In My Studio with Emma Wood

Hi everyone!

Emma here to share a walk-through of my new office (studio) space.  Warning! This post is really photo heavy!  I thought you would all prefer to see the photo's than read alot of my babbling :)

We recently renovated our house (started October’ish last year, finished February of this) and I was incredibly fortunate to be able to get my own room to scrap in! Before I start with the photo’s I should preface this by saying that Ikea features a bit…. I have a serious love for that store ;)

Below is what you’ll see when standing in the hallway looking into my room.

  

 To the left of the room is my computer desk and the Expedit unit that stores a little of this and that. 

The shelves of the Expedit unit hold my papers, letterpress, inks, paints, Big Shot, my 12x12 albums (which are mostly Project Life, but I actually scrapped 12x12 when I first started out), baskets full of washi/alphas/punches/stamps/scrap paper, etc.

The wire baskets above are from Kmart I think and those white tubs are…IKEA!

My computer desk has my computer (duh!) and Cameo. The small wire basket in the middle holds all my Project Life “stuff”. It’s full of all those bits and pieces you accumulate to put into Project Life. Currently that basket is…full. I REALLY need to go through it all and figure out what I’m keeping and what I’m not. I’ve taken a more relaxed approach to Project Life this year, instead of going week by week I’m filling in pages whenever the mood strikes and I may be taking the relaxed style a little too literal..

The yellow bird on the table is one of Zack's easter eggs that he gave to me because the Easter Bunny didn't leave me any.  Sometimes he is a real sweetie.  Sometimes :)

In the centre of my room is where I do all my actual crafting. I’ve set the table heights for both desks so I can stand or sit and I switch between the two often. Having the table in the middle is also really handy when friends come over; we just put a chair on the other side and they are set to scrap with me!

On my desk you’ll find an assortment of small bowls, most of them are actually little ramakin bowls from the kitchen department. I’m very much a visual scrapper (if I can’t see it then I won’t use it and I have a horrible memory for remembering what I do have) so I love these bowls; not too big and I can easily see all those little bits and pieces!

I keep all my tools in this wire basket. I have no idea where I got it from but I do know the only reason I brought it was because it’s in the shape of a heart, ha! 

On the window sill next to me I have more containers/baskets/bowls with random things like labels, photo’s, PL cards (that need to be filed away), Neocolours and random die-cuts.

Under both desks I have as set of Ikea Alex drawers that store more of my “stuff”. I’ve shared this before but each month I put the kits onto these serving trays (yes, from Ikea..). When I’m working on a layout using a kit they are easy to take out of the drawers and leave on the desk. And when I’m done at the end of the night, I just put everything back on the tray and file it away.

The Alex drawers can hold so much and the drawers are the perfect height; not too high that you have to pile things and then can’t see what’s on the bottom! Couple examples below:

Older smaller embellishments I put into these storage cases, they’re actually designed to be used for screws and whatnot (got them from the hardware section) but I find them perfect for storing die-cuts/veneers/veneers/etc. They keep everything together and when I want to rifle through them, I just take the container out and put it on the desk, then close it up and put it away when I’m done!

In front of my work desk I have an old kitchen hutch that we spray-painted white (it was a lovely orangey pine colour before…) and to the right of that is my loved sewing machine. After the computer, it’s my next absolute can’t-live-without-it tool to create pages :)

The hutch is also another favourite of mine and it holds A LOT of random things! I keep all my 6x8 albums here at the moment, plus more baskets full of goodies.

And that’s it for now. If you made it all the way to the end of this post, then you deserve a high five - this ended up alot longer than I expected ;)

Thanks so much for visiting with me and if you have any questions, please post here and I’ll do my best to get back to you straight away!

Welcoming our Guest Designer Charissa Miller

Hi Everyone! I am Charissa Miller. I live in Arizona with my husband of 5 years and our two little princesses, who are 3 and 1. I stay at home and homeschool the girls, which is such a joy. I try to squeeze in some crafting time every day during naps – I currently even have the girls napping at the same time, which is nothing short of amazing. In my non-crafting downtime, I enjoy watching lots of sports, baking up delicious treats to give to someone else to enjoy, or browsing the web for inspiration. I currently design for Kiwi Lane Designs and am a member of the Craft Warehouse Project Life Design Team and Practical Scrappers.

About my Studio: We recently moved out of the Pacitic Northwest to the sunny, and hot!, Arizona desert and in that move we are currently staying in my parents’ house. As such my studio is a shared space with my mom, my husband, and my older daughter all having work areas in the room. My area centers around this corner desk with the custom built shelf my dad built and my Expedit shelf from Ikea. I also have two awesomely teal carts from Ikea that hold a lot of my mixed media supplies, stamping supplies, and stamps. Most of my on desk storage is in the form of bowls and containers from Anthropologie. I am addicted to the colors and they come in such perfect sizes for holding smaller and bigger embellishments. I’m so hooked that my Mother’s Day gift from my husband and kids included several more bowls to add to my collection! Blog: www.akihasmommascraps.com



1. How long have you been scrapbooking and why did you start? I’ve always had an obsession with paper products. Remember Lisa Frank? Yeah, I was absolutely hooked on pens, paper, glues, etc as a little girl. I really started scrapbooking in 2003 when my mom started selling scrapbook supplies and I became her number one customer! It was hard to keep up with scrapbooking consistently through graduate school, so it really was an on again off again hobby until my oldest was born in 2009 when I started scrapbooking on a very regular basis.

2. How would you describe your scrapbooking style? My scrapbooking style is layered for sure. I love tucking just “one more thing” into a pile of paper, photos, and mixed media elements. That said sometimes an ideas comes to me or I see something that simple inspires me in a more graphic or clean way. I like not holding myself to just one single style for all of my pages.

3. What scrapbookers have influenced you most? After my littlest was born in 2012, I found myself browsing online crafting videos a lot during her early months. I discovered Shimelle Laine, Paige Evans, Allison Waken, and many others through online galleries, design teams, and videos. Every single one has helped me grow as a scrapper and develop my own unique style.

4. What is your favorite thing about kit clubs? Kit clubs challenge me to work with product that I may not be immediately drawn to if I saw it in a store. I have discovered many new products that I would never have thought to try – enamel dots for one – from kit clubs. I also really enjoy seeing how others mix products together. It often challenges my own perceived notions about what does or does not go together.

5. If you departed on a long family vacation this summer, what are your 5 favorite scrapbooking items you would bring with you (besides your camera and photos!)? Definitely a pile of white cardstock and patterned paper, my Vintage Photo Distress Ink, my tiny attacher, my Silhouette Cameo, and a stack of enamel dots or similar small sticky dots. Those are items you find on just about everything I make, so I’d be well set.

6. How would you describe the Citrus Twist June kit and what do you enjoy most about the kit? The July kit is vintage summer all wrapped up in paper and twine. I loved working with the mix of soft and bright colors and the variety of patterns. Thank you so much for having me this month. I had a fantastic time working with this wonderful kit!

Make sure to give Charissa a big Citrus Twist welcome and also every comment will be entered to win one of Charissa favorite things!!