My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence

Ok so I think this is the last of my organizational ramblings. Bored to death yet?

Well, if not, then read on. I really hope ALL this typing has helped at least ONE person either find an organziation idea, inspire them to create their own space, or heck clean it! LOL! Anything you got from these posts would be great.

So I guess we will get to it.

Its all about the paper-Well I store my paper in several ways! ON my desk are these black plastic letter tray organizers. I got them at Target. They came 2in a package, and sold for $3.99. I couldn’t find them online (they were like $17.99 there) but the one HERE is similar to what I use.

I have a compartment for each color group-purples, greens, red, pinks, white, neutrals-you get it.

These sit on my desk and are open and easily accessible! I have no problem fitting all my cardstock there.

See photo below. you can see the letter trays on my counter.

 click to view larger image.

Now in the cabinet just below my workspace, I have MORE cardstock. I have these organized in a way cool paper storage shelf I got a Sam’s Club. HERE is the 12 compartment organizer. Its like the best buy ever!!!! It was like $14.95.

This is on the bottom shelf and it is all my BACKUP packs. I always have to have 1 un-opened pack at all times! The minute it gets opened I put it on a list to order more. I am terrfied of running out! I ran out of Whisper White ONCE!!! Never again! A kind fellow SCS send me 2 pkgs! Isnt that sweet?

Next to it in the plastic organizers is my 8 1/2 x 11 Prism cardstock, and magazine that I have been published in.

Top shelf- 6×6 paper packs, and my mini punches. Also some HPH kits etc.

 This is a shelf with all my 12 X 12 papers. My scrap kits and whatnot. All in Plastic storage holders.

 This is a 6 stack drawer storage for more 12 x 12 paper! It was like $14.95 on sale at Target. Love sales.

The white thing, is a storage box/cube I got on clearance at Staples (originally $75 on sale for $25! They no longer carry it I believe). It houses all my (well ok not all but my soon to be used) alter-ables. I LOVE it! The bad part-took me 3 HOURS to put together! Can you believe it? It has lots of cool compartments though, and wheels around with ease.

 Ink-

 This is my cabinet with all my markers, versamagic dew drops, twinkling h2o’s, and other stuff to color!

You wouldn’t believe how much I own! Gosh! Fills the thing. But you can never have enough color tools right????

Now for my ink pads-Im totally down with the good ole’ Stampin Up! ink Caddy. I dont care what anyone says I LOVE mine. You can see ONE to the right. I have 2 total. My re-inkers are on top. One has Craft the other classic ink. I ordered another ready extender cause I have the ROOM now! Yeah! Before my shelves were too low.

You can also see more paper organization to the left.

Lastly-embellishments

 All my embellies are in this cabinet. Each has a place. Embossing powders in one, pearlex and flock. Eyelets and brads, buttons and jewels. I have the Stack n Store container coming on the 17th! I cannot wait!!!!!!!! Its super easy for me to locate all my stuff using my system here.

Well Im exhausted now.

Hope you enjoyed that ramble.

What is better than taking an everyday common item and using it for something totally different?

My Name is Lauren, and I am a punch-a-holic.

I can admit it. And I am OK with it! LOL! I have more on the way as I type even!

I really LOVE SHOE HOLDERS, for my stamping stuff!

But it doesn’t have to just go there.

As you can see here-

Fabric holder 2 for $1.00 at Target! 

NOTE: Click on thumbnail for larger view of photo.

I got the holder (above) at Target months ago in the dollar bin. I of course got 2 pkgs. SO I have 4 smaller version, fabric shoe holders. I am currently only using the one. I love having ROOM TO GROW! Thats important in a space. you dont need to cram it full all at once.

And if it is maybe (MAYBE) you need to purge some of your unloved items, and let someone else enjoy them instead. My mentality always was to NEVER get rid of a single stamp I ever bought, then I realized- I out grow my own style sometimes! Images for me get “dated” and I want fresh new and exciting. Also my early stamp purchases I often wonder WHAT WAS I THINKING???? I actually feels good to let some things go. Especially if you get something similar to what you already own. Whats the point then, sometimes.

OK back to the post-

In this one I store my everyday used items that I want ORGANIZED, IN VIEW, and EASILY accessible! I have this hung right next to my counter, so I can just reach over and grab my most loved tools like ATG Gun, Color Spritzer, Crop-a-dile, matt pack, crimper (OK I never use that), Dymo Label Maker and other items.

It really works great for me, gets the clutter OFF my desk area/work space, and even looks kinda nice! Thank You Target dollar spot!

I have alot of punches that I use daily. Some not so much. I know alot of people use this system for their punches. Its CHEAP, can you say like $4 for a door shoe rack! YIPEEEE!

Plus, you can SEE the punches, and keep them in reach, yet out of the way! I put my most used punches in this shoe holder

 You can’t even see all the punches it really holds cause it got cut off-sorry!

My not so often used ones go on the inside of the closet door.

 This also houses some of my label maker refills and other misc things I want to have handy and not forget.

For my little SU! Punches that I use ALOT they are in a stackable open bin in a cabinet at my work station.

Well I hope you like my storage tips.

Thanks for reading!

I have recieved MANY questions about stamp storage.

So I figured that would be a good one to have next.

My “system” isn’t revolutionary, or ground breaking news, but it works for ME. And of course my space.

I have a good system so that not only is everything in reach, its well organzied, and- my favorite- CHEAP!

Again for space purposes I am attaching thumbnails-simply click the image to view a larger photo!

Wood mounted sets

Here my collection of wood-mounted stamps-(it is minus 233 sets that I have managed to purge, and still have some left in a box, ready to sell-so dont forget to look ).

I have stamps from EVERYWHERE Stampin Up! , Inky Antics, Stampendous, Rubber Romance, Hero Arts, A Muse-to name a FEW!

Obviously my SU! Sets came in their cases.

But, my loose stamps have not. So, I purchase the Jumbo clear cases from SU! and store my stamps in those. I also put my Library style stampers in a jumbo case as well. I label the side with my Dymo Label Maker as to what sets are in each case example A MUSE- sentiments. This makes it easy to find a particular image/stamp.

You will see my sets are piled high in a wire cube rack, I found at Target. It sells 4 cubes for $19.95 I got mine on sale for $12.95!!!! I bought 2 sets, but only needed to put together 1 1/2 (for now). Now I have 2 more “cubes” to add later. This system is VERY sturdy! I have stacked more stuff on these things in the 3 years I have had them and have NEVER experienced bowing, warping, leaning rusting or breakage of any kind! A++++++++++ in my book. Plus its very easy to put together and take down.

SIDE NOTE:

As you may see on the top, you can purchase fabric cube inserts, to place in the cubes, and HIDE stuff. I bought mine separately for $5.00 each (again on sale) and only bought 3. JUST IN CASE! LOL!

I perfer this, over big wood shelving because ALL my wood mount sets, even from the sides are visible, and it keeps with the “open” feel of the room. I face the labels on the sets in a way that I can view them, from the sides or the front. I keep retired sets in one place, current in another.

I also organize by sentiments, whimsical, nature, kid sets boy/girl theme, and so on. This also helps me easily track down my set, rather than wondering which PILE it’s in.

My wheels (as you can see) are in the SU! Wheel Storage containers. Doesn’t get much better than that!

Now onto the unmounted sets!

I cannot even begin to tell how many un-mounted sets I have, and am wishing more of my sets were that way, for space purposes.

CD Rack

For a whopping $25 I have this silver CD Rack (again from Target). The one attached is “similar” to the one I have and a bit more pricey. Bottom line-it holds alot of UM stamps so the cheaper the better.

My Lizzie Anne Designs sets come in a CD case already (YES!!!!!!!!) as do Paper Trey, and Paper Salon. I have also bought the Bella’s, and got cases to put them in as well. I group them on the rack by design line. Takes up little to no space to store HUNDREDS of stamps!

Now onto my cabinet.

This is my cabinet of unmounted sets. This consists of acrylic or rubber on EZ Mount (like my Green Grass sets.

BOTTOM SHELF

The Green Grass sets are put into the large DVD tins with the DVD insert removed. They hold a entire alpha set from Green Grass, NO PROBLEM! The clear case is labeled (of course) to tell me which container houses sets from X designer.

My Favorite Things stamps are unmounted and are sandwiched between 2 acetate like layers. I remove them from the fancy package and stack in my clear stackable case.

Now the white stackable containers house my clear mounting blocks, and misc goodies. Or stamps that dont have enough to get put into a stamp case YET.

To the right you will see all my swatch books for my cardstocks Bazzill, SU and Prism. Comes in handy for figuring out what colors I want/have and with submissions.

TOP SHELF

These are all my “other” unmounted sets like gel-a-tins, dollar unmounted sets, Cornish Heritage Farms, Fancy Pants, Stampendous and Missy B Designs etc. The box to the far right is all my Creative Memories sets. I have 2 boxes full! I LOVE how their UM sets store in these cool clear-ish sleeves, and I use the UM storage for their sets. LOVE IT!

I also have my old Tag Punch by SU! To hold my Karen Foster snap stamps.

WHEW! And there you have my stamp storage solutions! LOL!

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts or see/hear YOUR storage ideas!

As a crafter, we all accumulate so much of our favorite products. To maximize our use of them, its best to not only have them organized but easily accessible!

