Spectrum Noir Storage

About 3 months ago I purchased my first sets of the Spectrum Noir pens. The local craft shop only had 7 of the 12 sets of 6 pens available which I purchased and have been using. I recently found the other sets online in the UK and you may ask me why I would purchase them from an online website in the UK when they are available here in New Zealand? Well, firstly, it is far cheaper than in New Zealand and secondly, my dear friend, Debbie, is bringing them back for me when she returns to New Zealand after a visit with her daughter who has just had the most gorgeous little girl,

But this got me thinking about storage for these pens. At present I have them in plastic draws in colour combinations which is all good but not practical. I have seen plastic storage containers but it will cost around $80 to $100 to purchase enough to hold the entire set of pens. Now I am a real scrooge when it comes to spending money like that on things like storage so I started the hunt on the internet to find an idea that I would possible have at home. All I can say is that YOUTUBE is awesome!!! I found an idea and I am adjusting to fit my needs.

I have a wooden DVD rack that is standing in my lounge collecting dust and with my BRILLIANT husbands help we have striped out all the plastic dividers for the DVD's and will replace with wood to make the shelfs.
My husband went looking for hardboard at one of the local hardware stores but it is only sold in very big sheets so we have opted for a slightly thicker MDF type of wood - ($15 NZ) and my husband has a stash of different glues in the garage that we will glue each piece in place.

Now the DVD stand is far taller than my requirements for my pens so I am killing two birds with one stone and making shelving sufficient for all my favourite ink pads.

This is the same kind of stand but for CD's:

  and this is what the stand looks like after we had stripped out all the plastic dividers:

This is as far as we have got with the project because my husband is the faultman for the company that he works for and has been on standby the entire week. Hopefully now he will be able to continue cutting out all the bits to make up the shelving. Come back later this week and hopefully I will have more photos to show on the progress.

Swap Group in Australia

Challenge One: Memory boxes The challenge set was to make your interpretation of a memory/gift box. No theme This is what I came up with:

Second challenge: Thank you cards with a jungle theme We had to make 2 different Jungle themed thank you cards and this is mine:

Third challenge: Meander albums This was my challenge and my Mom had been visiting me and She really enjoyed making these albums. She had just returned home to South Africa so this was an emotional challenge for me. Anyway this is what I made:

Fourth Challenge: Dress form themed tags We had to make two different tags with a dress form theme. I decided to go with "Naughty and Nice" as my inspiration and here they are:

Fifth Challenge: Recycled items This challenge has just been set and its basically to make anything from anything recycled. I decided to use 3 different recycling items being: Toilet rolls - I made the pages of the albums with these Plastic shopping bags - The rose on the front is made from the plastic Soda cans - Tin embosses really well and its the label on the front of the album

60th Birthday Album and matching card

My mother-in-law is turning 60 this year so I made her this album:

And then I did her a matching card using the same paper collection:

Travel Album

I immigrated to New Zealand in May of 2008 and had not seen any family except via Skype, which is awesome but not the same, since. So you can imagine my excitement when my Mum let me know that she had booked tickets to come and visit. She flew in early November 2011 and I was really lucky enough to have her with me until end of April 2012. After she had gone home I decided to do a travel album for her with her pictures that she had taken. I did it very basic as my Mum prefers it that way. This is what I came up with: