Genius!

Well, I thought this idea was anyway! Check it out:

I'm always on the hunt for ideas... whether it's cards, design, organization, you name it, I'm looking for it! The latest hunt was for ideas on displaying my cards and other product for sale. My upline & friend Leena Girsa showed me her idea for display by using newspaper racks to display her product. I thought that was genius. I immediately went out and bought some (did I mention I was impatient when it came to implementing new ideas?!). They display product beautifully - most recently, they displayed product for the vendor sale I participated in to sell off gently used or new product. People even commented on how organized my table was!

Anyway, after seeing Leena's idea and purchasing some for myself, I walked up and down the aisles at Solutions (a home organization store here in Canada). I mean EVERY aisle. Even ones that I thought wouldn't matter. There were a few possibilities, but then I saw the shoe racks. Even better, I saw the above shoe display (yes, that's what it's for) on clearance because it was the floor model. What did I care?! It was in excellent condition! I think the sales reps were shocked to see me buying it... little did they know what I was going to do with it.

This stand is AWESOME! Each "basket" is somewhat closed off so that I don't have to worry too much about items falling through. A few cheapy baskets I bought fit perfectly and house all my tags and little sale items nicely. The baskets even move up and down to accommodate larger items, and best of all, it sits on a table top AND has a carry handle! What more can a gal ask for?!

The point is that when you're looking for new ideas, think "outside the box". It's something that was drilled in my head when I took Graphic Design, and I think that's a huge part of why I think the way I do sometimes. You never know where an idea will come from!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

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 2

Today I'm sharing a few more ideas to keep my space organized & items accessible! Do you use you phone, laptop, Netbook, iPad or other device in your space? Then you'll probably be interested to know about these:

You may have seen these on my desk in the first picture of my entire space, found here. These two items are always on my desk and travel with me too. You can see from the picture above how easily they come apart and fold flat! They are holders for your devices - keeps them at a workable and viewable level and for laptops & the like, keeps them cool when you're using them.

If you're interested in purchasing the above products, contact me for more info, or you can purchase them directly from the manufacturer by emailing nupro@rogers.com

These are Canadian made, great quality, super light-weight (less than a pound!!), there are several products available in the product-line in black or white & you won't find anything else similar with all these characteristics for an affordable price (the basic laptop stand, for example, is approximately $20).

Oh, and did I mention that these were invented and created by my dad?! You may have noticed my customized laptop holder with the picture of my daughter on it. :)

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

More Organization Tips

In addition to my previous posts about embellishment and ribbon storage, I have another organizational tip to share with you today. I use old mason jars and clothes pegs to store baker's twine, ribbon off the spool and ribbon scraps.

 

Just like everything else, I like to see what I have (if space allows). If I don't see it, I don't remember to use it. Plus, sometimes looking around and seeing the colours and types of embellishments I have inspire me to create something great.

I have these jars sitting on a bookshelf underneath my spools of ribbon. They're not within reaching distance to my workspace, but close enough to be able to get up and get something when I need it.

This solution has worked for me for a couple of years now and maybe it'll work for you too.

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

Reduce & Reuse!

I'm a big fan of recycling, and even better, to reduce & reuse waste. What better way to reduce & reuse than to create something crafty & pretty!

I've been collecting wine corks from various sources for years and together with fabric and a bamboo cutting board, I created a pretty and functional cork board. This would be perfect for the kitchen, or home office where wall space is limited.

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph