Workspace Wednesday: Enamel Dots

I have two sons and one daughter.  I love them all uniquely and love to create layouts about them all.  But for years I was frustrated by all the pretty bling that just didn't work on those boy layouts.  Then My Minds Eye put out enamel dots.  I called them "bling for boy layouts."  And I went a little crazy - I think I bought one of every pack I came across for at least a couple of years - I wanted all the colors and sizes.  But it turns out I never finished a pack - ever. 


I started keeping them in a basket but it got too full.  Then I had an enamel dot drawer filled with packs of enamel dots.  It was chaos - I didn't know what I had, I couldn't find the colors I needed and I quit using them because they were too hard to find. 

 I thought about purging some of them, but honestly I will use them eventually if I can find the colors and size I want.  And I would likely just buy more.

There had to be a better way to store them.  I know some people put the packs on rings so they can flip through them easily.  But honestly, I had way too many packs for that to be functional - I would need a zillion rings.  And it would still be hard to find the color I wanted since most packs include several colors.  (I tend to look for supplies by color so that guides most of my organization strategies.)

And honestly my scrap room is full to the brim.  I don't have lots of extra room for storage so I felt like my options were limited.  But I do have a handy husband - and I have the drawer I had been using.  I just needed to make it more functional.

I wanted to do two things

• Eliminate all the packaging - it just takes extra room and makes them harder to use, and
• Store them by color so I would use them.

So I put my husband to work making dividers for my drawer.  He cut foam core into strips and we used two sided tape (that Creative Memories photo tape that is still in my stash) to put them together. I guessed at the size of the sections but new I wanted a few larger compartments because I had more of some colors.  We ended up with 13 sections.

Then I cut apart the backing on the enamel dots  so that I had strips that were a single color.  I put those into the sections of the drawer.

It works great.  It is easy to dig for just the right size and color.  It is easy to put new ones away (I am trying hard to buy none since I have a lifetime supply but they occasionally come in kits and once in a while I forget myself.)  And honestly - I am using them more because it is easy to pull out the drawer and find something that works.

Hope you're having a good week - thanks for stopping by.

Workspace Wednesday - The Washi Wall

Washi tape is so much fun - and it must be one of the best values in scrapbooking.  It is inexpensive and comes in an infinite variety of colors, patterns and widths.  And let's be honest - how often do you finish a roll of washi?

But it's easy to get overwhelmed by washi - for a while it seemed like every kit I purchased included a roll of washi tape.  And I kept seeing new rolls - and they were only a few dollars which made for a perfect impulse purchase. I tried keeping it in a basket, but I would forget what I had and it rarely got used.  As I've said before, I like my stash organized by color and I use what I see.  So that stash kept growing.

Then I talked my husband into hanging a giant pegboard in my craft room.  It is amazing, versatile storage and provided the perfect solution for washi tape storage.  I devoted one end of the peg board to washi tape - I call it the "Washi Wall."  I bought several dowels and my husband cut them into 12 inch lengths for me.  I used hooks on the peg board and fit 12 dowels down the side of the peg board.

I sorted my washi into a loose ROYGBIV order and started putting it on the dowels.  Neutrals are at the bottom of the wall.

Embarassingly, I had more washi tape than I had room for.  So I purged a lot - and I limit myself to the space on the Washi Wall.  If I get a new roll of washi tape and it doesn't fit, another roll has to go.  For the most part, this has put a stop to my washi buying habit - I have to really love it to buy it.  And because my stash is visible, I have a good sense of the colors and patterns in my stash - often I already have something similar to the roll that is tempting me.

And I actually have finished a couple of rolls recently - which made room for some new rolls - or to bring a roll back in from my purge box.  And means I am using more than I am buying - at least when it comes to washi.  (You have to count the small victories, right?)

So this is my solution - and one my favorite things about it is the versatility.  If washi becomes a smaller part of my stash - I haven't invested much in storage solutions and its easy to repurpose the space to store my new favorite supply.  But I'd love to hear what you do with your washi...

Thanks for stopping by.

Three New Things

My husband frequently says that I like organizing my supplies more than I like using them.  That's an overstatement, but I do love trying to figure out the best way to organize my stash.  Like most scrappers I am most likely to use what I see.  My goal is to make it usable, to make clean up easy and to avoid hoarding.

So over the past couple of weeks I have added three new storage things to my scrap room to try and speed up my scrapping.  The first is for all those pretty tear strips on patterned paper.  I never want to throw them away, but if I put them in my scrap folders they seem to get bent or I forget about them.  So now I have them out near my trinner where I see them - they are visible so I remember to use them, they stay straight this way, and the container is right where I cut them off paper, so they go right in. 

Other long narrow strips of patterned paper are going in here too.  I am really liking how this is working, so now I am on the hunt for a pretty tall container to take up permanent residence here.

The second is for small scraps that I want to save for layering.  I had been sticking them in with my larger scraps.  But then I forgot about them or didn't want to bother digging them out, so I just kept cutting new sheets of paper.  And eventually I threw them away.  So I found this pretty porcelain berry basket at Marshall's to sit on my desk.  It is full of small pieces of paper that are perfect for layering.  

I intentionally got something that wasn't too big.  This will force me to clean it out periodically so that the little pieces I'm saving don't get totally out of control. 

And my favorite new thing - a basket for embellishments that sits on my desk.  It holds a mix of brand new and older things that I am currently loving.  It is a mix of products that I can go to first when I am looking for those perfect bits that make a layout special.  (If I don't find something there I can still go to my stash.)

 
 I am hoping this will help me use things up, keep my desk more organized and speed up my projects.  And my plan is to clean it out every month or so to move things in and out so that the mix is always fresh.  So far, I love how this is working.

Share your favorite storage tips below - I am always looking for new ideas.

Thanks for stopping by.

December Daily-ish - Getting Organized

So now that I've pulled all that pretty paper and all the fun embellishments out, I need a way to store them.  I know lots of people use pretty trays with little bowls and I love that idea.  But the only place I would have to leave the tray is on my desk and this isn't the only project I will work on over the next month or two.  And I love the idea of using muffin tins - vintage or new - to sort embellishments.  But again - where am I keeping the muffin ins?

So I needed a solution that would allow me to put the project away when I wasn't working on it.  I looked at an empty iris box in the basement, but it wasn't big enough and I wasn't sure how I would keep the supplies organized.  And, to be honest, I am always looking for an excuse to by organizing stuff.  So off to Michaels I went. 

I found an Iris box that is twice as deep as the standard boxes I already have.  I liked that because I could close it up and put the box away.  And with the extra depth, I was pretty sure I could fit all my supplies.  But I still wanted to be able to sort embellishments.  So I was super excited to find a tray with adjustable dividers that fit in the iris box.  And storage was on sale and I had a coupon for 25% off my total purchase.  Those suckers were coming home with me. 

The bottom of the box holds my papers and large embellishments.  I also put in the container of leftover paint from my cover.  I can dig through those supplies easily and everything goes right back in.

I even used a box from a Studio Calico project life kit in the bottom of the box.  It holds the project life cards I pulled out and is easy to dig through.  And I don't have to worry about the cards scattering all over the box.

The tray fits on top of the supplies in the bottom of the box.  I used the adjustable dividers to create the compartments that fit my supplies.  I even divided up the die cuts so that vellum, acetate, and traditional die cuts so I can find what I want quickly. 

When I'm not working on the album, I close up the box and put it away.  And if I do want to go somewhere else to work on my album with friends, I can grab the box and go.  It's not as pretty as those trays with bowls, but it fits my needs perfectly.

Oh you may have noticed that the album itself doesn't fit in the box.  I put all the page protectors in the album and keep it on my desk.  I like to stand it up so that the cover is a little bit like having a decoration on my scrap desk.

Don't forget to leave a comment for an entry into the holiday themed giveaway.  And thanks for stopping by.

