IT HAS FINALLY ARRIVED...................... I have been on pins and needles to say the least waiting on HGTV'S March 2014 issue and now that it has finally arrived, I am in awe..........A huge THANK YOU to HGTV for a once in a life time experience that I will NEVER forget. warning warning warning............ okay you have been WARNED.......... PHOTO OVERLOAD AT THE BOTTOM my post today is SUPER DUPER LONG..........I am ever so grateful for the entire process of being featured in the magazine that I want to share it with you all PLUS since I haven't been able to share my ENTIRE craft room with you all there are a MILLION PICTURES at the bottom....so sit back, grab a cup of coffee, cocoa, glass a wine, water or whatever you like and read along............. September 17, 2013 at 8:45am to be exact, I had a once in a life time experience. Before I share that awesome day with you all, let me give you a bit of background as to why HGTV came to my home. Last year my bestie gave me a subscription to HGTV magazine....LOVE LOVE LOVE their magazine. Anyhoo, back around the beginning of 2013 the editor had a small article in the front of the book about I believe a small scrapping space that she had at home and she wanted to know if anyone else had a space that they loved....soooooooooooo of course I decided to just send a picture of my space to the email address in the book. Didn't really think anything of it. Well fast forward about 2 months after that. I got an email from one of the editors that wanted to know more about my space. HELLO.........you don't have to ask me twice. I emailed her back sharing with her how I had been in our 3rd car garage for just about 10 years and then my son moved out and I got the room upstairs. I sent her lots of photos of the room as well. Even though the room was only 50 percent done... Well a few months passed and I never heard anything more..........FAST FORWARD to around the end of August 2013, they contacted me again and said that they loved my room and wanted to feature it in their March 2014 issue.........along with my MUG SHOT. WHAT THE..................OMG OMG OMG.............I totally wanted to scream............omg omg omg. I have had the privilege of having lots of my work published in magazines, BUT NEVER MY FACE...........that just takes it to a whole new level...at least for me. But check this out, after of course I told her YES....duh of course I said yes. I told her that, that was awesome that they were going to have a section in the March issue with scrap rooms..........she proceeded to tell me that...........OH NO, JUST YOU AND YOUR ROOM........... WHAT THE..........OMG OMG OMG.... She said they had gotten several emails, but chose mine. Okay the only thing I could think of was that, THAT WAS ALL GOD....I mean really....I have seen so many beautiful to die for rooms on Pinterest and to choose mine..........ONLY GOD COULD HAVE MADE THAT HAPPEN....boy I felt so blessed and grateful. After this point I was on a mission to get the room as close to 100 percent done as I could. .............OKAY SO NOW ON TO THE VERY BIG DAY............ SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 AT 8:45AM 4 People showed up: 2 photographers, 1 stylist and 1 hair and make-up lady Photographer: John Merkl Oh my HGTV couldn't have sent a more amazing, talented photographer...just check out his web site. His work is simply breathing taking. John also brought along an assistant by the name of Daniel Hurlburt . They both made sure that all of the lighting in the room was perfect. Pro Stylist: Marjolijn Reuter Marjolijn was so awesome to work with. She was the one to help with deciding what I should wear, but mostly with setting up the scenes in the room for taking the pictures. As in placing this ribbon here or placing stamps here. She also was in charge of putting me in certain places in the room and having me wrap a package, or stamp something etc.......I must say I have a whole new appreciation now when I look through magazines. Well at least HGTV'S magazines. They are very precise down to a piece of string...where it should be placed or not placed.......WOW WOW WOW Hair and Makeup Artist: Akela Douglass This gorgeous lady was in charge of doing my makeup and hair....I didn't even know I was going to be having my hair and makeup done. But oh my, I was excited about it because I have never in my life had my makeup done (don't wear much) and the only person that has ever done my hair is my mom and myself. So I was looking forward to having someone make me all pretty. (smile) She does amazing work. The team took several pictures of the room..........I MEAN LOADS. I was placed in 3 of the shots. One wrapping a present, one pulling out paper and the last one stamping on a sheet of paper. All along while the hair and makeup lady would touch me up a bit, fix my clothes etc.... IT TRULY WAS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE. Thank you so much Jaimie Dalessio for choosing me and sending only the best people to work with. You all are in a league of your own. Now that I have the magazine in my possession...........I can now share my space with you all...a few things have changed since the photo shoot but not many....I still have a few more odds and ends to do to the room, but over all it's just about 100 percent done........ WARNING WARNING WARNING.............. PHOTO OVER LOAD............ I decided to just share photos instead of doing a video like many others do....me and the video camera are not always the best of friends........LOL YOU CAN CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO MAKE THEM LARGER....if you have any questions, feel free to email me..... [email protected] in the beginning: few different room views: updated photo I was using this cd tower for a rubber stamp display (still need to remove the bottom ones), but I don't use stamps that often, so since I love all kinds of ribbon, trim and lace, I have decided to fill the spots with all sorts of NEW TRIM that I buy (smile). this 9 drawer holds more ribbon that is wrapped on cardboard - the drawers are marked with a heart indicating the color of ribbon in the drawer then i have more ribbon in 7 of these jars.........all color coordinated I also love some tall vintage spools.....need to put something on the tall empty one..... Random shelf with more ribbon, trim and misc items.... Random close-up pics 12 by 12 paper 8.5 by 11 Holder I made out of a lazy susan, cake pans and candle holders from my bestie ....love it glitter, beads, embossing powder... some items that are in drawers the shelves on this island have like my cuttlebug, cutting board etc...the bins on the bottom shelf are paper scraps....each labeled with a heart indicating the color of scraps in the bin. sewing station memo board that i redid from bestie jars jars jars stamps are now on a ledge (picture ledge from Ikea) sprayed this a pretty yellow - .99cent thrift store find wrapping paper station iron bench - this bench actually folds up....love it...made all the pillows and seat cushions Well that's it everybody.... MY ROOM HAS CHANGED SOME SINCE THIS PUBLICATION - YOU CAN SEE THE LATEST PICS OF MY STUDIO HERE. On another note, many people have asked me what do I do in my room or what kind of crafts I like to make....I pretty much love making cards and little bags and boxes to hold goodies but mostly I design a lot of project samples for my business - THE CUTTING CAFE.....COME BY AND CHECK IT OUT. ALSO if you want to see the article online click here. and last but not least a little campaign to make us all think...i put this little note in all of my correspondence...... thanks for stopping by...........hugs