Here is a post I made for the Techniques and Tutorials website that I am a DT member of. Tuesday is my turn to have a new "tutorial" ready so I decided to show what I do for storage and organization in my craft room. Thought I'd post it here too because that site requires a paid membership (which IS worth it!). To learn more about it just click on their icon in my sidebar!
The
Storage & Organization of My Craft Room
…such as it is!
Welcome
to my craft room!
Today I’d
like to just show how I have organized my supplies and tools to make my craft
time more productive and enjoyable. I have found that to have a (somewhat) neat
and organized work area is essential to my creativity. I have collected quite
an extensive supply of crafting materials (Thanks, Cindy!) and have found that
if I can’t easily find them I don’t ever use them! So I like to have as many
things as possible “at my fingertips” without having a cluttered work area.
My work
table (facing east)
What I
keep close at hand: on the right, small paper cutters, tape gun, boxes of paper
scraps (one is just small white pieces for sentiments); and on the left is a
basket with odds and ends such as die cuts, stamped images and embellishments
I made and didn’t use (yet), a box with stamped and computer-generated
sentiments, categorized by occasion, my stamp-cleaning pad, wet wipes, McGill cushion pad* & tools*, and my
new favorite: a little tray for holding my tiny Tsukineko sponge daubers*! The tray is a Crafters Companion* for holding Copic
markers but the daubers fit perfectly. In the middle of my table is a
self-healing Creative Memories pad with a grid on it, some Tim Holtz applicators*, Stickles*,
my can of colored pencils and my glass container of miscellaneous tools, pens, scissors,
tweezers, etc.
Under the
table I have most of my wooden stamps* in the three-drawer box and in
containers on the shelf below: the clear & cling stamps* are in the basket
and box and need to be organized much better! I’m open to suggestions for
these!! Wastebasket on right (I’m right-handed) and way in the back is a little
shelf unit with all my old photos waiting patiently to be put into albums…LOL!
To the left of my table (facing north) is a small desk where I keep my sewing machine ready for use, with boxes of thread, needles, bias tape, etc. underneath. I picked up the tall shelf unit at a garage sale for $4, had my husband drill holes in the sides for ribbon rods and then packed it full of ribbon and trims of all sorts. The shorter ribbon holder Cindy helped me get from a friend! (I use the tops of every cupboard to display cards.) On the left is my paper/cardstock holder cube – note that the slots are vertical. I had it horizontal for several months until I saw someone else’s online and realized it is so much easier to get papers in and out this way…duh! The file cabinets, desk and tables in my craft room are all old office furniture that I got at an auction “dirt cheap” (like $25 for all of it!). It is SO heavy…like moving a dead pig…so Hubby said to be very sure this
is where I will keep my craft room forever! No problem! I’m just SO thankful to
have a whole room to have all my “stuff” in! (It does have to double as a
nursery when the grandbabies need a quiet place to sleep…I just put the
Pack&Play in the middle of the room where little hands can’t reach any of
my goodies!
Raised work table (facing west)
This
table is raised about 6” with plastic leg supports so it is ideal for standing
at to cut, emboss, and use my glue gun or heat embosser…those are stored under
the table and connected to a power strip. On the table I have my large paper
cutter (found at a flea market), my Cuttlebug
(still my favorite!) and my Spellbinders
Grand Caliber. In the corner are the SGC
plates & mat, and all my Pack N
Store* notebooks with most of my dies; the rest are on magnetic sheets*
attached to my bulletin board or on 2 clip boards with magnetic strips to hold
them. All are labeled with names, but the Card
Creator sets* I need to go back and organize correctly and number each die
because I’m sure I didn’t put them back right! The little shelf unit holds all
of my embossing folders, Cuttlebug
plates, and several jars of buttons, all organized in baggies by color.
The
bulletin board is just a piece of cardboard covered with cloth and framed. On
it I put all kinds of items that mean something special to me…just for fun!
In file drawers (left): embellishments*,
odds and ends, back-up supplies.
In file drawers (right): sentiment stamps,
inks*, 8x10 papers/card stock/plastics/etc.
Here are more pix (some
close-ups) of certain areas in my craft room:
I use paper-covered boxes
to store many My large button jars
are from Hobby items;.justmade the small one to hold my Lobby, but any clear jars work great!
small embossing folders
that kept getting I even decorated a few:
my color theme
lost & ignored. The large folders are just for my craft
room is black & white with
held in a small black letter
holder. accents of
pink and green.
Punches
just piled under ribbon! Hmmm…
Inside
the PackNStore notebooks
My
huge box of scraps! The white envelopes
hold
really small scraps! Yes, I’m Dutch!!
My
12x12 paper, solids separate and
prints
divided by main color, labeled.
Now, as always, I am open
to questions, comments and suggestions! Please!
You can message me through
this Techniques and Tutorials website or contact me via my email: fivensandie@aol.com
I’d love to hear from you!
I’d LOVE it if you’d share some pix of YOUR craft area and ideas on how to
organize and store craft supplies! If you’ve seen something but can’t find it
in a store or online, just ask Cindy…she can find ANYTHING!
Thanks so much for reading
all the way to the end!!
Sandie Lobbezoo (aka ScrappySandie)
PS – A little treat for
you all! Well it was a treat for me anyway…to meet Stephanie in person and
spend a little fun time with Cindy and her, last spring!
Me, Cindy, Steph - May 2012
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Well, that was my "tutorial"...what do you think? Any questions? Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. We are going out for dinner tonight with good friends who we haven't seen for over 3 weeks now! I'm ready for a gab fest! Bye now!
Blessings to you all!