Organizing My Stash

As my husband likes to say, it seems like I'm always trying to come up with a better way to reorganize my stash.  This weekend the spring cleaning bug hit and I was at it again.  I'm really happy with the end result, so I thought I'd share what I ended up with along with some pictures of my scrap space (with lots of pictures).  (This post is kind of long but I tried to use headings in case you were looking for a particular section of it.

My Desk
Last fall my husband built me a great custom desk made so that I can work comfortably while standing (since I seem to do most of my scrapping that way).  It has cubbies down both sides of the front and shelves along both sides.  Technically, it can be used by two people (like a partner's desk) but I really use the whole space by myself.  The fun stool came from World Market

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The top of my desk is my primary workspace.  I use a magazine holder on its side to hold file folders with inspiration pieces and memorabilia related to current projects.  And I have two spinning racks to hold small embellishments and adhesives that I use frequently.

The Spinning Racks
Just before Easter I asked my husband about making a run to Harbor Freight to get a Harbor Freight spinner.  We didn't have a chance to go before the holiday, but on Easter morning I found six round divided trays in my Easter basket.  I call the poor man's Harbor Freight Spinner.  They are each divided into six compartments and are stackable.  I divided mine into two sets of three and love them. He got them at Home Depot where each tray was only $2.50. Roll of washi  that are current favorites sit on the top post of the spinner And the best part is that I can easily add additional tiers if my stash grows (not that anyone can see that happening :))

 Thickers
I have a real weakness for alphas and my collection of thickers might be out of hand.  They were taking up tons of space, I couldn't keep track of what I had and they were everywhere.  Because they are so bulky, my alpha storage was totally inadequate.  Organizing my thickers was a priority this weekend and I ended up with this basket where they are sorted by color.  A few other favorites are along the side and mini alphas sit in front.  The basket fits perfectly on one of my shelves so the thicker problem is solved - they are organized and accessible - and there is room for a few more.

Cardstock
I'd been keeping my cardstock mixed with patterned paper (sorted by color).  But as my paper collection has grown, this has become less functional.  When working on a layout and looking for coordinating cardstock, it was cumbersome to dig through those piles.  And it was difficult to know what colors I had.  This was a problem because I like to stock up when cardstock is on sale and I want to be able to identify what colors I need quickly.  A smaller version of the thicker basket now holds cardstock, sorted by color.  I can find what I need quickly and get a quick idea of colors I need when cardstock goes on sale.  This basket sits nicely on the same shelf as the Thicker basket.

Embellishment Tray
I made a brief attempt at Project Life and had acquired this melamine tray to hold my supplies for that project.  But I'm a project life failure, so the tray was just taking up space.  I filled it with baskets holding some of my favorite embellishments - tags, envelopes and bags, sequins, PL cards, and enamel dots.  The tray serves two functions. First, it is deeper than my shelves so it extends my shelf space.  And when I'm working on a layout I can pull the tray out on my desk and have my "go to" supplies easily available.  It makes cleaning up after a project easy too.

Sequins
My newest addiction is sequins - they are inexpensive, so much fun and add so much interest to projects.  But I like to keep them sorted by color.  I bought these clear plastic tubes on etsy to hold my sequins.  (The tubes are intended to hold seed beads but they work perfectly.  The tubes fit neatly into a basket (see above).  I can see the colors, check out different combinations and not worry about my colors getting mixed.  (I do use one of the compartments on my spinner to hold a mix of my sequins too because sometimes a random selection works better - and they are so pretty.

Wood Veneer
Wood veneer is my other addiction - I can't resist.  But I like to take it out of the package and store in a way that is easy to use and sort.  I found these divided plastic boxes at the container store.  You can get them in a variety of sizes and with different compartment sizes. (I have four now and need to add one more.) They work perfectly to store wood veneer.

The Rest of My Space
I'm not showing you here, but I have a cropping station along the wall behind my desk.  My most commonly used tools sit along the top and it holds my patterned paper, other tools and less frequently used supplies.

Now if only I could get motivated to organize the rest of my house.  In the meantime, I'd love to hear your storage tips for supplies. Have a great Monday.