And then one day, everything changed.........

I've been a rubberstamper for 21 years and naturally, the love of stamping turned into a passion for paper arts, including scrapbooking.  Over the years many of the stamp stores I've loved have gone by the wayside, never to be seen from or heard from again.   In fact, some of my favorite celebrity stampers have retired and no longer run the tradeshow circuit, teach, or sell their DVD's.   However, I'm still going strong and my passion for the paper arts has only grown over time.  

In the late 90's/early 2000's, I finally gave in and started to scrapbook.  At first I said I'd just do my son's baby book.  That was only the beginning!  Suddenly the craft stores I frequented were adding scrapbook supplies by the aisle, soon to take up much of the store.   Scrapbook stores were becoming mainstream and popping up all over the place.  Finding supplies was becoming easier and easier.

My son's baby book soon became just one of the projects I was working on.  As family events and vacations happened, and I found more papers, stickers and ephemera, I realized one scrapbook wasn't going to be enough to feed my desire for the paper arts.  

Soon I needed my own room to house and organize my stuff.  Eventually I painted my "Diva-Den" my favorite colors and made my studio a haven for all things art and paper.   I searched for the coolest storage units, best desks and work space.   I studied others people's hobby room and created my art haven.   Over the years, I've attended many stamping and scrapbooking expo's, searching out the best and the coolest tools available.   It's always fun to come home with my treasures, though sad that I'd have to wait sometimes the whole year for the next expo as they were always so much fun!

I always tried to be really careful to purchase supplies that were classic, that would stand the test of time.  Eventually the hand held pump airbrush system would be replaced by a more powerful, electric airbrush machine.  Wood mounted stamps were replaced by unmounted stamps with clear acrylic blocks.  At one time even the Cricut Die Cutting machines became very popular, however in my Diva Den they've even been  replaced by the Silhouette Cameo and the design studio software.   No more cartridges to collect and no more wasted money on designs you would never use.  The old Red Sizzix was replaced by the newer, easier to use Big Shot.  Stencilling has even become a thing of the past as we now used embossing folders to easily add raised designs to our art papers.  It's safe to say that the industry has changed a great deal over the years!

The purpose of my blog is to share projects, as well as products, that I feel have stood the test of time.  We'll also share techniques and tools, hopefully help each other to save money on products that you don't really need to spend money on or that might have a dual (or more) purpose.  I may even share a few good deals too, if that is an interest to my readers.

It's not necessary to go completely broke buying one color of everything.  Some products can easily be modified, colored, shaded, or utilized in a way so that you don't need to have so much product in your scrapping space.   I'm here to help, inspire, create and share.   Come along with me as we talk about what is important to have in your creative space.  Welcome!