It's all apart of life's pageant

Daily Routine - recap

The WINNER is: RENEE D!!!! please contact me paula@bigpicturescrapbooking.com

Let's take a breather this weekend and just let it all sink in before I share more on Monday ...

Remember it's good to change things up once in awhile! Sometimes we get stuck in a rut and it's so hard to get out. By just changing one thing - like having breakfast in the morning, can make a positive change in your day and before you know it you are slowly working your way out. Other times we need to do something differently because what we used in the past, may not work for us RIGHT now.

Those of you who are drinking more water - GOOD for you!!! Now some of you have expressed that you are more thirsty than ever. Here is my theory and I picked this up from watching Dr. Oz:

• When people eat too much and don't drink water, their bodies become used to getting their water through food instead of drinking it. So they get the feeling of HUNGRY when their bodies need water. Which makes them eat more, but not drink anymore
• If you have been drinking soda and eating salty food and only getting your water through food for a long time, you may be very dehydrated, so it may take a while before you've replenished your body's supply of water. When you are used to getting your water through drinking, you will generally feel thirsty more often than a body that is used to getting its water through eating.
• When you start drinking more water from your bottle, you will feel thirsty when your body needs more water, because your body would really rather you drink the water than eat it, it gets into your system faster.
• You may be flushing out toxins. Things like breathing polluted air, preservatives, smoking, not washing off your makeup, drinking caffeine or alcohol, or taking many medications. For many of the toxins, not all, the most effective way to get rid of the toxin is to flush it out. Toxins that you can't flush out with water get removed by sweating or going #2. Depending on how much toxins you have you may be extra thirsty, even if you aren't dehydrated anymore.

Daily Routine - maintenance

SORRY! Has been a busy day and couldn't get to the computer - the WINNER is: CAROLYN MAYUMI!!!! please contact me paula@bigpicturescrapbooking.com

You are probably thinking 'what is maintenance and what is she going to write about now?' I thought we would lighten it up and discuss what I call maintenance. This is what I consider vital in anyone's daily routine and we all do most of it: skin care - including face, hands, feet, arms & legs, and our mouth. I think that this kind of maintenance is SO important and even more so since I will be knocking 40's door down this summer! Who else out there is going to be 40 this year???

Since we are on the topic of 40 let's start with the face. I have to admit that I am starting with some good genes - 100% Japanese. But before you discount this I am of the sun worship generation - I spent every sunny moment outside when I was little and when I was a teenager I used baby oil so I could get even more tan. I even went to the tanning beds - Tropical Breeze tanning salon. College - well just more of the same, I don't think I owned a bottle of sunblock until my late 20s. Now you can see why I am freak about skin care and I have only been doing it for about 10 years the 'right' way. Okay back to the face...

Here are five tips for your face, from my estehtician and good friend Aleta Fouks (if you live in the Portland, Oregon area I highly recommend going to Aleta!):

1. ALWAYS ALWAYS wear sunblock on your face - 30 spf, everyday sunny or cloudy
2. Be sure to cleanse your face at night. You need to wash off the pollution, oils, makeup etc from the day
3. If you have dry skin cut out washing your face in the morning - just use a non alcohol toner on your face
4. Just because someone else can use a certain product doesn't mean that it's going to work for your skin type. Sometimes using the wrong product on your skin can make matters worse. 
5. Drinking water is important for your overall well being. Just like we discussed a few days ago. Water will help cleanse your system, detoxifies, which makes for 'cleaner' skin.

Make an appointment with an esthetician. You need to find out from a PROFESSIONAL what your skin type is and what your skin is doing right now. I don't recommend the make-up counter girl for this. The dermatologist (your health insurance may cover this) might be okay as long as you don't get sucked into doing chemical peels and buying tubes of Retin-A, see tip number four above.

My skin is more on the dry side, sensitive and I have some adult acne - not bad but just annoying since I am going to be FORTY. Most all of my facial products are by Dr Temt, and I purchase this from Aleta. I used to get facials once a month and just starting this year I am going to be going every other month. Unfortunately like many out there, we (Kirk and I) are making some cut backs. I hate to do this and I won't ever totally cut facials out - but I will make choices to cut things that are less important,like do I really need the three DVD Netflix membership or a facial?

My night face regimine: I wash my face with Chamomile Cleansing oil and then I put on eye cream, under eyes and on the lids. Then I apply, to my face and neck, an anti aging serum and night cream. I don't skimp on my night cream (by Dr. Temt) and a jar of night cream goes a long ways because you use very little. I rarely miss a night - even if we are getting in late. Night is when your skin is repairing so get a goods night's sleep for healthy skin. For my lips I put on some Burts Bees or Nivea lip balm and then I take a baby toothbrush (you know the ones that you get for babies) and actually brush my lips. This takes off any dry skin and then I reapply the lip balm. Done in less than five minutes. Once you have a professional determine what type of skin you have there are some great over the counter products you can buy. Some of my favorites are: Cetaphil (great cleanser), Philosophy (I sometimes use the Purity cleanser) and Neutragena (love their sunblock line and moisturizer).

Daily Routine - Exercise

The WINNER is: MARYD!!! please contact me paula@bigpicturescrapbooking.com

Update: taking a break on Thursday - but check back on Friday!

I wonder if exercise is the most dreaded word in the world? This has been the hardest thing to incorporate into my daily routine. I am doing much better - but there is always room for improvement.

Personal Trainer.
I know in this economy it probably isn't feasible to hire a personal trainer. But because of the economy there may be some great programs at affordable rates. Read here on how I found mine. Just like in Weight Watchers I needed to have accountability, going to a trainer gives me that. The trainer is also someone that pushes you to your limit and is there to guide you through this process. We don't belong to a gym anymore because it was a total waste of money for us. Plus if you wanted to get any kind of training you had to pay additional on top of your monthly membership. On a normal week (not traveling) I see Cory twice a week for 45 minutes to an hour at noon, usually on Wednesday and Friday. We do mostly strength training but it seem aerobic to me because I am constantly moving and readyt collapse. During the workout I can't wait for it to be over but in the end I am always glad that I went! Since I have been working with him my % of body fat has gone down, very happy with that.

Aerobic exercise.
Since I don't have a gym membership anymore and the weather in the Pacific NW is less than desirable right now, Cory suggested that I look for a stationary upright bike on Craigslist.com. I needed to do some aerobic exercise at least 30 minutes everyday and if it was raining or freezing outside I wasn't doing anything! I liked this suggestion because the footprint of the bike wasn't going to take up a lot of space - not like a treadmill. There is a ton of hardly used equipment out there for sale. Check out those options before buying anything new. Since getting it back in January I have used it almost five to six days a week when I am home. Kirk thought for sure that this was going to become a clothes hanger but I have stuck to it. I really like the ability to go upstairs, wheel it into the bedroom and watch my DVRd shows anytime I want. My ideal time would be in the morning before I head to yoga but most of the time sleeping in is WAY more important so I jump on when I get back from yoga and hit the shower. Cory is now having me monitor my heart rate so we can start some interval training on the bike. I use a Suunto heart rate monitor, I see they don't even have my model anymore it's like the t3c. I have had it for a year now and still don't know how to use all the bells and whistles - so my advice to you is get a basic one! I think this is very important to monitor because you want to be at our optimum heart rate for whatever goals that you have. Whether it be losing weight or improving your cardiovascular. I am very anxious to get in better shape to start this type of training - right now my heart rate races up and takes too long to come back down. This is my winter aerobic exercise - the spring/summer plan will be different so stay tuned.

Strength Training.
I also do this at home with the TRX Suspension Trainer. This contraption is amazing! We have ours set up in the door jam of the guest room. If you have time watch the videos - it will show you all the exercises that you can do with just two straps and your own weight. The trainer recommended this because it also travels really well. I have yet to bring it with me on any trips, but I see using it when we take longer ones. This is the one thing that I don't do often enough - even though I HATE my flabby arms and back boobs, yes back boobs. UGH. By the time I am done on the bike I need to get in the shower and get down to work. But in reality if I just took another 15 minutes to do my back and arms workout it would make a huge improvement.

Yoga.
I could do a whole series of posts on Yoga. It is the one thing that I will get out of bed for (well not the only thing, but you get what I mean) and drive 15 mintues to get to the studio. I say this because the gym was not even a mile from our house and I NEVER went. For me Yoga encompasses many things; exercise, mindfulness, flexibility, strength and calming my mind. I regularly attend twice a week but strive for four or five. I attend the flow classes with the Friday class being a restorative Yoga class. My practice is definitely helping with my core strength, as I can see improvements when I work out with the trainer and also in some of the balancing poses. I am fortunate because there are several Yoga studios in my area. I researched a couple and felt most comfortable at Satsang. This is very important because Yoga can become a very personal thing.

Daily Routine - H2O

 

The WINNER is: AMY W!!!! please contact me paula@bigpicturescrapbooking.com

One of these three water bottles is always with me - downstairs in the office, bedroom, car, or briefcase. I used to have a hard time remembering to drink water. This caused several health problems for me. Not to mention my skin was a wreck with all the travel I was doing. Now I just make sure that one of these bottles is with me at all times. The Weight Watcher program is very adamant about drinking your daily water and when you don't, it definitely reflects on weigh in day. One of the things that I learned at WW about water is that usually nine times out of 10 you are thirsty, not hungry. So instead of reaching for something to eat, first drink a glass of water and see if you are still hungry.

During my January week long detox I was able to kick my Diet Coke habit. I have been amazed that I have lasted this long but I am over the cravings. My trainer said that for every soda drink that you have you should take 500 mg of calcium. I am really glad that I don't have to carry that around with me! I also quit drinking coffee almost two years ago. Now I drink water from the tap (actually my refrigerator dispenser), hot tea, almond/rice milk, and juice.

Update: Here is another alternative to the SIGG bottles - Nalgene. These are BPA free plastic and come in some great fun colors! They are about half the price (depending on style) and you can get them online or at any outdoor type store. We take these hiking with us because they are lighter weight - I may need to find one to fit in my purse!

I am definitely not always on track - I love the occasional glass of wine when we go out or my favorite cocktail of Chopin Vodka & Soda. It's only 80 calories!

In the summertime, if I have planned ahead, I will buy some cucumber and mint leaves to put in a water pitcher. I had this at the spa and was so refreshed, I couldn't get enough. Other additions to water are lemons and orange slices. I am looking forward to this summer since Stacy introduced me to the GurglePot. How fun is this going to be! Please visit their site and just listen to the gurgle - it really does sound like that!

Today's giveaway is:

• a white SIGG bottle to jump start your water drinking
• and three books from MM: Thinking of You, Paper Cachet and Ribbonrie

Leave a comment to be entered in the random drawing for the above giveaway! Winner will be announced tomorrow before 10 am PST.

Daily Routine - Breakfast

WINNER of the 'breakfast' package: SusanB!!!!! Contact me at paula@bigpicturescrapbooking.com

Update: Thank you for all the posts and great questions - I have updated this post in red  with some great information that I forgot to include.

I have received several inquiries about what my daily routine is. It's not rocket science but it works for me! When I can encompass everything into one day - it really is a good day. Sometimes I can only do half of the things and it still can be a good day. This week I am going to share with you the for sure things that I try to include in my daily routine. Then I will end each post with a fun giveaway!

Eating breakfast. Just a couple of years ago I was one who always skipped breakfast. I was either in a rush to get out of the house, wanted to sleep in (I am not a morning person!) or I thought it was cutting calories. All of those reasons were very poor excuses and once I worked in breakfast it has become second nature. This didn't happen overnight - I worked it into my schedule, at first only 3 days a week. I also came up with three different solutions depending on how I felt when I woke up or how much time I had.

First I always try to start with a warm glass of water with a half of lemon squeezed in it...

Quick - need it to go or just starting out...
Advocare meal replacement shake . I have been using this product for years. My trainer recommends it for people with busy schedules and also people who are trying to lose weight. It was actually a good way to work 'breakfast' into my day without a lot of work. It also came in handy for busy days and I didn't have time to stop for lunch. Which btw was very common for me to do; not only skip breakfast but skip lunch and then guess where I was headed at one or two pm??? The drivethru!

The shake solution also works for me because I don't have to have ingredients in my fridge. For those days that you need a really quick solution and don't want to skip that most important meal.

It has another convenience of portability! These packets go with me on every trip - so I can make really good decisions while on the road. That is usually where I fall off the wagon and find it hard to get back on when I get home. I highly recommend a shaker bottle, one that travels well. I use the Blender Bottle, but I know that Tupperware has a good one too. What I like about the Blender Bottle is the smaller 20 oz size and it's BPA Free.

This year I decided to become a distributor of Advocare because I buy so much of it and I really do believe in the products. I will talk more this week about the other stuff that I use.

