Our last Scrap Space feature is taking a look into Gillian Nelson's (Blog: Gillian Nelson | Instagram: @gnelson05 | Pinterest: @gilliann | Twitter: @GillianNelson05) creative nook!
Your favorite time of day to scrap: I’m most productive when I scrap midday. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten caught up in a project and before I know, various Nelsons are poking their heads into my office and asking what’s for dinner. (Whoops…) I wish I was better at scrapping at night, but I always tend to run out of steam in the evening.
How long do you usually sit down and create? I’m very slow when it comes to putting together a layout, so I need at least a couple of hours to get one done. I can easily lose an entire afternoon to just one page (and still not get it completely done).
What is your favorite scrapbooking tool? I have to say the Silhouette Cameo. I didn’t get one right away when they became available, but once I gave in, I never looked back. I use it much more often than not in one way or another. It’s a game changer.
How long have you been scrapping? I started scrapping as a hobby about 17 years ago when my now 6-foot tall child was but a baby in my belly.
Do you have a favorite method of storage? I read a long time ago about how Stacy Julian organized her supplies by color and I thought her idea was brilliant. I promptly organized most of my stuff by color and it’s worked very well for me. I tend to think in terms of color so it’s super helpful to know right where to find something if I think I need, say, a touch of yellow in the upper corner of a page.
Do you ever purge your supplies? If so, how often? I do, but not nearly often enough. I tend to want to keep ALL the pretty things, just in case I might use them someday. Unfortunately, my room’s storage capacity is finite, so I do have to make tough choices from time to time. I’m currently going through a major purge right now. I’m really feeling the urge to simplify.
Is this your dream space or do you have ideas for something else? If I could change anything it would be to have an island workspace so that I could really spread out and make a mess without encroaching on the desk property of my computer. I’d also love to have a dedicated surface for my sewing machine so it would be easier to use. That said, I really love my room because I share it with my husband who works from home. It’s wonderful to be able to be in here and be productive while he’s in here doing his own thing at the other end of the desk. I’m kind of fond of the guy. And he puts up with my craft mess, so it’s the absolute perfect set up.
This is the main working area of my scrap space. I love having a window right in front of me that lets in so much natural light while I work. My husband and I share opposite ends of this IKEA desk that runs the entire length of the wall. I love my husband almost as much as I love natural light.
This washi tape wheel is one of my favorite items in the room. My talented father-in-law made this for me. I’m a lucky girl.
Here’s the rest of my desk on the opposite side of the computer. My Epson printer is a major workhorse. Love it. What I don’t love? Is the rainbow-shaped texture on the wall. When we bought the house it was painted with a formula that had gold glitter flakes in it. No, I’m not kidding.
This is the wall that is opposite of the desk. On the far end is my storage system for my embellishments. They’re all sorted by color in the clear containers. The IKEA Expedit cubes hold my patterned paper (also sorted by color), albums, and miscellaneous craft supplies. Pay no mind to the stacks and stacks of layouts piled on top of the patterned paper shelves. You don’t see those. Shhhh.
I keep all of my letter stickers sorted by color in this hanging file basket that sits on top of my embellishment tower. I did a blog post about my letter sticker storage a while back. If you’re interested in seeing this system in more detail, you can find it here.
This little spinning caddy is the one thing in my room that I keep organized on a consistent basis. It houses all of my go-to tools and I like knowing exactly where everything is in there. The coffee cup is also present on a fairly consistent basis. I keep my coffee in there.
Ahhh, Cameo. I tell my kids that Cameo is my favorite child. I really like having it on this little shelf, where I can easily pull it down to the workspace of the desk when I want to make a cut. Super accessible and convenient. The little Two Peas lunch box holds the handmade cards I’m lucky to receive. Happy mail is the best kind of mail.
I use the space under my desk to store my AC collections in stackable containers. It’s not pretty necessarily, but it’s effective in that I can easily find exactly the specific collection I’m wanting to work with.
And that, my friends, concludes Scrap Space week! Have a happy Friday!
