Write. Click. Scrapbook.

And so begins my completely random week.

Hey there. Erin here. Or rather, my lower half. That's what I got when I asked my husband to take a picture of me. The next shot was just my upper half. He then told me I could combine them for a complete picture. He's a funny one.

So it's Sunday night and I just finished watching the Lost finale. Did ya watch? I won't spoil it in case you haven't seen it yet, but wow. Just wow and oh my and I cried and I'm still confused. I loved it. But on to scrapbooking since I'm pretty sure you're here for that and not my Lost recap.

As my title suggests, okay, just tells you, this week will be pretty random. A different topic each day. When I couldn't come up with anything to blog about for an entire week, I decided to go with a bit of this and a bit of that. I'm going to blame my lack of preparation, and inability to focus, on being pregnant. Granted, at almost 22 weeks I'm feeling perfectly fine...but, uh, let's just go with it, shall we?

First up, inspiration. Where do you find it and what do you do with it?

I'm so not an out-of-the-box thinker. For me, scrapbooking inspiration comes from other scrapbooker's layouts. When I'm in a creative rut, I like to look at layouts that interest me, and from them I'll get either a design or topic idea. I don't keep ads, or color swatches, or the like. For the most part, I can't do much with them - I just don't think that way. But for what does work for me, I use a binder. I pull it out all the time when scrapping. It goes to crops with me. I love it.

Meet my binder. (Also, Hello Ali Edwards. I keep all my Studio A columns in the front, in case you were wondering. While I am a big Ali fan, I don't just keep a picture of her as inspiration. Also, Hello messy desk.)

In my binder, old-school magnetic photo pages. Hello old-school magnetic photo pages. While we shouldn't use you for actual photos, you're perfect for this, as well as my recipes.

I don't keep my scrapbook magazines. I'd like to say that when I get a new issue, I go through the previous one and cut out the layouts I like. But in reality, a few tend to pile up before I go through them. Once I do though, I go through my binder and pull out the layouts that no longer inspire me, and replace them with the new one. I actually have some in here that are 5 years old. I cut out layouts based on design, color, number of photos and placement, journaling, and topic.

I don't often to a complete scraplift of a page. Most often, I find one I like and use it as a starting point for my layout. Like this one I recently did.

The layout that caught by eye had a few strips of wide pleated ribbon, which for me became one strip of pleated patterned paper. This was the starting point for my page. Unfortunately, when I cut out the layouts, cut off the names. So I'd like to give this designer credit and share her page as well, but alas, I cannot.

Bulletin boards are great for collecting inspiring pieces - hang up some ads, pictures, layouts, swatches and you've got instant inspiration at your fingertips. I have one hanging above my workspace, it needs updating though. Sigh, It sort of seems to be the place where ideas go to die. Well, except for my mini-album to-do list, that I use. Otherwise I've got things up there I haven't done anything with in over a year.

I also hang my layouts on the wall above the computer using a nifty contraption from IKEA.(DEKA curtain wire ). I tend to look at these a lot when I'm trying to figure something out on a layout.I tend to go back to the same color scheme and design over and over. I find myself checking these layouts to make sure I'm not repeating myself too often. Note to self - change this out for some new pages. These are the layouts I made when I hosted the blog back in September. I'm seeing a theme here.

WCS has a Tumblr blog, (link is up top) as do team members Wendy, Elizabeth, Emily, and Jamie. They're a great way to capture images to later look back on, ya know, when you're needing inspiration. Anything you find online can be saved. It's fantastic. It's free, and no clutter. Hmm...so I'm totally thinking I need a Tumblr blog now.

It's 1 am, Lost on Jimmy Kimmel is over and with that, I'm heading to bed. I'd love to know what you use as inspiration and how you organize it. Keep a Tumblr blog? Leave a link, I'd love to check it out. I'll be back tomorrow with mini-albums. See? Random.

WCS Presents: Spring Cleaning and Organization Week Day 5!

We've arrived at our final day of Spring Cleaning and Organization Week—it's been great fun to gain some perspective on how other scrapbookers work and organize their supplies! Thanks to so many of you who have commented this week about your own best tips. Today we'll take one last journey to visit Francine Clouden's tiny but efficient space in France, and we'll dispel the myth that going digital means leaving the organization and clutter worries behind.

Since we moved about six months ago my scrap space has evolved a bit from when I posted in July last year. My space is still in a corner of the living room however. It consists of two main pieces of furniture, the same Expedit desk and shelves combo, with an added standing height working surface, also purchased at Ikea. (This was originally in the kitchen at our former place, but was too big for the new kitchen so I got to nab it!)

How I organize my supplies hasn’t changed much. I still keep everything I use frequently close at hand, and I still rely on my basket and bin system for organizing tools and embellishments. The scrapbook island, as I like to call it, has two levels of shelves and three drawers. In the drawers I keep the bulk of my stamping supplies: unmounted stamps in CD cases, inks, acrylic blocks, alcohol inks and misters etc. The shelves hold a mishmash of items but the most important thing I keep on the lower shelf is a plexiglass container which holds all my monthly kits.

On the island itself I keep my most used tools: adhesive gun, paper trimmer, rulers, rub-on tool, scissors etc. On the Expedit combo is my computer, sewing machine, journaling pens, patterned paper and cardstock (in cropper hopper vertical holders), paints and other miscellaneous items. The lower shelves under the desk hold less frequently used items like my Bind-it-All machine and spirals.

The rest of the living room is to the right of the island, and as this is Kieran’s main play area, I can stand and scrap while keeping an eye on him. Sometimes I move to the other side of the island so that I am closer to him and he can come hug my legs and get a kiss and cuddle at any time!

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Digital scrapbooking might mean less physical paper, embellishments and tools requiring storage space, but it certainly does not herald the end of clutter and disorganization. When we asked our team members to share a few digital tips for organization to feature here, there were plenty of "I can share what NOT to do" replies, too. It's so easy to purchase digital elements and then lose them in a pile of virtual folders. Celeste Smith bravely admits to her digital disorganization: "I download the zip files and stick them all in a folder and forget about them. Then I have to look through each one and try and find what I need. Nothing even has standard names or anything. It's a mess."

screen shot of Celeste's digital files

It seems there are two problems that plague scrapbookers who use digital elements:

1. It's difficult to find what you've purchased

2. It's difficult to identify what exists in each folder

Francine has a system in place to combat these problems that works well and better yet, is free.

Francine: My method for organising digital files is pretty simple. I have a folder called "digikits" on my hard drive, and in this folder I create a folder for each designer. I also have a folder to which I download the zip files before extracting them. For example, I am on the Creative Team for Karla Dudley, so I download those zip files directly into her folder. In the short term I plan to burn all the zip files to a DVD, and then eventually to an external hard drive for back up.

 

When I’m ready to scrap I use Picasa, which is a free download for photo organization. The great thing about this software is that it automatically scans your computer for image files, there’s not much you need to do! Once it picks up all the images, it’s very easy to just scroll through to see what you have. This is how I choose what papers and elements I want to use for a particular page. I find it much better than trying to scroll through the images in Windows, because you don’t need to open a bunch of folders to be able to see everything. Picasa also has a tagging function, so for each image you can add a descriptive tag like cardstock, patterned paper, ribbon etc, then search for exactly what you want. I’m still in the process of tagging all my items, it’s a bit of a task! [Ed. note: Picasa works with both Mac and PC operating systems.]

Sara Winnick employs a similar strategy when purchasing digital elements. As soon as she downloads a file, she saves it in her digital scrapbook file under the designer's name. "I don't keep all the "tous" or info, or even the embellishments I don't think I'll use—just what I'll actually use," she says.

Sara uses Windows 7.

Candice Palmer discovered a nifty trick to replace the generic folder icons with an image icons that help to quickly identify exactly what kit is inside. Here is her icon's "before" shot...

...and after she changed the icon to the actual shot of the digital kit.

That small switch could save you lots of time when digging around for the kit you want, even if you keep all kits by the same designer in a unique folder! Click on the links to find directions on how to do this for both Mac and PC users.

Instructions for changing icons on a Mac

Instructions for changing icons on a PC

Even if you aren't a digital scrapbooker, there is a chance that you still have some digital disorganization lurking on your computer. Elizabeth uses the "cover flow" option on her Mac to quickly locate scanned layouts and other files on her computer.

A quick tap of the arrow key brings a new image to the front. It works for images, documents, utilities, anything! There are options to view the contents of folders as icons, a list, a grid, or cover flow, shown selected here.

Whether you are facing a mess of physical scrapbook supplies or digital elements (or both!), we hope that you've been inspired this week examine your own system of organization and make it the best it can be. Thanks for joining us this week!

WCS Presents: Spring Cleaning and Organization Week Day 4!

Welcome back! Today we're visiting the scrapbook spaces of WCS team members Moon Ko and Elizabeth Dillow. Moon scrapbooks in a newly renovated attic, and Elizabeth scrapbooks in an unfinished, unheated basement. Both spaces prove that with a little vision, just about anywhere can be turned into usable scrapbooking territory!

Hey everyone! Welcome to my newly renovated attic. [Ed. note: You can read all about Moon's attic renovation here. You don't want to miss the before pictures, we promise!] It's come a long way from what it used to look like and I am so happy with how it all turned out.  

The first photo is of my general work space as you come up the stairs. The table along the right side extends almost along the entire side of one wall.  

This wall is where I house most of my scrapping supplies. I like to have everything within arm's reach and spread out while I work. You can also see my printer and my embellishment carousel on top of my shelving unit. This is all right behind my chair. 

And here is a close up of my desk. You can also see most of my papers along my green wall.

I love this storage unit from IKEA. I bought two of them. This one houses all my stamps, punches, ink, embossing powders, which you can see in more detail in the next photo...  

See what I mean? :)  

I keep all my mini and regular sized albums in these shelves along with my ribbon.  

This half wall is where the stairs are and you can kind of see my kids' work area as well. This is where they do their homework. Thanks so much for taking a peek at my space—now who's ready to come scrap with me?

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For the last ten years, I've been a basement scrapbooker with the exception of the year we lived in a house with no basement. I've scrapbooked in a laundry room, in a partially finished basement room (it had pretty blue walls but no heat + a concrete floor), a carpeted basement corner wedged in between the laundry closet and the cat litter alcove, and most recently, the part of the basement in the home we're renting for the year that boasts the only two outlets in the entire basement. We move around a lot because my husband is in the Air Force—in fact, the photos I'm about to show you will be outdated in the next few months, because you guessed it—we're moving again (from an off-base rental house to a base house at F.E. Warren AFB).

In every house we've lived in, I've carved out a space for a craft room or corner—even if it comes with giant spiders and the inability to use lighting and a space heater at the same time. Someday I dream of a dedicated above-ground room with actual daylight streaming through actual windows, but I'm not complaining. I can contract or expand my space to fit whatever is available. Come see!

Here is the view when you first come down the stairs; I timed these pictures to coincide with the approximately one hour a day this area gets sunlight through the window. I am never able to scrapbook during this hour, in case you were wondering. I think it's the only hour of the day that the spiders nap. The rest of the time, they're lurking everywhere. I've appropriated one of Matt's old uniform boots as my most important scrapbooking tool this year. : )

There are two outlets in the entire basement. I have all the lights plugged in through a dangerous web (read: tripping hazard) of my own—extension cords and an outlet strip. I've learned the hard way that I cannot turn all three lights on at the same time as the space heater during the winter. If you've known me any length of time, you know that being caught in a pitch-black basement is enough to cause me nightmares for a month. Or a lifetime! I still remember running through my childhood basement at top speed to avoid the monsters. I haven't actually changed all that much since I was 7.

These faux-Metro shelves are a great solution for my hodge-podge storage. I can fit a lot of things in these three workhorses—paper, books, photos, albums, embellishments, sewing supplies, cards (I make about 200 cards a year on top of scrapbooking!), letterpress supplies, ziploc bags of scraps (two for patterned paper, five more grouped monochromatically), full set of Simple Scrapbooks and Martha Stewart Kids, partial set of How magazine, negatives, other crafting books, buttons, projects-in-progress, and other miscellaneous craft supplies. I make a lot of things besides scrapbook pages, and I try to keep all my supplies together. My goal is to reclaim the bottom right shelf which is currently being used by all the projects-in-progress I rounded up in last year's move. When I finish them, I can consolidate the items on the floor onto that shelf!

To the right of the window is my very fancy tool table. I haven't had room for a second table since the blue wall basement room I moved from in 2006; one of the benefits (the only benefit?) of an unfinished basement is that I can spread out quite a bit. The desk top used to have its own legs when it belonged to the library at Kent State, but it was discarded and found its way to me—only the top was worth refinishing and saving. Eventually I plan to attach better legs than the sawhorses I stole from Matt. I still haven't refinished my prized doors behind the makeshift table; that's on the list for this summer.

Did you hear that noise? That was the sound of Jody Wenke and Jody Dent-Pruks passing out and hitting their heads after realizing my IKEA mini-file cabinets aren't labeled. Heh. I'll get to it eventually. After many failed storage solutions, I realized that a rifler like myself needs drawers that can be opened and shut easily, with enough room for ransacking in the meantime. The cabinet to the left contains rubber stamping and printmaking supplies; I bought it from Home Decorators about ten years ago. Would anyone like to cough up $315 so I can buy the 14 drawer one? : )

And so on and so forth.

This house came with a built-in pegboard. I've never had a pegboard before and I think I like it. It isn't particularly well-arranged because I was on a mission to get the entire house unpacked after moving last summer in under two weeks—but I can find things on it, so it's fine. The table with fold-down sides (which, by the way, is the cleanest it's ever been since I purchased it at IKEA two years ago) has three storage drawers on each side—perfect for housing oft-used tools and supplies. The lazy-susan thing on top came from the kitchen section of Target; I toss any miscellaneous itty-bitty items left from working on a page or project in those two tins—it hasn't been properly sorted in, er, maybe three years? It's kind of like the Land of Misfit Toys—a stray rub-on here, a label there, some snips of unmatched ribbon...

To the left of the lamp is a three-drawer dresser my mom received at my baby shower from her fellow teachers at Stow High School—it's been with me for 37.5 years, painted one color or another. (The space heater is sitting on it at the moment). It holds paint and general art supplies. As much as I like my matching cabinets, I like that dresser even more : )

WCS Presents: Spring Cleaning and Organization Week Day 3!

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.

WCS Presents: Spring Cleaning and Organization Week Day 2!

Today we travel to Australia to get a more in-depth tour from the highly organized scrapbooker who inspired this entire week, Jody Dent-Pruks. You might remember a glimpse into her highly organized space back in February 2010. Jody takes organization quite seriously, and proves you don't need a lot of room to achieve a clutter-free creative area full of your favorite products!

Let me begin by saying that I am an organised person (most of the time). I find life calmer and easier when I am clutter-free and organised. So in the spirit of full disclosure, I will first show you that having my belongings neat and tidy is not just a scrapbook thing; it extends to all areas of our house.

My pantry:

My fridge: 

My linen cupboard:

Now you know what you are dealing with. Trust me, I take a little ribbing from my friends, but it's all good.

Let me also tell you that I live in a very tiny house (just five rooms total) and storage is at a premium, especially when you have a hobby that threatens to overtake your storage areas. I have already posted my scrap area as part of my blog hosting week back in February, so for our spring cleaning we will go a little deeper.

This used to be a linen/storage cupboard but it now holds most of my craft supplies. Everything has a home and everything is labeled. Labeling is key to organisation! I can put my finger on most items very quickly because it has a label on the front. If I add a new item to a storage box/drawer, I just add another label.

Medium-sized plastic tubs hold bulky items and things that I don't use as often. The middle shelves also hold drawers of varying sizes. The drawers hold my most used items and are at eye level for easy access—this is key, people! You won't use it if it's a drag to get it out! My bulkier tools like my Epic 6, Xyron, and Bind-it-All sit on top of the drawers so they are always easy to take out, use, and put away.

The smaller tubs hold often-used items that are bulkier and the purple photo containers by Cropper Hopper hold most of our photos.

The last lot of tubs are large and are a combination of scrapbooking, general craft, fabric, and my husband's sports clothes (see, I am a very sharing sort of person!).

One set of drawers holds my cardstock scraps, sorted by colour. I used to try and keep all my scraps no matter how small, but this is unrealistic so now I only keep larger scraps and what fits in the drawer. Part of keeping things organised is the upkeep; if the drawer starts to get full, I have a purge and take all the smaller pieces to work for craft at the library. Having your scraps sorted saves time when you just need to use a small piece for a punch or embellishment and saves you from having to cut into a fresh piece of cardstock.

My most used punches are stored in the drawers with all the other punches on the top shelf.

I treat my patterned paper just like my cardstock—all scraps go into these two drawers to be used for cards and embellishments. Sometimes I can complete a whole layout or mini-book just from my scraps. Again, anything too small goes to work.

My inks are kept in the middle drawers and I often flip them over to keep the ink pad moist. Again, ease of use is key. The drawer above holds the stamp cleaning pad and the tubs below hold my stamps. When I need to use them I can just carry the tub to my desk and play around. When I am finished it all goes back in, lid goes on, and away it goes—makes pack-up a breeze.

I have also managed to take over part of the other linen press in our dining room and I put a bookshelf in the cupboard that could hold the large-sized albums; they do not fit any other bookshelf and we have no free walls left. Small house strikes again! My cardstock and patterned paper collection is here as well. What you can't see to the left is the vacuum cleaner, my husband's guitar and amp, our CD collection, my wedding dress, my first-date-with-Gary-dress (oh please, who doesn't have that in a box somewhere?) and the box that has all those crazy cords and plugs from our collection of computers (I know you all have one of these boxes, ha!).

The top shelves hold my cardstock and my category drawers (from my BPS Library of Memories class). All my cardstock is housed in Cropper Hopper vertical storage boxes—the best thing ever, in my opinion. I can see my cardstock easily, it takes up less room, I have them in all sizes—12 x 12, 8.5 x 11, and 8 x 8—and they are all labeled. I can pull them out and carry them to my desk, and I have been known to just sit them in a tub when I go away to scrapbook, just in case I need a colour. I have made peace with what I like and so my collection is heavy with white, kraft and black with a small selection of other colours.

The bottom shelves hold my albums and my folders, I am still in the process of moving pages around in my albums using the Library of Memories categories. Other albums belong to my boys and class that I have taken.

I also have a series of white folders on the bottom shelf. These folders hold class notes from Big Picture Scrapbooking, divided by teacher. I also have a couple of folders for inspiration. Because I can't house an unlimited supply of magazines, I do tear out what I like (I think I heard a few of you gasp—and yes, it was hard to do at first), punch holes in it and put it straight into the folder. So, my very favourite things are right at my fingertips, including folders that house inspiration for sewing, knitting and crochet, computer and font tips, Christmas ideas and records—well, the list goes on but it is all in one easy-to-get-to place.

The kraft folders house all things school for my sons Oscar and Byron. I have another two folders that contain all their primary school stuff, but these folders are for high school. These are not their school albums; these are the report cards and achievement certificates and awards—you know, all that stuff. Having a place to put it as soon as it comes home stops it from becoming clutter somewhere else in the house.

To the right of my bookshelf is a container that holds my rolls of wrapping paper. It has a lid, keeps everything neat and I only keep basic colours that will get me through any event.

Finally, here is my built-in bookshelf in the dining room. I will say that I have taken a few shelves for my hobby, but this bookshelf holds all our family books and also serves as storage for our boys' Playstation and Wii. I regularly go through my books to see if I still want to keep something; if not, it's donated to the library. When you have a small space, it forces you to be ruthless!

OK, there you go! Yes, I have a disproportionate amount of storage just for me, but those are the perks of being the one that keeps everything sorted. Ha! Knowing that my space can't expand, I have to think about what I do bring into the space. Sometimes there is room and sometimes something else has to go. Because I scrapbook in the lounge room, I need to be able to pack up quickly and this system of tubs, containers and drawers makes that very easy. I am a visual person, so it makes sense that if I can see it, I will use it. It works for me and I hope it helps you a little to take control of your scrap stash—because I know you all have one!

WCS Presents: Spring Cleaning and Organization Week!

Welcome to our first-ever spring cleaning and organization week! We're excited to highlight some of our most organized team members' scrapbook spaces this week in hopes that their hard work to build beautiful, functional creative areas will inspire you to look for the best solutions for your own organizational challenges. Today, please welcome Jody Wenke as she takes you on a tour of her scrapbook room.

Barring any natural disasters or computer issues, I am finally going to show you my studio, and I'm very excited! Let's go back to the beginning: two years ago, my husband realized that this little hobby of mine had turned into a full-blown obsession and agreed to build a scrap room for me in our basement.

It certainly helped that he was able to build the entire room by himself because he is in the remodeling business. I wanted it painted a soothing yellow because the color just makes me happy. Fast forward to a couple of days just past Christmas when a burst pipe wreaked havoc on my studio. The lower cabinetry needed to be torn from the walls and the carpet needed to be ripped up and dried, but thankfully no scrap supplies or layouts were ruined:

So while two years ago I had a beautiful scrap room, I didn't use it to its fullest potential. This flood lit a fire in me and I went through every single drawer and streamlined all my supplies so everything would have a place. When you walk down the stairs to my basement, this is the first thing you see:

To the right is a brand new wall of my favorite family photos. I love the uniformity of equal sized (8x10) frames. They were all bought at a Joann's store; each frame was $5 and I would use a coupon for 50% off each time I went. Same with the mats—each one $2.99 at Michael's and then I would use a coupon. I would buy a couple each time I went shopping, so it wasn't a big chunk of change to spend all at once.

I recently bought this frame at Ikea ($25) and searched high and low for a quote that would fit the personality of the room. I did manage to find a great one and used my personal stash of my most favorite ever American Crafts Subway Thickers.

This next photo is where the magic happens...: ) I like to refer to this table as the Autopsy Table, it's that big and sturdy...enough room to spread out supplies—and enough leftover room for a friend, too! There are a total of 16 pull-out drawers all organized differently; some have letter stickers, some rub-ons, some scrap papers, some chipboard letters and some color-sorted embellishments. Every drawer has compartments for all the supplies. They were all bought at different Dollar Stores. The large white plastic bins were $1 and the smaller ones were 3 for a $1. Here are just some of the ways I have organized everything:

You know those sheets of embellishments/stickers that we all have much too much of? Well I cut them apart and put everything in color-coded bins and on the back of each product I initial the manufacturer's name so if I ever need to know this info for any publications coming up it's right at my fingertips:

Target is also a great place to buy these galvanized buckets for storage, the small rectangular bins are a steal for a $1 each!

On top of my scrap table, I love my Making Memories carousel ($39 at Michaels before 40% off coupon) This is worth its weight in gold. It houses everything I use constantly (pens, scissors, tape, my glasses,etc...)

I keep all my cardstock and patterned papers in Sterilite bins (they can usually be found at Walmart on sale for $10). They are organized in colors and by manufacturers name (American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, Jillybean Soup & Basic Grey are my personal favorites).

Now, onto the cabinets! The left cabinet houses some embellishments sorted by themes and all my different sized photos. Again, the buckets were bought at Target (small buckets $1 each, larger buckets $2.50 each).

The right cabinet is so organized I can't stand it! Whatever I am looking for is available at a glance (foam, felt, Easter, Valentine's Day, butterflies, arrows, Halloween, school, photo corners, etc...)

This shelf holds all my scrapbooks:

One of my very favorite things in the whole room is the SIMPLE sign bought for me from my sweet friend Carmela. No other word sums up my scrapping style like this one :) Here's another angle, and right outside this window is my girl's swing set and trampoline—what is nice is that I can take totally candid photos of them, kind of like a paparazzi, if you will ;)

In this cabinet I store all my favorite scrap books and magazines (Creating Keepsakes and Simple Scrapbooks :::wiping away a tear:::) and also my photo CDs and stamp/ink and brad storage. They were all purchased at Walmart for $6 each. Here is the uniformity rearing its vicious head again!

This is another wall which I hang my most recent scrap pages from a curtain rod; I had seen it in other scrap rooms and loved the look. I can easily change the layouts and at least I don't have to put them into the scrapbooks where no one can see them, at least for a little while:

Here are a couple more angles of the room itself:

I hope you enjoyed seeing my studio; I certainly enjoyed showing it to you. I really tried when decorating for the room to keep costs at a minimum to show you that you don't have to spend a lot of money when putting together a room. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section—I will be happy to answer anything you'd like to know :)

Brought to you by the letter T.

My husband is the electrician at a large resort.

When he arrives at work and opens his locker, essentially all of the tools he will possibly need for the day are on the shelves in front of him.

Some of those tools are important enough that he carries them on his person.  But he doesn't do this randomly.  He keeps his essential tools organized in four pockets in the exact same order every day.  On particularly hectic days, if he accidentally puts a tool away in the "wrong" pocket, he's very likely to spend some time backtracking to look for it.

Within that group of important tools, there are a few which he would replace with the exact same brand and model should they break or go missing.  No shopping for the best bargain or trying something new.

Sound familiar?

T is for Tools: Making the Most of the Essentials

As a scrapbooker, I can relate to my husband in many ways.  Within my creative space are all the tools and supplies I need in order to scrapbook, but there are some that I must keep out in the open and near to me because I will reach for them often.  And within that group are those items to which I am brand-loyal.

Making the most of basic tools starts with discovering which ones are the best fit for you, making sure you always have those items on hand, and storing them in a way that allows you to use them with ease.

I asked the Write. Click. Scrapbook gals What are the 3-5 tools you cannot live without?  and How do you keep them close at hand? As I compiled their responses, I found many areas of overlap as well as plenty of uniqueness.

The most popular responses were trimmer, adhesive, pens, computer, ruler, and punches.  No surprise, but there was a lot of variety within each answer.  If you're still experimenting to find your favorite in a certain category, perhaps some of the specifics will be helpful:

trimmer: Rotatrim M Series Rotary 15" (on the spendy side, but not as expensive as a Genesis, and cuts exceedingly straight, according to Celeste), Tonic Guillotine, Quartet brand guillotine-style paper cutter, Fiskars 12" Rotary Trimmer

adhesive: Herma Dotto, Scotch double-sided tape, 3M Scotch wrinkle-free glue sticks, dimensional adhesive (such as Diamond Glaze), pop dots, Scotch ATG Gun (direct quote from Celeste: "OK, if you aren't using an ATG gun you are paying too much for adhesive."  I agree!)

pens: fine point Sharpie (including the newest version that doesn't bleed through paper), American Crafts pens, black Pilot G2 05, black Micron, .03mm pen

ruler: cheap plastic T-square, metal ruler, retractable tape measure

punches: corner rounder, butterfly punch, heart punch, WRMK Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper

Some other tools worth mentioning include x-acto knife, paper piercer, adhesive eraser, bone folder, sewing machine, needle & floss, Undu, cutting mat, sandpaper, and distressing tools.  Three people consider white cardstock to be a necessary tool, since it's so foundational!  Elizabeth can't scrap without her iPod, Sara puts Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to good use as well as a sketch journal, and Candice is always pulling out paper with lines for journaling.

The most unique responses?  Tina uses tweezers from a suture removal kit for removing stickers from their backing and for placing those stickers onto layouts, as well as for fishing brads out of their jar.  Clever.  And Elizabeth uses an awl she stole from her husband ten years ago (her words!) for poking holes, because it's sharp and doesn't drag. 

As far as keeping tools within reach...

USA Jody has a huge 4' x 6' table in the middle of her studio where everything she needs is basically at arm's length.  Beth keeps all of her essentials in a tray in the middle of her work table.  Others keep their tools in baskets or drawers near their workspace.

Aussie Jody has a Making Memories Carousel Organizer for all her tools, but at the moment her favorite items are in a Cropper Hopper Photo Case because she's found it easier to transport to craft events away from home.

Tina up-cycled a couple of soup cans by covering them with cute October Afternoon patterned paper and filling them with necessities.

Since I'm such a vintage nut, I enjoy using this old tool caddy for storing the things I use the most.

I hope this post has motivated you to decide on and centralize your favorite tools and organize them in such a way that you never have to think about where they are or work to get to them.  Maybe you've even found a new tool to try out.  I know I have!

See you back here tomorrow to wrap up the week with Y!

it'll end in tears

Not only the name of one of my all time favorite albums, but also how we hope the week does not end.

Most of you are otherwise occupado today with candy, costumes, and last minute decorations. (I hope you all have a safe and happy day.) In light of your pressing needs, today will be short and sweet.

Couple answers. I can hang elements off the edge and still fit it in a page protector as I often scrapbook 8.5 x 8.5 layouts. I love the look of Liz Tamanaha's pages (Paislee Press) and her bitty little pictures. But when I put them on a 8.5x11 they just didn't look right. So I began cutting my pages down to 8.5 inch squares. This means I can hang elements off vertically or horizontally, and they still fit in my 8.5 x 11 page protectors just fine. I just place them vertically or horizontally in the page protector depending on which side the stuff is hanging over. I also like the proportion of letter stickers as titles on the smaller format.

Secondly, the torn up edges are compliments of this little baby:

I'm on my second one, and I love them. (I buy them at the CK Conventions vendor fair, but I think to buy online you need a rep. Mine have been $3 each). They are about 2 inches in diameter. I just hold it in one hand, my paper in the other, and drag it down the edge, going a little back and forth as I do. (If you want more distresser-ing love, check out Bibine's blog. Seeing how she leaves all her edges torn helped me understand that it you tear an edge as you go, just leave it, or add a brad and see it as an opportunity to embellish!) Anywhere I might have before inked edges, I now distress and doodle a line around the edge. I like the little lines of color to finish off the edges.

For my last bit of imparted wisdom (hahahaha), I wanted to tell you the system I have worked out for photo/journaling storage. It took me months of trying various things, but this one seems best for me. In case you haven't yet struck gold on your system yet, here is one more to consider.

I am the one who used to write on the back of every photo ever processed. Name, date, location, and purpose of photo. Then I would put the negatives into an album also so noted. Then all the photos would go in an album. I did each roll of film within one week of picking it up. I worked fulltime and had one child and was incredibly organized back then. Now, I stay home, have three kids, and a digital camera. At last count I had more than 80 000 photo in storage. In four years. I know, I know. Too many. I tried to embed the info into each photo, but it was too big of a task. So this is what I do now.

Download photos. I download by date as I am a numerical girl. Dates work best for me as I remember numbers best.

I go into each date and create descriptive folders separating out different photo groups if there are any.

In every folder, I click through and do my best to take some out, discarding any that are blurry/out of focus/duplicates.

Create an edited photos folder. Place edited copy of these into this folder. (I do NOT delete the originals.) Here is a screen shot for all of September. (it will get bigger if you click on it)

Now, the photos are done, and I go to my typepad account. (My account lets me have three subfolders. On one I put a password and keep it private. This is the account to which I refer.) Here I add all the information I would have put on the backside of the photos. And a little more. I save the date with the same folder name as my photos. If I have time, I upload the photos. If I don't, I can anytime, as they are linked by title and date.

I have been doing this (mostly) successfully for a year now. I feel amazing relief at knowing that all my stories are someplace safe from theft, fire, and memory loss, and all my photos are safely attached to their stories. From here, scrapbooking is a breeze. Any time I am in the mood, my photos and journaling are there and waiting.

Before I got my digital camera, I loved scrapbooking. I kept photo albums for all the pictures, and I scrapbooked about 3-10 photos per roll. I thought I would love scrapbooking even more once I went digital, but honestly, I felt completely overwhelmed by the effort of making every photo (and now I had TONS more) a scrapbook page, lest it not have its story preserved.

Once I stopped trying to make my scrapbooks a resting place for all my combined photos/memories, I rediscovered my love of scrapbooking. It has returned to an art form. To a place of creative discovery where I can take my favorite photos and stories and put them together on a pretty piece of paper. Instead of a chore that caused me guilt for one more undone item on my todo list.

That's it for me. I will leave you with some Christmas cards to segue from Halloween to our new month! Be sure to check in Monday for the new month launch! I have been sneaking peeks and there is some good stuff coming. Craftyp, will you send me your address to marnie at writeclickscrapbook dot com so I may send you some Halloween paper for your efforts on the challenges this week? Thanks to everyone who worked on a layout. I loved them all. And am so proud of your efforts to record yourselves.

xo

more than words...

another name that tune...

Welcome back! Check out this bio photo! It is an oldie, but still one of my favorites. I took it when Poppy was a baby. Nigel was at school and I set up my tripod and took some shots with the timer. Honestly, I get more than a little flummoxed when others take my photo. Conversely, when it is me and my self timer, I can get my groove on!

I remember the morning this shot was taken. I was having a great hair day (which really means that my hair colorist got it right and I had just spent an hour scrunching and styling and had added enough "product" to give me about 1.2 seconds before it faded to the wrong shade of Napalm Pumpkin and lost all that volume I worked so hard to achieve!). And it was during the time when I was taking weekly shots of Poppy for her 52 weeks album (anyone remember that one?), so I knew when the sun would be radiantly glowing through our only non-underground window. I set that camera up, and plunked my well-coiffed self down and had me a good old fashioned one-on-one photo shoot. I have some b.a.d. shots but there were two in the bunch I dug. This is one. Maybe I'll find the other for tomorrow's photo.

If you haven't taken your photo yet, today seems like a great day. I hear the weather is perfect, gravity has eased its pull for the day, you ate while standing (making the calories free), and well, my goodness, you really do just look lovely today. Why, so good that you should take a photo today. You really should. Wow. Look at you! What a looker! (No, I did not say, hooker! I really didn't. You mustn't have heard me right!)

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So today we are talking about words. I liked our piles of photos yesterday. Today let's sort into journaling styles/people piles.

Pile one:
Writers. These people love their words. When you read their words, you are transported. They can be witty, clever, evocative, precise. They see the world in word pictures. In their minds, there is a verbal description commentary that runs on everything they see. For them, words are art.

Pile two:
Good with words. This pile of peeps can hold their own. They can move past the who what where and when, to the why and the how. They describe details. They are not afraid of words. They can neatly and appropriately capture the events, and the mood.

Pile three:
Scaredy cats. Afraid of grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and the rules of writing. They can speak and communicate, but when the pen is in their hand, they begin to doodle, pretending that the alphabet was invented for others. Writing, for them, is something other people do.

Did you find yourself in there? Now, here is one of the great mysteries of the scrapbooking world. These same three categories can be given to photographers. Professionals, amateurs, and the rest of us. If you put a group of dissimilar scrapbookers round a table, no one would not put their pictures on a layout as they weren't "good enough." We admire good photos, and don't hang our heads with shame that our photos are more "homegrown" than others. But yet, we refuse to accept our "homegrown" writing. Why is journaling subject to a different set of rules? Why is it we leave off the words of the layout? Why do average photos get on layouts, but not average words? Hmm. Do we have some innate belief that photography is a skill and writing a talent? One you learn, the other you are born with, or done for?

I am going to disagree. Wholeheartedly. But before you go getting your big girl panties tied up in knots, let's reestablish our definition of journaling, for scrapbooking purposes. Let's just consider it writing down thoughts. That's it. Nothing fancier. Try not to imagine it as more. Let's cut loose the chains that are binding us and the deadweight that is keeping us down.

Do you still have your pile of photos from yesterday? Let's start there. Find one of the PHOTOS THAT MAKE YOU SWOON. One that you just love because you love it. I am going to work with this one.

Now, think of the back story for this photo. The who what where why when.

Here is my backstory: We went on a bit of family vacation to the South Carolina coast before I taught in Charlotte this past summer. I drag my family (No, amend that. Poppy and Lavender were smiling and happy, while Richard and Nigel were apparently stopping by the dentist office on the way to our "shoot.") to the beach to capture that radiant glowing beach photo. I am channeling my best Tara Whitney, and I am thrilled to be next to the actual ocean and not just the concrete beach of our local swimming pool. We get to some off the beaten path place and it is teeming with locals. Good sign. But at 10:00 am (well, 10:30 really, see above statement regarding tween and cougarbait) the sun was already high in the cloudless sky and the temperature exceeding 90 degrees with 100% humidity. It didn't take but a minute to realize that I was SO not going to get any sort of picture here. (well, maybe a couple, but not the one I was hoping for!) Not with the adverse conditions, and I am only partially talking about the weather. In choosing to not slay this ugly 12 headed dragon, I suggest we postpone, and we pack it in. (And then have to walk the mile back to the car...Ha! take that grumpy Y chromosomes!) Despite the rocky beginning, we end up having a nice day at the beach. We play. We rest. We stay til 5:00. And now, it is again time. This time we opt for the other side of the island, where we get some nice shots. (Note to self, if you want a photo that looks like something Tara would take, go to the Pacific Ocean and hire Tara to take it. I digress..)

Back to the photo, I wanted for my wall, really. And for the scrapbook. Because with PHOTOS THAT MAKE YOU SWOON, if it's good enough for the wall, it is guaranteed placement in a scrapbook. But what to say on this page? I certainly am NOT going to recount that long, dreadful tale of gloomies, grumpies, and squints for my pretty picture page. If I tell that whole story, I will certainly use either of these two photos. (They are more supportive of my version of events.)

So, back to the good one, what words should I add? Really, I don't need much. In fact, it could just be an artistic page, with very few words. Or I could talk about the relationship I see between my kids as a group. IT ISN'T WRONG TO LIMIT THE WORDS. If you choose it, you are not admitting defeat, you are choosing to be sparse. A matter of perspective that is incredibly empowering.

Now, let's look at the layout where the PHOTO TELLS THE STORY. Here it is again.

I could have written "Nigel drops a ball on Emma's head." But is that why this photo is waiting to go in my scrapbook? No. It is going there because of the guilt that is all over his face. And once I saw that, the rest just came with it.

Pick up one of your photos with a good story. Can you tell me the story? (You most certainly can, as you placed this photo in the "has a story" pile.) Hand the pen to your friend and have them take notes as you describe it. Or if you don't have a friend nearby, pretend you are recounting the tale to your mother in an email. Tell her how naughty your child was for dropping a ball on a toddler's head and how you SO caught him in the act. As your thoughts spring forth you need only transcribe them into words and voila! You have your journaling. I knew you had it in you! You just need some coaching. That's all.

If you can speak, you can write on a layout. If you don't believe me, go into your sent box in your email. Find a tale of a funny story that you sent to someone. Note the date. Find a photo that would fit the time or story and add it in. Suddenly you have become a "worder." You wrote on your layout. I am so proud of you!

Here are a few more places to look. Your tweets. Your facebook account. All those surveys you fill out. Your outbox on your texting account. Once you realize all the places that you store your words, you will jump for joy with seeing potential stories.

One more thing, remember the photo from yesterday and how it moved me so? If a photo moves you, let it. Then record some words about how. Don't bother "journaling" about it, just record words. You know how. I saw you do it earlier.

Ooh, one other last thing. When I am in a word rut, I try to find a new perspective. Maybe I look at the photo and try to imagine what someone 100 years from now would ask about it. (Now, I know you have scads and stacks of layouts to make and you don't need any other stories to distract you, but you need to get over that. (If you need help on that one, sign up for Stacy's classes. She is guaranteed inspiration on getting over that! Go, Stacy!))

So now that you are over that, look again at that photo. See anything with your future eyes? Wonder how much those jeans cost? How much it cost to develop that photo? What kind of camera took that photo? Or, why did that long ago someone take that photo? If you can't describe at least that, then remove that photo from your to-be-scrapped pile. Label the back with name, date, and place, and get that baby in your photo album instead. If you had a reason, tell me. "I took this photo because my grandchild has me so whipped that I can't NOT take his photo." "I took this photo because my cat means the world to me and is truly a member of my family." Have you already recorded that message? Then turn over the photo, label it with name, date, and place, and put it in your photo album. Haven't yet said that in your album? Woohoo! You now have words for your layout. I keep telling you how good you are good with this word thing. Are you starting to believe me?

Yesterday I told you that I am a scrapbooker who loves photos. I have another admission. I am also a scrapbooker who loves words. I record them in my phone, on my google calendar, on all sorts of yellow legal pads leftover from my previous life. I keep a personal blog for my journaling. I try very hard to note my life as I am old and my brain is mushy and forgetful. Without the words, my scrapbooks would be more like prettied up photo albums. And well, frankly, that's not what I am after. If you are okay with purdy photo albums, then forget the words, be honest with your intentions, and let go of any and all guilt associated with "journaling." But if you want more, take it. You can do it. They are just words, after all.

materials - all paislee press
back story: one of the photos from the first trip to the beach.
who: Lavender
what: at the beach for family photo
where: Hilton Head, SC
when: Aug 11, 2009
category: PHOTOS THAT MAKE ME SWOON
words to include: how much Lavender loved the beach atmosphere
any stories to tell? not with this photo. any connections to make? Yes! one more way she is like me.

Fit Your Space to Your Process

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm looking forward to our week together. To help you get to know me, I thought I'd share a little about how and where I create.

My Creative Process
For me, scrapbooking is all about stories. Whether it's a sentence or a paragraph, I always start with a story. Once I've got a story to tell, I find a design to match. I collect catalogs, magazines, clothing tags, junk mail--anything that could inspire a page. Sometimes I look for photos before pulling out products, but more often, I get started without knowing which photos I'll use. It's an atypical approach, I know, but it's one that works for me. Once I sit down to create, I want things to go smoothly, and my space helps to ensure that happens.

My Creative Space
I used to have a beautiful craft room all to myself, but I treated it like a walk-in closet. When I wanted to scrapbook, I hauled everything (and I mean everything!) down to my family room, where I could be near my husband and watch my favorite TV shows. A few months ago, my husband suggested we combine our offices into a joint office suite. At first, I resisted. Give up my room? I'd never get it back! But then we started planning, and pretty soon, I knew that transitioning to a shared space was the right thing to do. As I planned my half, I focused on my creative process and tried to address all of the roadblocks that had prevented me from working in my previous office. Now the shared office is my favorite room in the house, and here's why.

This is my half of the room. (The tabletop isn't always this clean.)

This is my husband's half of the room. Now I can be with him and watch my favorite shows, too.

What I Love about My Space
1. My counter-height desk. I have a hard time sitting still when I'm creating. I feel more comfortable and more productive when I'm standing, so this kitchen island from IKEA is the perfect desk for me. The side you can't see includes nine drawers that are about 13 W x 20 D--perfect for scrapbooking supplies.
2. Everything's within arm's reach. With my desk in the center of the room, I can spin 360 degrees and reach everything from tools to paper to embellishments. This definitely speeds up my creative process.
3. My inspiration pile and basket. When I'm working on a page, I often run across appealing paper and embellishments that don't fit my current project. To save time on future projects, I pull these items from my stash and add them to the pile next to my printer. When I begin a new project, I start here. It's a huge timesaver.
4. Drawers and baskets keep things looking organized without much fuss. My toddler loves to get into my craft supplies, but in a matter of minutes, I can toss everything back into place. (Just don't look in the drawers.)
5. My oversize closet. Technically, I'm supposed to share the closet, but my husband hasn't used it yet. This is where I store tools I don't use very often, as well as unfinished projects. (I've got a lot of those.)
6. The color of the walls. Finding a gender-neutral color that my husband and I could agree on wasn't easy, but the effort was worth it. This is the most peaceful room in my house.

Even though I share my space with my husband, I know it's still more than many scrapbookers have. So I hope that what you'll take away from this post isn't a longing for more space but an excitement to make even a small space fit your process and your style. If you need a little help through the process, check out The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker by Wendy Smedley and Aby Garvey.

Now that you know a little about me, tell me a little about you. What do you love most about your scrapbook space? How have you made your space fit your process? Share what you love about your space. Or share what you hate, and set a goal to resolve the problem. I'm cheering for you!