Organization: Part 4

Today is my last post on my new craft space and organization. I'm sorry that I'm squeezing so many photos/ideas into one post, but I've got so many projects lined up that I'm eager to share!

 
Two of these units sit under my main desk and they are awesome! They hold many of my essential tools - scrubs, clear blocks, embossing, piercing, office supplies, etc. I also discovered that the deeper drawers (3 out of 5) house two cardboard photo boxes and therefore I can have different items in the same drawer, but keep like items together.

I wish IKEA still made these, but I'm glad that I at least have a couple. This one has six drawers of varying sizes that hold my larger adhesives (Dimensionals, Sticky Strip & Glue Dots) and larger embellishments like my pearls & jewels. The other unit has nine equals drawer units and houses all my extra adhesives. It's a great way to keep track of inventory!

These cubed units have been with me for years! They are stackable and some can be flipped so that you can use them two different ways. As you can see, they house the majority of my stash - all my paper (that are in plastic dividers, organized by colour family/type), ready-made cards, envelopes, dies, Framites, etc. I think I've finally figured out a configuration that works.

From all these pictures, the commonality is the labelling! From these and photos in the previous posts, you've probably noticed that I label everything. Do I have a labelling addiction? Well, perhaps, but it really does make my entire space more efficient. If something is hiding in a drawer, I don't have to open several to find what I'm looking for.

As I mentioned in my first post in this series, I like to see everything in my space. If I don't see it, I won't use it. It's impossible to physically see everything, labelling makes that happen! ;)

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

 

Organization: Part 3

Today I'm going to show you a shelving unit I designed and that my awesome husband made:

Isn't it sweet?! As I was researching organization ideas, I saw many versions of the stamp pad holders. I also wanted/needed something for my stamps because previously, they were in drawers and on top of my desk.

Now that SU! has the new & awesome wood-mount stamp cases, all the stamps naturally fit in the same space. Also, I strongly felt ink and stamps needed to be in the same space, as well as, my markers, sponges & reinkers. The shelf I designed accomplishes just that!

Here is the breakdown of how I've organized it:

• Reinkers - at the very top in a green basket (sorry, it's not very visible in the photo)
• Stamps - sit on the shelves (how do you organize your stamps? I'm not sure if I should do it in alpha order or by type). Each shelf can fit approximately 42 single cases. For my husbands' sake, I hope that's enough! ;)
• Sponges - I used the Decorative Label Punch to punch the card stock colour and stapled it to the corresponding sponge. These all sit together in a glass container from IKEA. I'm not a dauber person.
• Stampin' Write Markers - are in clear-mount stamp cases with labels designed by Kimberly Barker - she so generously shared these with all the Demos on our Demo-Only site.
• Inks - I prefer to organize them by colour, not by colour family as in the SU! Catalogue... but my shelving unit can accommodate that if I choose to organize them that way in the future.

I've got another post or two on organization, so make sure to come back!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Organization, Part 1

As promised in my last post, I was going to share several of organization tips with you from my new craft space.

I'm the type of crafter that if I can't see it, I forget about it. So now that I've got all the wall space, I can display all my punches with the Bygel Rail System from IKEA that I've been drooling about since I spotted the ideas on Pinterest ages ago. What I never saw though is people taking advantage of the baskets or hooks that accompany this system.

The basket was perfect to hold all my border punches and smaller punches that either took up too much space on the rail, or didn't fit.

The plastic containers are perfect for all my hand-held punches & other accessories and the hooks, as you can see, are holding my punch templates, tools & my technique cards.

If this is something you'd like to do, I suggest running out to IKEA right now because they are discontinuing this product line!

Below are some previous posts on ways I have organized all my twine, Washi, ribbon & embellishments. Since I've previously blogged about them, I won't repeat it, but I loved these organizational methods so much, I had to incorporate them into my new space. They've worked out so well for me! You can probably see them in the picture in the last post.

Baker's Twine, Washi Tape, Ribbon Scraps Storage

Ribbon Storage

Embellishment Storage


Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

What's New?!

Tomorrow marks the two-week anniversary of when we moved into our new house. We're settling in. I'm proud to say that I had 90% of the boxes unpacked within the first week. After that, it's been countless hours of organizing and reorganizing, and organizing some more.

I was finally able to get my new craft space organized, and am happy to report that it is now almost complete! Prior to the move, I did a lot of research on organizational ideas and planning of my new space. Well, a space that is open to a space that the whole family can use (and see, so I better keep it clean!), plus an area where my kids can do some crafting and I can hold small-sized classes.

Over the next few posts, I want to share my new space with you. Not in a bragging way, but I'm proud of the organization of it! I gathered ideas from all over and I thought some might benefit you too!

Unlike my last space, I actually have wall space to use here! I kept the same basic layout as before, with my "must haves" all within close reach in front and beside me in drawers. The rest is still within reaching distance behind me in my storage cubes. With more wall space, I was able to free up a lot more table space, which I'm very happy about!

I will go into more detail on certain areas and organization over the next few posts, so stay tuned!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Ribbon Storage!

I don't know about you, but I have TONS of ribbons. Before going strictly SU!, I probably had close to 100 spools of ribbon from various places. I have since sold off a lot of it, but still have my favourites, not to use on cards, but for gift wrapping. :)

Anyway, my point is that I still have a lot of ribbon and have tried several different storage solutions over the years. My preference is to work off the spool so that I know the exact amount of ribbon to use for a project. I also like to organize by colour and style.

I cannot take credit for this idea I'm about to share with you, but unfortunately also do not know who to give credit to for it!! 

These units are IKEA picture shelving. They come in two sizes, I opted for the longest size and currently have 3 shelves... although, I could use at least one more! :) These are also pretty easy to make, but I was impatient to wait for my handy husband, so I bought some. They're reasonably priced (I think around $20) and come in black or white.

They've worked with all different sized spools so far and have found them to be incredibly handy. I also added some IKEA jars that store flowers and such that I've scattered throughout my shelves. For my SU! ribbon shelf, I've used one to separate my retired and current ribbons.

Hope this idea has inspired you to organize something in your space too!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Organize Those Embellies!

I don't know about you, but I love to use embellishments and can never seem to have enough... but I have enough to last me for years! haha.

A couple of years ago I was determined to re-purpose a spinning rack that I had (used to hold 160 bottles of paint).  I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of the rack when I was no longer painting and thought there must be another use for it!

After I finally sourced out the perfect containers at Lee Valley (such a wicked store!), it did exactly what I had invisioned:

As I mentioned above, the rack holds 160 bottles, but because I organize by colour and style, it's not quite enough. :) At least, that's what I tell myself about my obsession anyway. Regardless, it works marvelously! Each square section on my rack measured 1-1/2", so I chose the 1" and 1-1/4" bottles to hold my stash.

I'm very happy with how I re-purposed this rack and perhaps this post has inspired you to re-purpose something... or maybe you have this rack and will turn it into an embellishment holder too!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph