Have I mentioned how amazing my dad is? A little over 10 months ago, I had been photographing many of my projects and recording my videos against surfaces that were basically printed wood-grain paper backdrops that I had glued down to large pieces of foam board. (I bought 4 rolls of these backdrops on Amazon.) You can see these backdrop boards in my photos in this post and in this video. But over time, these “paper” backdrops started getting beat up and torn.

So I asked my dad if he could resurface my main two tables in my craft room/studio so they would just be completely covered with a wood-grain look, be sturdy, look good in my room, and also be ideal for showing my creations in my videos and photos. After shopping around, we found GripStrip™ Resilient Plank Flooring floorboards from Home Depot, and I purchased them in three colors: Pacific Pine (my favorite which now covers my tables), Sandpiper Oak, and Alberta Spruce. Why did I buy two other colors? Because my wonderful dad not only resurfaced my two main crafting tables, but he made portable backdrop boards so I would have other choices to photo and video against. In fact, yesterday I pulled out my Sandpiper Oak backdrop and had that on my table top while I recorded my YouTube Live. I think that’s what reminded me that I forgot to share this craft room remodel project with you.

I know this isn’t exciting information for everyone reading my post today. Only some of you are fellow Stampin’ Up! demonstrators that make videos and/or photo your projects. But many of you ARE crafters that may be sick of your table surfaces. Hahaha! And I found this a much more affordable and time saving option than searching out all new tables.

These floor boards are smooth, thin, lighter weight than many others on the market, and connect together easily. My dad did all the connecting and cutting to make them fit the surface area of my tables. Then he just put supports in the corners to keep the new surfaces from shifting or lifting. My boards aren’t glued to my original table tops. This way I can change them later if I wish. (He’s so smart.)

Here are photos of him assembling them to make the boards into backdrops. He started by connecting three boards together.

Notice the adhesive blue strips on the two edges.

Those adhesive strips needed to be cut off and added to the undersides of the opposite edges.

Then he glued them together with Liquid Nail.

In this photo above you can see one of the supports in the corner of one of my resurfaced table tops. Yep…one on each corner was all that was needed to keep my new surfaces from shifting or lifting.

After glueing the backdrop floorboards to the 1/4″ plywood, he planed and filed the edges and corners to smooth and finish the backdrops.

Since I purchased a whole box of each of the two grays and two boxes of the brown, I had extra planks. So bless his heart, he ended up making several backdrops that many of my local demonstrator friends gladly grabbed up for just the cost to cover the supplies it took to make them.

I hope this helped some of you looking for photo/video backdrop ideas or craft room remodel ideas.

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STAMPIN’ CUT & EMBOSS MACHINE NEWS
Click here to see these offerings in the online store. You can also find them on pages 170-172 in the 20-21 Annual Catalog. This machine and other related products weren’t quite ready with the launch of this publication. In fact there are still some COVID-19-related delays with the mini machine. But the larger Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine and its replacement plates are now available! Click here to learn more.
(In fact why not get this new machine for less along with other bonus items by purchasing it in the Stampin’ Up! Starter Kit!)

SEPTEMBER’S GET & GO STARTER KIT PROMOTION
The Starter Kit is a fantastic way for new demonstrators to get loads of products at a huge value (for $99, choose $125-worth of products). During the Get & Go Starter Kit Promotion (September 1-30), you can get even MORE products—and at the same great price! These additional products were specifically chosen to help new demonstrators hold an event right from the get-go and get their business off to a running start. Click here to learn the details of this promotion. Click here to access the flyer. And click here to learn more about the benefits of joining my community by purchasing the Starter Kit. A side note…Did you see that the new Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine is now available!? So here’s a thought… you could get this $120 machine, another $5 item (like Rhinestones), and this Get & Go bonus (along with the free business supplies and a bonus Paper Pumpkin kit) in your Starter kit order in September and pay only $99!

A PEEK AT OCTOBER’S PAPER PUMPKIN KIT
The “Joy to the World” Paper Pumpkin Kit is an exclusive holiday kit that provides a specially-designed box, enough supplies to create eight elegant cards (four each of two designs), and an opportunity to connect with the Stampin’ Up! global community. Not only will you get a head start on your holiday crafting, you’ll get to create Christmas cards, share project ideas, and spread holiday cheer with Stampin’ Up! customers and demonstrators around the world! After you receive their kits, join the Joy of Paper Pumpkin Facebook group to make the most of this month’s kit. Coordinating Colors: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Just Jade, Soft Sea Foam
If you are not a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, I invite you to give it a try. CLICK HERE to learn more. CLICK HERE to sign up by October 10th for this next kit.

ALL STAR TUTORIALS
I’m a designer with the All Stars, a group of globally recognized Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. And we are excited to share exclusively with our customers, paper crafting friends & team members our bundle of twelve September 2020 Playing With Patterns Tutorials which are now available! CLICK HERE for more information. Click here to get to my Tutorials for Sale page to see the others that have been offered. The next one featuring the Flowers for Every Season Suite will be available October 1st! AND these tutorial bundles (July-December) now include links to instructional videos!

AUTUMN 2020 MEGA TUTORIAL BUNDLE!
I took part in another mega tutorial bundle group where everyone involved contributed a project tutorial using Autumn-themed products from the Aug-Dec 2020 Mini Catalog. Each project includes instructions, photos, imperial and metric measurements, and complete product lists. Click here to learn how you can get this entire bundle of 82 great ideas.

MY ONLINE PAPER CRAFTERS CLUB IS LOOKING FOR NEW MEMBERS
We are looking for more to join our online Paper Crafters club. The commitment is to order at least $25 worth of Stampin’ Up! product in each of 6 consecutive months. In one of those months, you would reap the hosting rewards (free merchandise based on the club orders). And then you’d also be able to get in on monthly product perks that would be sent to you along with your monthly club cards.