ON DISPLAY

This post is a little unusual for me and Paper Seedlings. Fair warning.

As you know, for my blog, I create a plethora of cards. And a lot of these cards I particularly like and found myself wishing I could enjoy having them on display in my computer work area.

For years now, I have been toying with various methods of having qutie a few of my cards out at one time. Shelves? Ledges? Little hangers? 

Several months ago I came across this nifty little arrangement online. A clothesline type of display, complete with itty bitty clothespins. (I know itty bitty clothespins are not that unusual, but they look cute used like this.) The space on the wall is the perfect fit for this system. When I'm sitting at my computer, I just have to swivel my head to the left -- and there they are! So cheery.

And I can have 30 cards on display at once!

The photo below was taken several months ago, once I finally filled up all the spaces with favorites.

Sort of funny. I took the following photo just a few days ago, specifically for this post. If you compare the two photos, you'll notice that I don't change things a lot over time. 

The other organizing/display thing I wanted to share with you today is how I store my beloved Stampin' Blends (did I ever mention that I LOVE my Stampin' Up! Stampin' Blends??? I DO!) 

The organizer that they are stored in comes from Stampin' Up! specifically built to keep the Blends. You can find them on page 145 of the current catalog. I have every single one of the Stampin' Blends. (But, now that I have the brand new Annual Catalog, I see they have added the five new In Colors in Stampin' Blends. Got 'em on my shopping list! That means I'll have to buy more storrage too.)

Anyway, back to my method. Look ahead at the following photo. This is located downstairs in my Creation Station. Believe me when I tell you that I had to push a lot of stuff out of the way to take this photo. 

I have my Stampin' Blends arranged inside the storage in rainbow order, always with the lighter of the color duo first. 

Spoiler alert: Now that I have an additional ten Blends coming, I will have to redo everything that I am telling you today. But, that's progress, eh? So I will talk about my current situation.

On sheets of Stampin' Up! Whisper White (I know that has been discontinued, but that's what I used at the time) I stamped a little open flower in rows, arranged identically to how the storage is arranged: six Blends in each row. It took two sheets of cardstock.

Once I had all my little flowers stamped, I took the pens out of their slot, one at a time, and colored in each of the flowers, followed by a tiny handwritten name of the Blend. 

After (and this took me two days to do it well) it was all finished, I encased the sheets back to back in a page protector so it's easy to flip it to see the rest of the colors.

I use this sheet constantly. Not only does it show exactly what the pen color looks like on Whisper White, which is what I'd used for Stampin' Blends coloring with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, but it is a great planner. Say, with all the greens together, it is easy to grab my color chart and decide which would be the best green for a project. 

With all the colored flowers in the same order on the chart as in the storage, it is easy to grab the color you want without having to look at the name on each pen. 

I must say I am sort of proud of myself for coming up with this system. I'm usually not all that inventive, relying on others' ideas, but this is all my very own. And it works splendidly for my purposes.

As I said, once I get the new In Colors in my colorful little hands, I will have to rework the system completely. Oh well, that's the way it goes if I want to be a hog and possess every color available.

Did I mention that I love the Stampin' Up! Stampin' Blends? Do you have any of them? If so, what are your thoughts on these little charmers?

Blended

Smiles.