the dig...

so bloggers, have you had those moments when you're making stuff that you just start looking through other stuff for more inspiration?  i call it "the dig"... when you're just digging and scouring around looking for just the right thing that you've tucked away for just the right project in just the right color to give you just the right look!  oh please, you know exactly what i'm talking about.  i admit, i'm guilty of stock piling lots of cool treasures too, but in my defense i  actually use my stuff - it just so happens that i buy it faster than i can use it.  i can't help myself!  so i thought i would show you a pic of (one of many) digging grounds in my studio.  this is a clear shoe rack hanging on the back of the door with lots of pockets to tuck things away in.  i have them stuffed with all sorts of cool and eclectic finds from the newest of things, to stuff from companies of days gone by.  it's a great way to look at everything at once and see it all - even the doo-dads shoved into the bottom of the pockets.  so here is where i've been finding myself lately just digging and searching for the right accent to finish my projects - i find this very inspiring at times...

another thing i find inspiring is reading all of your comments.  wow, how cool is that to actually have comments to read just because!  i like the fact that many of you commented on on the post because you liked the idea, felt inspired yourself, and just plain enjoyed the blog.  thank you!  and like i said, you never know when i may give some stuff away, so congrats to the today's winners from yesterday's comments.  i'll be sending you some distress stickles, a heap of prima collage flowers, and a set of my visual artistry stamps just because you took the time to post a comment.  remember i do this blog for you, so i honestly enjoy hearing from you. i believe in one very important thing in life - you get what you give...t!m

congrats to the following winners!  please email me your contact info so i can send out your prize:
Ohh so pretty! I have to admit, I am a junkie for the Distress Stickles. They are so pretty and it just brings all projects to a new level.
Posted by: Jill | November 09, 2009 at 11:08 AM

The flowers look awesome.
Looking forward to seeing you in Carson this weekend!
Posted by: Renee | November 09, 2009 at 02:27 PM

sparkle, glitter, glitz - love these flowers! Will do up a few myself! Can't wait to see what you will be doing with them!
Posted by: Joy Meadows | November 09, 2009 at 04:40 PM

ooooh la la. Love your flowers. I always appreciate how your products have such versatility. As a consumer, it is a refreshing change to build on what we already own. Adding Distress Stickles or Rock Candy to what we already own, changes the affect so much. Thanks Tim. And BTW, you are a tease!!!
Posted by: Ida | November 09, 2009 at 05:05 PM

Very pretty and sparkly!!!!!!!!!!
The store where I teach has sold out of Rock Candy several times, every time I demo it or use it in a class. Everyone thinks it is pretty awesome. It really is pretty and awesome!!!!!!!!! Thanks for another tease.
Posted by: Freda | November 10, 2009 at 07:28 AM

LOVE the Distress Stickles even more than the regular ones! Is that possible??? These look like they've been kissed by the evening stars - just a hint of glimmer & glitz. They'd look great on ANY project!
Posted by: Susan Kesselman | November 10, 2009 at 08:41 AM

Comments

[Jenn]

It's nice to know that designers are hoarders too! lol

congrats to the winners :)

[Jill]

OMG I can't believe I won! I am doing a happy dance. Thanks bunches and congrats to the rest of the winners!

[Fay Leone]

I am out to purchase a clear shoe holder now...I am the digger the other diggers look up to!

[toni]

Tim... I have one of these shoe bags also, and your right... I do love digging through it to see what I can use. thank you for sharing. muah xoxox

[chel]

Hmmm... clear shoe racks for embellies... good idea!! Actually, I might use it for all my daughter's craft supplies. She has a ton (I started enabling her as soon as she could sit up!) and it'd be great if she could have them organized but see them easily, too!

[Madzie]

This is very cool. I just moved all the furniture in my studio yesterday so got a lot of stuff re-organized but I LOVE LOVE the idea of the shoe rack. Its fabulous and I'm going to Walmart to pick on up tonight. Thanks for the idea Tim....you RAWK!!!!!!!
Congrats winners, way cool!!!
x0x0x
Madzie09

[Eileen Bellomo]

congrats to the winners. and WHAT was I thinking all these years? I have shoes in my shoe rack. duh!!!
Eileen in NYC

[Madzie]

p.s. Love the doorknob doll...LOL its awesome.

[Naomi]

wow! the pockets of the shoe rack is like my wishlist!!!

you are amazing!!!

[Sara Carns]

I'm glad to know us females aren't the only ones with the hoarding problems, too. I spy so many fun goodies in that shoe rack... love it!

[Jessica Hess]

That shoe pocket organizer is very inspiring. I have thought to use it for punches, but not in the way that you are using it. I am digging it. I am trying to re-organize my creative space right now, so this is a help. Thanks, Tim.

