BRENDA'S SCRAPBOOK AND CARD MAKING NOOK: NOOK REMODELED

In March 2017 we began the task of remodeling the room which was my Nook - my craft room. We had the carpet taken out and in it's place we had laminate flooring installed which matched most of the rest of the house.

Since I established the Nook in 1999 in Massachusetts, I have had women into my home to craft - mostly to do scrapbooking or card making.

It is and has always been my desire that being in the Nook and in our home would be a blessing to others. We have always wanted our home to be a haven. A place where people are nourished physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Let's go on a tour of the remodeled Nook!

This is the first bookshelf as you enter the hallway to the Nook. It hold theme albums such as Christmas, School Years, and Home Construction among others. There are also "how to" books - how to create borders for scrapbooking and more, how to create things with punches and more.

The next bookshelf holds my alcohol markers and my personal inventory of decorative papers.

Photos of Family and Friends grace the walls of the hallway.

The shadowbox is of all of the States where we have lived. I was born in MI. and Mike was born in OH. We have lived in IN, VA, WI, CA, MA, NH, and AK. We are now back in CA.

The Cat's Meow wooden figures on top of this book shelf are of Mackinac Island, in Northern Michigan, where Mike and I met through Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship.

The Cat's Meow wooden figures on top of this shelf unit are of my birthplace and hometown, Coldwater, Michigan.

As you near the entry to the Nook, to the left are these cupboards. It is where I store my collection of rubber and clear polymer stamps.

On the left side in the drawer units are what were my rubber stamps. I recently unmounted them from their blocks so they could be used in the MISTI - Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented. On the right side are the clear, polymer stamps. All are organized by themes - from Animals to Weddings!

Above the doorway to the Nook, you will see a sign that says "CREATE".

Upon entering the Nook, directly to the right is the first of my chronological memory albums.

This is the view of the room as you enter it.

We have two cats, Mocha and Latte, which we call the Nook mascots. Mocha is pictured below. She is seated on top of one of the Ikea Alex drawer units which houses the wafer thin card dies - such as flips its, standup, easel, , accordion and others. The We Are Memory Keeper Punch boards are also stored there.

These are the shelves on the right side - southern part - of the room. The hold various tools and mediums to work with such as Perfect Pearls, Pan Pastels, Creative Medium and more. There you will also find the Fuse tool, the Heat Wave tool, the Minc machine and more.

Since I have changed how things are stored from my earlier version of the Nook, I created a Directory. Not only will help visitors to the Nook locate specific dies, punches and more, it also is a reminder for me where things are!

Here is a sample of one of the entries. This is for the Punch Station - which has three 6-drawer units with casters, which are A, B, and C from left to right.

The Cricut Cartridges which are stored in the closet are in numbered cases. Here you see cases 6 and 7 and the Directory pages for those.

One of the decorations in the room shows the birthdays and anniversaries of our family members, nuclear and extended.

As you proceed to the front of the Nook, you will see this wall decor from Creative Memories. Miscellaneous things can be posted on it.

The Punch Station is directly in front of the window.

On top of the punch drawers are the Silhouette Cameo, a desk jet printer and the Cricut Expression.

As you approach the corner of the room to the left of the Punch Station is a Lang Calendar and more wall shelves.

The wall shelves house more tools such as:
Top Shelf: Die and Coordinating Stamp sets, Flower shaping tools, Quilling supplies and tools and the Sew Easy and Sew Ribbon tools. The Bottom shelf holds over 400 embossing folders

The five drawer Ikea Alex units hold the themed wafer thin dies and steel rule dies for card making and themed shape embellishments.

On top are 3 manual die cutting machines, the Big Shot Pro, the Big Shot Plus and the Big Shot.

Chronological memory albums continue on this book shelf.

These are two "bowl snowmen" that I decorate for each season or holiday of the year. They rest atop a 9 drawer Ikea Alex unit where various supplies are stored.

The colorful drawer unit holds 12 x 12 plain card stock of the coordinating colors to the drawers.

A scrapbooking clock purchased from CafePress is on the wall next to the closet and above my college diploma. I have a BA, in Psychology - and unlike previously, I have a Ph.D - Projects Half Done!

I have never charged ladies (or others) when they come to the Nook. I only ask that they bring their own papers, card stock and adhesives. Any donations go towards the replacement of blades, mats or cutting plates.

In the closet you will find the inventory of Cricut Cartridges, colored card stock (8.5 x 11) and various other tools and supplies such as: heat embossing, water colors, buttons, brads, stencils and more.

By the way, just down the hall from the Nook is our Guest bedroom. If you live out of town, you have a place to stay comfortably. Mocha thinks this is her bedroom.

Latte is pictured below. Both cats love when the ladies come to the Nook every Thursday. The Nook comfortably seats 2 so when we have groups of 3-10, we congregate in the dining and living areas. I am able to set up additional tables to work on.

Let's finish the tour!

Behind the door of the Nook are my die ink pads, refills and coordinating markers.

When my husband finished putting together all of the Ikea Alex Drawer units there were 13 in total - 3 Six Drawer caster units, 2 Nine Drawer units, 3 four drawer units and 5 five drawer units. One 4 drawer and one 5 drawer unit with a table top also purchased at Ikea make up the center island work area.

On Easter weekend, the final installation was completed and that was the new lighting fixture - replacing the one that was on the ceiling.

Since this blog was first posted, there have been more changes in the Nook. All of the rubber stamps that were mounted on blocks have been unmounted. Stamps can now be used in the MISTI or Tim Holtz and other stamping platforms.

Wafter thin dies and stamps are now stored in sleeves and in plastic storage containers - similar to what Jennifer McGuire has done in her craft area.