craft space!

Until next time!

Kitchen Inspiration

I’m thinking of decorating my new kitchen space with the color RED.

Since I can’t paint I will be using the accessories to brighten up the space.

Some inspiration:

Source: flickr.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: murrayfranklyn.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: vintageindie.typepad.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

 

I already have the following kitchen necessities in RED:

Source: images.marketplaceadvisor.channeladvisor.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: provocraft.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: shopkitchenaid.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

 

Now I just need a few more RED items:

Source: google.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

 

I want to be super organized so I have also been looking at pantry and cupboard organization.

Source: iheartorganizing.blogspot.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

 

I can’t wait to share what I come up with!

Until next time!

Living Room Inspiration

As discussed previously, I want a Shabby Chic look and feel to my new living room and some of my furniture choices may not be the “norm.”

For example: I would like a Storage Bed to use as a couch. Something like this:

Source: wanelo.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

 

Or this:

Source: ikea.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

 

And since I’m leaning more towards the Hemnes Daybed from Ikea, I’m thinking of trying to incorporate Simply Shabby Chic bedding from Target into the mix. I thinking blues…

Source: shabbychicgirls.blogspot.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: target.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

Source: target.com via Cassandra on Pinterest

 

What do you think?

Until next time!

Craft Room Planning: Part II

As mentioned yesterday, in my new place I have decided to use the dining room as the living room and the living room as the craft room.

To help me plan out how this layout could work to meet my needs, I created a miniature version of the floor plan along with furniture pieces that represented items I already had or intend on purchasing. I even laminated it for future use.

Some might think I’m crazy, but I think it’s quite genius. This way, when my awesome friends and family members are helping me move I know exactly where the big pieces of furniture are going so I can get the needed help on the big items and leave the little items to do on my own.

Here’s a quick shot of my planned furniture layout:

Here’s a closer view of the two areas being discussed:

 

Craft Room (formerly the living room):

My plan for the craft room is to use my 4x4 Expedit shelving as a room divider. On the craft side this will be used to store craft goodies. I will use kitchen cabinets and countertops from Ikea as workspace along the wall and against the shelving unit. Having my Jetmax cubes stacked 4 high and 5 wide will allow me additional storage. My last major addition will be to build the Ana White Craft Table to use in the center of the room. This will allow space for me and a friend to create together. I am still toying with the idea of adjusting the measurements of the craft table to allow enough space for 4 at once.

Living Room (formerly the dining room):

My plan for the living room is to place my Shabby Chic China Cabinet against the 4x4 Expedit shelving to block off the craft goodies from being seen in the “living room” while keeping the Shabby Chic look that I’m going for in the living room area. My other Expedit shelf (in my current craft room) will be repurposed as a TV console. With a few baskets added this will also server some much needed storage needs. I already have a coffee table (currently brown) that I will be refinishing in some chalk paint to carry on the Shabby Chic look. Lastly, I and hoping to purchase the Hemnes Daybed from Ikea in white to use as a couch. With its beadboard look it will fit right in with my living room decor. I will use the trundle area as additional storage space.

It looks a little odd now with all of the miniatures (i.e. the countertops look like huge cabinets in my sample), but I think the layout will work great for my crafting needs.

Of course it isn’t as fun to look at with little pieces of laminated graph paper but once everything is in it’s place and the rooms are properly decorated, I’m hoping it will be just as I have imagined.

Check back in early June for the before and after pictures.

Until next time!

Craft Room Planning: Part I

As mentioned yesterday, I intend on having a comfortably craft space in my place. Although it will not be the exact setup as my current space, I intend on making it as comfortable as possible. Now that I have a better idea of what works and what doesn’t for my crafty space, I can plan better from the start.

Let’s take a look at my current craft space:

Although I have made some changes since December 2010 (added a table in the center and more counter space by the window), for the most part, the layout is the same.

Now lets take a look at the new space I have to work with (since the bedrooms are on the 3rd floor, I only have the 2nd floor to plan out a craft space).

 

Moving to the new place required some thought and planning for setting up a craft space since there are only enough bedrooms for my daughter and I.

Since the kitchen has an island large enough for two chairs, I will use that as for enjoying meals with my daughter. With that adjustment, I can rethink the space that was meant to be a dining area.

I decided that the dining room could be used as the living room. This would then leave the living room to be used as a craft room. So I came up with this switch-a-roo to accommodate a craft space.

Since there are no walls used to define where the dining room stops and the living room begins, I am able to determine my own room lengths.

Check back tomorrow to see how I’ve planned out this space.

Until next time!

The Excitement of Moving

I have lived in my current residence for just over 8 years and although I have made some changes to my home to make it more “me.” I was very undecided as to what “me” really was.

I have spent some time, too much time to willingly admit, scouring the Web for various decor styles to see what really spoke to me. Now that I have a better sense of who I am decor wise, it’s time to get down to business.

The joy of moving is that I get to start decorating and organizing from scratch! Although I am moving into a rental, there are tons of creative ways I can make the place mine without breaking any of the landlord’s rules. The not so joyous part of moving, packing!

I haven’t even started packing, GASP!, I know. I have a plan this weekend that includes purging everything that does not need to move with me. I am really going to have to ask myself whether I need item “x” or not. I do not want to waste efforts packing items that I do not intend to use and the more items I have to sell, the more potential I have for making money for new goodies! And of course my list of new goodies is already a mile long.

To give you an idea of what I have to work with, here’s a shot of the layout for the townhouse my daughter and I are moving to:

I know, three stories! I’m crazy, but hey it will get me off my butt and I love that I still get my own private 2 car garage (1 spot for my car and 1 spot for my power tools).

As many of you know I LOVE having my own craft space and although this layout doesn’t seem to have that, I’m going to make sure my love for crafting is given an appropriate place to flourish.

Check back tomorrow to see how I’m going to incorporate a craft room/space into my new place.

Until next time!

The BIG Move & Blog News

It’s official! My daughter and I are moving on May 31, 2012. We will be relocating from Surprise, AZ to Peoria, AZ (a whopping 20 minutes away from our current location). Although I love the area of Surprise, moving to the Arrowhead area is the right move for my family at this time.

It will definitely be an adjustment going from owning a 4 bedroom single-family one-story house to renting a 2 bedroom three-story townhouse (that is only 300 sq. ft. smaller than my house) but I’m excited for the changes and new challenges.

I realize that I have been pretty absent from my blog (bad blogger!) for quite some time but I plan on changing all of that after getting moved. You may have noticed some recent changes to my blog header and although this blog started as a way to highlight my love for paper crafting, I have enjoyed dabbling in DIY projects and other hobbies and plan to highlight those areas a lot more after moving.

The direction of my blog will be adjusting in the upcoming months. I hope to continue highlighting paper crafting projects while enhancing the content to include more DIY, Home Decor, Cake Decorating, and Life related posts. I’ll post more on my Blog Vision/Direction in the near future.

I hope you will join me in my upcoming journey and I welcome any suggestions or comments.

Until next time!

May SOTM: Friendship Bouquet

This month enjoy the May Stamp of the Month, “Friendship Bouquet,” for $5 when you place a qualifying Close To My Heart product order.

 

This promotions runs May 1, 2012 – May 31, 2012. Be sure to get yours before it’s gone!

Click here to shop online NOW!

Until next time!