More About Me Through The View From My Craft Room

Hello my friends! I hope that you all have had a wonderful holiday! My family and I had a great holiday and I just feel so blessed to be surrounded by so much love.

Now that I have completed some holiday projects, I was able to somewhat clean my craft room. I always love to see views of other's craft rooms, not only for ideas but because you can learn so much about a person. So here is a little more about me and hopefully it will inspire you with some ideas of your own to make your space more inviting and a zone of creative comfort.

I don't know why I have become so obsessed with the Eiffel Tower. When I was in Paris years ago, I had been living in the UK for a few months and teaching at a school in Wales. My father met me and we did some traveling. However, I didn't appreciate that time enough. I was ready to be back in the states and had my fill of foreign lands, although I can't wait to go back.

My daughter's will say, "Mommy, look, the Eiffel Tower, the Eiffel Tower". I think it is so cute and thoughtful because they know I am crazy for it. My oldest drew the above picture one day and I just thought it was the greatest thing ever. I am going to frame it and hang it in my room.

The large ET candle holder is a gift to me from me. I love those kind! The tag is one that I made and love with a vintage skeleton key hanging from it. I have a magnet of the ET on an old cow bell to keep it safe from little hands.
This is my collection of ET mounted rubber stamps. I have others that are unmounted, and I just love to find unique images. The black one on the right is actually an old printers block. Maybe one day I will figure out how to use it.

The sign above with the word "Paris" on it is one that I made myself. I found an old falling down shed next to an old farm house and the owner let me take as much wood as I wanted. I also took the door (seen in a previous blog) some window panes, and an old table.

The wonderful site of German glass glitter and mica flakes, from my good friend at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5195641 Wanderlust & Pixie Dust. I found these great old containers just to put it in. Now, I haven't used it yet. I just love to look at it so much. I do have some chip board birds and other things that I want to use some of it on though. I have become addicted to the stuff.

There is also a cookie jar filled with vintage ribbons as well as some new. I also have my goodies from Abbie at http://damseldesigns.blogspot.com/ inside. Soon, I will take it apart and separate it out some, but for now, I like leaving it the way she made it, looks so perfect. I can't wait till she starts listing things in her Etsy shop again!

A cool ET card holder, one tag that I made as well as a card that I purchased.

I was recently given this sign that belonged to my G-ma Betty. It is very simple, and I know she would think it was silly of me to place it here (I could just hear her in my head saying, "Now why on earth would you want to hang that up?) But I just love it. I love her handwriting and I have always loved the little pictures she has drawn. It just fits here in my craft room. To the left are some vintage buttons on cards, and on the right is my father's childhood Easter basket filled with very old matchbook covers that have been collected by many members of my family.

I have rearranged my "favorite things". I just spread all sorts of goodies out in the floor yesterday and arranged them just so.

Old watch parts and bingo tiles....

Small Eiffel Towers, watch parts, and mother of pearl buttons...

My "R" from Abbie, along with more watch bits and vintage tickets from Small Treasures
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5100863

I had my black cat Poo Bear for about 14 years. I was devastated when he passed away. The big fluffy cat gave me a little comfort, and then I found some vintage ones that I really liked. Only takes a few to have a collection. I now have four cats, two of which are black. And by the way, they are NOT bad luck!

More of my treasures, an old hat box, my mom's old sailor bank, G-ma and G-pa's mouse, some vintage bottles and more little things that I just love to look at.

I love old jars and have collected a few over the years. These are gathered together behind my desk and hold old buttons, tags, keys, watch parts, and more.

Oh, and Carolyn, yes, that is a copy of the picture that I made for your the other day. It is me sitting on my British Robin friend ready for a ride. I just had to print that up to save.

Well, what can I say. Stamping is my therapy. I love rubber stamps! There is a scrapbook store in town that has a huge "garage sale" twice a year. People being their old items they don't want anymore and you can get them dirt cheap. Luck for me I am tall and can reach to get what I want. It is a total mad house, stuffed with crazy women wanting a deal. You can't even move!

I have been gathering stamps for over a decade now. What you don't see are my shelves of Stampin' Up stamps. Now that is crazy!

My stamps are lined up on an old school cubby. This past summer, a school down the road built a new elementary school that I luckily have friends that work there. Well, they threw out a lot of stuff, including these awesome cubbies, the crafters dream. My wonderful husband gathered so many of these for us. I have several in my craft room, as well as the girl's play room and an entire wall unit in our den. I hung a string underneath to clip up some of my favorite images.

I also like vintage wood boxes and drawers. These hold my unmounted stamps as well as my many tags for my designs. Again, those cubbies are fantastic!

So, I hope that you enjoyed your journey through my craft room. I hope that it inspired you and gave you a few ideas. By the way, I have only had this space for a few months now. I went from crafting in our formal dining room, to the kitchen, to the family room, and then ended up in an old bedroom that isn't used anymore. I love having this space and I am grateful that my husband supports it, my quirky ways, my collections, my blog, my Etsy store, and all of my weird little ways. I am very blessed!