Monday, January 30, 2017

Scribbles From My Scrap Studio – 2017 January

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Hello, counterfeiters. Susanne here, with the first of a new monthly feature called Scribbles From My Scrap Studio. It will cover a multitude of sins topics, sometimes related to our monthly inspiration kit, and sometimes not. First up, let’s get organized.

Back when I was writing my own blog, all of 30 days ago (heavy sigh of nostalgia); one of my most visited posts of all time was this one about organization. We all organize and reorganize our supplies more than we care to admit, and often start the new year revisiting our methods.

Organization is important. It is not more important than crafting, but certainly capable of contributing to or detracting from the creative process. Organization is also not a static condition, unless a scrapbooker never ever crafts and never ever buys craft supplies. And really, do WE know ANYONE like that?

There were many little items in this month’s inspiration kit, so I thought you might like to see how I deal with die-cuts. I choose them as an example, because I hear scrapbookers complain that die-cuts are the peskiest of supplies to store. 
 
First, when I buy a line of scrapbooking products I store all the items together.

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As soon as I open a pack of die-cuts, I put them in a clear clamshell box where I can see and choose from them more easily. This works well as long as I am actively using the product line and keeping it together.

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When I am ready to move on, I break down all the elements and store them with other like items. Papers are filed in my vertical holders. Button/ribbon packs tossed into baskets, alphabets are stored in drawers or bins and journal cards are boxed with my Project Life supplies. You get the idea: they are all accessible for when I compile stash kits.

Die-cuts, because they are printed, are often more closely related in design to one another than other embellishments. They often contain many colors, and not only coordinate with their current line, but often with other lines by that designer or company. Here are several cases in point, Dear Lizzy, Amy Tangerine and Maggie Holmes. That is why I put the die-cuts into boxes with previous paper editions by company. I label the containers of die-cuts and place them in a visible location.

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That worked well for the last couple of years, until some of those boxes were full. I left the newer  die-cuts, purged a few and sorted the rest by color. In my studio, the last stop on the scrappy train is the bits and bobs box. Here is what it looked like just 2 years ago, when I would not have put most die-cuts in here.

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Here it is now. Yes, it is bigger, and items are still sorted by color rather than type of item. Buttons, die-cuts, brads and other assorted doodads are intermingled. This solution is ultra-handy when I am scrapping on the go – something I plan to do more often. Instead of packing half-empty packages of embellishments (I emptied 30+ packs) for crops and often taking too much, I am determined to take only stash kits and this case of boxes. It’s like a mini studio.

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Just another little tip, I added a cellophane bag to each box to hold the paper items together, and prevent dents and dings from buttons, brads and other hard doo-dads. I can dump the bag into the lid to access them them easily.

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Do you think my system, which gives several opportunities to use supplies by seeing them stored in different contexts, is too complicated? Would you have pitched them without giving them second and third chances? Do you sort by color the minute you get new supplies? Or, are you going to pretend you never have leftovers from your kits?

Weigh in below and tell us how you store those pesky die-cuts. And, feel free to scribble down any suggestions for other topics you would like to discuss in months ahead.

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Remember, tomorrow is the end of the month.  So if you want a sneak peek at what is coming in February then check out our Facebook page or Instagram feeds, which is where we'll preview the kit we've chosen.  It's a good 'un! 

8 comments:

  1. Wow! I'm loving this idea..just one problem..where did you get the clam shell cases?

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  2. The clearest ones are extra Stampin Up stamp cases I had. The more opaque and color ones are Iris photo cases you can get at the big box craft stores. The color ones come in a set of 12 or was it 16 in that carry case. You could use empty DVD cases too, or look on eBay or other online sources for empty stamp cases.

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  3. Great idea Susanne :) Myself not sure if this would work for me, thinking I would do it be like items when I organize my craftroom this year. But love the little iris boxes for the diecuts, looks like it would keep them safer that way. I have a tower of drawers I'm putting into my craftroom that I bought for sewing to hold buttons (yes I have that many buttons I see a purge coming :)the drawers have seperated compartments so thinking that the liked things in one drawer and the separators would keep it a bit controlled. Gonna give this a go this year and see if it works out. I also have a very large grab n go that I want to use for the same thing as the set of drawers. But like you I keep collections together till they are used up quite a bit before separating it out. Just makes for easier scraping for me for using the collections together :)

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  4. You have zuch a beautiful ztudio & zuch a great mind for organizing! Thankz for zharing :D

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  5. I've started changing how I store the embellishments. Anything that came in a kit and is separated is stored by color, the ribbon is wound ion floss holders. I have a Cricut file I made so that I can cut them as I need, both large and small holders. The larger die cuts I just have in a bag so I need to figure out what to do with them.
    Cindy F

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  6. Your ideas are just amazing. I plan on showing all of this to my wife, who absolutely loves crafting and scrap-booking. The only problem is that all of her stuff ends up all over the house. When she takes things out to start scrap-booking, there never seems to be any rhyme or reason to how they get put back.

    Frank George @ Dutch Hollow Supplies

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  7. I bought the same multi-colored organizer for taking embellishments to crops. I too have them separated as you do but like the added bag idea and the labels. I need to make the labels. Then I don't have to pick up each box and look to see what I decided went into each. Love that you've shared!

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  8. Just wandering back again through these posts and so love what you say and how you say it! I don't store anything other than random old papers by colour as I tried it and it doesn't work for me. I store all my papers horizontally so it's not really a good idea for me to keep papers and collection bits together as it gets too lumpy but I really need to come up with something to make it easier for me to actually know what I want to use with my stuff. And yes, the die cuts are the peskiest for sure. I have big pots full of bits and pieces that are all mixed together but they don't get dipped into very often. I need to ponder on this...

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