My Workspace

My Craftroom is my special space.

When I first started crafting it was on the kitchen table and I had to pack everything away each time we wanted to use the table. When we moved into our current house we set up a general workroom which was a family space with bookshelves, desks, computers and a playstation. As both myself and my husband were teachers we needed a space for marking and lesson preparations. So my desk had to be an adaptable place. But as my crafty supplies grew, so did my storage area. Then, when our youngest child moved out I was able to move into his old room and set it up as my space. Now I am retired, I am able to totally devote this to my crafts. I have a view out onto our back garden and I can watch the squirrels run across the garage roof and the birds at the feeder. There is often a dog curled up at my feet under the table and there is usually music playing.

I always find it interesting to see how fellow crafters store their supplies to get new ideas. Once a year I like to rearrange everything and have a good tidy up. Over the years I have worked out which things I need close to hand for everyday use.

I found this unit in IKEA several years ago. I keep a lot of my papers and 12x12 card in these drawers. I also have one drawer just for 5mm quilling strips. On the top I keep my trusty paper cutter.

I used to keep all my ribbons in containers until I discovered these grids to hang on the wall. Now I can easily find the colour I want quickly. I find that having them out on display also reminds me to use them.

My dad made these shelves for me many years ago to store our music cassettes. I found them in the loft when we were clearing it out some time ago and repainted them. They are perfect for storing acrylic paints, pots of embossing powders and the inks for stamping.

Blank cards and envelopes ready to use and arranged by size.

Well you really can't have too much card, can you?

I found that these wooden magazine files are perfect for A4 paper and card as you can see the colours and get to them easily.

Without labels I would never find anything!

My favourite colouring pens just about fit into this unit which I can easily lift out to sit on the desk when I need to use lots of them.

Over the years I have collected a lot of stamps. I organise these by theme or brand.

I also keep my metal dies in folders. I found that plastic wallets with 2 or 4 divisions work really well with magnetic sheets to support the dies and prevent them from moving around.

I feel really fortunate to have my own dedicated space for being creative. In future postings I hope to share with you some of the things I have made here.