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February Organize your Space contest!
Congratulations to our winners this month. Be sure to enter this month's organization contest for your chance to win some great Crop In Style Gear! |
| Congratulations to all of our winners! We had many entrants this month and all of you had a lot to say. There is a lot of great information here and can definitely give you some pointers on organizing. Our contest question for next month is organizing your paper…. Click here to enter! | |
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January Winners!!!
Angela C. Phillips
(Jr. Crop In Style Tote V)
January Entries!
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My husband and I scrap together. He loves to buy punches!!! I think we
have just about every single punch available on the market! We have all our punches stored in plastic drawer storage units from The Container Store. They are surrounded completely with plastic and therefore let in no dust or moisture. Our punch sets (from Family Treasures) each have their own drawer and all other brands of coordinating punches are located in them. Each drawer is labeled on the outside "hearts, ovals, circles, squares, etc." All of our other punches are sorted into different drawers by size: mini, small, medium, large, super-jumbo,
silhouette, and corner-type. Instead of pulling drawers open and shut to find an idea, I have a small 3x3 inch album that I have punched a sample of every stamp into and sorted by categories: nature (flowers, trees, leaves), seasons (Christmas, Halloween, etc.), baby, sports, etc. Whenever I get a new punch, I add it to the book. I also keep one in my purse so that we don't buy doubles It was time consuming to get it all organized, but very much worth the effort. Now when I'm working on a page and want to use a punch, I look in my book find the one that works with my layout, check the size, and it's right there in the appropriate drawer. Cindy Ruiz-Delacruz I keep all of my odd tools, circle cutter, punches, scissors etc. in old cigar boxes that I have decorated with scrap pictures and papers. Though not very mobile ( I only scrap at home), they stack nicely and the boxes are lots of fun to make. Phyllis Milonas I keep my eyes pealed whenever I go to my local paper distributor/warehouse or office supply stores for their seasonal or special displays. Often times when the specials are all sold out the display may be discarded by the store. Ask the managers if they are going to get rid of these displays if so maybe you could get lucky. Some of the paper organizers can really help to do just that "organize"! JHeflin I use an old microwave storage cart in my den closet as an organizer for my scrapbooking tools. On the top shelf I stack plastic shoeboxes to store die cuts and mounting supplies. Also on this shelf I keep all my Memory Makers Magazines for quick reference. To store my photos I use a cropper hopper photo storage case that is also housed on the top shelf of my microwave cart. Under the top shelf I store all of the albums I am currently working on and as you can see from the picture I've attached I am working on several albums all at once. In the drawer, I use drawer organizers to store all of my pens. Also housed here is my CM cutting system and my paper cutter, and scissors. Inside the microwave cart cabinet I have a file folder hanging system that I store my paper in and I keep all of my stickers in my crop in style sticker and paper binder. I use the crop in style original tote when I go to crops and I take along my sticker binder. Unfortunately, or fortunately however you would like to look at it, I have so many stickers that I have no room in my sticker paper binder for paper, so when I head off to a crop I can only take a small amount of paper on the road. (Winning this prize...the sticker/paper binder would allow me to have one for stickers and one for paper! Ha Ha! :)Thanks for your site and all the information you provide. Thanks for letting me share my organization system with you. Sincerely, Chrissy I organize my pens, pencils, punches and odd tools by putting them in an old fashioned wooden drawer system that you can buy at craft stores. The drawers are about an inch deep and pretty long so everything fits right in there. When I go to a cropping, I can see at a glance what I have and can pack them up in my tote and go along cropping! Gail Morris The best way I found to organize my pens and pencils is to use a caddie used for cleaning. I place small cups inside to hold all of the utensils upright and everything works great. It always seems everybody around me can't find that one particular purple gel pen right away, so they always know where mine are. I just sit it on the table so it's easy to reach. I try to keep my pens in the plastic container they were bought in so all the color schemes (primary, country, pastels, etc.) don't get mixed up. As far as punches go, you can't live without a double sided mini tackle box. They hold a ton, and the spacers allow for small punches or large ones. I also got some small jewelry zippered bags for punches. They work great!! I hope this helps... Tammie Murray I've only been scrapbooking for about a year, so I haven't built up a huge collection of pens and tools yet. I realized that I wasn't using half of the that I had bought because everything was in a drawer and I couldn't see what I had. "Out of sight, out of mind" is true in my case, I guess. For my scissors, I cut strips of card stock in each pattern (in both directions, if it made a difference), and mounted the strips on a sheet of contrasting card stock. I wrote the pattern or the color combination of the scissors next to each strip. I drew straight lines with each of my pens (mostly black, in different widths) on another sheet of cardstock. On the back of that sheet, I traced the borders of all my template sheets. I received a Crop In Style Navigator for Christmas, so my favorite scissors and pens are kept in there. I separated my templates with sheets of cardstock and keep them in a pocket in the front section of the Navigator. Any scissors or pens that don't fit are kept in a box under my bed. However, because of my "sample sheets", I can see at a glance what I do have, and I can easily choose the right pattern or color without having to pull everything out. My sample sheets fit in a pocket in the cover of the album that I'm working on right now. I haven't done the same with my punches and corner scissors yet (I'm not *that* organized!), but I think that it would be a big help. Janet Schmitt Punches are my favorite. I own over 90 of all sizes and types. I keep them in a 30 drawer hardware organizer on top of my scrapbook table. This keeps them more accessible and I am more likely to use them. All of the sizes fit except for the jumbo and I store those in a plastic bin on top. I even have room for more punches:) If you have fewer punches, floss boxes are perfect for the xs, s and medium punches. Border punches will fit too. My pens I have separated into my dual tips and the gel pens which I keep in plastic pencil boxes I purchased at Wall-Mart ( I love that store!!) I also keep my acid free colored pencils in another pencil box. I store these on top of a 3 drawer sterlite container which holds all my various adhesives and any newly purchased paper or stickers until they are filed. My 30 pairs of scissors, paper crimper, and circle cutter are hung above my table on a pegboard that my husband graciously hung for me. I bought the peg board and the various hooks at Home Depot (His favorite place). It was inexpensive and looks wonderful. Now I am plotting to get him to buy me some tilt bins :) I'll take a picture, scan it and mail it, if I could only keep the top of my table clean :) Felicia Young I try to keep things simple. At home, I find it most convenient to keep my pens and pencils and punches in an inexpensive plastic caddy tote. My caddy has two side compartments. I put all my pens on one side and the pencils and punches on the other. I can quickly see the color pen/pencil/punch I need. Best of all clean up time is a breeze! Lindy I actually have two ideas for you on organizing punches. The first is the one that works best for me. Get one of those over-the-door shoe organizers that are made of vinyl with see-through pockets and organize your punches in this. If you want to make the pockets smaller for your smaller punches, you could just sew dividers through the middle of the pocket-quilting thread would probably work the best for this!! The second idea is to use those hanging hardware bins-you would normally put nails, screw and such in them but I like punches better anyhow. Tara O.-Weaving in Missouri Organization Idea: I've found the disposable Tupperware, such as Glad Ware, make great organizers for my pens, colored pencils, punches, and other odd tools. They are clear, so you can see through them, inexpensive, very durable, stack easily, the lids close securely, and they come in different sizes, suitable to the collection of small-sized tools I have. Rae W. This is how I organize all of my little odds and ends....I have 3 plastic drawer organizers. Each organizer has 3 drawers. I have separated my things into different categories and labeled each with different lettering ideas I have learned from your web site. I have a drawer for die cuts, letter stickers, scissors, adhesives, stencils, rubber stamps, and so on. My stickers are in my tote bag, so I'm ready to go. The stickers are divided into different categories as well. I use some sticker holders and I also have baseball card holders to keep the stickers in. Above my working table is a corkboard with various ideas I have picked up along the way for quick layouts. Magazines are in magazine holders on the bookshelves in my craft room. I hope this helps someone. Lisa Stucker My way of organizing markers, punches and tools is to use plastic caddies with that are available in the housewares and hardware departments. They are easy to set on a table and if you are like me you like to be able to just throw your stuff in there. When I go to crops and take minimal tools and supplies I use clear plastic zippered envelopes that curtains and linens sometimes come in and put the items in those to make it easy to carry in a secure manner. Thanks, Patricia D. Doylestown PA I am new to scrapbooking so at this point I don't have an overwhelming amount of scissors, pens, pencils etc. However, my collection keeps on growing. Right now I am using the plastic storage containers that are shoebox size. I can label the front as to what is inside and then stack them for easy location. It works really well for me! Jacqueline Reis I love punches. I originally started out using a nice plastic tool box. It enabled me to put my mini punches in the small spots and the jumbos down below. But it got full quite quickly and I have moved to a plastic drawer system on wheels (Sterlite). The drawers are shallow enough for the punches and they don't have to stacked and the wheels are great because the punches are just TOO heavy! I can also wheel it into the closet when I am finished with it. Because I want my workspace to look nice I have been using a CD drawer tower. With 5 drawers I can easily separate my pencils and pens and the other odds and ends. It doesn't take a great deal of room and the rustic pine looks great when I am done. Allison Kimball Hi, my name is Sandy Rahlfs and I am a frugal scrapbooker out of necessity. I am starting to enter contests to win those scrapbooking supplies that I can't afford to just buy on a regular basis. Here is how I organize my small amount of pens right now. Every year at Christmas, the nursing home I work for gives a block of cheese as one of our gifts. The wooden box is great for storing pens and markers. It has a sliding top and when I go to a crop, I put only the pens I need to use. The pens are stored laying flat this way. I could use a bigger permanent storage solution though!!! HTH, Sandy Rahlfs I'm an organizer freak and have found the very best container to organize pens, pencils, punches and miscellaneous items is a fishing tackle box by Zebco. It's dimensions are approx. 13" long, 9" wide, and 11/2" deep. It is clear and is permanently divided into 3 rows. It has dividers that divide these rows into the size you need. I can have my 12" rulers in the first one. Divide the 2nd row and have 2 different types of pens in it, and the 3rd row into smaller compartments for punches. I like this because you can see through it, it isn't so deep items become lost, and when snapped shut ( and the snaps really lock tight) it can be thrown into you tote bag for travel. Pam Hughes I have several organizers that are made by Highsmith. The one that is the most organized is the one that contains my punches. We recently moved and to help put the punches back in so that they fit, I punched one piece and glued it to the part of the drawer where that punch goes. Now when the punches are removed by me, my children or anyone else that wants to use them, I can put them back and know that they will all fit. I can also tell at a glance which ones are missing. This technique has worked so well for me I will be using this idea for my rubber stamps (the image will be stamped on the drawer). Carolyn S. Ritter To help organize my space I purchased the Tool Turnabout from Pampered Chef. It has two levels of "pockets" and has a rotating bottom. The pockets allowed me to organize by color and I also separated markers from pencils etc. It really works great - you can see your selection at a glance rather than rummaging through the drawer to find just the right pen. To store my punches in a more confined organized space I use a spice rack. It has the same turning bottom so you can easily rotate the trays to find just the right punch. And it doesn't take up much space. Karla Schmidt For all my miscellaneous items...pens, punches, templates, etc, I think I have my things well organized for me. Firstly, everything is on a small roll-around wire rack, which stands about 2-3 feet high. On each rack, there are four, is a different scrapbooking item. My pens, punches, stamps, I have small baskets for them, to see everything easily, they go on one shelf, templates go underneath that on the next shelf, then idea books on the next. My stickers are organized with the wonderful CIS PSB, and my papers are organized via file folders with a wonderful portable file system. The file organizer sits on top of a 3 drawer plastic organizer I have, which houses punch pieces in one drawer, titles and frames in another, and page protectors in the last. When I do my scrapbooking, everything is right there, next to me, and I don't have to make too much of a mess to find one thing or another...which really comes in handy, since we live in an apartment. Lisa DeLage The best way I organize my colored markers, and pens/pencils is using the cis double sided tote because you can adjust the compartments to whatever size your pens/markers are and its double sided so you can use one side for one thing and the other for odd things like rulers, abc templates etc. i use the punch n go tote for all my punches and it's great with the zipper and see-thru pockets so you can see which shapes are where. good luck leticia diaz More organizing!!! I just finished organizing my punches. I now have a three drawer chest that I keep them in. I broke the drawers down into punch sizes...mini/small, medium/large, and jumbo. I KNOW I will be adding more punches and more drawers!! As for punches...I join a lot of swaps so I keep them in 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 envelopes. I glue a punch onto the front so that I know what's in the envelope, and then I arrange the envelopes in a photo box alphabetically by the punch shape. I also have one punchy from each of the punches I own in my scrapbooking notebook that I take with me whenever I go scrapping/shopping! That way I never buy the same punch twice!!! Have fun! Kimberly B. I have a shelf dedicated to my stamps and punches. I have them in clear plastic frames (trays) that are about an inch deep. My zig pens are stored in their own 48 pen case and the rest of my pens are in the storage that came with my CIS XXL. right now my gels and pencils are stored in their original boxes to help with color names Phyllis Clark for my punches and other odd shaped tools I use tackle boxes, I buy the extra large ones with adjustable slots for my punches and a smaller one with longer slots for pens and scissors and misc. tools. Connie Brockman I have been searching high and low for a way to organize my pens and colored pencils. I recently found the Pen Caddy from Crop In Style ------ I absolutely love it. All my pens are organized and easy to reach. It folds flat and fits easily in my tote will all my other supplies. I also use a craft box (before Scrapbooking I used similar boxes to organize embroidery thread) to organize my punches. They conveniently fit into my tote bag and are instantly available for crops. Debbi Kieper A great way to organize your punches! I have been scrapbooking for 3 years and have been a scrapbook teacher for a local craft store. Needless to say I have acquired MANY punches. To organize these I have 2 ways. I bought a fishing tackle box that has 2 sides with clear covers. (found at any Kmart or Wal-Mart). These boxes have adjustable dividers so you can adjust it according to the sizes of your punches. If you can't find one with see through covers you can punch the design from your punch and put it on the cover covered with clear sticky mailing tape. You can than see what you have and take it with you. I since have made a scrapbook station in my house and have reorganized my punches in tool organizer draws. These can be found at any hardware store. They come in all different sizes. (They are the drawers that can hold nuts and bolts). I have then punched the design and taped them to the drawer so the punch gets back in it's spot. This is also helpful so you know what punches you have and are visually right there in front of you if your looking for a new design. I still have my tackle box so that when I go on my crop getaways I can take the punches that I will be using for the project along and they are good to go. Happy Scrapin' Lisa Riemer My husband and I are Missionaries that build churches. We usually go on site at the beginning of the slab until the completion of the inside. Living this way, in our 5th wheel camper for many months at a time, organization is a must. Most of the ready made scrapbook organizers are to bulky. The best I have found for small places is the clear plastic envelops labeled and ready to pull out of small storage compartments. The use of plastic tubs to stand these in as I'm working comes in handy also. The pen organizer is another way to find my markers easily and yet store them safely. I use file folders to keep papers in color order and zip lock bags, or small shoe boxes for pictures that are organized in the order to be placed on pages. Thanks for the opportunity to share these ideas! Susan Hayes The way that I had organized my pens, pencils, markers, punches and my glues when I couldn't afford a Crop in Style organizer is a Clear (20 pocket) Shoe Bag. I have a closet area that I have a table and a shoe bag on each side of the wall. . It works great and I can see in an instant what I want to use. I received a organizer for Christmas and I still use the shoe bags for things I use often. It is so easy just to grab scissors, glue, pencils, and other odd things. It is easy to take with you wherever you go. It can hang on the inside of your car until you get to your scrapbooking party and then it hangs over the top of a door while you scrapbook. Dawn Larson I purchased one of those three drawer plastic rolling carts for my scrapbook supplies but the problem was I just kept throwing all my pens, pencils, markers and small tools like punches and scissors in the drawer. It was like having another junk drawer in my house! I decided to use a plastic silverware holder inside the drawer. It is just the right size for all my small supplies and everything goes right back to it's place when I'm done using it. I love the fact that my cart is on wheels too so I can bring it with me as I roam around my dining room table working on each project! Denise Harrington I have recently started scrapbooking and didn't want to lay out a lot of money on organizational tools until I got a good grip on what I would really need. However, I do have a lot of pens, pencils, and small tools of different types (writing, calligraphy, brush, metallic gels, matte gels, punches, etc.). I bought heavy duty zippered pen/pencil cases with a clear window at an office supply store during the back to school sales. I have a different color case for each type of pen or pencil. These stand up nicely in a clear plastic tote and store well on a bookshelf when not in use. I also use separate inexpensive clear plastic totes for my punches, scissors, and misc. small tools. I buy the type that has an indentation on the lid so they will stack nicely on shelves and not slip off one another. Anne Vogel I just got a CIS Navigator Bag and CIS pen caddy for Christmas. For traveling to a crop, the bag has compartments perfect for organizing pens and other tools. It has a set of loops designed for decorative scissors, but I also can hang 2 sets of hand punches by their handles on each loop. There’s also a set of loops for pens, which I use for those pen-shaped tools that I use the most (i.e. mechanical pencil, sailor glue pen, black markers, coluzzle knife, xacto knife, gel pens (white, silver, and gold), opaque pens (black, silver, white), empressor, dry embossing stylus). I keep the other pens and markers that I’ll need for the crop in a CIS pen caddy. Within the caddy, I try to keep the pens organized by type (all the markers together, all the gels together, all the millennium zigs together) and within each type, I group by color (reds, blues, greens.) It’s very handy that the pen caddy stands up, but I don’t like to stand it up on the table when I’m sitting across from someone at a crop because it blocks your view of them. I keep all my colored pencils (the 3 sets of EK colors) in a plastic pencil case----the loops of the bag are too loose for the colored pencils. Other odd-shaped tools (punches, adhesives, tweezers, etc), that I need for the crop, I keep within the pouches of the Navigator. I find it best to keep the punches in the 2 clear pouches of the bag, so it’s easy to see which punches are in which pouch. But my entire collection of pens and punches is too large to carry around in the bag, so those not needed for the crop are left at home in labeled plastic pencil cases and containers that I picked up at the dollar store. Even when I crop at home, I work out of my Navigator, so pens and punches basically rotate from bag to containers as needed. An additional CIS pen caddy would be perfect for storing the rest of my pens and markers in---it would make it a lot easier to quickly see what colors I have. There are about a dozen punches that I use most often, these tend to stay in my Navigator bag. I have less than 40 punches in all, so the rest fit in one plastic container. I have a piece of paper punched from each punch taped to the outside of the container to remind me what punches I have. The punches are basically jumbled up in the box, so if my collection were to grow much larger, it would be too time consuming digging through the box for a particular punch. For now this very inexpensive system for organizing my punches works for me. Farah del Pilar I use a box with different sized slots - like a tackle box. It is perfect for all of my pens, punches, scissors, etc. I used a razor blade to cut out some of the dividers I did not want. It closes tight so that nothing can fall out. Laura Stewart I have two organizational methods that help me stay on top of my writing tools and other "odd" tools. First is that for my writing implements I use mailing labels to mark them as my property for crops at shows and stores and among friends. For other "odd tools" a sharpie marker works well. The other thing that I have been working on and that is nearly complete is an inventory of my stuff that helps me know what I have and what I need if I run out of something. Most of my stuff is in my XXL, so that part of the organizing is easy. I keep a small, tabbed, spiral notebook (bought at Staples) with sections for punches, pens, adhesives, paper swatches, lists of templates and details about the items (including price and store purchased) for easy reference so that I don't buy multiples, or can easily replace items correctly when I am in a scrapbooking store or at a conference. Cindy Lopez Elwell I am new at scrapbooking and I have collected a lot of supplies. When I saw the January contest I thought I would share my ideas on organizing supplies. I store my supplies in a three drawer plastic rolling cart. I have stencils, pens and colored pencils in the top drawer. Then I have my circle and oval cutters and supplies in the second drawer. And finally in the bottom drawer I have my idea books. I also have a Tupperware container with a hinged lid for my scissors, hole punches, and cutting tools, which fits nicely in the top drawer also. This system works really great for me. I have three small children and when I want to scrapbook I just wheel out my supplies to the kitchen table and scrap away!! The when I am finished, it rolls back away easily. I hope this idea helps others to get organized! :)Julie Schandoney I love the plastic drawers on rollers. I use the ones with 6 clear drawers so I can easily see what is in each drawer. Here is where I tend to keep my punches, rubber stamps, stamp pads and embossing powders, extra adhesives, scissors, or whatever other odds and ends I'm storing, sorted by drawer. It slides under my table when I'm finished, or sitting on top of one I have a small 5-drawer caddy with drawers that are 2" tall x 6" wide x 8" deep. This too has clear drawers for easy distinction, and here I store my colored pencils, gel pens, lettering pens, brush pens, and calligraphy pens, sorted by type. This is small enough that I can pick up the whole caddy and move it to the kitchen table or wherever I'm working, and have all writing utensils at my fingertips. I also have a set of 100 colored markers in their own case that I have room to set on top of the big caddy. It's so nice to go too one place for whatever I need. PS: I forgot one of the most important things!! I use clear page protectors (acid free) to store my small templates, die cuts, stickers, or the like! Stacey Butcher My tip for organization, is to be creative! You can find ways to organize you scrapping supplies without spending tons of money on fancy boxes or totes. Here is an example of this: For my punches, I found a double sided box at my local MacFrugals (discount store). I have no clue what the true purpose of this box was supposed to be (sorting nails and screws, I think), but the box has 11 compartments on each side (22 total!), and they are just the perfect size for one jumbo or large punch to fit, or two small in each space. The box was $5. I only got one, and now I am wishing I got 3! If you look around, you can find non-scrapbooking items that work perfectly for organizing your scrapbook stuff, and it does not have to be expensive! Christi Starks I use a plastic silverware divider to organize my pens, pencils, punches, scissors, etc., while I'm working on my pages. I usually spread all my pages, photos and papers out on my dining room table and place the plastic tray close to my right hand. The tools I need are as easy to scoop up as a spoon, always close at hand, and I don't "lose" them under pages, letters, or scraps as I am working. I can simply use my pen and place it back in the slot to be easily scooped up again. Kay Kelloff Being someone who does not have a "designated" crop area (like a room), I use small and portable holders for the various items. My pens I keep in a Zig Custom Collection Box, and I organize them by color. Odd colors (gold, silver, etc.) have their own "color" grouping. My punches are kept in a portable Punch n Go soft case. I just open the case (usually on the floor) and keep it that way until I'm done for the day. My Cropper Hopper 12 x 12 Storage Case is great for my adhesives, much used scissors, flannel cloth, magnifying glass, sticker tweezers, corner rounder-anything that is used frequently. These are all great for out of the way storage at home, and the pen box, punch case and hopper are easily taken to out-of-home cropping opportunities. I must add this-when my pen box is full, the pen caddy seen for this contest is a definite possibility for easy at-home storage and portability away from home. Glad I found your site-some good ideas and fun to enter a contest too! Thanks. Kathy Chan I have 2 three drawer roller carts. Each drawer has something different in it. One for punches, one for stamps, one for scissors, etc. Nothing too fancy but they work! Lee Neiman, My Mom and I live together and both scrapbook and stamp. We have a craft room with back-to-back desks on the center of which (where the backs of the desks come together) we put a wood shelf that has solid legs that was from our computer desk originally (we bought it to hold a printer and scanner but the computer outgrew it). It is about a foot high, 3 feet long and a foot wide. On top I recently placed a pen holder from Tombow which holds 44 pens. We have scissors and things with handles likes paint brushes in mugs also on top; underneath the shelf are punches and a lot of other paraphernalia. Little things we have organized in bowls by theme, such as charms, ribbon, etc. We also make greeting cards so we have a lot of stuff! We have separate rolling tables for embossing and cutting that have drawers in them. e have shelves next to our desks for our stamps, with file holders on higher shelves to hold our paper collection. We have a notebook with all of our stickers in it by theme, too. Happy Scrapbooking everyone! Linda Steen I recently redecorated an area in my basement to be my stamp and scrap area. On pegboard on the wall to my left I hang absolutely anything that can be hung such as ribbon, scissors, brayers, scissors, Rolla graph handles, and did I mention my scissors? Then I put the items I use all the time like corner punches, black writing markers, and adhesive dispensers in a basket next to me on my work surface. Anything else like extra adhesive and special cutters like Coluzzles and my Circle Scissor goes in a drawer on either side of me equipped with drawer organizers of course! DeVonna McNees I do quite a lot of scrapbooking and stamping, so I have lots of things to organize. My scrapping/stamping area is my formal dining room (since we never used it). Underneath my dining room table I have two 6-drawer Iris carts. Inside the one on the left, from the top down, I have: --Embossing Supplies (heat tool, embossing ink, powders, stylus, dry embossing templates, and so on)--Embellishments (beedz, Magic Mesh, wire, any sort of embellishment) --Ink Pads (pigment inks, regular dye inks, fabric inks) --Ancient Page Ink Pads --Pigments/Paints (Faerie Dust, Radiant Pearls, Lumiere paints) --Applicators (sponges, brushes, q-tips, cotton balls) Inside the one on the right, from the top down, I have: --Decorative Scissors and Punches --Unmounted stamps and reusable mounting blocks --Adhesives --Markers (I have a couple of small plastic boxes inside to organize the markers I need to store flat: Zig writers, calligraphy pens, scroll and brush, and so on) --Special Stamping Surfaces (extra CDROMs, crimped paper, Japanese paper, etc.) --Cutting Tools (circle cutter, oval cutter, exacto knife, paper crimper) On the top of my table I have a Pampered Chef brand "Tool Turn About." This is a round revolving container, with many compartments. I use this to store my oil-based pencils, Prismacolor colored pencils, watercolor pencils, brush markers, and things I like to be able to reach quickly and easily: straight scissors, glue pen and glue stick, Dove blender, a couple of q-tips and micro applicators, pencil, sharpener, and white eraser, Liquid Appliqué, crystal lacquer, ruler, and a few other assorted items. Papers, die cuts, stickers, and so on are stored in separate containers. Amy Shelton I organized my punched in a 3 drawer plastic organizer. I have the very small punches in the top drawer, the medium ones in the second drawer and the the larger ones in the bottom drawer. This organizer is setting on top of a 6 drawer roll about organizer that has all of my rubber stamps in. This way I can roll it over to my work station. Cindy Anderson Hi, I constantly adapt and improve the organization of my scrapbooking materials and tools. Currently I have a rolling 3 drawer file to hold all of my paper and stickers organized by color and category. It has a hanging side file to hold all of my templates. On top of this file I have stacked a smaller 4 drawer file (the type you purchase at office supply and variety stores) It is organized as follows: Drawer 1: Adhesives and extra cutter blades Drawer 2: punches and corner tools Drawer 3: paper paints, chalk set, colored pencils Drawer 4: popdots, undu and miscellaneous Next to this I keep my Fiskars tote. I always keep my most used decorative scissors, markers and paper trimmer stored in this tote. That way I am ready to go to a friends to crop at a moments notice. When I am really organized I try to have a few kits ready with pics and supplies for quick pages to assemble at a crop. All of my supplies are kept in my laundry room in a minimal amount of space. I must admit that my growing collection of scrapping stuff is making me think I need a room for this hobby!! Debbie Radiff I started scrapbooking about 2 years ago and can definitely consider myself a "tools of the trade" junky. I have to have all the latest and greatest of everything. Even if I'm not going to use it right away. Punches however are my FAVORITE. I just love the great things you can do with them. When I first started, I had a few of the "essential" ones, like the heart, circle, square, flower in a few different sizes, a couple border punches and a couple corner punches. I have now grown to about 100 punches. You name it and I probably have it. At first, I kept all of them in a 3 drawer rolling filing cabinet. I soon found that I couldn't keep track of what I had and spent too much time trying to find the one I wanted to use. My husband finally got tired of listening to me complain one day and came home with a Craftsman Truck Tool Box ! ! for me to try. What a wonderful find. The tool box was about 2-2 1/2 feet long and about 8 inches tall. It held about 20 super jumbo punches. I put my punches in the box and glued a punched piece from each punch on top and on the front so I know what's in it. I have now organized all my punches that way according to size. The tool box comes in a couple different sizes so, I purchased one of each size, now I have one for my mini punches, one for my small and so on. I can stack them on a work table and look at the pieces I glued to the front to see which case need. The cost was very reasonable ranging from $8 to $14. Stefanie Murray I have a three drawer space saver that I actually keep all my scrapping tools in, but I found it a nuisance rambling through the drawers to look for that certain tool. So, I was spring cleaning one day and low and behold BABY WIPE BOXES!!! I had been saving them for who knows what and I decided to try them for all my loose scrapping tools. I have each of them labeled, Pens, Scissors, Punches, etc. They have really come in handy! Thank You, Angela C. Phillips I keep my punches in my Iris cart. One drawer holds my small and mini punches. A second drawer holds my medium and large punches. A third drawer consists of extra large and giant punches along with border punches and corner punches. My punches are pretty simple to organize, right now I have a little less than 80... when I get more I'll have to devise a new system because the other two drawers in my cart are being used. To organize my pens, colored pencils, and chalks I use a small 3 drawer system similar to the Iris Cart. The first drawer holds my regular number 2 pencil and white eraser. All of my colored pencils are in a big plastic bag which I role up and keep in there - when it's time to use them I grab the whole back and lay it out on my workspace. My logic for keeping them in the back is so they wont roll around and mark up the inside of the plastic container and the tips wont break. I keep my 24 set and 9 set of chalks in the top drawer too along with the applicators. I have the applicators divided by 3 or 4 and keep them in smaller craft bags, one applicator for every color. I think there is also an extra set of colored pencils in there too that has never been opened. In the second drawer I have all of my makers. I do have a smaller container in there that holds just my black and white markers and pens - I seem to use them the most. All of the other colored markers are to the left of that container. I got tired of searching for the right black pen/marker, now it doesn't take very long to find the right one because they are all in the same spot. There is a third drawer but it holds misc. stuff such as idea books and my ruler. Thank you, Gretchen Schmidt I have found something that works great for me! I use a 3-ring binder that has a zipper closure and lots of zippered pockets. (Mine is by Mead - Five Star.) I use the 3 rings to store my templates - each with a blank page between. This is also a great place to put idea books, ideas I have printed from the internet or ideas for projects I am currently working on. I can fit a few punches in between the 3 rings too! I have a zippered pocket for all of my pens!!! There is a key chain clip where I clip my scissors. Pockets to hold my erasers or small homemade templates. I have a zippered pocket on the outside where I can store paper for jotting down ideas I might discover at workshops or from friends and to just journal on when I have a moment. In this section, there are pockets to hold pencils. I use these pockets to hold my sharp cutting tools, pencils, and decorative scissors. This is nice because these sharp items are not floating around or falling out when not needed. There are two small pockets on the front to hold stickers, etc ready for my next workshop. These are also a great place to put my money or checkbook - after all we have enough to carry without having to carry a purse too!! For $10, I think this is a super affordable way to help organizing my tools!! Christine Peterson I don't know if these are really any 'new' organizing ideas but this helps keep my growing supply of stuff in some order: for pens - I don't have that many so they mostly fit in the tote from Creative Memories; the extra pens are loose in this tote (its a great tote as it zips all around and has a handle and LOTS of spaces for other odd items) for 'odd tools' - again they mostly are in the Creative Memories tote (I think it was about $35) so my corner rounder, some punches, adhesives, trimmers, scissors and other odd tools fit nicely in the loops and Velcro pockets for punches - some time ago I bought a 'pencil holder' from Wall-Mart and my punches JUST fit into this case. Its a great case - smallish with a handle and snap-close lid. Its small enough that you could organize and stack several (i.e. border punches in one box, jumbo in another, mini in a third, etc.) Thanks, again, for all the wonderful information on your site. I look forward to checking out what is new :}Happy scrappin' Kati DeLaurier I have quite a few tools in my scrapbooking area. Organizing these items has become a great challenge for me, but I have come up with a few ways to deal with the some of them. I have a scrapping desk that I had my husband put 2 rows of 6 hooks along both sides. On these hooks are my scissors, rulers, and Creative Memories Cutting System on. Everything that I use most often is near the front. For my pens and pencils I use a kitchen utensil caddy. I just need to spin it to see the one I want. Bonnie M. Small punches are held in a floss holder. The cubbies are just the right size for the small punches. I can open the holder and see the shapes of my small punches all at once. I even organize these into a row of shapes (square, circle, star), a row of nature (leaves, sun, etc). It is portable and I can sit the holder on its edge rather than flat. For my medium and large punches, I store them on a spice rack my son built for me. I've had this rack for years. The large punches are on the bottom row, the mediums on the middle and my corners and borders are on the top row and on top of the rack. I thank my son for this rack quite frequently. Hope these suggestions help. Terry Gray A great way to organize pens and pencils is an old standby still used by kids all over the us. A good old fashioned pencil case. Get clear ones and ones that have holes in it so that it can go into a three ring binder. Put your pencils in one and pens in another. You can organize by color, tip, etc. A binder can hold many pens and pencils this way and as you flip through, you will be able to see exactly what you have. Katy Danckaert I have a great way to organize my punches. I bought a toolbox from Kmart that has clear drawers - some small, some large. I can put 2 or 3 small punches in the small drawers and 3 or 4 punches in the large drawers. Then a cut a punch out and glue it on the front of the drawer. That way I can see where each punch is kept as well as see which ones I have at a glance. Linda Jernigen Through many re-organization attempts to control all of the wonderful scrapbooking gadgets, I've found that it's best to keep it simple! I've placed all of the colored pencils into a pen caddy, & the gel pens in a separate pen caddy to keep them at my fingertips and visible. Punches, scissors, and stamps are kept in my CIS XXL which has wonderful see-thru compartments. When I'm ready to crop, I just open up the compartments & everything I need is right there! When I go to crop, I put in my pen caddies & CIS Sticker Binder which contains my stickers, paper, and templates into the XXL and off I go! Michelle Mancilla To organize my pens, colored pencils and punches, I use heavy duty zip-lock bags and put them into convenient pockets in my "scrapping briefcase". It's a canvas briefcase with tons of pockets and compartments that are perfect for carrying my scrapping stuff wherever I need to go. By using the Ziploc bags, I can keep my workspace neat, but still have everything "out" and available to use. I also use the zip-lock bags for scrap paper, stickers, and photo remnants. Andrea Steed I have found that one of the best places to store scissors, punches, decorative edge rulers, etc is an over the door shoe holder. They are the type that have the clear plastic pockets. You can find them at Wal-Mart, Target or K Mart for around $6.00. The pockets are great because you can clearly see what is being held inside and you don't take up valuable shelf or table space for storing these items. The back of a door is ideal because you haven't taken up any work space and we all need as much of this as we can get! Dennis Marotz My organizational idea is for Brass Templates. I use the cropper hopper sticker case to hold all of my brass templates. Each case comes with protectors that are divided for different styles and types of stickers, so there are lots of different shaped spaces. I have a tab on each section and divide them into: ANIMALS, BABY/CHILD, BIRTHDAYS, FLORAL, HOLIDAY, OUTDOOR/SEASONAL, SAYINGS, and BORDERS. This way I store them safely, and can easily find each one when I want to use them in my scrapbooks or for making cards. On the opposite side of the CH case is storage space for items I am working on, a ruler, my stylus, and my removable Hermafix that I use for keeping the paper and stencil together. Tiffany Roberts I use a pampered chef turntable to organize my pens, pencils and corner punches. I sort my pens by colors and my pencils by either watercolor or regular pencils. I also have a small notebook that I carry with me that I write down what kind of pen or pencil I have and make a small mark by the number to indicate the color. In my turntable I also store my corner rounder and my magic matter. If I am transporting my turntable I place a giant 2 gallon zip lock bag on the turntable. Debra Reed To organize my pens and pencils I bought a Cropper Hopper supply case. In one compartment I have all the Calligraphy pens together by color, blacks, blues, reds, pinks, greens, etc., then I have all my writers pens again by color. Since I don't have a lot of pens, this works for me, and I can have them all at my fingertips whether I'm on the go, or at home. Also, my pens are always stored horizontally, whether the case is laying down open, or standing up. In another section I have all my photo pencils. In another section are my punches and scissors. I'm also putting a card in with a sample of each punch and scissor cut, so I can grab the card when I go shopping, to avoid repeated supplies. In another compartment I have my tape refill and tape runner, then in another compartment is my corner rounder. There is one more compartment left in this side of the case, and that is where I keep little scraps of paper to use for the punches. All in all it is a great storage system, because I can set it out on the table when I'm at home, or pick up and run with all my tools in one place, and not have to grab my tools from all over the house. The case will also fit into a bag with my scrapbook. Then as a final storage place for the case, I have a cabinet with shelves and the case slides right on a shelf. As for other tools that I use. They are bigger so they are kept in a Rubbermaid sweater box. These include a punch press, a personal trimmer, circle cutter, and a larger paper trimmer. I can grab this box and into the bag they go when needed, also. Lisa I am a new scrapper, and with living in a small town in Canada, am very "supply challenged" One supply that is readily available is gel pens. Their popularity in mainstream life has made them an easy purchase, with many colors available in our local drug and dollar store. I currently have 22 of them. Space in my house is very limited, but I have designated the breakfast bar at the back of my kitchen as a "scrap zone". This is where my computer sits, tucked into a corner, and I have approximately 6 linear feet of worktop. All of my supplies are in a briefcase-style canvas bag, except for my pens. These I simply story in an empty Betty Crocker frosting can. It is tall enough to be stable, but short enough that all lids (and therefore ink colors) are clearly visible. It also ensures that all my pens stay upright, as per manufacturers recommendation, and every member of my family knows better than to touch "mom's pen can". As for punches and misc. supplies, I have very few of those. What I do have fits very nicely onto the small shelves of a wooden spice rack that I bought at a thrift shop for $1. It has doors on it, with 2 drawers. The doors nicely conceal what is hidden inside, and the drawers are ideal for stickers. It hangs on the wall in my kitchen just like anyone else's spice rack, but mine adds "flavor" to my scrapbooks instead of my meals! D Huurrman I organize my pens and colored pencils in a toolbox. The top drawer caddy is where I keep all my gel pens and pencils. I pull this caddy out and underneath is where I keep my punches and fancy edge scissors. I don't have very many punches so I keep them in a large clear plastic container. (It's an empty strawberry basket with a lid that has been recycled) I have found that you don't have to spend a lot of money to stay organized. Just look around you to see what can be reused. Rich & Irene |
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I just received the Crop In Style XXL for Christmas, so that I have a wonderful way to transport my cropping items in one thing. I use the Stamp cases to store my jumbo punches & there are craft cases that e to store my small & mini punches in. They work great & I have recently found them in the tool section at Wal-Mart stores for a lot less than what they sell for as "craft" cases, they are the same exact case, just listed as a tool case for men. I have 3 of these full of all my mini, small, medium & large punches. I also my long reach & edge punches in these. I still haven't come up with a good solution to my super jumbo punches. I am looking for the right size plastic storage box for them; but really want something with a handle on it to be able to carry them around like I have with the other storage boxes. Right now I have my pens in several storage situations. I use the "Zig" box for those pens & have a plastic storage box or a large round container to keep them on my scrapbooking table. I keep the pencils in the box, just to keep them according to their color class. I keep my circle & oval cutters in boxes that fit them, so the blades keep good & sharp. I have the boxes that computer paper comes in to keep my odd supplies in, such as my fiskars paper trimmer & other stuff like that. I used a luggage carrier to carry everything around before I got the CIS XXL (now I won't have to do that). Having the box the computer paper comes in gives you a convenient way to carry odd stuff, because of the lid & things won't get lost. I also organize my scrapbook stuff (paper, dies & stickers into "kits" of every imaginable type, i.e. Christmas, Easter, Baby Girl, Valentines Day, Wedding, School, etc). This way I just grab that kit & throw it into the box with the pictures I want to work on when I attend a crop. Those are my ideas. Kathy Burkart, Strongsville OH The most portable and effective way that I have found to organize my "stuff" is the The Stamp Case organizer. It has two levels of storage with several divided compartments that are perfect for storing my pens, stamps, corner rounder, scissors and even my photo splits. It also has a deeper area that is perfect for holding 5-6 of my favorite punches. Best of all, it closes securely and has a handle so I can easily take it with me to any scrapbook sessions or classes. Julia Leahy - Indiana This is how I organize my pens, punches, colored pencils and odd tools. For my pens I have a Zig writer set that came in a plastic caddy that holds all 48 of my pens. That sits on my scrapping table next to a baby wipes box that holds the remainder of my pens horizontally. For My punches I don't have many so for now they fit in a little plastic tub I have sitting on my table. My few stamps also sit in that tub. My colored pencils came in a fold out box so I keep those in that and I unfold it and stand it up when I am using it. My odd tools all go into two drawers in my iris cart. My scissors go in a small caddy that has a handle that is easy to tote. Sarah Hargis |
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