Budget Friendly Copic Storage

Spring blindsided me a bit this year. Today was my first tri of the season and lets just say I was much happier with my results last year.  There have been too many things going on at home and at work so I've been slacking on my training and slacking on my posts. If you're reading this though, chances are you're more interested in Copic storage than a race report so I'll get to the point of this post - my new budget friendly Copic storage.

A few months ago I started looking at various options to store my growing collection of Copics markers. There are some pre-made options on the market, but most that fit in with the rest of the things in my space either didn't have the right dimensions or were more than I was willing to spend. I also saw some neat tutorials for cubbies made out of foam board, but I wanted something that could handle more weight if I wanted to store things on top. I was able able to alter store bought bins and the 'semi custom' project ended up under $25 total.

Close up:

What you need:

• Craftologie Rectangle Storage bins.I  got mine from Joann's website. They're priced $12.99, but you can get them with the coupon or on sale for under $7 each. I couldn't find the dimensions anywhere so if you're interested, the external dimensions of each bin are 5.5"W x 5.75"D x 11.125"T. The internal dimensions are about 4.75"W x 4.875"D x 10.5"T.  

• Particle board or foam board or acrylic that you can cut into 4 3/4" strips.I used 1/4" particle board from hardware store that was leftover from another home project. I cut the pieces with a saw and then pained them to match but if you use foam board  you can cut them with a knife.

• Thumb tacks
• Small hammer
• Small ruler or tape measure
• Bolt cutters

Directions:
I apologize for the lack of pictures here. The ones I took as I was working on the project turned out blurry. If something doesn't make sense, feel free to leave a comment on the post.

1. Cut and paint the particle board if you haven't already. You will need 2 pieces for each box to make 3 cubbies, but if you want smaller compartments you can divide each bin into 4 compartments. My pieces were ~4 3/4" to fit inside but measure each box because I found that there were slight variations in size.

2. Measure off and mark where you want the front of your first shelf to be. For my cubbies, I measured off 1/3 of the height and marked it on each side inside the shelf. I then measured off 1/4 - 1/2" below the front measurement and made the marks in the back of the box. This is to tilt the shelves down a bit so the markers don't fall out when you pull one out. You can see what tilt works better for you, just use the same offset for the rest of the project.

3. Measure the length of the pin part of the thumb tack you're using. If its longer than 2/3 of the side wall of the box, you'll need to use bolt cutters to cut off part of the tip so when you insert the pin, it doesn't pierce through to the outside of the box. You'll need 4 pins for each shelf and maybe some extras in case a few break. I'm sure other things will work here too so if you find something that doesn't need alternations, let me know.

4. Push or hammer in the pin into each of the marked locations. If the pins are not going in, you can try using one uncut one to make the initial indention and then hammer the shorter one in.

5. After you put in the first 4 pins, put in one of the shelf pieces to make sure it fits and looks as expected. Then finish inserting the rest of the pins and sliding in the shelves on top.

The one thing I still need to do is add small labels to the caps of my Ciao Copics.

If you want to see more pictures of my craft room, you can find them on this post.

~Olga

Quick Post

It's Monday already? I didn't get to play at all this weekend so I sneaked into my craft room for a little bit this evening and made a quick card using MFTWSC113 sketch.

Hope to have more for you later in the week. By the way, for those of you left comments in the past week, thank you so much! I love hearing from you and I always do my best to leave comments in return. I've been a hectic week, but I promise I'm not forgetting about you. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

• Stamps: Inque Boutique Chai Latte, MFT Clearly Sentimental About Coffee 
• Paper: SU Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, SEI Dill Blossom DP
• Ink: SU Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Distress Ink in Old Paper, Copics: R59, R39, R29, W4, W1, E31
• Accessories: Tulip puffy paint, chunky glitter, Spare Parts brads
• Tools: Nestabilities, Cuttlebug embossing folder

~Olgy

Woofin' It Up Birthday

I needed a birthday card for my dad and think this is pretty gender neutral. The inside of the card reads "From all of us" and its singed from me as well as my dogs, aka the "grand kids." The color combo on the card is for the Verve In Love with Color SCS Love Fest Challenge and the banner is for Bellarific Friday on Stampingbella blog. To adhere the banner I attached eyelets to the cardstock, looped the twine through and then glued the sentiment to the twine. 

  

Supplies:

• Stamps: Stampingbella Woofin' It Up, Heidi Grace Birthday 
• Paper: SU Cool Caribbean, More Mustard, GinaK Luxury White, paw prints DP (unknown)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU More Mustard, Copics: W1, W4, E71, E74, E33, E08, YR24,  Y02, C-1, C-3, B000
• Accessories: Seweasy fancy floss, Making Memories eyelets

~Olgy

Wine Run Still Counts

The running season is over and the tri season hasn't started yet so I'm happy stamping. I had to postpone my marathon this year due to an injury and illness earlier in the season so I actually did nothing a good part of the winter. It's still ok to go to an end of the season party, right? I got some hilarious Funny Bones stamps from Riley and this one seemed especially appropriate for a thank you card for my coach.

I used the My Favorite Things sketch MFTWSC112 and made this quick, almost CAS, card. The humorous Riley sentiment is for the Riley Blog challenge. I didn't have a wine related image stamp to go along with it, but the wine bottle die cut worked well.  Here's another view with the envelope.

By the way, does anyone have recommendations on a wine glass stamp? I'm looking for one at least 1.5" or larger to go with all the wine related sentiments I bought. Hmm, if someone saw the number of caffeine and alcohol related stamps I own, they might think I have a problem....

Supplies:

• Stamps: Riley Funny Bones Wine Run, SU Sincere Salutations
• Paper: SU Kraft, Baja Blue, Ginger Blossom DP, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, white; Envelope: We R Memory Keepers Down the Boardwalk
• Ink:Chocolate Chip
• Tools: QuicKutz wine bottle die, MFT Die-Namics border, Scor-Pal

~Olgy

MFT New Cave

I have friends who just bought their first house and I want to send some happy mail to their new address. For this card I used the MFT March guest designer sketch. I really liked the sketch and selecting Basic Grey papers for all the different layers, but I didn't leave myself room for a sentiment. The great part is that the clear stamps are so flexible that I was able to take the sentiment from MFT set and manipulate it into a semi circle to fit around an existing die cut. This is the first time I've tried that and am happy with how it turned out. The sentiment reads "Congrats on your new cave." 

Because the pattern paper was already kind of busy, I didn't add a lot of establishments, just the eyelets at the bottom and covered the hair bone with Glossy Accents. Thanks for taking a look.

Supplies:

• Stamps: MFT (My Favorite Things) Pure Innocence Prehistoric Girl
• Paper: SU True Thyme, Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey Archaic Collection - Primitive, Ancient, Prehistoric, Dino
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, SU Always Artichoke, Sky Blue, Copics: E51, E53, RV42, W1, W4, E35, E37, E47
• Accessories: SU Jumbo eyelets, Glossy Accents
• Tools: MFT Die Namics Jumbo Squiggle

~Olgy

Love Fest on Splitcoast

It's the last day for the Love Fest on Splitcoast celebrating member companies and I had a chance to make a couple of cards. This first Tickled Pink card is for Taylored Expressions challenge to create a mini card. It was fun doing something tiny tiny. Overall the design is really simple but I added a small pearl tiara for the piggy for an extra girly touch. 

The second card is for The Cat's Pajamas inspiration challenge. I loved the black/white/yellow combo and created another CAS card using MFT die cuts and Heidi Grace stamps. 

Tickled Pink Card Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Very Punny
• Paper: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose
• Ink:Regal Rose
• Accessories: Decorative trim ribbon in LT pink from Hobby lobby , 
• Tools:Bigz Top Note die cut, Swiss Dot Cuttlebug embossing folder, 1 3/8 & 1 1/4 circle punches

Make a Wish Card Supplies:

• Stamps: Heidi Grace Birthday stamp set
• Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Yoyo Yellow
• Ink: Basic Black, Yoyo Yellow
• Accessories: rhinestones 
• Tools:MFT DieNamics Prima Donna Petals

~Olgy

Basic Grey Guest Designer Week 2

I've had a lot of fun playing along as a guest designer at Basic Grey Challenge blog this month and this time the theme was wide open with anything goes. I find that having the creative freedom to do ANYTHING can often be a lot harder than having a set bounding box. So many ideas flying around, its harder to get started. Well, I ended up combining the BG challenge with LOVEFEST2013C - Bring on the Bling  for this Girls Night Out card.

I stitched the background papers on my sewing machine. The chipboard swirls are embossed with black EP for a uniform look. The girls are colored with Copics and I wanted to color one of the dresses black until I realized I don't actually own a black Copic so instead my Bella wore a sequin dress improvised with Stickles. I'm pretty sure they had a great night out, but I'm off to get more Copics. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Stampingbella Uptown Girls Victoria and Juliette's Night Out
• Paper: SU Basic Grey, Real Red, Basic Grey Among the Ruins from Scarlet's Letter collection
• Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Real Red, Basic Grey,  Copics: E51, E53, R59, R29, R27, R20, C-1, C-5, Y15, Y21, E33, E35 
• Accessories: Basic Grey chipboard flourishes from Periphery [un]dressed collection, black rhinestonesa, Icicle Stickles, Perfect Pearls
• Tools:Nestabilities, Dienamics flourish, sewing machine

~Olgy

What Vacation?

Ever feel like you need a vacation after a vacation? The house is in a disarray, the chores are waiting, all the work work is piled up... What happened to that peace and relaxation? Despite being exhausted this past week, I'm still glad I managed a short ski getaway this year. New Mexico got some great snow and it was a first time the dogs came with and they were having a blast. Here's a photo from the slopes. Isn't it pretty?

Well, with so much on my plate a quick CAS challenge was a perfect way to knock out a card or two. Both of these are for CFC90 challenge to make a black & white plus one color card. I loved it! My first card is a wedding one, although I could probably use it for a birthday too. I cut off scalloped border from a die cut paper and then cut it into different length strips to make layers on the cake. A few Primas and pearls add a bit of a pop. No stamps on this card... Gasp!

The second card came together in minutes. I used black and white embossed patterned paper as a focal background and added yellow ribbon and embossed sentiment. It looks a bit like a stationary note, but I like it.

Supplies Cake Card:

• Paper: Antique Cream Collection, SU Whisper white
• Accessories: Primas, pearls

Supplies Thank You Card:

• Stamps: SU Sincere Solutations
• Paper: SEI Bissette collection, SU Whisper White
• Ink: Versamark, black EP
• Accessories: SU Ribbon, MFT Die Namics Frame Greetings Die

~Olgy

Technical Difficulties

I actually had a post for you on Thursday, I was saving it as I typed (or so I thought) but couldn't preview it. Without thinking much of it, I decided to close and reopen the page.... As it turned out, it wasn't saving either so I lost the whole thing! I was too frustrated to try and retype it so just fast forwarded to today. 
I'm catching up on some cards after my vacation last week (more on that later) and one of them is a belated non-traditional Valentine card for Riley challenge. My shelves in the craft room are lined with pink right now post Valentines so this challenge was an interesting twist.

I used the Rockstar Riley stamp paired with MFT Lovey-Dovey Sentiments which were perfect together. Instead of the traditional pinks and reds, I used blues and browns. 
Supplies :

• Stamps: Rockstar Riley, Lovey-Dovey Sentiments 
• Paper: SU Whisper White, Basic Grey, Serendipity collection, scraps of brown 
• Ink: SU Buckaroo Blue, Memento Black Tuxedo, Copics: E74, E37, E47, E35, B93, B97
• Accessories: Brads, Basic Grey Urban Couture ribbon

~Olgy

Basic Grey Challenge Guest Designer

I'm super excited to be a designer for Basic Grey challenge blog this month! I love Basic Grey products, especially their paper and I've enjoyed playing along on a few challenges with talented ladies over at Basic Grey Challenges so being a guest designer is an honor. The challenge this week is titled "Your Favourite Challenge"  and the goal is to use favorite stamps, papers, embellishments etc. Here's my card

Fuggy Pudding was my favorite BG paper collection, with Blush being a very close second. All the paper except base cardstock is from Basic Grey including the distressed white piece I stamped the image on. Recently, I've been using a lot of images that I need to color as my focal point and I wanted to do something different here. Turned out to be a little shabby chic, but I like it. Hope you do too.

Supplies  :

• Stamps: Agapanthus cluster by Stampendous
• Paper: SU Baja Blue, Basic Grey Figgy Pudding DP
• Ink: SU Baja Blue, Chocolate chip
• Accessories: Lace, ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware, rhinestone brads

~Olga

Thoughts of Spring

The Bellariffic Tuesday challenge for this week was to create a card with the theme Thoughts of Spring. Well, it's definitely spring here in Austin. Its been getting into 70s during the day for the past few weeks. The trees are budding, my spring flowers are peeking from the ground and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed we won't get a typical February freeze. Spring for me also means the start of the tri season and I'm starting to put together my race schedule. Spring just motivates me to get more done and I'm glad it's early this year!

Here's my spring Bella card. Love the new Uptown Girl collection and that the stamps are cling mounted. I used paper piercing technique on her rain boots and umbrella and the rain boots are slightly stepping out of the main image.  Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies :

• Stamps: Stampingbella Uptown Girl Lolly and Her Brolly
• Paper: SU Certainly Celery, We R Memory Keepers Good Day Sunshine DP
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, Copics: E00, E01, E53, Y15, YR04, E33, E35, E47, G21, YG91, YG41, G02, 
• Accessories: Brads, Making Memories shaped clips, SU ribbons
• Tools: Nestabilites

~Olgy

Cup of Latte Card

It's a second day in a row where all I have for you is a card and not much to talk about. It's just a regular, uneventful Monday. A kind of day where I could use a few more cups of coffee, but I'll have to settle for a Latte card instead.

The card was made using the VLVFeb2013 sketch from SCS. I don't have Verve stamps yet, so I'm using one of my old time favorites from Stampin'Up! It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but I punched the window at the bottom of the card using border punch, but didn't punch it all the way to the edges of the card and added brown and pattern paper borders on the inside that show through. The foam on the latte is done with puffy paint and some brown glitter on the top for chocolate shavings. Thanks for taking a look.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps:Like It a Latte
• Paper:Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, SEI Dill Blossom
• Ink: Always Artichoke, Tulip puffy paint
• Accessories: Brads, SU Chocolate Chip ribbon, Recollecitons Glitter on a Roll
• Tools:MFT Die-namics flourish, circle Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Scallop with 2 Dots punch

~Olgy