Welcome to my Little Bit of "Heaven!"

I've been missing.....I am so sorry! December turned out to be a difficult month. As always, there were tons of things going on, but on top of that, my Dad was seriously ill. In fact, we didn't think he'd make it. All my siblings and I rushed down to Florida and spent a week there, arriving home back home, here in New Jersey, just in time for Christmas. It's so scary when the man you've looked up to your whole life is frail and helpless and barely clinging to life. But because of the power of prayers....and the miracle of medicine, he's made it through!

So, I've missed the recent Challenges....I missed wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! AND I've missed YOU! Although I know that I'll need to make frequent trips down to Florida to check in on my folks, and that until we make a few major life decisions for them, life is going to be a bit more hectic than ever.....but, it will be somewhat back to normal here on my homefront.

Sooooo.....hope you had a fabulous holiday season! Sorry, no cards today (I'm a bit rusty!!), but I wanted to share my stamping space with you. You see, as a Christmas gift, my hubby bought me some shelving and installed some racks for my punches. It's just so exciting to have an organized space!!

As you can see, from these photos, my stamping room is not large at all. In fact, I often joke that I share my tiny space with the hot water heater and furnace.....which is the truth, but that seriously cuts into available storage space in an already tiny room! It's so important to utilize every inch wisely! So, hubby bought me 2 shelving units (a 5 high, and the one next to it is 4 high, but 2 wide unit.) He added long handles to the side to accommodate all my punches.....which seriously frees up loads of space! (Second photo to the right shows a better view of this.) Love my punches, but they are difficult to store! Now it's just so fabulous to have them all out in plain site!! Oh, and see above the shelves...the black "bars?" They are actually magnetized, so I've added magnets to the base of many of my Mini Brad, Eyelet, etc. containers! More available space!

Moving around the room, to the right of the shelves is the hot water heater, then the furnace (not shown).....then the 3rd picture shows a filing cabinet with some of my sewing supplies and the counter space that I use for crafting. There are some short shelves installed above for magazines, books, reference material, and a few samples on display.

Further along the counter are my ink pad holders. These are great, and were purchased a few years ago. Unfortunately, the company that sold them is now gone, but each case stores one family of ink pads, matching markers, reinkers, sponges, and daubers. All in one place! Above them are more shelves with some fabric cube bins from Target all labeled with whatever is inside. Below the counter is a 2-drawer file cabinet that houses all my 8.5x11 CS. To the right of the shelves on the next wall is all my ribbon rolls....still to be organized!

Next, and finally, is a metal shelving unit that houses all my stamps. (And you'll also see a partial view of my stamping buddy, Sadie!) These are inside a doorless closet. The bottom 2 shelves are discontinued, or retired sets that I cannot part with!

Basically, the only new items in the room are the new shelves, the punch racks, and the magnetic bars above for my embellishments. But, I spent much of the past week organizing, purging, and cleaning. (Be sure to check out my retired stamp sale!) Boy, it feels good to have some workable space instead of clutter, clutter, clutter!! Now, I just need to remember where I put everything....AND keep it neat!!

Just in case you are wondering......

The countertop was installed a few years back. It's a stock counter from Lowes.

The new shelving units, punch racks, and magnetic bars were recent purchases from Ikea.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting! Hopefully, I'll have some samples to share with you in the next few days....please stop by again soon.