Organizing Cardstock Scraps

I don't know about all of you, but I'm always looking for new ways to organize all my scrappy STUFF!!   The more organized I am, the more I use up my stash.

I recently changed how I am storing my scraps of cardstock & its' working so well for me that I wanted to share it with all of you!   

I have always saved all my bits & pieces of cardstock - as long as they are bigger than roughly 2x2.   And for many years I have kept them sorted in colour groups.   However, up until recently I was storing the scraps in 13x13.25 ziptop bags.   This was fairly functional - except for two main problems:

1)  having a place to store those bags of scraps.  I was using a drawer in my Expedit - but it was always overflowing

2)   the ziptop bags did not keep the papers from getting bent, etc. - so I was constantly having to throw away pieces that had been scrunched

So I continued on like that until . . . CTMH introduced a full line of organizers!!   LOVE LOVE LOVE them for so many different uses!   (My cardstock storage is just one!)

So I am now using the SMALL sized organizer for my cardstock scraps.   I have 5 of them total, labelled by colour family.   The scraps fit great and don't get scrunched.  My organizers all fit in this great basket I picked up at Michaels.  (The basket is currently sitting on top of a rolling drawer organizer I got at Walmart). (My blacks/greys didn't require a full organizer so I'm using our hard-sided plastic paper envelope for those!)  And because these are stackable & have carry handles - they will also be easy to take with me to my crops & retreats!  

Now when I need a piece of cardstock - I go to these containers first before cutting into a full piece and I'm using them up way more than I used to!  

Do you have other ideas for storing your cardstock scraps?  I'd love to hear about them - leave me a comment!

A closer look at some of my scrap room organization!

Here is a closer look at one of my Expedit units:

The top of the shelf holds an embellishment case (from WalMart).  This holds miscellaneous embellishments like flowers, buttons, embroidery floss, hemp, sparkles, etc.  The black swivel unit is my Ink/Stamp Pad/Marker organizer from CTMH (a must-have if you own any number of our stamp pads!!)  (Note: This ink organizer is portable too!! Check out the carry case for it!)

This cube holds a Sterilite 8.5 x 11" three drawer organizer.  The top drawer holds my sponges and sponge daubers (I use a different sponge for each ink colour and keep re-using as long as possible, usually until the sponge starts to fall apart!!).  The second drawer holds miscellanous supplies like adhesive, extra blades for my paper trimmer, my extra double scrubber for my stamps, etc.  And the bottom drawer holds my duplicate acrylic stamping blocks (I have duplicates of some sizes to help facilitate my workshops). 

This cube holds all of the tools,etc. that sit right on my work table when I'm working.  I just put them here on the shelf when I need them out of the way, for whatever reason.  The desk caddy and tool kit hold all of my essentials like foam squares & foam tape, piercing tool, bone folder, a number of pairs of scissors, edge distressor, embossing/scoring stylus, liquid glass, finishing files, glue dots, pens, pencils, rub & remove eraser, blending pen, watercolour brush, rulers, distressing tools, etc.    On the right, you also see my Versamat pad that usually lives on my desk, and my crop case which holds any in-progress projects that I'm currently working on. 

Next are my two drawer inserts.  The top one holds my ATG gun (when it isn't on my worktable).  If you are an avid papercrafter and don't have a Scotch ATG gun  . . . you NEED one!!!!!  Take my word for it.  They are harder to find in Canada - I ordered mine online from NHS Media.   The bottom drawer holds miscellanous 'office' type supplies - my labeller, stapler, notepad, white-out tape runner, calculator, etc.

On the next row:  The shelf on the left holds my binders.  The first binder labelled "CTMH" is my business binder.  It goes everywhere with me.  It holds copies of current flyers & specials, my work calendar, my team member info, and customer contact notes, etc.   The other two larger black binders hold my E-sized stamp sets from CTMH.  The E sized stamp sets come in hole-punched organizer pouches (8.5x11 size), so binders are the perfect storage for them.  These stamp sets are mostly my larger alphabet sets. 

The shelf on the right holds all of my CTMH Organizer kits.  I have a couple of embellishment organizers, one acrylic block organizer with a full set of my blocks, and one ribbon organizer.    I love these cases - they are so portable - when I'm headed out to a crop or event, I can just grab my cases, throw them in my rolling tote, and go!

And finally on the bottom - I have my pullout bin that holds my scraps of cardstock, larger packages of die cuts, including felt die cuts, and larger packages of chipboard.   (Note: check HERE to see my post on Paper Storage & Organization).

There are two other shelves on this unit that I didn't photograph.  The one holds my extra paper trimmers and a folder of customer order supplies (order forms, credit card forms, etc.).  The other shelf holds another pullout bin - and it is actually empty right now!!

That's it for today . . . hope that gives you some ideas for organizing your scrap room!! 

I'm off now to work on some new artwork to post soon!!

My Scrap Room - Paper Storage

Paper storage . . . a topic of much discussion among scrapbookers!  Here is what I do:

For my full sheets of cardstock:
Close to My Heart has 60 different colours of cardstock.  I found these great Generations accordian files for 12x12 paper at Michaels.  Each file has 15 slots . . . so 4 files hold all 60 of my regular cardstock colours.  (The fifth accordian file in the photo holds a variety of Close to My Heart textured cardstock). 

I file the cardstock sheets by colour family and have the colour names labelled on each divider.