Update: For fellow WW people the Advocare shakes are only 4 points!

Have a little time to enjoy your morning...

This is a smoothie recipe that my nutritionist gave me and it is one of my favorites. There are so many variations and twists that you can make with this. Using a hand blender (this is what I have):

• 2 heaping tablespoons of Whole FAT yogurt (yes, whole fat - less sugar and you eat less of it! I am big fan of Nancy's organic) Now if you are trying or don't do dairy you can add 1 cup of almond/rice milk. Remember my detox days from January??!
• Handful of berries (1/2 cup) I use frozen fruit because you want it 'slushy', my favorite is blueberries (costco) and mango (trader joes)
• 1 to 3/4 scoop of WHEY protein powder (do not use soy based) I use the vanilla Trader Darwins Whey Protein Powder from Trader Joes because it is very inexpensive. Sorry, I know not everyone has a Trader Joes...just make sure whatever you get has no soy and don't pay over $12 for 16 oz
• 1 scoop of Green's First - this is something that I added to this recipe, not neccessary. I get this from my esthetician and it insures that I get all of my vegetable/fruit servings and then some. It has helped my skin over the last three years!
• Add a little bit of water - less than an 1/8 of cup, this is just to make it a little less thick
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or flax seed oil. I do the flax seed oil because of less caloires and I need to get my Omega 3s
• BLEND
• Then stir in 1 teaspoon of Psyllium whole husks, you can get this in the health food section. It is a fiber supplement. ONLY add this if you are committed to drinking your daily water intake for the day.

This is not a snack smoothie! With the whole yogurt, oil and protein powder you will be FULL, I promise. Play around with this recipe and once you do it once or twice you won't have to look at the directions and it should only take five minutes to make. This smoothie is what I usually have when I am not traveling. I have also been known to have it for lunch too!

Update: For fellow WW people this smoothie ranges in points depending on your variations, five to seven points.

Back to a regular schedule

but with a twist! If you can believe it I have some more giveaways to do starting on Monday. They will be announced at the end of my regular scheduled posts. Here is a sneak of what they are...

I am still working on my work flow video and waiting for a good hair day. But in the meantime I am doing some more purging in other areas of the house. Today while cleaning it felt good to open a few of the windows to let the fresh air in.

Hope you are all having a great weekend and please let your friends know about the giveaways starting on Monday!

My Office - part 6

While I would love to have a handwritten journal, I just don't make time to do it. Because I am in front of the computer 80% of the day, my blog has become somewhat of a journal. I [heart] blogging for this reason. For 2009 I would like to share the happenings of my life and hopeful that some of that information could be valuable to someone else.

Are you ready for My Office - part 6 and last installment? Before I get started I want to cover a great question that I received. Frances: Do you work standing up or sitting? Great question Frances! I do both - mostly standing but when I do sit I have a counter high chair that I found at Pier 1. It has a back and is cushy leather. It was on SALE for under a $100! Just a reminder that my worktable isn't set up to sit at because there is no place to really put your knees. So if you like to sit this is something to take under consideration.

In the coming weeks I will be putting together a video showing you my room and also a video of my work flow when scrapbooking. Of course I need Kirk to be in town and a good hair day!

Now I am going to show you areas of inspiration for me. I like to collect things old and new and finding ways to display them in my area. These two display shelves are above my computer area. I might be switching these shelves to the other wall (to the left) because I would like to hang something else here. Artwork and more inspiration boards.

The doll at the very end standing is 'Birdie'. She was made by Chrissy and Lulu and I had to have her when I read her description: She is a free spirit. Loves to dance & sing (badly) If there is a ruckus in the doll room, we know Birdie was on a tear. Caution: Birdie will not follow rules. Hide the chocolate. The next doll sitting represents my love for fairies. Her name is Milli and she celebrates July. This gal does some amazing work and you need to go very early to the local craft show or everything will be sold out. The other stuff is my collection of random 'P's, old hat, old camera, fisher price toy...the spare me the drama plaque - right now it has to be my all time favorite piece. I found this at the right time in my life.

The bottom shelf you can see the beginnings of my ribbon storage! This is also done by color and I use misc jars from Target, Goodwill and Ikea.The dark haired doll on the end is my first Blythe doll - Love Mission. I haven't spent as much time as I would like with her but plan on buying some stuff when I go to Japan and get more involved. The cute little red door is my Fairy door. If you are looking for special gift this is perfect. It comes all packaged with directions and even fairy dust! The doll at the very end (you can see her better up top) is Penny (from Chrissy & Lulu).

