Welcome back for Day 3 of Spring Cleaning and Organization Week! Today team members Celeste Smith, Rebecca Cooper, and Melissa Kaiserman open their doors to WCS readers! While all three work in very different spaces, you'll notice that each scrapbooker believes that her tools, papers, and embellishments should be easily accessible and close at hand for best results!
Celeste: I think I've been talking about this (ongoing process of organization) for years! I mentioned it in one of my blog posts here on Write.Click.Scrapbook back in July, and I know I've mentioned it on my blog. I have been purging and organizing for over a year and the time finally came. I moved out of my studio so that my son and I could switch rooms. My husband is currently renovating the room down to the studs. It's going to be a while before I have a room of my own again, but I'm excited—one wall in my new room is orange! For now, though, my new space is the front corner of our living room.
I moved
one of the Expedits
and my Lack bookcase with my albums into my
bedroom. The other Expedit was empty and will end up in my son's new space.
Otherwise I have everything else right here in my corner.
I'm down to only two
tables in my new smaller space and I'm not missing the third one. I'm gaining a
closet that will store most of the items that were on that table—my husband
will install shelving across the whole closet.
It's fun being in the middle of everything. My husband keeps
telling me don't get used to it—you are moving. He's not big on clutter!
I'm sure you've seen these ribbon holders for sale in craft
stores and your LSS. I made this one and it only cost $7. I went to the drug
store and purchased a clear makeup bag. Then I used my Cropadile to make holes
in it. I simply pinched the plastic and made two holes at once. Then you just
thread your ribbon through. It was amazing how much ribbon fit in this one
bag! Another idea is to use the
zipper container that sheets come in or buy a set of lotions at Bath & Body
Works and use the container to make one! I think it's fun and functional!
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Rebecca: I keep my embellishments/adhesives/letter stickers etc. loose in these metal bins that I got at a store here in Canada called Superstore for about $6-8 each. I love them because I can see my supplies easily and the larger ones fit perfectly in my Ikea Expedit shelf. My favorite thing in my office/scrap space would have to be the island that I picked up at a garage sale for $5. I repainted it and had a metal top put on it and I love having the extra storage space and extra work surface. I'm a stand-up scrapper so must of my work is done at my little island.
I keep my ribbon in those clear glass jars on my island shelf—again—everything is visible so I can find things quickly!
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Melissa: I store my non-adhesive chipboard alphabets, numbers, and punctuation in these IKEA drawers that I covered with patterned paper and rub-ons.
It helps me to mix up my fonts and patterns every once in a while for a title, and it's certainly a lot easier than trying to keep sets together and sorting through to see if a letter I need is there.
I've gone through a few different ways of storing brads, but keeping them together by general color is the simplest way I've found. I love the clear lids on these watchmaker tins, and the fact that they're not magnetic means I don't have to pry the brads from the bottom!
I've also tested out different methods of ribbon storage and have finally settled on this one for my creative space. I can easily grab a spool and hold it up to a layout or project to see if I want to use it.
The pins keep the ribbon in place, and there is no noticeable hole left behind. To make it easy to leave the house with ribbon, I keep a sampling in heavy-duty zipper bags which have been punched in the corner, reinforced, and slipped onto binder rings.
I love my American Crafts rub-on books but got weary of opening each one to see its contents. So I photocopied the sample sheet for each of my sets, mounted them on a piece of black cardstock, and labeled them. Now, all I have to do is look in one place to see if there is a rub-on I want to use.
This
is by far my favorite storage item, and not just because I got it at The Farm
Chicks Show. I keep my smaller
embellishments here, sorted mainly by color (and a tiny bit by theme, such as
seasons & baby). Because it's
out in the open, it makes it so easy to find a little something for a page or
project!
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Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for an organization-themed giveaway! Tours and tips will resume on Friday—we'll visit a beautiful new attic room and an unheated, dark and sometimes spidery basement corner. Scrapbookers know how to "make it work!" We know Tim Gunn would be proud.
