Defunkifying My Craft Room…lower cupboards and embellishment drawer

I have another video about my room and my mission to defunkify it.
I should have took some before photos, but you can see the wreck in my video ;)
I had actually worked on this and make my video a few months ago, before summer came along.
But am just posting it now.
Told you I was a procrastinator ;)

These lower cabinets are behind me when I work.
So I figured I should use this area for products that I use a lot.
And my clear and red rubber stamps are what came to mind.
You can check how I organize my clear and red rubber stamps in this link "Defunkifying My Stamps"
What I like about this storage is that they are in containers, I can just pull out the container that I need and bring it to my work space.
As my knees are bad, so I don't like to bend down too much so these are perfect.

In this cabinet, beside the stamp cabinet, I decided to store my adhesive machines, binding machine, and chipboard mini books and such.
This looks like it was easy, but you should have seen the mess before ;)

I wasn't planning on organizing this drawer, but I had so many left over Ferrero Rocher chocolate containers from the cabinet, that I was happy to see that they fit perfectly in this drawer.

Now if you really want to see the before in all its glory, check out my video :)
If you would rather watch it on my YouTube channel, just click the link "Tracy's Treasures24"

I am not sure if everything is going to stay where it is at the moment.
My plan is to get all of my supplies organized "like with like" supplies.
I also want them to be in containers of some sort, like my stamps.
Then if they need to be moved around to work better for me, it will be easy to relocate the containers.
At least that is my plan.

I hope you all have a very Creative Day :)

Tracy :)

Marking my flowers

I have planned to move these lilies for a couple of years now, but when the time comes for me to do it, I have a dilemma.

I bought these in a mixed pack many, many years ago.

I guess the manufactures mixed pack, consisted of orange and yellow.
My two least favourite colours.
Not only that, but when I first planted them, I didn't know which bulb was what colour.

Now how to rectify my problem?
I want to group these colours.
It gives more of an impact to group the colours together.
So first thing I have to do is try to find a way to mark these flowers so I know which colours they are when I transplant them.
Because I can't do this until the fall, the petals will be gone so it will be impossible to figure out which colour is which.
I know many gardeners (which I am not) take a photo of their flower beds for this reason…but this won't work for me….too many of the same flowers mixed up.

Bread clips to the rescue ;)
I have been saving these things for I don't know how long and I have no idea why…a craft project perhaps ;)
But they have come in handy to mark the colours of my lilies.
I use a sharpie marker and mark an O=orange. or Y=yellow…but I guess you figured that out on your own.
Then I put the bread clip/tie to the stem of the flower.
It doesn't harm the flower and even if the leaves fall off, the clip will just slid down to the bottom of the stem…..at least that is my theory.
I will let you know how it goes in the fall ;)

My dad and stepmom, Doreen are in from out of town and came for a bit of a visit this afternoon.
Looking forward to seeing more of them this weekend :)

Hope you all had a Creative Day :)

Tracy :)

Birthday celebration number 2 or is it no.3 ;)

As most of you know, some of my friends and I like to celebrate our birthday's with a dinner out and a movie of our choice.
So tonight was my night to celebrate my birthday from last week.
I decided to go to Montanna's as I was wanting some 3 cheese spinach dip….big mistake.

What could Sharon possibly be laughing at so hard, that she probably peed her pants?

Ummm ya, I wanted to crawl under the table.
Funny as the staff was walking towards us, I was excited to see who's birthday it was and who was going to have to wear the silly horn hat…didn't think for a second it was going to be ME!

But I did get rewarded with a free dessert for my embarrassment.

Then it was show time!
My friends are a bunch of wimps and won't go to any scary movies.
I wanted to see "United We Purge". I had seen the first one and thought it was pretty good.
But nope.
Sharon was willing to give it a try as it was my choice, but Lynne said she would wait for us in the lobby or cry behind her popcorn, lol.

So I decided on Lucy.
It was an okay show. Not one of my top ten though.

But we did get to see it in the AVX.
Actually I wasn't all that impressed with it. I would rather pay a cheaper rate then get the opportunity to pick my seat.

We couldn't get a hold of our friend Denise for a few days, we were actually getting worried.
Come to find out she has been camping and didn't have any cell service where she was.
But she did get back to us as we got to the theatre. So I texted her and told her to meet us there.
So happy that she did.

Enjoyed my evening with my friends and looking forward to the next one :)
Do you have any traditions with your friends?

Hope you all had a creative Day :)

Tracy :)

Getting to Know Your Creative Side…a blog hop

Good morning my friends :)
Odd hearing from me this early in the day, as I usually post in the evening :)
But today is a different kind of day on my blog as I am in a blog hop.
But not just any type of blog hop, this one is a bit different.
It is one that is focused on the blog and blogger, not a company or DT.
So I think that is kind of special and thought I would join along.
So grab a cup of your favourite drink, or your breakfast..or even a bag of chips and a pop…because this is going to be a bit of a long one ;)

I was tagged by the wonderful, sweet and beautifully named Sharla from "This thing called Life"
I had met Sharla through 2Peas, and we clicked from there.
She and I have a lot in common besides our love of being creative and both of us having a daughter with the same name.
The only thing I find odd about her is her weird addiction to Diet Coke, where I take nothing but the Real Thing ;)
Sharla is awesome at colouring in stamped images and I love her colourful, fun cards.
She also enjoys a lot of other crafts as well.
You should go and check out her channel to get inspired by her creativity and positive posts

Here is where I chat about my Blog:
I started my blog January 1st 2010.
I have always wrote in a journal and thought this would be a great outlet to keep track of my and my family's everyday happenings, but also a place to share the creative side of me.
I was so excited and shocked when I received my first comment and am just as excited and shocked everyday that I still receive them.
I came up with the name "Tracy's Treasures" as Tracy is my name and everything I make is a treasure to me, plus I also add a bit about my family and my life, which of course they are me real treasures.
I have always been creative in some form or another. I can't shut my brain off, as when I am about to go to sleep, a great idea will come to me.
I say that I would have to live twice my lifetime to complete half of the projects I think up, lol.

What do I create/ What am I working on right now:
I call myself "Jill of all Trades, Expert in None", lol.
I admire anyone who can master their art. Me on the other hand, I can't stick to one craft.
I do wood working.
This is a fireplace mantle I had made for my oldest daughter's house.

I enjoy scrapbooking.
A recent scrapbook page I had done.

I love card making and colouring images with my Copics, water markers or coloured pencils.

I also enjoy making tags.

I have just started to get into making some ATC's.

But honestly I love all types of paper crafts, from making mini albums, to decorating my planner, to making bags and boxes to altering items to playing in my art journal. I love it all.
I also enjoy writing, sewing, quilting, knitting, crochet, x-stitch, painting, and the list goes on...
I love to learn and try new things, lately it has been drawing, thinking that one may not be for me, teehee.
I am also trying my hand at photography.
I take all of my photos with my iPhone or a tiny point and shoot camera. But am just trying my hand at what I call a "Big boy" camera, my husband's old DSLR camera.

How Does my Work/Style Differ from Others:
Honestly I don't think I have a certain style…just like with my clothes. I don't have a style.
I love all types of art and I love to try all types of art.
I don't have any one style. I enjoy vintage, grungy, cute, pretty, feminine and masculine.
And I enjoying creating them all. I don't have a favourite.

How Does my Creative Process Work?
I have no idea.
I will see a photograph, paper, embellishment or a stamp and work from there.
Like I said earlier I will get an idea and my mind will fixate on it and I will then make my idea work.
I have always been a type of problem solver so I think this helps me with my ideas.
I don't think I have ever thrown a projects away. I will make it work…plus I am too thrifty to trash the supplies I used, teehee.

Why do I Write/Create what I do?
It is an addiction actually ;)
I feel the need to document mine and my family's lives.
I don't have many if any photos of me when I was a child. A lot of my family had passed away so young and there aren't many memories or photo that documented their lives. So to me this is important.
I love to create, I think about it every day and I am creative every single day.
Even if I am just writing an idea down or a list of ToDo's I would love to see get completed.
To me that is being creative.
Some may think it is a hobby or a cute way to pass the time, but for me it is part of me. It is a way of life.

Here is Where I Tag Others to Play Along:
With it being summer break, everyone is busy enjoying the weather and enjoying their holiday :)
So I found one other blogger who was willing to play along.

Katie had time to play along :)
Katie's blog is called "Katie's Stories"
Katie is such a sweet person, she makes great scrapbooking and PL pages. Katie is newly married.
I enjoy not only Katie's creative side, I also enjoy traveling with her virtually through her blog.
I loved seeing her Wedding details and felt like I was there attending her wedding and was so excited with each photo and post she shared.

Well that was a fun blog post to do as it seems I enjoy talking about myself ;)
I could never have imagined my blog would give me an opportunity to become friends with so many other creative people.
Not only to become friends, but to also have a connection to them.
Thank you all for that :)

I hope you all had a very Creative Day :)

Tracy :)

A new gadget….Fitbit

I have mentioned before that I am taking back my health ….thats if you don't include me eating a piece of birthday cake everyday for the last 7 days..oops.
I never thought of myself as a gadget person, but I do love to document, keep lists and keep track of things.
I have always kept track of my progress and my walks in a journal.
I have used a heart monitor watch..I liked that :)
Then I used pedometers…I LOVED my pedometers…I had many of them….like over 10.
I have been using my "Map my Walk". Yup, I'm obsessed with this app.
I love to not only see my walking route, but also the calories I have burned and the pace of my walk.

Then I heard about this neat gadget.
Fitbit.
So I convinced Wayne that we each should get one.
Wayne being the master of all gadgets, it didn't take much to convince him ;)
It is a bracelet (But don't tell Wayne that, he would not like that description :) which has a computer chip in it to monitor and keep track of your progress.
It keeps track of our steps, calories, distance and how active we have been. Actually it keeps track of so  much more…even your sleep pattern!
We had to set it up on our computers and then sync our fitbit to our computer so it can download our progress, and keep track of it.
We kept syncing our bracelets to the computer to see our hourly progress, lol.
The only thing I wish it had was the time. Then I wouldn't need to wear a watch.
The fitbit is to be worn on your non-dominant wrist…which is wear my watch.
I wear Wayne's old watch. Even though it is huge, I love that it glows in the dark and I know what time it is in the middle of the night.
I may need a new smaller watch now ;)

So welcome to my new obsession ;)

Hope you all had a Creative Day :)

Tracy :)

Ouch. My poor Kristy.

It was a beautiful day at the cottage.

We got some work done like cutting the lawn. 

Kristy thought she would help. Sadly she had to quit as she got stung by a wasp. 

The buggers built their hive under ground.

Unknowing to Kristy as she mowed over it. They stung her in the back of her heel. 

I fixed her up and hugged the pain away. At least in my mind I hugged the pain away. Don't you wish as a parent you actually could take their pain from them. 

I later flipped some leaves away to find the hive and then sprayed the hive with my handy dandy wasp/bear spray ;). 

Then I had to know what the hive looked like underground, so I did a little digging. 

I was surprised that they built their hive underground with the rain we have had most of this summer. 

We were invited to a little birthday get together at the motel to celebrate Ray's (my FIL) and my birthday. 

6th day of having cake for me...oh my. 

Kristy, Blake and I went for a walk tonight and made it back before the rain and thunder started.  

Wayne and I are off to have a sauna/steam bath. Then I'm going to finish the book I brought. 

Hope you are enjoying your weekend and had a creative Day :)

Tracy:) 

Defunkifying My whole Craft Room

Hi all my crafty friends.
I am sure you all have the same problem as I do.
You get on with a project and make a bit of a mess in your room.
But do you make such a mess that you are embarrassed to show your room to anyone?
Well this is me more times than I like to admit.

So I came to the conclusion that my room isn't working for me anymore.
If you know me than you also know that I don't like to get rid of my supplies, no matter how old they are, or even if I don't like them anymore.
Because of this, I have too much stuff.

Also if you know me than you also know that I like to do all types of crafts.
Because of this, my supplies end up being scattered around and not very organized.
So I am planning on re-arranging my whole craft room to work better for how I create.

I want to go through every single thing in this room.
Yes, that means every piece of paper, brad, button, stamp and treasure and trinket I own.
When we can't find something, then it is time to re-think our organizing :)

I did a video on my messy room tour.
Be prepared…it is not a pretty sight ;)
If you would rather watch the video on my YouTube channel, just click onto my link "Tracy's Treasures"

I hope you all had a Creative Day :)

Thank you so much for all the Birthday wishes from yesterday :)

Tracy :)

It's My Birthday :)

Today is my Birthday :)
My daughter invited us over for a BBQ that her and her boyfriend Tyler put on.
Kristy, Heather and I prepared a potato salad and a taco dip, and Ashley did the rest :)
It was a wonderful evening.

I received some wonderful, sweet gifts from my daughters and my SIL & BIL who were also there.
But I have to say the one I was most impressed with was this one here :)
My daughters picked out some of my favourite treats and put them in a jar…but the best part is that they decorated the jar with washi tape.
My creative heart is just swelling with pride ;)

Onto My Day:
Kristy and I were going to go for a walk this morning, but she had blisters on the back of her heels from yesterday's walk. She said she would still go with me, but I told her to just let them heal first.
Then we went and did some errands…like getting my licence plate sticker as they expire today, being its my birthday.
Kristy and I ran out to pick up my BDay cake that Ashley ordered. While we were there, these "Sally Anns" called out our names.
So we each got one…like I needed more sweets this week, lol.

Kristy insisted that Wayne needed to get me another Birthday gift as he gave me the video camera early, so she didn't think that counted as my gift from him….I like this girl's way of thinking, lol.
Kristy knew I liked these basket holders from the garden centre, so Heather, Kristy and I went to check them out.
Sadly they were all gone.
I actually think the video camera was a pretty excellent gift on its own ;)
I love carrot cake with cream cheese icing….I have to say, it was delicious.
I even splurged and had a can of Coke today as well ;)

I hope you all had a Creative Day

Tracy :)

"The Big Catch" birthday card.

Today is my Father in Law's 83rd Birthday :)
He is such a sweet man (well he is to me) and is very active. He always has a project on the go.
We see him every weekend in the summer as his summer camp is next door to ours.
My daughters were so lucky to have grown up so close to him.

When I purchased this stamp on my last trip, I knew I was going to use it for his birthday card.
He is..or was an avid fisherman. He would go out every weekend and fish the day away with his wife.
Actually the whole family would go out fishing….not me, I would read in the boat.
I was never any good at fishing. I think I would get to excited when I got a fish on and then lose it, lol.

I doubt these are the correct colours for this fish, but I think it works, teehee.
I used my Copic markers to colour in the image and distress inks for the background.
You can't tell from this photo, but I popped the fish up, so it looks like it is jumping right out of the card.
First I stamped the image and just fussy cut out the fish.
Then I stamped it a second time as the base, coloured the image and background and used foam tape to raise the fussy cut fish up.
I also added some sparkle to the fish and the water.

I practically copied this card from the card I had seen at Pine City Scrapbooking. Except her colouring is way better than mine, and she has the correct colours of this fish…at least I think she does ;)
I took a photo of the card I had seen in the store, I am not sure who made it though, but I want to give credit.

I finally got around to trying my new video camera :)
I did a video on my card. If you would rather watch it on my YouTube channel, just click on the link "Tracy's Treasures"

Onto My Day:
My day started off with Kristy and I going for a walk :)
Then I cut the lawn…boy do we have a lot of mushrooms growing in our lawn.
Had to clean off my desk, to make my card.
Helped Kristy with her scrapbook for her boyfriend,
Went to visit Ray (my FIL) to celebrate his birthday with all the family :)
Happy Birthday Ray :)

2nd day of Birthday's and 3rd day of cakes for me ;)

Hope you all had a Creative Day :)

Tracy :)

Happy 25th Birthday Ashley

Today is my oldest daughter, Ashley's 25th birthday.
Wow, where is the time gone. I know we all say this with each and every birthday our children celebrate…but seriously, where does the time go.

I have to say I have been a very lucky mom, to have had this girl in my life.
She is always there for her family. I can count on her for anything.
She is a cheerleader to us all and has more faith in me then I do in myself.
She is witty, sarcastic, funny, and compassionate.
And yes, mischievous…you can see it in her smile ;)
So Happy Birthday Ashley, we love you.

I was going to make Ashley a birthday card, but if you have seen my post "I'm a Card Hoarder", I have more than enough stock.
So pulled out this cute card for my princess.

I went to Staples Office supply today, well actually I was banished there as Heather and Kristy went to other stores to get me my birthday gifts. But if I am going to be banished to a store, this is one I will volunteer for ;)
While I was browsing around, I spotted these cute little binders. They are exactly like their larger binders, they even work!
Look how miniature they are :)
I had to get one, even if I didn't need one, teehee.
So I picked up 2 of them…look how small they are compared to this pencil.

I am always looking for some paper and a pen when I go to Ashley's so I thought I would alter one of them for her.
I coloured this Pure Innocence girl up with my Copic markers and added "notes" with my label maker.
I also put a pen it it for her.

Onto My Day:
Woke up to thunder, lightning and rain. But it did most of the damage during the night and was finished with this afternoon.
A friend came for a bit of a visit.
Then Heather, Kristy and I went and did some errands.
I wrapped Ashley's birthday gifts.
Totally forgot to pick up my jeep licence stickers…I better do that tomorrow, I only have one more day to do it.
Ashley's boyfriend is taking her to a fancy restaurant tonight and we are going over for cake and to give her her gifts when they are done.
She sent me this photo of her on her way out. See that cute purse, it looks like a book. I gift from her Tyler.
Nice shoe closet in the background of her dressing room eh ;)
Check it out in this post "Closet Makeover"

I am off the enjoy some Birthday cake soon, so I hope you all had a Creative Day :)
 Tracy :)

A New Me….well, not really ;)

I finally got my hair cut and coloured :)

Last time I got a hair cut was before Christmas, I don't know why I don't cut it more often..guess it seems like a waste of time and money, lol.

My hairdresser asked me if she wanted me to straighten my hair. I said in this weather, its not worth the time, lol.

It is so warm and humid here today, hence my hair being a bit scraggly, lol. But I love this weather, sure beats -40c with snow blowing around :)

I thought I would share with you last weeks finished planner pages :)

Do ya think I went with the colour orange for this week, teehee.

I am going to have to move the Tim Holtz challenge and getting my jeep insurance sticky notes to next week..oops.

And here is this weeks planner pages.
If you look closely you can see the markers bled through from the other weeks pages.
That is why I like to write on post its, or other tiny note cards.
I could use pens, but I like writing with the markers.
3 birthday's in a row this week, my daughter Ashleys, my FIL Ray's and mine.
I already had a small piece of birthday cake today ;)
Ashley's friend made her a cake and they celebrated last night. When I went to visit Ashley today, I had a teeny little piece. It was delicious :)

Onto My Day:
The only thing I had planned today was to get my hair done, pay the licence sticker and play with my new video camera.
The only thing I did get done on my list was to get my hair done, lol.
Brought Wayne some lunch to his work, as he didn't come home for lunch and was hungry.
I picked up Ashley's birthday gift.
Visited Ashley as she was under the weather.
Went to visit a friend, but she wasn't home.
Went and picked up some groceries.
Cleaned up the house a bit.
No playing with the video camera and forgot the paper work for the jeep's licence plate sticker.
Oh well, there is always tomorrow :)

Hope you all had a creative day  :)

Tracy :)

Using my Big Boy camera

Ok, here they are.
Here are some of the photos I took with my "big boy" camera.
Don't get to excited, as all of these photos are taken in auto mode.
The camera that I am using is a Canon 50D, that my husband passed on to me when he got a bigger and better camera for himself.

Here is my peony flower.
I just love, love this colour.
This was my MIL's plant. When she passed away my FIL told me to take it, as he didn't want to cut around it anymore, so it has a special place in my heart, as did she.

This here is just a really pretty wild flower I have growing in my flower beds.

I ran out of things in the yard to take photos of, so I went searching for some victims willing participants….my daughter Kristy and her boyfriend Blake ;)
The were willing ;)
My Kristy is tiny like me, I noticed in this photo that I should have taken the photo a little lower so her head doesn't look like its floating, teehee.

I think Blake was getting a bit bored, lol.

When we made our fence 19 yrs ago, I got Wayne to cut a heart out of each gate.
I thought this made a cute background for Kristy and Blake.
The have been dating for 4 yrs.

I think they were both getting a bit bored and silly by the time I took this one, lol.

I can't wait until my family from out of town comes for a visit.
I have 2 young nephews to take photos of.
Looking forward to my next photo shoot, wonder who will be my next victims…I mean subjects ;)

Hope you all had a Creative Day :)

Tracy :)