Crafty Organization Thursdays: Part I (Preview Edition)

One of my favorite things to do in the world is to organize. Yes, I am weird. Scrapbook supplies to me are the funnest, prettiest, most special, and lovely things that I have / will ever see. I just love this hobby, this lifestyle of crafting, creating, and memory keeping. Since I love organizing and scrapbooking, scrapbook organization is so up my alley and something that I simply adore to do.

The new year always gets me super excited to clean, organize, and purge unwanted belongings. Recently, I have had many opportunities to do just that because my family and I moved to our new home last month. Although my Scrapbook studio is still not completed, I wanted to share with you some organizational ideas to get your year started off right.

*Disclaimer I am not a professional organizer or an always neat crafter, but when I am done with a project (or often times) many projects I have a bunch of systems that work 

for me and keep my space looking clean, fun, and motivational.

I believe the most important thing to consider when organizing your scrapbook space, whether it be a portable space going from a closet to the dining room table and back again, an office, a shed, a space in the family room, or your own studio, the most important thing is to organize your supplies in a way that makes sense to your scrapbooking process. Do not just type in scrapbook organization on *Pinterest and duplicate the first few things you see and automatically assume that will work best for you. Really think about it. Take either visual or mental notes of how you create for at least a month (if you create consistently) and notice things such as; what do you do first? how do you look for your supplies-by color, manufacturer, type? What supplies do you use most often? Remember, there are no rights or wrongs here. Everyone is a unique individual so it makes sense that we would all create in a different way doesn't it?

*All of that being said, I adore Pinterest. Such a great site full of so many fabulous ideas 

in one place, my kind of place to hang out. 

Shimelle Laine aka Glitter Girl (sorry to ruin the surprise if you did not already know ;-) has so many fabulous videos that continually inspire me. You can find her on the Two Peas in a Bucket website, where every Wednesday she updates with a new Glitter Girl Scrapbooking Adventure. The last video of 2012 touched on some of the aforementioned organizational ideas- she also firmly believes that you should create using your own scrapbooking process as your guide. Here is a link to that video HERE. She also has her own blog where she shares all kinds of scrapbooking products and even more videos and you can find that HERE.

For my first installment of Scrapbook Organization Thursday (Preview Edition, ) I want to start with one specific zone in my scrapbook studio. I warn you, none of this is never-before-seen-stuff, but it is what works for me: Clean, organized storage that I can enjoy looking at without it looking too crazy when not in use. My organizational supplies are as follows; a basic JetMax white storage cubby for the wall, a curtain rod-turned punch holder below.

* My JetMax cubby was purchased at Michael's with a 50% off coupon
and my curtain rod is from Target. 

From top to bottom: 

Top shelf: Extra inks and sprays, stamp cleaner and brush, favorite confetti punch, and extra wood veneer that were too big to fit in my plastic containers.

Second shelf from top: Plastic containers filled with wood veneer. The clear plastic containers that all of the wood veneer pieces are organized in are also from Michael's originally, but they are super old and I don't know if they carry them anymore. They were sold in the six pack and located adjacent to the JetMax cubes. I need to get a better close-up of the containers, but in the mean time, I sort all of my Studio Calico wood veneer by type into each plastic container and then use Glossy Accents to adhere one veneer to the outside. That way even if all of the veneer are laying flat in any random container, I can still tell what type is in each container by just looking at the side of the container. Hopefully that made sense. You could use Mason Jars, any other bell type jar, or really anything to store smaller like-item embellishments in this manner. They don't have to be on a wall cubby either, I have seen many similar systems stored in tiered racks or on bookcases, or just out on a table. Whatever works for you and makes sense to your creative process is great.

Third shelf: Zing embossing powder and my trusty ol' Creative Memories Square Punch, do any of you still have one? I still think it is awesome.

Fourth Shelf: Studio Calico Mister Huey

Fifth Shelf: American Crafts Glitter Ribbon and more wood veneer in the same plastic containers.

And a close-up of my three favorites (well those three and enamel dots) Ooooh, ahhhh, oooh, aaaahhh!

FYI:  I just "might (cough, cough) be hosting another giveaway next week for blog followers and if so this is what I would be giving away (cough, cough.") Are you following my blog yet? I will be hosting two giveaways a month, every month of 2013, as a way to say thank you to a hobby that I adore, as well as to say I just love you fellow crafters to many of the amazing scrapbookers I have met online.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. That is all I will share with you organization-wise for today, but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Also if you have any organization ideas or links you want me to check out, or other scrapbook organization topics you would like me to cover, please post here, I would love to see what works for you, or what you have your eye on . I looooooovveee scrapbook organization, can you tell?

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni