Tuesday, September 25, 2012

TE Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge - September


Hello! Happy Tuesday! Welcome to the September Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge. This is an opportunity for us to share what makes our stamping studios hum. Each month we will have a fun, crafty question so we can share our favorites, some tips and tricks, stamping advice and more.

The question for September is:
What do you keep within arm's reach at your stamp table?  Show us what you have access to without leaving your seat.  What organization methods do you use?  Tell us which ones you love and which ones you'd like to change.

I am fortunate to have my own room for crafting. My stamping studio is a 11' x 11' bedroom in our house. To give you a better idea of the space, here's a view of my stamp table as you walk in the door from the hallway. My main stamping table is a 6' folding table. On one side is my stamping and sewing area and on the other I have a container holding my TE October goodies and some patterned paper pads.


It's taken several years to get my stamping space the way I like it, and I still continue to make changes. My stamping studio doubles as my office, and I can swivel my chair to be facing either my desk (which holds my computer and all-in-one printer, copier, scanner) or stamping table. Above my computer I have 2 shelves the entire length of the wall which holds stamps, dies, etc. I can easily stand up and grab whatever I need. Let's take a closer look at my stamping area.


Directly to the left of my chair I have 2 rolling carts with pull-out drawers. Inside of them I keep a lot of stamping necessities, including acrylic blocks, stamp cleaner and pad, ribbon, twine, thread, lace, etc. On top of the carts is my Silhouette Cameo and behind it is my heat gun, hot glue gun, various liquid adhesives, Xyron, foam tape and my Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad. Directly to the left of my table is another open cabinet which holds my backup supplies (cardstock, etc.). On top are my Copic markers, reinkers, Ott lite and tool caddy. My Copic markers are inside the Copic case (which I can just flip the top on and zip it up if I ever want to take them with me. Underneath the Copic case are my reinkers.


Across from my desk is my sewing machine. I do get up and walk on the other side of the table whenever I sew. When I get involved in a project, I sometimes seem to sit forever, but this way I have to at least get up and walk around the table when I want to sew! The second chair is also a place for Sabrina to sit and play. She often will sit and say "excuse me" and then move my stuff so she has more room on the table for her own things. LOL! Behind the sewing machine I have floor to (almost) ceiling shelving for more supplies. I keep a step stool there so that I can reach the really high shelves. You can see that I keep a lot of my supplies in stackable shoe box drawers. On the upper left shelf you can see where I keep my TE stamps. I use the mini binder box to hold all of my full-sized stamp sets and the petite storage boxes to hold some petite and a la carte stamps.


Back on the other side of the room and directly to the left of my computer and printer is my die-cutting area. The cabinet holds a lot of office supplies and misc. things. On top of it I have a couple of paper trimmers, my Scor-pal, Vagabond, and more stackable drawers which hold my TE dies. Although I do have to stand up and walk over to my die-cutting table, it is not very far from my stamping table.


As I mentioned, I am constantly reorganizing, purging and moving things around to make my space more efficient for me. And just to keep it real, here is a photo of my stamp area while I am in the middle of a project. You can see that I like to bring out whatever supplies that I might use on a project and spread them out in front of me. :) In general, I like to clean up my stamp table before I start on a new project. Once I am finished with a particular project, I like to clean it all up and bring out supplies for my next project. You can also see that I have an overflow area underneath the table. :)

Be sure to visit the rest of the Baker's Dozen to see their take on the Studio Challenge:


Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies from the TE store: