The Momma-Cave Pt.1!

Hey everyone!  Happy brand new week to y'all!  I've just been having a ton of fun in my craft-sewing room, now referred to as "The Momma-Cave," and wanted to share some of the new things I've added and a number of tweaks that I've made.  If you want to see how this room looked before, go HERE, HERE, or HERE.  I am so blessed to have my very own creative space, and I have loved and appreciated it from the get-go;  but I just felt it needed something more after living with it for about a

year.  Call it my "second childhood," or whatever you like, but I wanted more color, foufou, and fun!  I'll let you be the judge as to whether I accomplished that or not....lol!  For those of you who do not like lots of pictures (WHAT?), you should turn away now!  However, for those of you us, who cannot get enough, this will be a treat!  I've even divided this into a 2-part posting -- this first post is kind of an overview of the things I've tweaked and/or added, and the next post is more of the details about where and how I organize my needs and supplies.  Truly, you should grab a beverage and probably a snack to see you through this tour!  Let's get started, okay?

Welcome to The Momma-Cave!

Not that the room needed to be identified, but I've seen several of these cute embroidery hoop 

wall plaques and decided to make one for the door.

Straight ahead is my repurposed kitchen island which gives me a ton of storage

 and a great work surface.

I just recently made a switch -- these JetMax cubes (bought them at Michael's at 50% off) with my computer desk.

This is how it used to be, but it was kind of congested if someone else needed to use the copier and I was at my desk.

I also removed the lower row of cubes that were holding magazines, and relocated them to another area that I will show you in a few minutes.

I like how much more streamlined this looks all being the same level.  

My desk is perfect over in this corner.  The lamp with its fleur de lis shade, got a little dress-up with some hot pink fringe that I already had.  Its twin is at home by my sewing machine.  I redid an existing memory board with more of the check fabric and coordinating ribbons.

The island butts against the closet door but allows ample room on either side to retrieve whatever

I need from the closet.  Above the closet are some of my most treasured and framed

scrapbook pages.

This island offers me so much versatility.  The drop-leaf gives me extra work room, the towel bar is a great place to hang some extra mats, over-size stencils & templates, & other tools.  The old cutting mat gives me an easy-to-clean surface for whatever I'm working on.  I added the paper roll (great buy from IKEA) and a turntable to hold some often-used supplies.

Aren't these cupcake liner flowers cute?  I found them on a new blog,  Raising Up Rubies, that I discovered a couple of weeks ago.  Jaime is such an incredible young woman.  You owe it to yourself to go visit, and you must check out her incredible craft room which has been featured in BHG.  I have "copied" so many ideas from her for my space, and hope she believes that copying is the truest form of flattery and that I'm not just a stalker! 

One of the major "switcheroos" that I did quite some time ago, was to move my sewing center to this corner unit.  It gives me lots more light and space for my projects.  There is a ton of storage space under this corner piece, but I wasn't too happy with the view it provided.  When I decided to add the gathered skirt here, the creative juices started to flow, and I knew immediately what I wanted to do and the color combo I wanted that would really enhance the wall color and white cabinetry.

A quick trip to JoAnns, and I was armed with the fabrics I needed.  I'm a very visual person and see things in pictures, which is exactly what happened with the chair redo.  I had been looking at replacing the chair, because it was killing my back and concluded the discomfort was due to the shape 

of the seat -- it was one of those typical desk chairs with the very firm concave seat.  I bought a nice grade of memory foam, filled in the concave part, and cut the foam to the outside dimensions of the chair seat.  Ahhhh.....comfort!  Then I could see a true picture in my mind of how I wanted the chair to look -- kind of over-stuffed, shabby chic and drew it out on paper.  I already had the little stool, but it needed a fresh coat of paint before it got the "tuffet" look.  I absolutely love the green with the black & white check against my wall color and all of the bright pinks and turquoise that were already going on in this room.

More of that bright fringe and a bit of additional colored pen work on the tissue box holder to give it

an updated look.

This space is right behind my sewing machine.  The bin just below the thread holder, contains my sewing machine guide book and some quilting tools.  The clip board sits in an old recipe book holder and is used to hold whatever pattern I happen to be working on.

These two prints were FREE printables.  The lower one is from HERE, and the sewing machine is from HERE.  I simply framed them with what I had on hand and added a few embellies. 

These precious faces always have a place in my room.  This was a super-simple wreath I made last year using a plain wire wreath form that I painted white.

Simple little stuffed shapes that I embellished -- you know, just for fun!

This area got a few tweaks.  

As I mentioned earlier, I am a very visual person, so I love having lots of my scrapbook supplies out

in the open and close at hand.  There will be more details in Part 2.

See the cute little banner?  Paper cupcake liners & doilies, a few beads, and baker's twine -- another sweet idea from Jaime at Raising Up Rubies.  

I will never look at paper cupcake liners in the same way again!  I purchase them whenever I see

cute ones.

This IKEA Expedit is one of the "work horses" of my space.  The cubies are constantly getting adjusted to fit my current needs.  The top is always getting changed as well.

Do you remember those JetMax cubes that were holding magazines?  Well, I moved them over to this corner where they now hold my scrapbook paper and card stock.

It's a little bit of a tight squeeze, but it works, and I can just grab whatever paper I need while I'm sitting  at my scrapbooking desk -- much more convenient.

Everything is well labeled.

I even made a new ironing board cover out of the pretty green fabric.

I love, love, love aprons, even for sewing and crafting!  This one used to reside in the kitchen, but 

the colors were just too perfect for The Momma-Cave, so here is its new home!

One last look before you leave!  Hello!  Are you still there?  Do I need to dial 911?  Can you feel me fanning your face?  Well, if you survived (and I hope you did), I am so happy you stopped by for the tour.  If you do not show up for PART 2 (sniff, sniff), I will truly understand!

I love to party here:
Karen at Sew Many Ways for Sew Darn Crafty

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Dawn at Creative Cain Cabin for Budget Decorating Party
Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Mondays
Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Table Top Tuesdays

Leslie at House on the Way for Twirl & Take a Bow

Mary Beth at Cupcakes and Crinoline for Project Inspired

Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

Karin at The Style Sisters for Centerpiece Wednesday

Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home

Pamela at From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

Jody & Stan at Rooted in Thyme for Simple and Sweet Fridays 

Amanda at Serenity Now for Weekend Bloggy Reading

The Tablescaper at The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays