Operation Organize-Tackling the dreaded paper piles!

 

Jennifer here with your dose of OPERATION ORGANIZE. 

Dealing with the P word today......PAPER—it's a bad word. It is a messy necessity.

We HOARD it (maybe a lot)(like me). It piles up and it is hard to find the perfect way to organize it. It comes in a variety of sizes and comes in single sheets or in pads, and the SCRAPS—we need to hold onto those.

PAPER—we NEED it to craft.

Hopefully today I can help you tackle that pile of paper.

SCRAPS... Pain to organize, but don't want to toss them. This is how I do it. I have this 6 drawer plastic storage chest underneath my crafting desk. The drawers are: #1 "special" kinds of paper, full sheets (mostly gold and corrugated).  #2 Black, Brown and Neutrals. #3 Pink, Purple, Blue and Red. #4 Green Orange and Yellow. #5 Pattern Paper and #6 Die cuts, Embossed and other pre-done elements. When I need a small piece of paper, this is where I start.

Next is 12x12

I don't have a lot of 12x12. I only have 2 baskets with that size. I store them in these baskets from the container store, in a Expedit from IKEA.

 

In one of the baskets are my 12x12paper pads. I label the pads with my label machine along the spine.

And in the other one are my single sheets of paper. They are in the basket by brand, alphabetically. I use these plastic folders (you can find them all sorts of places) and they work PERFECTLY!

Next up is 8x8
If you remember my embossing folder organization (here), I use the same metal CD baskets for this size paper.

The third size is 6x6

Now, this is the one that I have the most of. I find them perfect for card-making. And the little size is just so cute! I store them on my desktop in a vintage baking pan just like this one, but the size is about 6.5" wide by 18" long. I told myself that I can only have as many pads that would fit in the tray... as you can see, I broke that rule.

The last size is 8.5x11

I have 5 different "groups" of this size. Organized ROYGBV by brand. They are stored in a vintage vertical paper sorting tray that you can easily find at thrift and second-hand stores. 

I will leave you today with this card featuring stamps from these two awesome sets. I also tested out my new LYRA Aquacolor crayons. I am getting used to them (a little).

Don't forget to check out the new release! !!! 3 wonderful new stamp sets. 

-and-

Play in the Use What You Have Challenge #12

I hope that this inspired you to get to organizing your paper. Please don't forget to follow my blog, as this is my last post for Sweet Stamp Shop. Until next time.

—Jennifer

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Operation Organize—Embossing folders

 

Jennifer here with your dose of OPERATION ORGANIZE. Do you guys LOVE your embossing folders as much as I do? It seems like I can not get enough of them. I love to use them to add texture and depth to my cards.

Today I am showing you how I keep them organized and easy to see.

I took a piece of A4 size cardstock (all the same color, just to be consistent). Ran it through the Cuddlebug and embossed a sampler of all the folders. Then I use this super cute polka-dot binder and page protectors (both from Target). The binder is a 8.5 x 5.5 size, so it fits 2 samples perfectly on each page.

I numbered the page in the book and the corresponding embossing folder.
NOW, I can look through my book to find the folder I want. No more fumbling through the folders.

The embossing folders (including the A7 ones) fit PERFECTLY in this CD storage basket.
All of my folders fit in just this one basket. I think it holds about 75.

Now to implement that organization onto a card. I looked through my book and found the folder I wanted, a cloud one by Darcie, #10 in my book. You can buy it here.

I also used the Baby Love stamp set. It contains great stamps that work together or separately. Just look at that rainbow! I can think of a dozen cards I could use just that one on.

(You can buy it here)

I stamped and colored the blue rainbows before I ran it through the Cuddlebug (click on photo to see the embossed clouds better).

Thanks for checking out Operation Organization today. Hope this helps you achieve that organized space.

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Operation Organize: Great Craft Uses for Household Items.

Welcome to Sunday. I hope you had an relaxing and productive weekend. Or was like me and did NOTHING. It felt so good. Jennifer here with your dose of OPERATION ORGANIZE.

Today I am showing you how I use everyday items (and a couple unique) to organize your craft area.

I hope you find a couple that you have never thought of.

JARS... I find I have a lot of them around my house and use them a lot in my craft area.

 

 

You can find these "cheap" cookie jars (the red handle ones)at the thrift stores. Most of the time I find them for under $5.00. They are perfect for the items that you have multiples of. As you see I store my scrabble tiles in one. It looks cool and it is very easy to access. The round one is a vintage candy jar that I got at an occasional sale. I used to store my flowers in it. (remember the flowers that you used on EVERYTHING?!?!).  Now I store my Washi in it. It also looks pretty cool and I can see everything in it. 

(Here is a tip for labeling Washi. Write the manufacturer in side with a sharpie. That way when you make your items used list you know who's Washi it is.)

