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Over the past weekend my Mom, Jane, and I overhauled my stamp room. I did not take any before shots, but imagine a room stuffed to the gills with bags, paper, ribbon, stamps, and then imagine this stuff all over the place so that you could barely walk around the room; and you certainly could not find a spot on the table to create anything. So, here are the shots of a clean and wonderful place to create!! Above is a close-up of the darling lamp Jane got me for my birthday! We found it at one of our fave antique shops, Jackson Square in La Grange, IL.
This is a card that is suspended on an ugly photo holder stand. Now it is a vision of cuteness.
Had to take these pics after work tonight, so sorry for the poor lighting.
For my birthday and our anniversary, Mike got me this new desk top and legs from IKEA! The glass table top has the word Love etched into it in many different languages. We picked the legs for the desk because they have more storage room. I like to store stuff in antique glassware. If you look closely below all of the pens, markers, and colored pencils are stored in cool glasses.
I used some old CD cabinets to store some stamps and Jane made some really cute vignettes. See the lovely ballerina above!!! She was found on another antique trip. 
My Mom separated all of my ribbons by season/color. All of the Christmas ribbons are in the gig compote. Fall ribbons are in the blue Pyrex bowl. She wound each ribbon up and they look delightful. She also separated all of the 12" x 12" designer paper for me. I have a lot. She has forbidden me from buying anymore! However, the new Basic Grey Two Scoop line is coming soon and I am afraid I will have to haul a few more sheets of paper into the house.
Jane made this cute little basket of Christmas stamps that I can display and then try to make Christmas cards year round. 
Here is what the glass table top looks like! I also got the paper holder/divider at IKEA for 8 dollars. It is great because I can put my neutral cardstock in there and never have to go hunting for it. As you can see it also holds the ever-needed lip balm quite readily.
Okay, this is a genius idea that I stole from Tim Holtz' blog. Go to Target, spend 5 dollars and get an over the door shoe holder. Now put in your must used supplies and then you have a great storage unit. Thanks Jane!!! (another birthday present!)
More inspiration!
Don't you just love this little Red Lead girl stamp?? I put alot of my Red Lead word stamps in the blue/white china piece seen above. It was cheap because it was missing its lid, but for my purposes it looks like a million bucks!
Thanks again to my Mom and Jane for helping me get this room together! I could not have done it without you guys. I am sure I would have gone in there, become overwhelmed and headed right back out the door. Thanks to Mike for the desk!
Oh, and I forgot to photograph one more cool new addition to the room, so that is for the next post. Hope this inspires you!
All is calm. All is bright.
Son of God. Love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face.
Joy to the World.
He rules the world with truth and grace.
Repeat the sounding joy.
And wonders of his love.
O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie! Above the deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth The everlasting light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
Christmas Eve is my favorite night of the year. Still. Even though now it is completely different from the Christmas Eve's of my childhood. We would always go to my Grandma's house. Big dinner. Lots of family. Lots of presents. Back home to wait for Santa. I took it all for granted. I miss it so. Still, Christmas Eve is my favorite night of the year. It is a magical night. Still. I wrote down all my favorite lines from Christmas carols above. I don't go to church anymore, but still believe, yet with a wider belief in the reverence of all the religions and all believers. There are good people everywhere. Still.
Tonight Mike and I will spend Christmas Eve with my Mom and my brother. We are missing many people, but we will feel their spirits with us. Still. And always.
Merry Christmas to you and your families!
We had a blast today hanging out at Jane's house and stamping and sewing the day away. Our friend Liz was visiting from Florida and we always love to hang out with her. We have a blast just hanging around and stamping.
Ever since we took a class at Red Lead about making ornaments using vintage images, felt, organza, and embellishments we have been mad for them. Here are some snaps of the gals making ornaments. I stuck with making cards today.
Here are my Mom and I at the end of our very productive day. We are standing in front of some of Jane's stamps. She has the most excellent collection of stamps!
Here is a finished ornament made by Liz! As Jane says, "it is so cute, I could cry!"
My Mom made some ornaments for her friends! Lucky gals!!
Next up are the cards......The card above was made by Jane...so cute!
This is the favorite card I have made this year. I sent it to my Mom. The Merry Christmas is a vintage Christmas seal.
I must say that I love this card above. Love that stamp and love it with the blue paper and pink German scrap. It is a stamp by Hampton Arts in case you feel the need to track it down. 
At the beginning of every stamping session I play with vintage photos to "warm up." I have been loving changing all my vintage people into Christmas people!
I especially love using Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol to color their clothes and then add a rub-on. Simple and perfect!
I made a birthday card today for someone who has a Christmas-time birthday. I just love this image from a vintage birthday card!
All in all, it was a fabulous day of hanging out with friends, eating hummus and pita bread, drinking root beer, laughing, crying, telling secrets, making some wonderful art, and just enjoying this time of year with some very special people!
Here is a special tip!!! If you don't know about this already, you have to go visit this website immediately. Tim Holtz (the guru of stamping techniques and products) has a blog! He also is celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas by highlighting new techniques, products, and his beautifully stamped tags every day!
To visit, click on this link - Tim Holtz's blog.
I check in every morning and have so much fun dreaming about how I would spend the day if I didn't have to go to work!!! Let me know what you think!
Also, THANK YOU for all the sweet comments about the cards my Mom and I made! That was so thoughtful of you all!
Over the past weekend my Mom, Jane, and I overhauled my stamp room. I did not take any before shots, but imagine a room stuffed to the gills with bags, paper, ribbon, stamps, and then imagine this stuff all over the place so that you could barely walk around the room; and you certainly could not find a spot on the table to create anything. So, here are the shots of a clean and wonderful place to create!! Above is a close-up of the darling lamp Jane got me for my birthday! We found it at one of our fave antique shops, Jackson Square in La Grange, IL.
This is a card that is suspended on an ugly photo holder stand. Now it is a vision of cuteness.
Had to take these pics after work tonight, so sorry for the poor lighting.
For my birthday and our anniversary, Mike got me this new desk top and legs from IKEA! The glass table top has the word Love etched into it in many different languages. We picked the legs for the desk because they have more storage room. I like to store stuff in antique glassware. If you look closely below all of the pens, markers, and colored pencils are stored in cool glasses.
I used some old CD cabinets to store some stamps and Jane made some really cute vignettes. See the lovely ballerina above!!! She was found on another antique trip. 
My Mom separated all of my ribbons by season/color. All of the Christmas ribbons are in the gig compote. Fall ribbons are in the blue Pyrex bowl. She wound each ribbon up and they look delightful. She also separated all of the 12" x 12" designer paper for me. I have a lot. She has forbidden me from buying anymore! However, the new Basic Grey Two Scoop line is coming soon and I am afraid I will have to haul a few more sheets of paper into the house.
Jane made this cute little basket of Christmas stamps that I can display and then try to make Christmas cards year round. 
Here is what the glass table top looks like! I also got the paper holder/divider at IKEA for 8 dollars. It is great because I can put my neutral cardstock in there and never have to go hunting for it. As you can see it also holds the ever-needed lip balm quite readily.
Okay, this is a genius idea that I stole from Tim Holtz' blog. Go to Target, spend 5 dollars and get an over the door shoe holder. Now put in your must used supplies and then you have a great storage unit. Thanks Jane!!! (another birthday present!)
More inspiration!
