My Cottage Studio

My Creative Cottage. This is a work in progress, my labor of love. Actually, my friends and family’s labor and my love! LOL! So much of my heart and soul have been put into this space that went from the “Scrap Shack, to “the Shack’ to My Creative Cottage. That was because my dear customer and friend, Georgann told me one day after we added crown moulding that we could no longer call it a shack. It was so much more than that.

She was right. It is much more than that. It has become a community where women gather and feel safe to share a piece of themselves with each other. We have laughed, cried and vented. Because everyone knows, what happens at the cottage, stays at the cottage. When wives and moms are supposed to be out “grocery shopping” and are enjoying a creative escape instead, it brings joy to my heart. That is what this cottage has become to me, my heart.

I love sharing it with others. So, please stop by and say hi or sign up for a class today! It is so much more than scraps of paper and glue, it is the bond of the strong, inspiring women who have become such a big part of my life. Another reason I am a “Blessed Scrapper.

I know you have been waiting patiently! I had an awesome open house last weekend and everyone was so excited for me and the results of our “makeover” So, as promised now that the event is over I am posting pics. If you don’t know the story of how all this began, click on My Creative Cottage for the back story.

How did this all happen? Why now? were the questions. Long story short. I share this space with my team of consutlants. When Heidi and I were talking about dates she needed we started talking about projects I wanted to complete in there. I am always dreaming you know. As it turns out, her hubby works in construction doing flooring. So, it was born. Adding the floor meant I had to move everything out. So, naturally we had to paint the walls. The color I always wanted was weet leaf. And it’s like “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”. If I was getting that color on my walls all my furniture had to be painted. I love black for it’s elegance and dramatic effect. I have loved toile and this color palette forvever. I am a classic girl I guess.
Keep in mind, this is still a work in progress and I will be posting a few more pics soon.

I chose sweet leaf for the walls. I actually took the cardstock swatch in and they matched it perfectly! All of this was done (except for the floor) with paint and reorganization.

Here we cut the long shelves down and split them to create more of a design element and I needed an inspiration board. I trypically work here standing up. Everything is within my reach so it works out really well. I even organized my drawers so i can find everything. Imagine that! *wink!

This antique amore used to be a sea foam green, with doors. I painted it black and hubby added a shelf. I like it for open display. At one time we used this for our TV in our bedroom so it didn’t have a back. I left it that way and I really like the sweet leaf wall as the back drop for the artwork.

Again, here we split the shelves and added a cabinet in between. I also painted my shutters black. Which serves as a great card display and the work really stands out with the black background. The custom curtains really show now with the new floor. Those were made by my girl, Trudy. She is amazingly talented. She also made the chair back cover and bought me that cute pillow. That chair was a “gift” ftom a hubby a few years ago. He found it on the side of the road and brought the poor, ragged seat thing home to me. It was in good hands though. It looks great now!

I really could not have done ANY of this without my husband, and my partner in crime (just scraplifting-it’s ok) and crafting, Trudy. They dedicated a whole weekend to this endeavor and of course it happened to be on the HOTTEST and most humid days of the summer. I was prepared with lots of chocolate (for my hubby of course) and endless bottles of water. Scott played “his” music from his Ipod and we literally ROCKED it out!!!

Here are some of the behind the scenes photos.
Thsi what it looked like before the mayhem of painting began. Isn’t the floor beautiful? Guess what? when you drop a brad now, you can FIND IT!!

We couldn’t have done it without Krylon spray paint. It dries in minutes so you can keep truckin’. If you look close you can see the red trigger sprayer thing she is using. This was GOLDEN! No painted fingers or cramps in your hands. For only a few bucks you add it to any spray paint can and it works like a CHARM! I think in total we went through 15 cans.

Before the cabinet was painted. YIKES!

Thanks for looking and I hope you are inspired to pick up a can of spray paint. If you have any questions, please ask. I just love to talk design and trash to treasure.

Until Then-
Blessings-
Sarita

Journey from Garage to Scrapbook Room A.K.A “My Creative Cottage”

I LOVE trash to treasure projects. Not saying my husband’s workshop was “trash”, but I’ve really made it into a treasure.

The journey from garage to scrapbook room started the spring of 2005. As I was staring out the window one day my eyes were fixed on the detached garage/workshop that my husband sadly was not using as he was serving in Iraq. As I was thinking about my scrapbook business at the time and what my challenges were at the time. It occurred to me that that space would make a great scrapbooking studio/classroom.

It must have been a message from God, because not many would have been inspired by this:

The more I really thought about it I was able to really envision what a great gathering place this would be for my customers and my team.

So, of course I had to talk to my husband about this idea and we could only talk once a week on Sunday, his day off. So, I started planting seeds about this great project idea I had for when he returned. As the weeks went on I was getting even more motivated and excited as my business was growing. He could tell and finally said, well, what are waiting for. Go do it now if you want. So, all you could hear was the sound of my car keys jingling as I was racing out the door to Home Depot. After I said goodbye to my hubby and told him thank you a million times of course.Looking back, I know now, he would have let me do just about anything to keep my sanity at the time. So, if transforming the garage would keep me out of trouble, he was okay with that.

Just a side note: I wasn’t taking it from him completely, we just moved him into the garage next door, which had room for his tools and the car. This was no small undertaking. So, I called my girlfrends of course to help me.

There were so many pairs of hands that were helping my dream come true.
And so the journey from garage to scrapbook studio began. I learned how to tape, mudd and paint.

Taking on a project of this proportion was a great way to keep my mind of the fact that my husband was in a war zone. This was my escape.

Upon his return in the fall of 2006 we worked side by side to continue the transformation. He is an electrician as a civilian so that came in handy. He helped me plan adequate lighting, added cabinets and counter tops. It was our way of reconnecting with each other as we became “Team Schraeder” again. He was restless, so this was a great thing to keep his mind occupied.

I started teaching classes and was thrilled with my home away from home. It was a great place to escape to as adjusting to life with a husband home from war can be difficult. This was my healing place, my creative therapy.

As time went on I needed even more space, no I didn’t take the other garage, although I thought about it. *wink. Instead, we decided to remove the garage door to give me more wall space. Conveniently, a stamping store in town went out of business and I bought a ceramic counter top for $50. It was the perfect size for the NEW WALL!!

The summer of 2007 my wonderful hubby took on this major project, and thus My Creative Cottage was born. He removed the garage door and built a wall with windows. Oh and the summer before we added the concrete pad for parking as well.

Thanks for letting me share a piece of me with you.

Blessings-

Sarita