A Grungy Book and Ribbons Tamed

Over at ATT, there’s a swap going on (that of course I had to join), where an experienced user of all things Tim (that would be me) is paired up with a newbie.  I’m to create something using my Tim stuff for my partner, and she will do the same for me.  I wanted to use a lot of techniques but also make something that could be done even more simply, should my partner want to give it a try.
So, I decided on a little notebook.
                                                   
The covers are made of grungeboard, which was inked with wild honey distress ink, embossed with a cuttlebug folder, and reinked with forest moss distress ink to highlight the embossing.  On the side near the coils, two of Tim’s on the edge border dies.  The brown one was inked with walnut stain distress ink and embossed with the same color of distress embossing powder.  The green border was inked with peeled paint distress ink, over stamped with a flourish then embossed with clear embossing powder.
The little bird is from Tim’s caged bird die, and it was inked and embossed, though I can’t remember what color I used.  I added some peeled paint stickles to its wings.  His crown of feathers is a piece of foliage idealogy that I cut up and rearranged, and attached with a brad (which cleverly forms the eye).
The charm hanging off the book is one of Tim’s, and I inked it and embossed it with peeled paint.
Inside the book are pages cut from Tim’s retro grunge paper stack:

And the back cover:

I’ve been working on a project to bring some order to my ribbon collection.  They were all on their original rolls, took up a lot of space, and were also scattered all over the studio.  They are going from this:

to this:

I’m making my own little bobbins from cardboard from cereal boxes, tissue boxes, even some random playing cards.  I’m not finished, but I’m getting there.  Now all my ribbon, fibers and threads fit in one drawer:

By the way, the plastic containers the various color groups are in are also something recycled.  My beloved  biscotti come in them, and I’ve been saving them not knowing what I’d use them for.

Speaking of bobbins, many of my ribbons had this plastic at the core.  It is two parts that snap together.  I saved them because they look like something I can use, but I have no idea for what.  If any of you have any thoughts on this, please let me know:

Organize Those Stickles!

 

Today I received the stickles organizer I ordered from Sandy, who is in a couple of my yahoo groups.  Her clever husband makes them, and they are well made, reasonably priced, and an organizational treasure!  Check out Sandy's blog for more information and photos.  The pictures above are of mine....it has slots for 52 bottles, and look!  It's almost all filled up already.  There's a new model in the works that I have my eye on.  It's on a lazy susan!  How cool is that?

Creativity and Organization

Is organization the antithesis of creativity, or does an organized space encourage it? I go with the latter. When I know where my stuff is, I can concentrate on what I'm doing. And did I mention that I LOVE IKEA??? Now, it's not all about particle board furniture any more...a recent trip there netted me a huge bag full of organizational tools and the whole lot cost less than 60 bucks. I bought a rail system (designed for the kitchen) and accompanying bins and baskets that is just perfect for storing crafty items -- and getting them off my precious work surface. Check out my newly organized space.