If you love it, have it, but can’t find it or easily get to it, then you arent likely to use it! Or WORSE- FORGET you even have it! Then, you waste your money on another one, when you could have purchased a NEW -insert product of choice.

Another thing about storage- it should be functional, pleasing to look at (in other words who want neon green anything in their eyes view, no matter how awesome it works, since its ugly and distracting) and CHEAP! I know I don’t want to waste my stamp money on ORGANIZING it!

That being said, while on a trip to my local hardware store, to buy paint for my new stamp space, I stumbled upon an item I already owned (in our kitchen closet) but saw it in a whole new light! Call it a LIGHTBULB moment.

NOTE: These are just thumbnails for space on my blog purposes. If you want to see the image larger click on the thumbnail

Wire racks                  Side view

It is a wire food storage rack, with 3 shelves, meant to hold your canned goods! Upon trying to locate one for a photo (pre-filled up, and so you can buy them if you want one) I found this which is similar Wall Rack. Mine is larger than the one listed. Its 3 shelves, 17 inches across, 5 inches wide! BEST PART- ONLY COST $11.95! So I originally bought 2 then went back and bought 2 more! I ppurchased my racks at ACE Hardware. I believe Rubbermaid ? makes it.

Also on my google search, look what other cool items popped up HERE! I’m totally loving the soup can storage! Dont; know YET what I would do with it, but it sure looks cool.

So this is what I put in my racks.

I found it was an amazing source of ribbon storage for me! It holds lots of my ribbon. I especially love putting my most loved/used in reach! I can also easily take an empty roll out if I want.

Closer view of ribbon in rack.                    

I also decided to put some other MOST used items on the racks.     

Martha Stewart Glitter/Stickles/Liquid Pearls        

So above you see one rack with all my glitter, and stickles, and liquid pearls. I use these products regularly as well, and like to have them handy. You can get a good idea how much the rack stores by the photo. It also helps me view my colors.

 PRIMA’S of all kinds

A couple of the racks house my beautiful collection of Primas! They are too pretty to hide in a cabinet! Plus having them in view not only inspires my color choices or design, but also reminds me “Hey look you have orange Sprite Primas!” LOL!

This rack holds 2 rows of the bottles of essentials, the Sprites, and it hold the paint cans of Prima’s or the rectangle boxes, as well. You may see those stored in the side view photo above.

My loosely packaged prima’s are stored on the bottom rack, in a card sorter container. Again easily accessible, and easily viewed. And NOT squished.

I love this rack because not only is my stuff, stored, sorted, and organized I think its pleasing to the eye. Well at least mine!

Now for whats left-over………….

Cabinet of ribbon

So this is the cabinet of what I had put my “loose” ribbon or backups in. There are 2 stackable ribbon storage containers from Stampin Up! As well as some clear rubbermaid containers. I also have some stackable ribbon storage containers I got during Christmas time, at Target for $4.99 each. I take out the bar that they slide onto and just put the rolls loosely in there. I HATE having to take every roll off to get an empty one out. I also dont put the ends through the  ribbon slot. Its annoying to me, and they always fall out of the slot anyway. I just pop off the top and take what I need. This is also where I put my less used ribbon so that is OK for me.

I like to see whats in there! That is why my storage is CLEAR. Alot of my American Crafts ribbon is stored in here, since they are tiny spools. Still its all in ONE place and easily accessible. Not to mention ORGANIZED! May Arts ribbon in one container, SU!, duplicates, ribbon cards in another. All together.

My loose ribbon is wound on ribbon cards- seen HERE. That helps me keep it from getting wrinkled and tangled.

I also have my cuttlebug stuff there too. But thats another post, another day!

So there you have my SUPER cheap find. I see people spending all sorts of money for systems they aren’t happy with in the long term. I got tons of storage for a whopping $48.

I’d love to hear what works for YOU!

Who would have thought some food shelving could turn into a long winded article?

Thanks for reading!!!!

OMG! Its finally done! Jason made me a new stamp room! I have the BEST husband ever!

He knows how much I needed a new, bigger space. So he converted part of our basement just for me. It wasn’t suppose to be done till next summer, but he pushed it WAY up on the priority list. PLUS all my stamping crap was driving him insane

Its all about the ORGANIZATION and making the most of your space. No matter how big or small. That is something I am very good at I feel. When you are organized you can get the most use out of your creativity, and supplies. Having them organized and easily accessible is key to me. PLUS my serious case of OCD helps too. Each time I stamp my area has to be clear. Not always a bad thing.

So each day this week, not only do I HOPE to share a card with you, I will at the very least highlight an item of organization in my space that makes the creativity easy to flow!

Now for the photos! I am uploading thumbnails-so just click the photo to view larger. You really need to see the process to appreciate my EXCITEMENT!

My old room-in a small corner of our basement. VERY “COZY”, but organized.

I looks “cluttered, but there really was alot of thought to putting all this stuff in one small space. It was a little tight after 3 years, but it was ALL MINE. Beleive me you need to be organized to store all this in a tiny space.

My new room PREVIEW- before it was done over, it was a tiny old remodeled bedroom in the back part of our basement. It is now re-done to be MY space. The larger part of the basement is being redone to a playroom, with a kitchenette, and full bathroom. IN CASE we live here when Alexa grows up it can be converted into an apartment for her.  If we aren’t here then it just increases the selling value.

After switching rooms I never want to move. I have a ton of stuff

View from Window, View from Door, View of back of room

Now we really couldn’t move the pipes in that room, so we left them, and they are fine. TRUST ME NO COMPLAINTS HERE!

Here is my NEW! Room-only difference is I didn’t get the new window in the shots cause of the glare it caused. Its still there, just not in the picture.

View from the window, from the door, view of back room

Isn’t it GREAT! I painted it the Stampin Up! Sky Blue color which is SO soothing. Its very sunny here during the day. I am SO excited. I have a ton of cool things in here that I will ZOOM in on tomorrow, and throughout the week.

I have my SIL’s Wedding to go to so I HOPE to post the sketch tonight or tomorrow.

I cleared out tons of stamp sets, and still have a bunch left-so see my post about what I have left to sell! Its ALL 50% off the original prices. IF you are looking for something in particular let me know. I gots me some friends (wink) and have stuff I have yet to list, and would be happy to check for ya!

Have a “lucky” day! 07-07-07. I am not that into “luck”, more believe in divine intervention of God, but in-case he wanted to “intervene” I did play Powerball! LOL!

And  HUGE Happy Birthday to my friend and upline Paulette! She is the source who fed my addiction! I didn’t get all crazy about stamping till I found Stampin up!

Now look at me-

I hope you like my room, and my product opinions to follow this week!

Well people have been dying to see where all my creative time is spent, so here it is! Don’t mind the mess it was along day of stamping he! he! Plus when your workspace is only about 10 x 6 you can only CRAM so much in.

You all know I’m a shop-a-holic, so now you get to see how bad it really is. I have only been addicted for 3 years. I am definitely outgrowing my space.

So the top photo is the view from the door. My area in an semi-unfinished area in our basement at the bottom of the cellar stairs. I do have heat, and a mini heater for those chilly months.

Its not much but its mine! I use to have NO MYTIME SPACE, but a large bin that I would drag out to stamp at the kitchen table. Holy creative blocker. Its hard to get crafty doing that. So DH spent a weekend for Christmas making me my very own space. I love it.

While it looks messy its actually pretty well organized.

I have 2 ink caddy’s. One for craft, the other for classic ink. On top of the caddy’s I have stickles, 2 way glue, and other little things like that. On my desk I have a clear stackablecontainer with blender pens, embossing powder, tags, and all kinds of other stuff. I also have my reinkers, and other stuff like embossing powders, pearl ex, envelopes and whatnot in a closed 2 door cabinet.

My ribbon is in like 50 containers! LOL! SU are in the SU ribbon holders, but the others are in tupperware type holders that stack.

All my stamps are on my open shelves, organized by bkgds, sentiments, kid, all occasions, and flowers etc. If it retired, a mini catalog, or discontinued it goes in a separate shelf so I can keep track.

I have my super paper holder, which are organized by colors like blues, greens and what not. Designer paper is under the my counter, in paper storage holders.  I have a big ol scrap container on my desk in the corner. Its out of control full again, so I need to go reorganize it. I do have it seperated by blues, green,s and what not! (you can see the retired sets and stuff stored there too)

Under my desk is my SU! Business stuff. Soon that will be gone. I also have a huge bin of MUST HAVE alterable items! LOL!

On my counter I have my sizzix and cuttlebug stuff. That needs to be within reach at ALL times!

On the walls I have cheap fabric shoe holders from Target! 2 for $1.50!!!! Theystore my ATG gun, color spritzer, label maker, sponges, rubber brayer, dimesionals, all kinds if stuff. I have another that hold my crimper, crop a dile, metal sheets, other fun items. AND one more that holds all my punches!

Now there is the wire crate organizer. That holds more NON su stamps like my acrylic ones from all my favorite companies, alterables, more SU business stuff, my xyron 900, light table, shrinky dinks machine, PRIMAS!!!! Stuff like that!

WHEW! Well thats it. Its not glamorous and goreous like alot of the toip stampers rooms, but its my space and it serves it purpose! The kids can’t touch my stuff, and I can create and make my mess with out worry.

 Stay tuned tomorrow so I can share some fun goodies I made today! I will also be announcing the winner of MYTIME MAIL!!!!