Sunday Scrap Space – Lesley Cooper

Lesley Cooper

Nick name: I don’t have one. Not one anyone is willing to share with me anyway!

Occupation: I am a Stay at Home Mum who also does Administration Assistant temp work. In my previous life (before kids) I was a Quality Manager for a brewing company.

What I can’t live without when I scrap: Neutral coloured cardstock and ink.

Where I find inspiration: Anywhere and everything. A quote, a photo, an ad, children’s craft and art books, a colour combination, some product, a story I want to tell.. I am always analysing things I see and hear and see if I can turn them into a project.

On my desk: My ‘On the Go Tote’, paper trimmer, bowls of little bits and pieces, craft matt and splatter matt

Playing on my ipod: I don’t own an ipod! I tend to listen to the radio which is tuned into the Classic Hits station  (music from the 70′s, 80′s, 90′s and now).

My favourite item in my scrap: My collection of stamps. I have quite a few!

Ahh confessions of a messy scrapper.

When I scrap I spread out, every surface is covered, even the floor! My scrap room has never been this tidy as it also has had home office stuff, camera gear, spare gear etc in it. For some time I have wanted to give it a major overhaul and having to showcase it on the Kaisercraft blog gave me the motivation I needed! Unfortunately I have now cluttered up another room which I need to sort! But it feels good to have my craft room sorted and almost organised. When we built this house over 8 years ago I had just started scrapping and all my goodies fitted in a long shallow plastic container! I had eyed up the ‘office’ for my craft room but I don’t think my hubby quite realised what that meant! We had been in the house only a couple of days and Simon, then 2, came in the room and grabbed the thickest most inky and permanent marker off the desk and bolted out the door. In seconds he had the lid off and managed to drop it inky end down right in front of the entrance onto the carpet. We never quite got that stain out but Ricky straight away got a child proof gate and put it on the door. Best thing he could have done and it officially became my scrap room.

Over the years that gate was invaluable keeping sticky fingers away from my supplies. The gate is now gone but the kids know they don’t go in there unless they ask.

My craft room has an assortment of storage and although I would love all matching stuff, what I have is functional. The metal bookcase, cabinet and 12 x12 drawer storage hold the bulk of my supplies.

Pictures below: From the doorway, this is the view of the back wall. In the metal bookcase I have green plastic baskets which stack on top of each other. They hold things like aphas, more stamps, extra inks, and bits and pieces. Patterned paper is stored in a variety of 12 x12 plastic envelopes / satchels I have collected over the years as well as 2 Cropper Hopper Vertical Paper Holders. Various other boxes hold a variety of different embellishments. The wire shelving holds a lot of my Kaisercraft product

Pictures below: On one wall I have a metal cabinet which has books and magazines in the bottom and then shelves of lots of messy mediums to play with, a box with some larger punches and some tools such as my Slice, Cuttlebug and Bind It All. The 12 x 12 metal drawer storage holds my cardstock, templates, embellishments, alpha stickers and other bits and pieces.

Pictures below: The blue set of drawers was actually from Simon’s baby room 10 years ago. It now houses tools, tape, inspiration and old books. The set of 12×12 drawers, hold some of many stamps, some manufacturer collections and a drawer of photos.

Pictures below: My desk is one I inherited from Ricky’s old stuff. It is heavy and solid but workable. I like to scrap with little bits and pieces and always have left-overs when I have finished a layout. To make cleaning easy and so I always have bits and pieces on hand I put them into the variety of containers I raided from my china cabinet. I find I am more likely to use things if they are within hands reach and in sight! The shower caddy in the corner is a new addition and helps keep it all tidy. I love my ‘On the Go’ tote as it keeps everything in one place and it is also so easy if I head off to a crop. On my wall is a corkboard which I can pin inspiration and deadlines on to. Also in the photo is a wall hanging I did as a class several years ago.

My space is a little ad hoc and things are in different places but largely I do know where everything is!

My Current Layout: