Hocus Pocus Layout

Here is a fun layout I made recently using some really cute files from Little Scraps of Heaven Designs.  It's titled "Hocus Pocus" and I made it for my personal scrapbook for an upcoming event that I will be co-chairing where the theme is...wait for it... HOCUS POCUS!  I think this layout will be perfect for some of the awesome photos I'm anticipating taking of my friends in all their witchy glory!

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I just love how this turned out.  I made a pact with myself to use up some of the papers I've had forever and the background papers I used from Rusty Pickle (remember them???) worked perfectly!

Here's a closer look at the first page:

And here is the second page:

I created my own title using SCAL and a font called Frightmares from Letter Delights.  The cutting files I used from LSHD were Halloween Mats (Web Circle & Skull Square), Witches Hat, Double Trouble Witches (Cauldron & Broom), Caught In A Web (Spider, Web Border) and Banners Collection.  Don't you just love having files that go so perfectly together?  I sure do!

In case you'd like to check out the cut files for yourself, here's the link to the Little Scraps of Heaven Designs website:

http://www.littlescrapsofheavendesigns.com/ 

Hope you enjoyed looking at my layout!

Until next time ... Happy Scrapping!

LSHD September Sketch Challenge

Over on the Little Scraps of Heaven Designs Facebook Fan Page they are having a Sketch Challenge that runs until September 14th.  Anyone who posts a project that follows the sketch design and uses any paper piecing made from LSHD files has an opportunity to win $15 worth of free patterns!  Your project can be either a layout or a card that follows the sketch design. Remember that you can only use designs from LSHD to qualify.

A winner will be randomly chosen on Sept. 15th. But, if there are at least 10 entries, TWO winners will be chosen!  So what have you got to lose??? 

Here is what the sketch looks like:

If you haven't done one of these challenges before, I have to say that the sketch is actually pretty easy to follow.  When I first saw it, for whatever reason I immediately thought about my grandson's upcoming Reptile Birthday Party (crazy, right???). So here's my take on the Sketch Challenge:

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Your project can be any theme you want.  You just have to follow the basic design of the sketch.  How easy is that???

My layout uses four different LSHD paper piecing files.  They are:  Lizard, SSSS-elebrate (yellow snake), Boy Meets World (the grass and coiled snake) and Boy On A Limb (the tree).  I designed the "turning 7" part of the title in SCAL myself using the Mandingo font. You can use just one LSHD paper piecing file or a combination of files like I did.

Here are some close-up pictures.

Even though I am NOT a snake lover (eek!!!), I love how this snake turned out. I remembered that I had a texture plate that I got like 7 years ago and never used before that would work perfectly to make the snake skin texture. After running it through my Big Shot, I chalked it with a Frosty White CatsEye to make it look more like one of the boa snakes that "Python Ron" would be bringing as part of the party performance.  The boa's name is Banana....go figure!

So there you have it!  I hope that some of you will take advantage of the Sketch Challenge and enter either a layout, card, or both!  Here's a link to the LSHD Fan Page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Scraps-of-Heaven-Designs/62523771413

Until next time...Happy Scrapping!

Ready, Set, Go! Layout

Here is one of my layouts I made last week to submit for the Design Team at Little Scraps of Heaven Designs using several of their cut files.  I had just the perfect pictures to go with the Ready, Set, Go! files.  I also added the Sun and Clouds from the Bumper Boats file, the little peeking Frog is from the Raggedy Wizard file, and the Arrows on the roadway are from the This Way and That file.

I was really pretty excited about how this layout turned out.  As proud as I am of the layout, though, it's really all about the pictures.  This was my grandson Ace's first time driving the go-carts by himself at Boomers this past June, and just watching him have a great time was the best part of the day (even though it was like 103 degrees outside!). This Grandma was so happy she was able to capture some of that fun on "film".

Here is a look at the whole layout:

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First Page

Second Page

Close-up of the Frog.  He turned out so cute!

I just had to put the Number "6" on the car because

that's the age of my Grandson.

Happy little Sun and Clouds from the

"Bumper Boats" file

I printed up the Start Your Engines sign

and added it to the Lights.  Also added 

 little GO stickers to the green lights.

These flags were sooo easy!  Looks like a lot of

work but each one is just 3 pieces!

Close-up of the Cones and Tires.  Love

the little Tread details in the file!

Thanks for looking.  Until next time...Happy Scrapping!

Exciting News!!!

I received some really, really exciting news on Sunday morning that I can now share.  Yep, I am now a super proud Design Team member at  Little Scraps of Heaven Designs --- YAY!!!!  

Little Scraps of Heaven Designs, one of the companies that I purchase svg files from, had an open call for some new Design Team members so I thought "what the heck", let's do this.  I had submitted projects to other cut file companies in the past, but nothing exciting to report there (in other words...rejected).  But not this time people!!!!  

So once the decision was made to enter, the first thing I needed to do was to get going on creating two new projects using just their files. The requirement was to submit three, but I only had one layout and one card that used just their files (how embarrassing, right?).  I ruled out submitting the card because I wasn't sure it really showed off enough of my style.  Luckily I had recently purchased some new svg files from LSHD that I was planning on using right away, so decision was made on what to create!

This was just great news and I'm still on a huge high about it!!! So far everything has been amazing. I've been especially paying more attention to their Facebook page AND appreciating all the hard work that other DT members put into making weekly projects using the LSHD files to show existing and new fans how simple or versatile their svg files can be.  There are so many different styles and experience levels of scrapbooking so it's fun to see all the imaginative projects that people share on the Fan Page. Hopefully my projects will be able to give someone a little spark of creative enthusiasm along the way.

Oh, and a little perk for me is that I get to add ~LSHD DT (Little Scraps of Heaven Designs Design Team) at the end of my FB posts on their Fan Page. Yeah, it's strictly a status thing that I'm just a little excited about  :-)

So if you're not already a fan of Little Scraps of Heaven Designs, come on over to their Facebook page and check us out!  Here's a link for you:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Scraps-of-Heaven-Designs/62523771413

Until next time....Happy Scrapping! 

What A Mess!

It's always amazing to me how I think I am so organized in My Scrapbook Garden, but when I actually work on a project or two or three like I did this weekend, I can't find everything I need for that particular layout.  Most of my stash is put away so nicely in its own little container, but it's a never ending battle to find that perfect "storing" and "using" balance. I mean, seriously, how hard is it to make everything organized, accessible AND workable in real life???  Apparently I haven't completely figured that out yet, but I'm getting closer!  Every project offers a new adventure and learning experience in what works and what doesn't work.

So I was working on one scrapbooking project and decided mid-stream to jump right into a different one.  Next thing you know I've pulled out several plastic paper cases looking for just the "right" papers to use (mine are all sorted by theme), paper piecing tools are scattered everywhere, bling containers are all dumped out because I just know there's a package of orange rhinestones in there somewhere, chalks and punches are cluttering up the window sill, counter top is sticky from adhesive because I've buried not one, but two of my crafting mats underneath all those paper scraps, I know my desktop must still be there because I can barely see the legs, my paper cutter is doubling as a work area, and don't even get me started on what the floor looks like!  Where is that darned clean-up Scrapbook Fairy when you need her???

It is just way too easy to go from this:

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to this:

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Oh well.  I've read somewhere that a messy work area is a sign of a creative mind so I'm going with that.  The good news is that I actually got a couple personal projects completed last night and I'm off to a good start on a baby shower gift (which I really, really need to hustle on because the shower is this coming Saturday - yikes!).  May have to go to Plan B on that one and make a trip to Babies 'R Us instead.

More on how these projects turned out and some exciting news later!

Until next time... Happy Scrapping!

Santa Clara Scrapbook Expo

As usual, the Santa Clara Scrapbook Expo was an absolute fun filled time with my scrappin' Gal Pals. We celebrated two birthdays, went to two crop nights, won best decorated table contest (Woo Hoo, especially since we didn't even know about the contest -- just did a "surprise" circus themed table for our two birthday girls!!!), won some raffle prizes, found some great deals and had the absolute best time just hanging together.  It was a little bittersweet because my sister-in-law was flying back to Bangladesh the day after Expo, but we crammed in as much joy, laughter, and fun (not to mention food and, ahem, beverages) as we could in those 2-1/2 days to celebrate us all being together and to give her a proper send-off.

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Our surprise birthday table for the two birthday girls.  Biggest surprise was that we won for best decorated table ... prize was a certificate for a crop table for four at a Scrapbook Expo of our choice!!!

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Such a great bunch of gals - love our time together!

Our group would sometimes shop together on the Expo floor, but we would also go off individually to check things out. It was exciting to get together in my room later in the day and have a little "show & tell" to see what treasures everyone purchased.  We all have different styles of crafting so it's really cool to see the variety of items we each get, although there were a few "where did you find that?" comments and mental notes of "I need to go get one of those" LOL!

With that said, it is also way too easy to get caught up in everyone's excitement and seeing all the latest and greatest products being offered for sale.  I kept my spending in check this trip mostly because I wanted to shop smarter.  When considering a purchase, the three things I asked myself were: 1) Where will I put it? (My Scrapbook Garden supplies totally runneth over!);  2) Do I really need it?; and 3) Is this something that can wait until the next Scrapbook Expo in October?  

So I made what I felt were some really good, selective purchases and my handy new tote bag that I personalized proved to be just the perfect size for carrying them around.  It was sturdy enough so that NONE of the papers I purchased got their corners bent...a HUGE PEEVE of mine... and was wide enough so no embellishments got smashed. Everything I got had a purpose and was sooo easy to put away after I got home.  Patting myself on the back for sticking to the plan.

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My Expo stash

So there you have it!  Until next time ... happy scrapping!

My New Tote Bag

Santa Clara Scrapbook Expo is in a couple weeks!  I'm getting excited mostly because it's so much fun spending time there with my besties shopping, laughing, scrapbooking, laughing, people watching, laughing some more, and enjoying a beverage (or two or three).  The key word is definitely laughing!

Speaking of shopping, I came across this project tote bag in the Art section at Hobby Lobby the other day.  The color caught my eye so I checked it out, wanted it, then decided that the last thing I needed was another tote bag and hung it back up on the display hook.  I then continued browsing through the rest of the store and twice went back to look at the tote.  It was only $9.99 and I had my trusty 40% off coupon, it was made of sturdy plastic and large enough to hold 12x12 papers, had a couple of pockets inside, and so I decided "what the heck".  It was a good deal price-wise and, next thing I knew, the tote was mine.

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After looking at this tote at home for a couple days, I thought maybe I should do something to it to make it more "pretty" and more "me".  Hmmm....what to do, what to do???  While thinking about it, I looked up in my office and there was my inspiration ... the vinyl wording on one of my office walls and Voila! ... My Scrapbook Garden.  Of course!  This should obviously be included somehow on my new tote bag!

I wanted something a little humorous on it and here is my finished product.  I think it turned out pretty cool and it will definitely be something no one else has LOL!

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My Sizzix Eclips does such a beautiful job cutting vinyl, especially on the really, really small lines of the fancy font I used (Aquarelle).  I used Arial Black for the bolder font. I'm not going to lie - transferring the vinyl onto the tote bag was a little tricky due to all the little swirls and skinny lines in the Aquarelle font, but it was worth all the time and patience it took.  I'm really happy with the end result!

So now when I'm at Expo in a couple weeks, I'll be sporting my very own personalized tote bag containing all the stuff I'll most likely be buying that I totally don't need and will be adding to my "stash" in my scrap room.  But it will all be safe and sound in this sturdy tote and there will definitely be no mistaking whose bag it is!

Until next time, Happy Scrapping!

Banner Weekend

Hope everyone had a safe and sane Fourth of July!  I actually spent some time in my scraproom making a special request for a past customer...a banner for a baby shower.  She provided the paper supplies to be used for this banner and, I have to say, that actually presented a challenge for me.  I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the color combinations, but once I finally figured out the sequence of paper layers and adding a couple of my own papers to the mix, the banner actually turned out pretty darned adorable (if I say so myself).  Here is how the finished project turned out:

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Originally I had not thought about putting the letters on a rosette, but once I was assembling the whole thing the letters just seemed like they were not "popping" and needed a little pizazz.  Since I had not used one of her patterned papers at all, I thought 'why not' and cut 1-1/2" strips, scored them at every 1/2" and started folding and gluing the rosettes together.  Again, something just wasn't right, so I decided to add a 3-1/2" circle made from the gold glitter paper to the back of each rosette and Voila! - it magically all came together...I was finally a happy scrapper. 

My customer had also provided some really nice white tulle to use, but since I used her gold glitter Coredinations paper as the base of the banner, the white tulle just didn't look right to me.  I had some gold shimmer tulle in my stash, so I tried it (since she gave me total creative control) and liked how it looked much better (and my shoulder quit twitching LOL!).  I used white and pink ribbons from my supplies to pull in those colors from the papers.  Also, since this banner is for a baby girl shower, I just couldn't resist adding a little bling on top of each ribbon knot.  Such a simple little touch that, to me, added a lot.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my little weekend project.  Oh, BTW, the font I used for the letters is a free one I got off the Internet called Coney Island and the svg file I used to make the banner is from the Banners Collection I purchased from Little Scraps of Heaven and you can check it out here:

http://www.littlescrapsofheavendesigns.com/item_339/Banners-Collection.htm

Thanks for looking....and Happy Scrapping!

Fiesta Layout

Well, it's taken a little while but I got my scrappin' mojo back and it feels really, really good!  I started a layout for an event I co-chaired a couple weeks ago at my friend Sylvia's house but unfortunately had not pulled it out to finish since leaving her house.  Just couldn't get back into it.  The svg files I was using from Designs on Cloud 9 were adorable and I totally had the PERFECT collection of BoBunny papers that just screamed 'Fiesta' to me, but I was like "eh, whatever".  Then yesterday, goodness only knows why, I seriously woke up and couldn't wait to pull that layout stuff out and finish it.

The first thing I did was turn on my Spa music to get those creative juices flowing.  Next I fired up my laptop and Sizzix Eclips to cut out several more svg files, then decided exactly which papers I was going to use, and started inking, assembling, gluing, and placing everything. Of course ME being ME, I placed, placed, and replaced everything about 87 times before FINALLY feeling like all the pieces were in their right spot.  You know that feeling, right?  It's when you suddenly feel your shoulders relax, you lean back in your chair with a proud little smile on your face, and you just sit there for like 20 minutes admiring your close to 18 hours of work while sipping a steaming hot cup of coffee.  Ahhhhhh....  and then you snap out of it and can't wait to get started on another layout project.  Woo Hoo!!!!!

So here it is -- It's all ready for some of my event pictures to be put on it.  I didn't have the photos on it when I snapped these pictures because I want to post the layout on the Designs on Cloud 9 Facebook page since I used their svg files and wasn't sure my table guests would want to have their picture out there in Facebookland.  Pretty sure none of them are in the witness protection program, but you never know LOL!.  Hope you like my layout as much as I do!!!

Here is the completed two-page layout.  

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I used the Fiesta Title and Cinco de Mayo files I purchased from Designs on Cloud 9 and here is a link to their website:  http://designsoncloud9.com/ 

Since the Fiesta Title had its own black shadow, I created black shadows in the eCAL program for all the other files so that they coordinated better with the title.  

Next you'll see just the first page.  I LOVE using brightly colored papers.  This BoBunny paper is from the Flower Child collection (which is now discontinued) but to me is more Fiesta-looking than Flower Child.  I purchased this paper at least three years ago and have hoarded it all this time LOL!

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Aren't these diecuts just adorable???  They all came together pretty easily and was fun to put my own little embellishing spin on them.  But wait...is there something hidden under that sombrero?  Holy Guacamole it's a journaling block!  Since I didn't leave any room to journal anything about this layout, such as my guests' names, I thought I'd try something different like turning the sombrero into a corner journaling block.  Took a couple tries, but it came out pretty clever even if I say so myself LOL! Gotta love the eCAL program!

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And now the second page...

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I especially love the banner and how it helped pull the whole layout together. The scalloped diecut with my name on it and the event name below it were part of an easel card that designated my table at the Spring Fiesta event.  All the table hostesses had one on their table and I thought using it added a colorful touch to my layout.  I actually made these for the event and the svg file (Half Scallop Easel Card) came from My Scrap Chick and you can find it here:

http://www.myscrapchick.com/product.cfm?product=838

Now that this two page spread is completed, I'm anxious to do a couple more of the Spring Fiesta layouts to add to my event scrapbook.  Yep, it feels really, really good to have that scrappin' mojo back!  Until next time...

They're Here!

A few weeks ago I received the stamps that I "won" from Peachy Keen Stamps.  It took me a week or so to have the time to play with them and I just basically stamped the faces onto the diecut samples I had made earlier. Gotta say the little Elephant one is my fav!  The little face stamps that match the Cricut New Arrival baby animals are cute but it will take a little bit for me to get used to stamping a face onto a paper pieced item.  I'm so used to cutting out the eyes and noses and then gluing all the tiny pieces together that it totally seems weird to me to just stamp the faces on in one step.  

This is what the stamp set looks like:

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 Here are the stamped faces on the samples I made prior to ordering the stamps:

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When I was "shopping" the Peachy Keen website to see what I wanted to spend my $25 winnings on I came across these super cute Snowmen stamps and thought "why not"...those who know me KNOW how much I love Snowmen LOL!  These two particular stamps had svg files to match, which I also purchased, so I can cut out an outline of the image on my Sizzix Eclips machine and then stamp the image onto the cut-out.  Can't wait to give this a try!

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So like I mentioned, I haven't taken the time to play with these little guys yet but I'm thinking when my sister-in-law is here visiting in a few weeks that we'll definitely bust these babies out and start coloring!

In the meantime, Happy Scrapping everyone!

Still Undecided

I have the $25 gift certificate I won to spend at Peachy Keen Stamps and, after spending a couple days "shopping" on their website, I was still totally undecided what to get. I had not ever been on their website before and found that they have a lot of really cute stamps and a ton of different styled face stamps to suit just about anything you could ever want a face on.  One of their face stamps is called Baby Animal Faces and is made to go with the New Arrival Cricut cartridge, so that looked promising (maybe owning this stamp would get me to bust out that cartridge and actually use it)!  This particular stamp comes in different sizes; one for characters cut at 3", 4", or 5".  It was hard to visualize which stamp size would work best for me, so I thought there was only one way to figure that out... grab the cartridge and cut out the animals that match the stamp faces! Here are the 3" and 4" size sample cuts I made:

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To start with, I was pretty amazed at what seemed to be a huge difference between the characters cut at 3" and the ones cut at 4".  I placed them on a 12x12 sheet of scrapbook paper to get a better idea of their size and to think about how I might actually use them.  Even though I do tend to lean towards larger diecuts (which in this case I think would look best on a card), I believe the smaller 3" size might be just the ticket for me.  I know, I know, I could always get both sizes but what's the fun in that LOL!  Think I'll get the 3" set, try it, and then decide if I need the larger one also.  Oh, just in case you might be wondering about the one little giraffe and green frog in the picture, they were both cut at 4"! BIG difference between the giraffe and all the other 4" cuts don't you think?

Well I guess my decision is made.  I will add the Baby Animal Faces 3" to my shopping cart along with the other items I couldn't live without and call it good!  Here's a link to Peachy Keen Stamps in case anyone is interested in checking them out:

http://www.peachykeenstamps.com/shop/

The Baby Animal Faces are listed under Stamps, then click on Faces.

As I mentioned above, Peachy Keen Stamps has some really adorable stamps. Something else they offer on their website is a really good selection of their very own svg files that go with quite a few of their stamps. By cutting out their svg on your electronic cutting machine (I have the Eclips) and then stamping the image on the cut-out, that saves you from stamping and then hand-cutting around the image. How cool is that???

Winner!!!

All last week there was a Blog Co-Hop between Miss Kate Cuttables and Peachy Keen Stamps.  Each day both companies featured Easter projects from two of their designers.  If you commented on each project and became a follower on all the designers' blogs each day, then you were eligible for a free cutting file from Miss Kate Cuttables (one of my FAVORITE websites for svg files) that was totally separate from their normal daily freebie.  You were also eligible to win a daily $25 gift certificate or a $75 grand prize certificate from Peachy Keen Stamps, or a $25 grand prize from Miss Kate Cuttables. Loved seeing the cute projects each designer posted and, figuring there wasn't a chance to win anything else, I was more than happy to just get the extra free svg files from Miss Kate Cuttables.  So imagine my surprise when I checked their blog Monday morning to find that my name had been randomly chosen from Day 7's comments and won a $25 gift certificate from Peachy Keen Stamps -- Yay for me! So now comes the hard part...selecting just a few things from their huge selection of stamps!  Decisions, decisions...

Cute Bunny Hat Box

Well, it's almost Easter and I was really hoping to have my mantel decorated by the beginning of the month with a bunch of cute little projects I was going to make from my ever growing stash of SVG files.  Sadly I only got around to making one, but it turned out so stinkin' cute (if I say so myself)! So here it is, my one and only handmade Easter project.   It's from My Scrap Chick and is called Bunny Hat Box.

Here's the link:  http://www.myscrapchick.com/product.cfm?product=939

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This may look like a tricky little project, but it was actually pretty easy.  I have to admit that when I printed off the pdf pages provided in the file that I had a momentary panic attack because there aren't any detailed assembly instructions.  But after taking a deep breath, eating a piece of chocolate and really looking at the pdf drawings, it was pretty self-explanatory. Very quickly I was pulling out papers, turned my Eclips and laptop on, and was "going to town" (as my grandma used to say) with the paper pieces, adhesive, pens, chalks, and my clear Wink of Stella brush (a new fav!).  Because I was over-thinking, which tends to make things seem harder than they really are, it took me about an hour to put this little guy together. Now that I have "experience", the next one should only take a half hour at the most.

I had entertained the idea of making seven of these -- one for each grandkid and putting See's Suckers in them -- but then did a reality check and reminded myself Easter is just three days away and not to stress over it.  If it happens, it happens.  If not, they'll still have fun with our usual Easter Egg Hunt and the little prize baskets.

So there you have it, my one and only handmade Easter decoration. In case you're wondering, he (she???) stands just under 8" tall.  

Organizing My Embossing Folders

After trying numerous ways to store my embossing folders, I FINALLY found a way that works best for me.  Even though each of these ideas were actually really good ones, it just boils down to be one of those "preference" types of things which reinforces what's good for one person may not work for another. Here are some of the different storage methods I tried and the reasons they just didn't work for me:

• Stored loosely in photo boxes:  This method was okay when I only had like 20 embossing folders, but then as my stash grew and grew, it became a pain every time I was looking for a certain one and had to dump them out of the box and go through all of them individually just to find what I was looking for.  Something had to change...
• Hanging on my Clip It Up:  This was actually a good system but not as functional for the number of embossing folders I own (now totals 73 - and not really sure how THAT happened since I'm not much of a cardmaker LOL!).  I purchased some of the smaller 5.5" x 8.5" sheet protectors from Staples and placed an embossing folder and an embossed sample in each one and hung them on the Clip It Up.  Even though I have a lot of embossing folders, there really wasn't enough to fill the Clip It Up all the way, which caused it to sometimes get too heavy on one side (not balanced all the way around).  So rather than purchase a ton more embossing folders in order to fill the Clip It Up, I decided to chuck that idea and hang all my Thickers alphabets and loose/bagged flowers on it instead.  This works much better for me as I use the Thickers and flowers a lot more often than the embossing folders.
• Stored in 7" x 9" binders:  I basically took the sheet protectors with the embossing folders/samples from the Clip It Up and put them into some small binders I purchased at Staples.  This turned out to be a great system, except for the fact there were four binders and still had to go on a hunting expedition just to find the one I was looking for.  My search for the perfect storage answer was back on... Bummer... 
• Darice Embossing Folder Binder:  I TRULY thought this would be the absolute answer for storing my embossing folders but, in reality, it just didn't work for me at all.  Don't get me wrong, this binder is a GREAT product - IF you have the right sized embossing folders. I made the mistake of not realizing that even though 99% of my folders are the regular 4-1/4" x 5-3/4" size, the majority of them are the Sizzix brand and, therefore, would not fit in the plastic slots of this binder.  I had NO IDEA the Sizzix folders are just ever-so-slightly larger than the Darice, Cuttlebug, and The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby) brands. Lesson learned, and SO disappointed!  I toyed with the idea of just buying the larger Darice binder, but then wondered where in the world would I store THAT???  The smaller binder I already owned barely fit in my Ikea Expedit unit, and the larger binder is like 2"+ bigger which would definitely be longer than the openings in my shelving unit, so that purchase was no longer an option.  Plus, with my ever-growing supply of embossing folders, I would need TWO binders. What to do, what to do???
• Iris brand Card Keeper with adjustable dividers:   One day while on the Internet, I saw a posting on Pinterest where someone was using one of these to store their embossing folders/samples and got so excited about it that I jumped in the car and headed to Michaels to get one right then and there.  Made my 50% off purchase (perfect sale timing...yay!), got home, and couldn't wait to fill this baby up! Gotta say, this was a GREAT system except for the fact that I had a few too many embossing folders/samples to fit into just one of these containers.  Total let down. I really didn't want to just purchase another Card Keeper because, again, where would I put it???  My Expedit only has so many openings and there was no where else in my scraproom to store a couple of these.  So my happy purchase is now (still!) sitting in a bag on top of my Expedit waiting to be returned to Michaels.  So bummed...
• FINALLY ~ My New Embossing Folder Storage Answer!!!   Again, while surfing Pinterest, I came across another post that totally peaked my interest.  This lady had taken regular binder sized page protectors, the ones with the opening on the SIDE, marked the center of each page protector, and then heat-sealed that center line using her Seal-A-Meal, thus creating two openings instead of one.  I was like OMG...EUREKA...WE OWN A SEAL-A-MEAL...I CAN DO THIS!!!  I immediately opened another tab on my computer and searched the Staples website to see if they carried these types of page protectors and, by golly, Yes They Did!!!  Woo Hoo...grabbed my purse, got in the car and off I went.  After getting home and getting a little lesson from the hubs on how to work our Seal-A-Meal (it's HIS toy, not mine!), I was heat sealing away.  I did find that with our particular sealing machine that I actually had to "seal" each one three times in order for it to totally seal. Not sure why, but maybe because it's a different type of plastic than the Seal-A-Meal bags???  Who knows...just happy it worked!  So after spending some quality time with the sealing machine, I finally have a great system for storing my embossing folders!

Here you can see where I marked the middle on the left and right sides of the sheet protector so I could line it up and create a straight and centered seal in the Seal-A-Meal machine.

You can see the seal better with a black sheet of cardstock behind the sheet protector.

I cut an 8-1/2 x 11 piece of black cardstock in half and placed a piece in each opening.  I then slid in an embossed sample paper on top of the black cardstock and next placed the corresponding embossing folder in the same opening but behind the black paper.  Even though the openings are on the side, I did find the embossing folders could slip out of its opening.  My remedy for this was to put a Removeable Glue Dot on the middle edge between the black cardstock and plastic right next to the opening.  If you look at the top embossing folder in the picture above you can barely see the Glue Dot on the edge next to the binder ring.  I'm also wondering about how using small Velcro dots instead would work.  Hmmm.....

I used a 3" Binder and 30 sheet protectors, which holds 60 embossing folders and their samples.  Now all I have to do is go through my binder, find the embossing sample I want to use, and easily grab the embossing folder right behind the sample.  I have them organized in the binder by theme: Birthday, Floral, Swirls, Dots, Backgrounds, and Miscellaneous.

So did you notice that I didn't mention a "Seasonal" theme above???  Yeah, well I very quickly realized that the 3" binder still wasn't going to hold ALL my embossing folders so decided that the easiest "fix" was to keep all my seasonal ones separate.  Since the smaller binder method had already worked for me as an option - just not for ALL of my folders - it was the easiest solution; plus I already had the needed supplies.  Happy, Happy, Happy!

My pretty little binder for Seasonal embossing folders.

It took some trial and error time and some effort (not to mention gas going to and from Michaels and Staples!), but I finally have an embossing folder storage system that works for me.  The best part is that this storage solution didn't cost much in the long run, takes up less room, is easily accessible, AND fits perfectly in the Expedit.

Wish I could say this was totally my idea, but gotta give credit where credit is due.  Like I mentioned above, I got the idea from a link that was posted on Pinterest:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2346293?&limit=last1

There are so many great storage ideas for embossing folders on Pinterest. If you want to see if there is one out there that just might be exactly what you're looking for, I'd highly recommend starting your search there.  Good luck...and Happy Crafting!