Ah product how I love thee! I recently purged about half of my stash. So freeing! I had a garage sale and sold off most of it. My plan is to swap rooms with my younger son in the fall – his room is smaller. So I had to reduce my stash drastically in order to do that. If you would like to take a look at my studio, you can visit my blog. The photos are a little older, but essentially the room is the same. Once I move I'll have less tables and one less Expedit .
Stacy Julian’s The Big Picture changed the way I scrap. After seeing her system for sorting elements by color, I realized that I typically scrap with colors in mind. A couple of years ago, I dumped everything I owned into the center of my studio floor and began to make piles of colors. It was a huge undertaking, but I’m so pleased I did it. No regrets! All my little embellishments, ribbon and brads, etc. are in embroidery boxes by color. All items from a color go into my Expedit in the Kassat boxes. Cardstock is sorted by color. Patterned paper - well I couldn't give up by manufacturer so that's the way it is. I believe that the way you organize your room should reflect how you scrap so this method may not be for everyone. Really think about your process and how you scrap before changing your organization method around.
Each day this week I've given you a little freebie printable. I mulled this over for this product post and came up with printable labels. These are great not only for layouts, but can also be used to label jars, boxes, and drawers in your scraproom. I just love the vintage-y goodness. I recolored and resized one these labels and used it on my first layout for the write.click.scrapbook gallery.
:: from Just Something I Made
When I’m getting ready for a crop I pull product in a variety of ways. One really easy way to get ready for a crop is to purchase a kit from one of the many kit clubs out there. The great thing about kits is everything you need is already packed! I find I can create 8-10 layouts from every kit if I add a little extra cardstock. Another trick - if you have any of the patterned paper lines in the kit, slide those in as well - instant coordination! Once I have the kit in hand, I slip in photos I think will work with the colors in the kit and the journaling and sketch that goes with them. There are so many great kit clubs– a great place to start looking is willowtraders.com. The site lists all of the kits available and there is quite a bit of chatter about them as well. Also, be sure to visit our kit club sponsors to the right - fabulous kits!
Another way I pull product is to grab one coordinating line of pattern paper from a particular company. Then I match as many photos as I can to the line. Throw in some matching cardstock and pull out my color bins to grab embellishments that look good with the line. Photos, journaling and sketches go into a large plastic baggie with the items I’ve gathered.
Now I have a stack of photos with no home! I pull patterned paper from my stash based on the sketches I’ve done – adding cardstock and embellishments as required. I make up mini-kits with three layouts in each bag for these with the completed journaling, photos and sketches.
Notice I haven’t mentioned some items that typically would be in those kits. I crop on a monthly basis. I keep a few items in my crop bag all the time which makes preparing for cropping a lot easier. I always bring...
a large bag of assorted American Crafts Thickers some of those mini-alphas from My Little Shoebox a small bag of buttons an assortment of brads my circle cutter with glass mat a baggie with some journal spots in a variety of colors a set of alpha stamps kraft, chocolate, black and white cardstock card sentiment rub-ons
I always plan on making cards with my leftover scraps at a crop. If you want to learn more about my card making process, I’ve written it up here.
I keep a standard list of items that need to come with me as well – things like..
my red ATG gun (I could disgress here and go on and on about my love for this tool!) punches candy :) my tool tote (filled with pens, scissors, adhesives, ink pads, etc.) my portable wire rack (I have no idea where to get one of these. It's bigger than this and white.) Post-it notes
The Post-It Notes are a must to make notes on my incomplete pages to remind me to add journaling ,embellishments, etc.
Now that all of my kits are ready for a crop, I’m heading out tonight to my LSS. I hope to get some projects done! Tomorrow for my last post I’ll share my results, post some of your awesome ad inspired layouts, and answer any questions from this week.
