Tuesday Tips... Organized Craft Room

Is your craft room out of control?
Are you buying items over and over, that you already have but can't find?
Paper crafting, especially scrapbooking and card making are two crafts that involve a lot of stuff.
And when you have a lot of stuff, it's easy for it to get out of control.
Over the years, I have found some ideas that worked really well and some that worked --not so well (I"ll save that for another post)

Here are my Top Three  Organizing Tips to kick off my new weekly blog post--Tuesday Tips

#3.  Stamp Storage
--be creative, I use my stamps a lot, so  I want them to be accessible
solution Ikea GNEDBY Shelving unit, was the perfect solution for me.
 
These shelves are adjustable, and affordable.  Plus you can always add another shelf and  another and another...
Downfall, you have to get down on your knees to reach the bottom shelves.
Which was fine 10 years ago, but now that I've crossed the 50+ hill, it's not so easy.
 So I turned mine on it's side and put it on a 6' long table, and  then because I have a lot of stamps I bought two more and stacked them on top of the first one..
And Voila!! Perfect stamp storage.
 (note: when you turn these units on their side, you have to nail the shelves in to form the dividers.  I just used finishing nails and it has worked quite well)

 #2.  Labels
Labels are a simple, yet super way to keep your stuff organized, especially your stamps.
I use broad categories, family, boys, girls, baby, birthday, Christmas, etc.
This way I don't have to be too particular about where I put the stamp, so long as it's in the right cubby.

And my Number One Tip...
                                  Start Clean, Finish Clean

I tend to be a messy creative person, as I pull out this paper, that stamp set, a bit of ribbon, and a bit more of this or that.  And by the end, my craft space is a war zone.  However, I try to always tidy everything up before I start another project.  This doesn't mean that I tidy up my space everyday, if I'm in the middle of a big project, I will use all my tables (I think I have 7 or 8 or them) and spread everything out and then leave it there, so I can come back in an hour or the next day and finish it.  But when I'm done.  When my project is complete.  I tidy up everything.  Scissors, ribbon, stamps, paper, it all gets put back in its spot. (This is a tip within a tip--have a spot for everything to go back to)  So I have a clean and organized space to start with for the next project.

I Hope you have found these tips helpful.

Join me every Tuesday for more Tuesday Tips 

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment. I love to hear what you think.

All Sorts Dotty/Mini --basic page layout

I am trying something new with the album....

I am going to try to stretch my favorite papers as far a I can.

So, this is what I did.

then I cut 3-- 4" wide (12" long) stips of the grey and of the green dotted paper.

Note: I cut all the strips 12" long

I did this for all the pages,

and alternated the pages----grey/green/grey etc. 

to see the cover of the album click here

my next post will cover embellishing  page 1



project life--CTMH style--pt #1--an overview

Project life,

Project life,

Project life....

I kept hearing this, but wasn't sure what it was.

(Thankfully, you can find anything on the web)

And this is what I found.

It was coined by Becky Higgins (click on her name to go to her site)

and is scrapbooking/photo book/journal/smash book

-- simplified all in one kinda system.

Sound confusing? 

 Well, I was confused,
until I realized that this has been here before,
but Becky just updated it.

Of course it's quicker if you buy Becky's

But more personal if you do it my way.

Supplies
Dotty for You Paper Pack
(actually, you could use any CTMH paper pack,  they are all co-ordinating)
Colonial White Cardstock
paper trimmer
corner rounder
stamps & or stickers of your choice
memory protectors--photo storage pages
(Z1324--vertical & 4113--horizontal)
Recipe Box Z1322
Work-in-Progress Album (Z1348)

Save time...stack 3 paper and cut them all at once

 At this stage of the game I cut a sheet of white cardstock
into 4x6 pieces, and then cut some of them into 2x6 & 3x4 pieces
stamped some words & journaling lines on them
rounded the corners, and I'm done

Now, store them in our recipe box
until you're ready to work on your "project life"

So, if I had picture developed I would pop them in a couple of spots
pick out some paper accents,
maybe add a sticker and some journaling
pop them into our photo storage pages
and
Voila!!
Project Life....CTMH Style

I will be posting more info on how to make your own "life project"

envelope album--pt 2 --the backbone of the album

This is a quasi list of supplies for this project.
Because
I am trying to use up some of my stash,
hence, the retired Close to my Heart paper used extensively.
But the backbone of the album requires these supplies
X1410 or X254 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 envelopes --you need 5
3--1 1/4 inch binder rings
2--6 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch squares from a cereal box (for the covers)
and the usual--adhesive, bling, ink, stamps etc.

this is a view of the paper pieces I used to make the envelopes. 
Before I start a project like this I scan the Art Philosophy Cartridge (Z1686) for images I might use
and cut a whole wack of them, so I have them on hand when I start to embellish the project.

 Just a little tip..I cut the envelopes off at 4" so I could have a nice clean edge

and it's an easy number to work with

I used 5 envelopes, but you could use more or less

I also pre-assembled all my accent strips

as shown

then adhere the 4" high piece to the backs of the envelopes

Now, you are ready to add the accent strips

I adhered the accent strip 1/2" from the top on both pages

 I then punched holes in all the evelopes

Time to make the Covers....

Since I stumbled upon the idea of using old cereal boxes as FREE

chipboard pieces,  I have been making a lot more mini.

I cut the cereal box into a 6 1/2" square

(this would let me make my pages 6" high)

I used a 9 x 9 piece of patterned paper to cover the "covers"

If you leave a bit of paper at the corner,

you don't see any of your chip board when you fold it over

 adhere to inside of covers as shown
Tip... I find if I round the corners,
they don't catch on things as easy and stay glued

 punch 3 holes in the covers --3/4 inch in from the side

 and at 1 1/4"  & 3 1/4 & 5 1/4  up from the bottom

I placed my envelope on the cover and punched the first two holes (as shown)

and then punched the top hole.

By doing it this way, I could see how my album would fit together

Now you have your basic album.

Next time I will show you the pull-out pages I made.

tips and techniques--binder clips

Gloria, from Scraptabulous Studio has an awesome way to "flatten" your binder clips.
I love these little clips,
but never ordered any because they were too dimensional for me.
But now, thanks to Gloria, I am ordering some
Click here to see how she does it