- this is kind of a different type of a tutorial because there really is no "right" or "wrong" way to stay organized so it's more going to be a bit of show and tell about what helps me to stay organized when scrapping and I hope that you find it helpful and get some new ideas.
For a while I wasn't the most organized scrapper - but I find that when I do stay on top of being organized it really helps me with pulling pages together much quicker because I know where everything is and it helps me pull together better pages because I'm not forgetting about things that I already have in my stash!
I do not have a dedicated scrap room in my house - my husband and I share an office in our house that also doubles as my scrap room - since it's on the main floor and is visible I like to keep my stuff out of the way as much as possible when I'm not scrapping (this also helps keep it all safe from living with a dog, a man and a baby hee hee!)
This is the desk where I layout my pages - you can see I have a self healing mat underneath - I got this ages ago and I love it because I never worry about damaging the wood with my glues etc (like I *might* have done to our kitchen table when I used to scrap there.......oops ) - anyway this just stays out all the time even when I'm not scrapping.
Next is my cluster of containers that also stay out on the desk all the time - I don't mind these staying out because the stuff is contained within them and it is also good to keep out a few things that I don’t' want to forget about and also good to keep certain things easy to grab when I'm pulling together a page.
Most of these are just repurposed vessels that I had around the house plus a few cheap milk glass containers from the antique market.
Next I have 3 "embellie" Tupperware’s that I stack when not in use and to the right bags with "kits" - this is kind of where I keep my current projects - either kits that I've gotten, projects that I want to tackle etc...keeping it organized in seperate bags helps me to be able to quickly pick up and scrap when I have a few minutes here and there.
Within the Tupperware's I keep my most used supplies; I keep ribbon in one, embellies in another (bling, journaling cards, stickers etc) and stamps in the third. On top I keep a embroidery floss case - this is probably my "secret weapon" when it comes to staying organized
....this little catch all is where I store all of my buttons and then I put a few flowers in here from my larger containers so that I don't forget about them and can grab them quickly when needed. You'll see my full storage in a second.
The desk drawer houses all of my punches as well as my corner chomper.
Then to the right of the desk I have a few Tupperware drawers stacked
I keep patterned paper in one, cardstock in another and square embellie/sticker sheets in the third.
- one is a special one for scrapping (square shape) that has 3 drawers - If any of these 3 fill up I know it's time to purge because (to me) it means I've accumulated too much paper to be able to manage.The drawers below are just from a big box dept store (like Wal-Mart but don't remember exactly where I got them - I just repurposed from my basement when I decided to bite the bullet and get organized). In these I have organized all of my alpha stickers, rub ons, slice tool and photos.
I also label each of the drawers so that I remember what is where.......it may seem strange but I organize by "size" - so all of my thickers are in a drawer b/c they are all one size but then Oct Aft mini market letters are in a different drawer b/c to me they are a different size so I think about them differently.
Inside each drawer I like to also organize by colour (a bit crazy I know!)
Anyway - the point of this tutorial is not that you'll go out and organize just like me but rather that you'll be inspired to find a way of keeping your supplies so that they work for you - I'm sure like me you are pressed for time and the time that you do get to scrap is precious so I really feel it's well worth it to go through your supplies and organize them so that you can maximize the time that you do have for scrapping!
I hope you found this tutorial helpful - happy organizing!