[Jingle]

I do that! Just pull out containers and dig until I find a treasure! Of course, I think it would only take half a second to find treasure in that stash you have in that pic, but then again - any stash but your own always seems a bit more intriguing, now doesn't it! LOL! I do love that it gets me excited to use something super old all over again, though!

[Rowena Barnard aka craftypagan]

That's an awesome storage idea! I'm always digging around at the end of a project, it's the part that probably takes the longest! Congrats to those lucky winners!

[Lynna Gibson]

I wish I had the space to put all my stuff in.... right now I'm half living with a corner of my bedroom, but I'm ready to throw the bedroom stuff out and just make a craft room. I like the idea of the shoe rack thing tho... maybe that could help with some of the loose stuff. I wish I could remember what I had in storage, but I guess I don't miss most of it yet. I know there is a trunk full of vintage travel brochures & itineraries that I found at a flea market... I wish I had the room to get all of that stuff back out of storage... Maybe sometime.... Love the blog & all the great ideas! (not to mention freebies every now & then :D ) Can't wait to see your next big project.

[Carla H.]

Congrats to your random winners and thanks for your visual organizing idea..I could use multudinous doors at any rate! Keeping order in my work spaces is the most difficult task and I gravitate to those ordered lives to imagine how I might use their ideas in my spaces. Stopping by often, thanks again for inspiring lives..

[Dee]

Too cool, Tim! I'm with Eileen - what was I thinking using my shoe rack for SHOES?!! Another in a series of brilliant ideas from the master . . . you never cease to amaze me with the things you come up with :-)

[Christine]

What a great storage idea! I have more stuff than I care to admit and when it's out of sight, out of mind. Thanks again, Tim, for all your inspiration!
Christine in Ottawa

[Marilyn]

With ALL due respect, I think this shows the difference between guys and gals. I have one of those plastic pocket organizers. Mine is full of shoes! And there's shoes on the floor. And shoes in the corner. And... you get the idea. Usually "the dig" means "looking for the other shoe"! LOL!

But now... NOW... I want a plastic organizer for my supplies! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks for sharing! Cuz sometimes its about the specific creative project. And sometimes its about helping each other BE the most creative we can be.

So as soon as I find my other shoe, I'm going out to buy an organizer!

[Kathy Kurth]

lmao yes I know exactly what you are talking about.....I dig every single time I sit down to scrapbook lol by the time I'm done with a page my room is a disaster, I try very hard to explain this to my friends and why I don't go to crops because I can never just settle on an item lol.......btw I love love love the doll on the doorknob :D

[Becky]

Thanks for the idea. I can now dig in one place. I'm going to buy the shoe rack now.

[Donna]

Hey Tim, I have one of those!!!! Not quite as full as yours but full enough! They are perfect for storing stuff in! And digging is fun, finding stuff you forgot about! Looking forward to seeing what your creative mind has been up to!!!!

[Karalyn]

That is a cool way to have your stuff stored! I would probably use more if it were out in the open. Thanks for the great ideas - as always!!

[RobinWade]

Hehe... I have some bins that are like that for me! Sometimes I just "dig" through them to see what inspires an idea!! Thanks again for all of your great inspiration!

[Terry]

Everytime I organize anything, I go and mess it all up again!!! I have a paint rack on the back of my door!! Congrats to the lucky winners and just maybe next time, I will see my name! Ha!

[Lynnda]

I am in the process of trying to bring some order to the chaos that I call my studio. How about som emore insights into where you find stuff and how you store it?
But thanks for sahring whatever...I love to hera what you are up to and i know it takes time.

[Pam]

What a fantastic idea. I have one of those shoe racks and decided I didn't have anywhere to put it (no door) but now that I've seen how you use yours, I'm going to find a place! Thanks for sharing!!

[Laurie Guidry]

I seem to ALWAYS be doing "the dig" !! It can be frustrating and fun at times. Love your shoe organizer over the door. Gotta find me one of those :) Thanks Tim for all your wonderful inspiration.

[Paulien van den Bosch]

me? huh... Noooooo... I never tuck things away. LoL... yep guilty too, I guess!

Oh how I would love to nose in that shoe rack of yours...

[Sherry]

Okay, this is a really cool idea to store stuff in. I have my punches in one, but never thought about all the other little trinkets, etc., that we pick up along the way! Thanks for showing us this!

[Mademoiselle Marie]

I love that shoe rack thingy of yours. it's perfect!
You actually SEE the stuff you normally just tuck away in some boxes. Next time I see one of those I'll buy one :)
Although I don't have as many awesome goodies as you do!

Keep on the surprise give aways.
That's a really nice idea - people tend to comment only when it's clearly stated that there's a chance to win something

[Pryn]

Digging is fun, but I always seem to feel embarrassed. The longer I dig, the more I realize that I may be a product hoarder with a serious shopping problem...lol ;)

[Mandy Ni B]

"it just so happens that i buy it faster than i can use it" what I quote! thats what I have been to trying to tell all the people around me!!

I am SO gonna make a giant (distressed of course) sign with that on it and stick it up on my craft room door.......

one in the kitchen.......on in the hall...and sure why not the front door too!!! just so any future visitors now I have a stash collection problem you see!! hehehe..love it!

that will go down in a book of quotes years from now too!

[Heike]

I so have to remember this. I just happen to buy it faster than I can use it... that's good. I'm a horrible pack rat myself, but I also use my stuff, just a looot slower than I buy it *lol*.

[Marlene Moore]

Is that a voodoo doll hanging on the door, lol.
Love how you have your special stuff in that door organizer, not me though I have to be more neat and tidy :)

[Kelly Karas]

Even in my "artistic slump" I'm sure I could find something to get me going in your dig pile.

Love the idea of an over the door clear shoe bag, but I have no doors in my studio, I'm thinking modified and hanging from a really cool curtain rod might just do the trick.

Thanks for all of the inspiration you give us.

[muriel]

Congrats to the winners...and this shoe rack! Such a great idea! I must get one.

[Julie Howard]

The Dig.. LOL I think I do that before almost every layout... especially if I know I bought something for that particular photo, and I can't remember where I put it... then I find all kinds of other cool stuff while I'm looking for it.

Love the little zombie guy on the doorknob.. I have one that is similar :D

[Elise]

Managing the "inventory" is half the fun! What a fabulous idea, MR. Holtz! Tee Hee I believe that in the school of life - you majored in SHARING! What an excellent suggestion to share AND congrats to the winners of the shared loot! Too much fun!!!

[Debbie Ivester]

Ok now I have to pull out my shoe holder out of the packed container and put it on my door - I can fill it in record time. Thanks for your ideas.

[Tina]

so what does the rest of your studio look like? I am the kind who loves simple organization, but if I can't see it I don't use it...I love the comment someone else made about shoes being in shoe holders :) That is so me!

[Jennifer Dixon]

I have the same shoe holder hanging on the inside of my closet door in my studio. Mine holds tools right now but I have another that I am going to immediately fill up with doo dads so I can see everything when I want to create! After all, when you run out of horizontal place it's always a good idea to go vertical. Thanks for the great tip!

[Glyniss]

Glad to see that the professionals have some storage items that are as much of a conglomerated mess as mine!

[Jo W]

I love the shoe rack idea ... what a great way to actually see some of your stash ... I am totally copying your storage idea!!!! i too do use most of my stash, only at half the speed i buy it :)
Congrats winners! Lucky duckies!!!

[Barb S]

I love the shoe pocket idea for random "goodies." I tried one for storing my punches but it soon dragged on the ground :-( Seemed like a good idea at the time....!!

[Angie in Miami]

OMGosh I have soooo many "treasures" my hubby's always complaining that I have "TOO MUCH" - if only he knew how much is in hiding! teehee PS:Still can't find the ROCK CANDY DISTRESS PAINT my friend and I have searched High & Low! Any ideas on stores, tried Michael's, Joann's, Pearls, local SS... Ahhhh can't use credit card right now! HELPP!!!!

[Mahala]

Thems quite the digs you have there! Congrats to the winners!

[Barbara]

Oh man, I can SO relate to stockpiling treasures. I really like the shoe bag idea. Nice to see everything at a glance. I use clear containers. Unfortunately, they are piled on my floor. I have started putting things together by season though. That has been a big help. Now if I could only find about 8 more hours in the day to use for creating...(sigh).

[Kathy R]

I love that Idea of the shoe holder. I bury my misc stuff in a drawer and forget what is there. This way I can easily see what I have and use it.
Thx Kathy

[Julie H.]

Oh boy would I love to come and play in your Craft room for a day!! Way cool stuff to "dig" through! I also wanted to say thanks for the super cool giveaways.
I just love surprises and the other day you picked my name and I just got my prizes in the mail today!! You are too generous and I didn't have a single duplicate of anything you sent so it is all new stuff for me!!
Thanks again and congrats to the winners today!!

[Ms Freida]

Oh I bet your "digs" are better than mine! LOL! I have noticed though, that since I started paper crafting, nothing gets thrown away! My whole family comments on things I pull out of the trash or when I'm discarding clothing how I cut the buttons and cool trims off! Nothing gets by me! I have learned sooo much from you and your incredible talent! Can't wait to see what's next!
Congrats to the winners.... but I feel we all are winners when we have such inspiration in front of us! Thanks for everything you do! :)
hugs, Freida