Now remember in the beginning how I was talking about wanting an entry way? This is why...

You can see the door to the left - and a glimpse of Jesse! I have moved the dog beds, they are usually right in front of the bench.

The walls are painted a Hunting Coat Red by Ralph Lauren. Again I had my local hardware/paint store mix this color for half the price. So finding furniture for this area proved not any easier than the office furniture. I was looking at cabinets, amoires, shelving units...they were either WAY out of my price range or on the other end of them spectrum not very well made.

Then Stacy and her mom came to the rescue! Did you know that Stacy's mom is a savvy decorator??? She has the same set up in her Music/Memory room but in white.  It is the PB Samantha Entryway collection, two PB Studio Wall shelves all installed closely together. When you put these pieces all together they look like one large piece.This area needed to function in three ways. 1) entryway 2) book and ribbon storage 3) display inspiration pieces

This is our entryway 'area' - the mirror was a steal at Kohls for $25 and the white shelf is from the Shabby Chic line at Target. This shelving unit holds some business books and a baket of mini albums. the ceramic pieces on top - bowls found at TJ Maxx is a catch all for keys and the vase is made by a Hood River artist Trudi Klinger/Mystic Mud Studios.

My Office - part 5

Happy Saturday and Happy Valentines day!  Here's some Valentine humor from Someecards:

I am just going to jump into my office tour part 5! Starting with my basket tower. There is a story to this and I had to enlist the help of my friend.  When I was looking and drooling over my friend Margie's craft room (which btw is AMAZING!) I came across this photo and immediately emailed her wanting to know the details. Of course I got the response that I didn't want to hear... 'I got it at TJ Maxx a year ago' UGH - love and hate that place because of the hit and miss inventory. But I rushed down to my local TJ Maxx with printed picture in hand just to see if they had one or could tell me who made it. No luck. So you know (I know you know) how you get fixated on something and that is the only thing that is going to work??!! That is where Jeanette comes in and her talent of researching. I put her on the hunt and within minutes I had all sorts of ideas coming from her through email but she couldn't find that exact piece. She did find this one though - it was perfect and actually a much better piece for this space. Not as tall and not as deep. I also liked the mix of metal and natural - something I was missing in my space.

This basket tower holds my overflow of photo albums. The slip in kind - I buy these at Target when they go on clearance. As you can see I am two baskets full so no more for me until I use these and make room for more.

And the last basket is full of a new found craft - felting...I like to dabble. Mostly I like to make pieces for jewelry.

Okay the next area (long awaited) is my main scrapbooking supply area. It is behind where I work so everything is easily accessible to my work area. It is made up of three Bonde Ikea shelves. Because I have 9 foot ceilings I wanted to take advantage of the height of the Bonde because I was thinking of gettng the Xpedit. Plus the Bonde shelves are adjustable, which comes in handy when you are storing odd supplies.

[HINT] By being color & themed organized you are able to clean up very quickly when you are done with a project. This was taken a day after my Puerto Rico layout. If you are like me I have to have a clean slate before moving on to the next project!

Here is a look at the first section. On the very top shelf I have some display items for photos shoots and extra storage pieces.The shelves below that include a lazy susan (from Target) with some metal findings in spice jars, painting tools and my jar of yellow/gold ribbon. Below that is my red/pink cardstock and patterned paper stored in Cropper Hopper Vertical storage holders. I really like this way of storing my paper - I just wish that they were crystal clear. The silver metal baskets are old locker baskets that I found at an antique store (with the help of a good friend) for $12 each. These two shown below are holding my mini albums and stationery. Obviously I have a mini album addiction...this would be an indication to purge but I already did! Then you can see my Xyron (this has to be one of my top five tools) and yellow/orange/rust paper.

Going down...on the left side are my paper packs and my purple paper. The turqouise bin holds adhesives, glue, pop dots, etc. (My back stock of adhesive is my super secrect storage place) The bin is from the home section at Target. I haven't seen this color there in awhile but I have seen pink and red. Below that are my kits from Cocoa Daisy or other projects. With my Cocoa Daisy kits I give myself about three months to do something with the kit as a whole. After that it gets taken apart and put away. The three drawer unit below that holds all my coloring pens, American Craft precision pens, and office pens.

 

I have two of these six drawer units that you see above. These are my theme drawers. This one holds: Family/baby, Creativity, Seasons, Christmas/Winter, and antique ephemera. Last drawer is empty! :) These items need to be very specific - it just can't be a pink bow (that would go in the pink drawer) but if it was a pink bow with the words 'baby girl' on it then it would go in the appropriate theme drawer.

[HINT] I am finding that I am buying less and less of this type of theme stuff and buying more general items that can be used for anything. I can tell, for myself, that most of this stuff seems to sit for a long time before I actually use it or eventually give it away. I see half of these drawers going away in about a year.

My Office - part 4

I have been following this blog for some time now and just the other day he had this post: How to Declutter an Entire Room in One Go. He has some great tips to follow that make the task less daunting - the sorting process is what I try to use.

The WINNER of the Spanish Memories product is BECKY in VA!!!! contact me at paula@bigpicturescrapbooking.com

Welcome to Part 4 of my office tour! It has been wonderful to hear from all of you and love your questions. Keep them coming! We are going to continue with the lower section of this area

This is a PB Bedford lateral file cabinet. This file drawer works really well with the heavy weight that I have in there. The drawers pull out smooth and ALL the way.

These lateral files hold my cardstock scraps (by color), bulk stock of cardstock (for invitations) sticker/rub ons alphabets and idea tear sheets.

These are all my sticker/rub ons alphabet sheets sorted by color - most of them are black or white.

Jodi asked a great question yesterday and she wanted to know what I do with the chipboard letters that are adhesive backed. Those are in here by their respective color. Or if they are plain chipboard I have a plain section - this is what I am talking about, these are from Basic Grey.

[HINT] I really like having this section of 'plain' because if I can't find the color that I really want I can paint some to match.

This is an example of what is in my white section. The multi colored sheet I have two of and I keep the other one in the black. Somethings like this are based on total preferance as to how you would sort it. If I only had one sheet I would have probably put it in my black section because that is the color I use the most.

The next section to cover are the Alex drawers from Ikea. I have been very happy with these drawers and was pleasantly surprised with their quality. I have two units - one to hold my jewelry making supplies and the other to hold my sewing supplies.

My Office - Part three

The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most. John Ruskin

Thank you for all of your comments and I hope that I have the questions that some of you had.

From Cindy: My only "issue" is that if I separate all of my alpha stamps like that...how in the heck do I bring any to crops and stuff? Know what I mean jelly bean??
You would ask that question! Obviously I don't go to many crops, but when I do I have to be very organized and plan out my pages. Since this is once or twice a year - I usually just take alphabet stickers or rub ons. Most of the time though I am working a on a project like a mini album so I can plan to use one alphabet stamp set throughout. So I just round up the stamps in a ziploc baggie and put in the stamp pad I will be using!

From Frances: what do you do about acrylic alpha sets? Also, there's a weird anal-retentive part of me that deems it necessary to know the maker of products I use (as if I'd be quizzed by the Scrapbooking police--"who makes these alphas you used in Layout A?") and if everything is jumbled up, how would I answer?
Great question Frances - My acrylic alphabet sets... I only have two large sets from Technique Tuesday. And most likely I will break those up since I don't have that many. The other acrylic alphabet sets I have are the teenie tiny ones from CTMH. Those are in that larger wooden drawer - mini alphabet drawer. On knowing the manufacturer... I think you might surprise yourself that you could remember most of them - especially if you were under the pressure of the Scrapbooking Police. You crack me up! LOL! These drawers have made me use what I have and also be a little more creative with my words/titles.

Here is my COLOR storage! I was a little hesitant at first, but now I have totally embraced this way of organizing. This is a PB Bookcase that I got 20% off because it was a floor display. The clear plastic drawers are from the Container Store and are actually men's shoe drawers. This storage idea came from Beth Proudfoot in the book The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker by Wendy Smedley and Aby Garvey. There are women's shoe drawers that are smaller in size. But if you have the space to accomodate the larger size go with that. The large size can hold some of the larger sticker sheets. The electric typewriter was a find on eBay.

Here are my colors: white/clear, black, orange, red, green, brown, blue, yellow, pink, and purple. When I first started out, some of the colors shared drawers because I didn't have enough to warrant a whole drawer. The extra two drawers top left are: metal findings and misc chipboard shapes.