Susan R. Opel
What would a creative editor be without a creative place to craft? We asked our Facebook fans what they wanted to know about what happens behind the scenes of their favorite magazine, and one reader wanted to get a peek into our craft rooms.
If any of you are looking to organize your own spaces in the new year, perhaps you’ll pick up some ideas here or rework them to suit your individual needs.
So let’s take a look at my little slice of paper crafting heaven!
Come on in!
Welcome to my craft room! My sister (Paper Crafts writer, designer, and card maker Beth Opel) and I share our townhome AND our love for paper crafting. Like our mother, we are creative and like our father we are organized, so this room is jammed packed with cute stuff and all in its place. We are total lovers of labels, that’s for sure! In order to get more light in our dimly-lit third bedroom, we even had Brandy Jesperson’s sweet hubby Dave help us install the more wattage and much prettier chandelier. You’ll note that this room serves as a guestroom, too, with the functional futon facing the TV (she prefers football, and I prefer true crime – it’s all about the compromises!).
There's a specific place for everything!
The shelf (from Sauder furniture) in the corner of the room houses a ton of cardstock, patterned paper, punches, special issues, and embellishments. In photo 1 you can see our patterned paper stash – it’s massive! We have a one sheet rule to try to keep it under control, and we also sort our patterned paper by color and type. That’s just how we roll. Photo 2 is our basket of handmade cards sorted by type. When it’s time to send a card, we know right were to go. Pictured in photo 3 is our peg board (on the side of the white shelf unit) filled with an array of embellishments. The hardware store will cut it to the exact size you need free of charge! The divided drawer in photo 4 is filled with all of our punches – circles on the left, squares on the right, and everything else in the middle!
My view from my crafty little seat!
With my back to the white shelf, I can perch in my spot. We have two pub height tables (from IKEA) next to each other and the tool spinner from Making Memories is in the middle so that we can both reach it. Since my sister loves to stand while creating, this is the perfect height for her, and I can rest comfortably on my pub stool. I’ve got all of my go-to tools at hand and an extra lamp to get even more light in my workspace. And there’s almost always a Paper Crafts special issue nearby (like Color Inspiration for Card Makers) for ideas. On the closet doors you can see some of our most recently made cards displayed on memory boards from Hobby Lobby. Above the door it says, “A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” -Coco Chanel
There's nothing like a little bit of posh to inspire (and the Christmas decorations bring the bling, too!).
Speaking of fabulous and classy, our muse Audrey Hepburn looks down on us as we craft, and the wall chandeliers from House of 3 add the perfect touch of elegance.
Angels sometimes sing when I open these doors!
Let’s take a look at what’s behind those closet doors. We did our best to use every square inch of the space provided! The shelf above is for our carefully labeled scrapbooks, on the floor there’s room for totes and bags, and on the left there’s the perfect upright spot for our trimmer and scoring board. The pink fabric drawers contain a dizzying array of adhesives, and the white ceramic containers hold paint. Stamps and ink and rub-ons are all carefully filed away in plastic shoe containers (from the Container Store) and labeled.
Labels are your friend.
A few fun things to note – the ribbon drawer pictured in photo 1 is actually a fabric shoe hanger from IKEA (see also photo 4). The drawers are sold separately, but they made the perfect place to gather up gobs of ribbon. (And by the way, I’ve vowed to NEVER buy any more green ribbon ever.) Each drawer is carefully labeled with the corresponding color. We left some slots open for a variety of larger and lesser used tools. Photo 2 shows three of our 9 alphabet drawers (again organized by color). I think I could spell a thing or two with THAT many alphas. Photos 3 and 5 show my very favorite part! There are 11 drawers (one for each different color represented) filled with what we call “goodies” = brads, bling, embellishments, chipboard, flowers, glitter, stick pins, tulle, crepe paper, wire, beads, and the like. These drawers just might be why I love creating monochromatic cards – everything I need is all in one spot!
So that’s my little crafty haven. It certainly makes me smile whenever I step into the room, and with all of that labeling, clean-up is soooo simple! Hope you’ve enjoyed your visit to my craft room!
Creatively yours,
Susan
P.S. It’s time to announce the three winners from Kerri’s Color Inspiration for Card Makers post!
1. Kendra (Dec. 28, 1:41 p.m.)
2. Jamie Greene (Dec. 28, 7:06 a.m.)
3. Annette Rodriguez (Dec. 28, 7:35 a.m.)
Congrats, winners! You’ve each won a brand new copy of Color Inspiration for Card Makers! Kelly will be contacting you shortly to get your mailing addresses. Thanks to all who left comments!
WOW! I am green w/ envy! 2 artistic gals working in 1 room so successfully, neatly, & creatively! WOW! Gotta be the labels identifying a place for everything and everything in its place! WOW! You rock!
Love it–I’d want to spend a LOT of time in this room!
Must ask for the rest of the quote displayed on the wall, though. “A girl should be two things: classy and fa . . . . ” Ack! Don’t keep me hanging!
Oh I so loved that look at your craft room Susan. As soon as I saw your labelled card storage I got up and organised mine….it was like that years ago but I had got “slack” so now it’s all labelled again and looking wonderful. Cheers!….oh and Happy New Year.
Gorgeous room – thanks for sharing it with us!!
Wow! I love your space. I wish I could stay that organized. Thanks for giving us the tour.
Gorgeous. Wish I was organized last that. TFS.
Janet
Wow – what a great space! Thanks for sharing and for all the inspiration.
Fabulous space for your creativity~ What fun to have your sister share it with you. My craft room is a bedroom we converted to a computer room for my DH a couple of years ago, but I am slowly taking over the entire room with my crafts
WOW!! I am in love with this crafty space!! I am hoping to get more organised after the move this summer..
Wow! I’m so happy someone asked you to share your space! We are planning to build a new house next year and I am socking these photos away for future inspiration. I LOVE the wall chandeliers and that quote by Coco Chanel suits the space perfectly. Love the idea of two bar height tables pushed together too! I was thinking of installing a permanent island, but this would save a ton of money and make the space more versatile. Thanks for taking the time to share everything so thoroughly.
Loved the look of your craft room and you are so lucky to have your sis to craft with! It’s more fun to craft with someone–and your room is lovely!
Wow, thank you for the crafty space visit! I love seeing how everyone else organizes, since I still can’t quite get that part under control. A very warm and welcoming space you have.
LOVE your room! I am going to be stealing a couple ideas from there.
Your “muse” made me want to scream! LOVE Audrey. I got a clock in Vegas with her in Breakfast at Tiffany’s on the face. I’ve been looking for prints with her to hang around my crafty space also.
Oh I hate you. No one should be that organized. I have all the stuff but just can’t find it for all the piles and piles of stuff. Drives me crazy.
Great job on facilitating a place to work. You did a great job on the article too. One day………………
Absolutely amazing! I LOVE Audrey Hepburn and the wall chandeliers!
Amazing space!! Love how organized it is- and how beautiful!!!
Wow – what a gorgeous craft space!!!! Thanks for sharing all the pics, and love the Audrey Hepburn touches
Oh. My. Goodness. If I had this room, I would never want to leave home! WOW! I think I need Beth & Susan to high-jack my craft room! I wish we had an Ikea or Container Store here in no-where-land!
Love your space, Susan! You have so much stuff organized in such a perfect way! You’re making me think maybe I can be more efficient! Thanks!
would you want to volunteer to do up my craft room??? I could so use the organizational skills of you gals!!! I love it!
Congrats winners! I love the scrap space! It would be great fun so share a hour or 2 with you there! Thanks for sharing.
I am in love with your room. My room has many organizational drawers, etc. But, at heart I am messy…e.g. very hard to work or walk in there! I really think I need to re-org using your methods. I would like to ask a few questions if you don’t mind. Can you tell me what your “1 sheet” for paper means? Do you only sort printed paper by color? What do you do with sets of matching papers? Any cardstock rules? I have sooo much. I cannot wait to see what happens! My creativity has gone by the wayside. I know this will help! Thanks for sharing with us!
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Thanks for the inspiration – I’m off to label my system.
Gaylene