Magazine Holders

These are the PERFECT size for the Thickers and Alpha stickers. You need to find the wide ones. I found mine at Office Depot. And they hold a lot.

Small Containers

 

I found this Parmesan shaker at a thrift store and it is perfect for my sequins. I also find myself collecting these small tins, I am finally putting them to good use. Add a fun label and store those special items.  

Tool Boxes

Another collection I have tool /tackle /lunch boxes. I love the vintage look and how utilitarian they are. They store a lot and you can stack them. I tend to use each one for a single purpose. Like the one below that just holds my pins. I have one for alcohol inks, small playing cards, wood mounted rubber stamps, jewelry making supplies and October Afternoon wild and journal cards. 

 

Others...

  

Some of my more unique items are vintage receipt holders. You know the kind that you "stab" the paper on.  I store my newest ribbon and washi on them. I have them up on a shelf so no one can hurt themselves with them. And vintage Pyrex colored glass bowls. I love the color and how the items in it are easy accessible.

Don't forget to get a Sneak Peek at the JULY release here! It is #2 in the slide show. The stamps will be available July 24th! Get your shopping list all written.

AND don't forget to join us for the release party on Facebook (here)!

What is a tip you can give our readers on a unique storage item?  Please leave a comment with your tip.

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Operation Organize: Tackling Those Stamp Pads

Welcome to Sunday. How was your 4th of July weekend? Did you get to relax? And maybe even CRAFT? I hope you so!

Jennifer here to help you organize your stamp pads, or at the least help you be more efficient with them. One of my biggest pet peeves is inefficiency. I get bothered by wasted time. So a lot like my dauber post (you can see that here).  I want you do be able to see what you need right away. No need to waste time searching through your stamp pads to find the one you need.

The only materials you will need is— sticker paper (I used some labels we had laying around the office) and your stamp pads.

The fist thing you will need to do is, ink up a section of the sticker paper with your stamp pad color. I used a Kleenex to do this.

Then you will need to cut out strips of the color. Measure the size you will need by using the edge of the stamp pad. I apply the sticker to the long edge of the pad cover, but you might want to use the short edge.

 Then apply the stickers to the edge of covers.

As you can see some of them look white, so I just wrote the name of the color on the sticker.  You could add the names to all of them if you'd like.

I did this stickering to all of my stamp pads.

Gold, Silver, Papertrey Ink (you just need to adjust the size of the sticker to the particular stamp pad).

In this last photo are the Distress Inks that go with the Daubers post from last week.  Instead of using Kleenex to apply the ink to the sticker paper, I used the daubers.

Here are all of the newly stickered stamp pads in their rack. I use an old cassette case to hold my stamp pads. You can find them really really cheap at thrift stores, and come in a variety of sizes).  I also store the pads upside down. (I heard at some point that it was better for the stamp pad, because the ink goes to the top of the pad). No clue if that is right or not.

Now onto a card that shows a little color!  I used the Color Wheel Stamp set and the Distressed Chevron. What great sets!

Don't forget to get a Sneak Peek at the JULY release here! It is #2 in the slide show. The stamps will be available July 24th! Get your shopping list all written.

Also don't forget to join us for the release party on Facebook (here)!


Tell me, Who makes your favorite stamp pads? What do you like about them?

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Operation Organize: Sweet Ink Sampler with Jennifer Stricker

Happy Tuesday! Are we ready for the wonderful 4th Holiday?

What are you going to do? Picnic? Maybe get some crafting in?

I think I am going to get inky! And after I show you this neat way of organizing those sponge daubers you might want to too!

I got new sponge daubers for my Distress Inks. I replaced my blending tools. (I like the sponge daubers instead of the handled blending tools, I have more control of the colors)

I was starting to organize them by labeling them with my beloved ptouch. But, I realized (actually knew) that I am more of a visual person and the labeling was not going to work for me.

WASTED labeling tape (oh well).

I needed to label by showing the color, not just naming the color.

Here's how I did it:

I used the sponge dauber to put a little spot on a strip of sticker paper.  Then I used a  1/2 circle punch to punch out a circle that I then placed on top of the case over the corresponding sponge dauber. 

I LOVE IT!

I did still use my ptouch to put labels of the color around the actual sponge dauber, so I know what color I am using.

Now I can see the color I want. You can purchase the box here.

WoooHooo! I hope I inspired you to organize! Remember to organize in the way that works best for you!

_____________________________

Nicole here - I just love this dauber idea ... and it would work great for this card (and this general technique) that I LOVE to do ... 

You might recall how I used the daubers to create this rainbow look with neon inks. I even made a quick video -


It would be so helpful to have a dauber for each color - I go through daubers fairly fast because they're not assigned to just one color. I know they would last FOREVER if I only used them for one color.

I used the 'Distressed Chevron' for that card - LOVE that background stamp!

Thanks to Jennifer for showing us her organizing tips!

 Happy Stamping and Happy Organizing!
Hugs,
N.


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