workspaces: Monika of I Love It All

*Edited to add: I re-uploaded the pictures - so sorry for them not showing up :/ They seem to be showing up now, but please comment if there are still problems. Thank you! :)

Today's workspace is Monika Wright's - owner of etsy shop I Love It All and blogger at I Love It All. I've loved Monika's fresh, gorgeous goodies for quite some time, and was so excited when my hubby gave me this super cute Pocket Mini Book Kit from her shop for Christmas! :)

1. Tell us about yourself and your creativity - ie. what you make or do, what you blog about, your history behind your creativity, etc. I'm a former Marketing Director and Assistant Vice President that decided to stay home after the birth of my children. I missed the decision-making and camaraderie, but felt that being paid in hugs and kisses and art projects was the best path for our family. In my Etsy shop, I Love It All, I offer a wide array of art prints in the wildly popular subway art style. But, originally, I only carried Mini Books and Journals in my shop. Only when someone saw an art print I designed and said that I should have them in the shop did I begin down the path of modern typographic design.

I have always created homemade cards for birthdays, but never considered exploring my creative side as a business venture, so all this comes as quite a pleasant surprise for me. And it makes me quite happy for my girls to see that it's possible to "live the dream": do what you love, love what you do. Perhaps seeing their Mommy being a business owner will serve to inspire them to dream big about their future selves.

2. Tell us about your workspace. As you enter my crafty space, this is the view, which is a collection of art projects from the kids, found objects, lots and lots of mini books and projects galore. The bookshelf is from IKEA and the tool chest from The Home Depot.

Behind my computer desk is the printer, my trimmer and the repurposed family room chest houses all my shipping supplies, ink and business papers. 

I have our family albums separated out by child, each of them with their own color and own stories, and then my husband and I have our stories in another set of albums. Often times, each child has the same scrapbooking layout, just with colors and embellishments to fit their personalities. I also have photo albums in our living room that are just that, photo albums, with just short notes about each photo.

These two tool chests face each other and I've found that I rather enjoy standing while I create mini books and scrapbooking layouts. The majority of my tools, embellishments, tags and journaling spots are all in these two chests. My husband found them for me, knowing they were the perfect solution. The artwork on the two IKEA picture ledges change quite often as I try out colors for new prints and change out art work from my little in-house artists!

3. What is your favorite thing about your workspace? We have three children, aged 20, 8 and 6. My oldest is in the Navy and no longer living at home. I snagged his room for my craft studio when he moved away. What I love about this room is that it is adjacent to our family room and I can talk to my husband while I create and can hear the girls while they sit at their art desks and create or play games on their computers. They often come into the room while I'm working and ask for some baker's twine and glue dots. Lately, these two items are their go-to items for all things creative.

In addition to blogging, I am also lucky enough to serve on several creative teams, which means I also need room to store their products that I create with in addition to my own personal crafty supplies AND the supplies I purchase to create for the I Love It All shop.

4. What is one thing you can't live without in your workspace? My business existence revolves around my access to the Internet, which requires my Mac. So those two would be my "can't live without" items, even though that's not a very exciting answer. Most used tools?  My Mac computer and laptop, my super awesome paper trimmer and the Bind-It-All. And I kinda sorta love my iPhone as well!

You can always find me here, I'd adore having you drop in for a visit!

blog  |  etsy  |  facebook

*See a cute print or album in one of the above pictures? You can find the Gratitude Journals and Month in Review Albums, and other mini books, in the shop. Also available: the Creativity print, the Summer Fun mini books and lots of other goodies!