{Serenity}

Was browsing through some of my photos this week and came across this one that I took back in August on a mini family vacation.

Enjoy your weekend!

Pin It

{Reorganization is a Slow Process}

Just wanted to give an update on how my total re-organization is going……sloooooowly.  I did an initial run through of our home office and decided that I had it fairly organized. There are a few areas that needed a little work and I needed some pretties to keep it looking so cluttered.

Here are some before pics:

This is looking in from the laundry room. Thankfully, the desk fit perfectly between the doors that go upstairs and out to the garage. My plan is to get some pretty boxes for storage to show through those glass doors.  I also have some canvas baskets that will be going up top that will store some supplies. And last but not least, the desk will be clutter free!

  This bookshelf is the first thing you see when you walk in from the garage. As you can see, the entrance into the laundry room is just to the left. (Before we added our garage, that doorway went to the outside).  The very top of the bookshelf will hold a charging station for our phones, keys & wallets (the ivy will stay). On the first shelf, I will have a prettier basket for the mail (I’m so tired of it landing on the kitchen counter!). The canvas baskets that I mentioned above, are the ones that will be going on top of the desk. In their place, I plan on putting actual books there! Currently, in that green box on the bottom shelf, are our warranties & instructions for all our appliances & gadgets. That and the other box will be replaced with a couple of file boxes that are more pleasing to the eye.

This file cabinet is on the other side of the entrance to the laundry room. I don’t like it’s current set up at all…who left those Christmas decorations out?! Oh yeah, that was me, hehe. Everything atop that cabinet is going! I want to put a lamp in the corner and leave the rest empty if possible. On the wall, I want to make a framed magnetic board like the one in my studio except I will cover it with coordinating material instead of leaving it silver.

To give the office a finished look, I am adding a new rug in front of the door coming in from the garage and will add some sort of window treatment to the windows (I’m thinking valances or cornices).

As for the stuff you can’t see (like the tons of paper inside that filing cabinet) well, I am slowly going through that. It is my LEAST favorite part of the whole process. So overwhelming!

I can’t wait to finish this room, so I can move on to the next!

Pin It

{Scrapbooking for Myself}

This weekend I decided that it was about time I did some actual scrapbooking. I have been thinking for a while that I needed to take a break from making stuff for the shop and do some scrapbooking so I can get a fresh perspective and create more relevant products for my customers.  :)
I purchased some American Crafts mini albums a while back and had intended on using a couple to document my girl’s day out adventures with my niece. As of right now, I have two more pages to complete but I thought I’d show you what I’ve done so far (I’m making each of us an album so I’m having to duplicate the pages).

I had a lot of fun scrapbooking again and can’t wait to find some time to do some more! What did you work on this weekend? Show me, I want to see!
P.S. Have trouble coming up with what to have for dinner each night? Well head on over to the Ditzy Duo blog and read about Louise’s “Fix & Freeze” posts. you can find Part 1, here and Part 2, here.
Pin It

{These Little Owls}

These little Love Owls by Fruit Fly Pie have been calling my name for quite a while now. I really have no where to put them but I just adore them and will probably one day give in to the temptation. Maybe I could find room in my studio……..I wonder if I could get them in red….

Pin It

{File Tabs}

I designed these little file tabs last year to be included in my Cherry-Oh line of embellishments. I think they turned out so cute and would look great on a scrapbook layout or card. I be they would make filing more fun if you used them as actual file tabs! I can customize them in just about any color, theme or wording. This particular set can be purchased here. Also, if you see anything from this line that you like but I don't have it in my shop, shoot me an email or convo me through my Etsy shop and I'll set up a listing just for you!

Don't forget to take advantage of my BitterSweet Sale going on now!

Everything Etsy is having an "I made it!" Blog Party so head on over there and check out all the other lovely handmade finds on Etsy!

Pin It

{A Bittersweet Sale}

For me, this is a year of change. I am trying to SIMPLIFY around here and clearing out my inventory is one of the things I have been thinking about for a while.

What does this mean for A Scrappy Design?

• It means that I will focus on fewer types of products rather than having a huge assortment of things in my shop*.
• It means that the “manufacturing” process for these products will be easier for me.
• It means that quality of product will be better for you.

*I tend to have a bit of ADD so all of the above is going to be a little tough for me so prayers about this would be much appreciated.

In the the last couple of months I’ve lost my only two consignment contracts which has forced me to take a good hard look at what I want to do going forward with the shop. One shop decided to no longer do consignment and the other shop, my local scrapbook store, is closing.  I am extremely sad about the latter and don’t really want to talk about it.  :(

So why bittersweet you ask? Well, BITTER for me because I lost two contracts and am losing my favorite scrapbook store but SWEET for you because I now have more inventory than I know what to do with so…..I’M HAVING A SALE!

*Use the following code:  BITTERSWEET in the message to seller at checkout. I will refund the discount via PayPal when I  process your purchase.

P.S. I would love your feedback. If you could give me some insight as to what your favorite products are currently in or have been sold from my shop I would greatly appreciate it.

Pin It

{Never a Dull Moment}

So, it’s been a pretty crazy weekend and not just because it’s Valentine’s weekend. Yesterday, while hubby was studying and I was working in my studio, my grandma, who lives next door, called me. I answered the phone and all I heard was hysterics. Finally, I was able to make out a few words:  Fire, barn, 911, and your grandpa won’t listen to me. I told her we would be right there and hung up then phone. I then proceeded to run up and down the hall looking for and yelling at my hubby that there was a fire. He was the first one one out the door and once I found some shoes, I followed shortly after.
When we got over there, the south west corner of the barn was engulfed in flames. Complete strangers had stopped and were helping pull stuff out of the building as my grandpa was trying to get his tractor out. As he was backing the tractor out of the building, the fire trucks arrived.
The fire fighters were able to extinguish the fire quickly and were great with my grandpa (did I mention he is 89 years old?). Everyone was a little shaken up but there were no injuries, thank goodness. Unfortunately, with all the chaos, I forgot to grab my camera until after the fire was out and the fire fighters were gone. Here is some of the aftermath:

I’m really hoping we go without drama for a while. I was exhausted after all that.
Hope everyone had a good weekend and a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Pin It

{Etsy Find: Pretty 'n' Preppy}

My sister's birthday was a few weeks ago and I was in search of the perfect gift. She's kind of picky which makes it hard to buy for her but I was determined to find something because I'm tired of giving gift cards.

While browsing on Etsy, I came across this shop. Unlike me, my sister is a water drinker. She always has a bottle of water with her no matter where she goes. So when I saw this shop I knew that this would be a perfect gift for her.

She really liked her watter bottle and received tons of compliments at work (she's a nurse). Mission accomplished!

If you haven't been to this shop yet, you should definitely stop by, you won't be sorry. They have different types of bottles and colors/patterns and the best thing of all, they're eco friendly!

Thanks Pretty 'n' Preppy for your awesome customer service and super speedy shipping!

Pin It

{Wordless Wednesday}

Pin It

{Surviving Winter}

I don’t know about your part of the world but it’s been crazy cold here. We’ve had an unusually cold and wet winter. We are not use to getting this much snow or having our temps this cold. This past weekend was our 2nd winter storm in the last two months and this is how we got through it.

We played.

We took pictures.

We did crafts.

We baked.

We acted silly.

And we made messes.

All in all it was a good long weekend. Today we had to go back to reality, except for all the kiddos. They cancelled school today and now have cancelled school tomorrow. They’re saying that more storms are coming, they’re just not sure how bad they will be.

Hope you all are staying warm & surviving winter!

Pin It