After months of dreaming and planning I have finally moved ahead with the redesign of my Stampin’ Studio.  This is my own creative space in our home (I hold all of my classes in my studio at my husbands business).  You can see pictures of my Class Room Stampin’ Studio here.

Welcome to my new Stampin’ Studio

My Stampin’ Studio is in the basement of our home and is a mere 8′ wide by 11′ deep and I wanted to make the most out of the space and not have it feel like a dark basement.   I painted all of the walls white, ripped up the worn carpet, and tiled the floor in a black and white checker board pattern.  I painted old file cabinets white (I already had these) as well as the shelves on the back wall (my dad built these years ago for me).  Mom and Dad came last week and I helped Dad install all of the beautiful black counter tops.  On a trip to Ikea a year ago I bought the floor shelving and the super handy black storage boxes as well as two sets of drawers on wheels (you can see one of them on the left side).

Come on in and let me give you a tour of my happy place….

As you walk in this is on the right side of the door.  The cubby shelf was purchased at a home improvement store as well as the fabric baskets that hold all kinds of  necessary but not so pretty everyday things.  I love the open shelves as its great for displaying all of my “pretties”.  My computer area has ample space for me to do all of my computer work like placing orders, answering email and doing blog posts.

In the corner you’ll find another cubby storage unit and my Big Shot station.  I’m the kinda girl that likes to have everything I use on a regular basis right out in the open within arms reach but still looking neat and organized.  My Big Shot fits on the shelf along with some Stamp-n-Storage pieces.  I have the Small Embossing Folder Tote and a Medium Wafer Die Tote to hold all of the Thinlits and Framelits on the Magnetic Cards which I have labeled.  I store all of my current stamp sets (I sell all of the retired ones) on the open shelves on the back wall.  Check out the adorable Berry Baskets on the bottom shelf.  These are ceramic and they hold Stampin’ Dimensionals, Candy Dots, Pearls, Rhinestones, Doilies and other fun accessories.

The third counter top in my room is about 4″ higher than the other two as I like to sit a little taller when I stamp or I can easily stand and make that work as well.  I have all of my ribbons on a shelf which my brother-in-law Tony made for me about a year ago (I painted it white to match everything else).  I store all of my Embossing Powders and Glitters in a Keurig Holder.

The file cabinet to the left of my chair is where I store all of my 8 1/2″ x 11″ card stock.  Over the years I’ve tried many different storage options for the card stock and this works best for me because I have a separate file for each color.  I store full sheets in the back of the file folder and smaller pieces in the front.  That way if I need just a small piece of a particular color, I can find it file folder of that color.  It works like a charm for me.

 At our Stampin’ Sisters Retreat last month I received a Visa Gift Card from five special women.  I knew I wanted to use it for something special in my studio and I spotted this framed art piece in a craft store last week and knew it was perfect.  Thank you Katie, Gail, Tammy, Clare and Rorie.

This is truly the “Creative Zone” of my room.  I can’t tell you how absolutely thrilled I am to have these awesome Stamp-n-Storage pieces (which I spray painted white).  The are so compact and stream line, and I love the fact that they are modular so I can line them or stack them in any configurations I need.  From left to right I’ve got two of the 12″x 12″ Paper Storage Holders.  I use these for my 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Papers.  I plan to purchase another of the Medium Wafer Die Tote to store my 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper Stacks in.  The paper stacks fit perfectly inside it and will sit just to the left of the 12″ x 12″ Paper Holders.  Next I have the Large Lock-Down Punch Holder which fits all of my punches with room to spare.  Beneath the Punch Holder is my Combo Holder which holds 60 Ink Pads, Markers & Ink Refills.  Once again I get rid of anything that’s retired so with 48 current Stampin’ Up! colors I also have room to hold my Memento Inks, Stazon Inks, and VersaMark Inks as well as the refills.  I bet you’re wondering what the “white washed wood” area between the paper holders and the combo holder is for.  This is where I take the photos of all of my cards to post on my blog.  The “white washed wood” is actually paper from the Farmers Market Designer Series Paper Stack which I attached to some of the sturdy cardboard that comes in the packages of designer paper.  I picked up the wooden letters from a craft store and painted them to match the rooms decor’ and attached them to the wall with adhesive strips.

This corner of my studio is a special spot where you can see my Founders Circle Quilt.  At Stampin’ Up!’s Founder’s Circle Retreat this past September, I met fellow demonstrator Angie Juda who not only is a fantastic stamper but also a quilting fanatic.  She brought her sewing machine along to retreat and made a number of quilts while she was there.  I went to a couple quilt stores with her and a few other demonstrators and I decided I would make my self a quilt as a memory of Founder’s Circle.  I had been to Founder’s Circle before, but this one was extra special for a couple of reasons.  First of all this was the very last Founder’s Circle (Stampin’ Up! has discontinued the trip) and secondly and most importantly, my very first recruit who happens to be my sister (yes, my real life sister)  Peggy also earned the Founder’s Circle Retreat because she too was in the top 100 demonstrators in the US.  It was super special because we got to share this experience together.  So this spot in my Stampin’ Studio is dedicated to my sister and best friend Peggy Murwin.  The set of rolling drawers slides right out and my computer chair will slide in for a spot for her to stamp and create right next to me (like when we work on projects for our Stampin’ Sisters retreat).  It will also work great for other stampin’ visitors.

       In the last view of my studio you see the first corner of the room by the door.  On top of the shelf front and center is a picture of my family: my husband Dave, our son Michael and our daughter Nicole.  I have been blessed with many things in my life, good health, great job, warm home, wonderful friends, but most of all my family who have supported me and cheered me on in all of my dreams.  Dave says my studio is the nicest room in the house and he’s afraid he may never see me again!   I love my new studio and couldn’t be happier.

I’d love for you to leave a comment about what you think about my new Stampin Studio.