I love this system because it is portable!! I can easily grab my accordian files to pack up to go to a crop or retreat.  (They even have handles!!)
Unfortunately I believe these particular accordian files are discontinued, but I have seen similar ones recently in WalMart and Michaels. 

For scrap cardstock:
I hate to waste paper - so I keep all of my scraps.  I also store my scrap cardstock by colour family.  I have resealable zippertop bags from CTMH for each colour family (i.e. reds/pinks, blues/greens, neutrals, etc.)  If you are looking for something sturdier than the zipper bags - you could also use the 12x12 Paper Organizer Envelopes, which are made from the same clear, sturdy plastic that the CTMH stamp sets come in. 
I always go to my scrap bags first before cutting into a new sheet of cardstock.  Again - I love this system because my scrap bags are portable & easy to pack for crops & retreats!    I store all of my 'scrap bags' in a clear pull out storage bin on one of my Expedit shelves (along with some larger chipboard & die-cut packages).

For my patterned paper:

I store all of my open packs of Close to My Heart patterned paper alphebetically by the name of the paper pack (i.e. Aspen, BackCountry, Caboodle, etc.)  Each paper pack is in its' original zip-top clear plastic bag (although I do combine my opened Level 1 & Level 2 kits into one bag for my personal storage and also store the matching Stickease packs in the same bag as well.  This way everything is together! Note - I remove all of the cardstock out of the paper packs when I receive them and file the cardstock seperately in my cardstock files). 
All of these paper packs are filed in the top of a rolling cart storage I found at Michaels.  The unit came with dividers to put in the top area to store miscellaneous items.  So when I assembled the unit, I simply left the dividers out and it holds 12x12 paper packs perfectly upright!!  This way my packs are easy to flip through when I'm looking for something in particular. (my paper packs are in the top right of the photo . . . more info on the other contents of these storage units to come in future posts!)

I didn't get a picture of it - but I also store loose sheets of miscellaneous patterned paper in Cropper Hopper vertical files.  (Tip:  These Cropper Hopper files will fit on the Expedit shelves if you use an Exacto knife to trim a little bit of their height!)

I hope that gives you some ideas for storing your paper!  Please leave a comment if you have any questions on my scrap room organization!

My Scrap Room - Stamp Storage

One of the key components to keeping my scrap room organized is my stamp storage.
I own HUNDREDS of CTMH stamp sets!! And I am a lover (and addict) of Tupperware.  And the two go perfectly together!! I use rectangular Modular Mates storage containers to hold my stamp sets. 

They are the PERFECT fit.  I stand them up in the container so that I can flip through them to find what I'm looking for! 
The #2 rectangulars work best for 'flipping through' as the container height is only about 2/3 of that of the stamp sets (see the two 'end' containers in the photo).  The #3 rectangular containers are best for portable storage as the container height is high enough to fully contain your stamp sets & be able to put the lid on the container.   Both the rectangular #2 and #3 will fit approximately 20 stamp sets.  When going to a crop I throw the stamp sets I plan to use in one of my Modular Mates, put the lid on, throw it in my bag & go!!

I further organize my stamp sets by the color coded 'categories' that CTMH has assigned to them (i.e. spring, sentiments, everyday life, etc.).  I label the containers with the category name using my portable label maker (LOVE this tool!).

This system works well for me although, admittedly, I have on occasion ordered a stamp set that I already own.  A "to-do" project on my list is to 'inventory' all of my stamp sets to avoid doing that!!

My Scrap Room & Organization

I always love seeing other's blog posts about their scrap rooms and how people organize all of their scrap stuff - so I thought I'd give you a little peek into my world!  Let me start off by saying that I'm very envious of anyone who is lucky enough to have some space that is 100% dedicated as their scrap space!!  I may have such a space one day but for now I use our formal dining room for my scrap space.  It is a nice big & bright room, but I do have to be able to put stuff out of the way when we are actually using the dining room for dining! 

Anyways - I thought over the next several days I would dedicate a series of posts to showing you my scrap room and maybe give you some organizational ideas along the way! 

This first post will give you a general idea of my work area . . . I'll provide some more close ups and details soon!

As you can see from the pics - I use the IKEA Expedit shelves for my main source of scrap storage.  I love these shelves!  You can customize your storage by adding drawer or door inserts and can add perfectly sized baskets or bins to hold all your stuff!  And they are the perfect sized shelves (both height and depth wise) to hold your 12x12 scrapbook albums and paper! 

As you can see, our dining room also holds our piano . . . so I use that for storage too (as well as display)!  And luckily the IKEA Expedit units that are two cubes wide fit perfectly on either side of the piano! 

This next picture is taken on the opposite wall from the piano wall:

I have another one of the same IKEA Expedit units, this time laying horizontally under the open 'window'.  It is the perfect height for a little 'countertop'!  (This window opens up to our family room, which gives me lots of extra light and also allows me to chat with my hubby in the evenings if he's watching TV while I scrap!)

And finally - this picture shows my workspace:

I sometimes configure the tables differently depending on how many people I have, but this is the setup I usually have.  The larger table is my actual dining room table.  It belonged to my grandmother - so to protect it I keep a padded white vinyl table protector on it.  The other table is a 6 foot folding table from Costco. 

Somehow even when I'm working by myself - I spread out so much that both tables are often fully covered!  I'm trying to get into the habit of putting stuff away as I finish using it - - but it is hard to do! 

(And just in case you are wondering - the bowls in the middle are my standard scrapping snacks - pretzels and chocolate M&M's!!)