Crafty Organization Thursdays: Organizing Small Paper Pads

Good morning fellow crafters, it's Thursday, and you know what that means?  It's time for another Crafty Organization Thursdays post over here at life, scrapbook, repeat. My name is Toni From and I love to organize. Yes, you heard that correctly, I love to organize. Finding solutions for storage problems makes me thrilled beyond a normal level, and you could probably safely say that I am slightly obsessed with arranging anything (and everything) in ROY G BIV order.

I started writing this column last year, and have been blessed with such great responses lately that I am going to attempt to write it on a semi-weekly basis. In February, my two most recent organizational columns were posted. The first, discussed different ways of storing mists, you can find that HERE. The second column from last month, gave some insight into a variety of ways to organize cards, and that post can be found HERE. Since this column started as a way to help fellow crafters, I would really love to hear from my readers. If you have any crafty organization problems, or suggestions for future topics, please do not hesitate to leave a comment below.

Today I thought we would take a look at how we organize our smaller paper pads. I am specifically looking at solutions for 6 x 6 inch paper pads, but this could also apply to 8 x 8 inch paper pads, or loose patterned paper that is trimmed down to a smaller size.

First, I thought I would show you how I store my paper pads.

This wood box was purchased two years ago at TJ Maxx and I think I paid approximately $8 for it. It has a chalkboard front and measures about 8 inches wide by 14 inches deep by 6 inches tall. All of my small paper pads (or small papers that I have cut down to fit this container) are stored here. Yes, you heard that correctly, they are ALL stored here. Well I guess that isn't completely true, I keep two small boxes of Christmas supplies (including about four small holiday paper pads) in a closet. I only pull out those boxes from early November through the end of January or so. If I run out of room for more paper pads in this box, I cannot buy anymore. My rule is this: I have to use what I have or donate before I purchase more when I run out of room. This rule applies to all of my supplies. Right now this storage piece is close to being completely full, so I am getting ready to pull some paper pads out and make a big batch of cards.

I store this wood box on a large bookcase that my husband built. I wrote a post about the start of organizing my studio last May, you can find out more about that bookcase HERE if you are curious.

While searching the Internet I found many storage solutions for organizing small paper pads. I came up with three overall themes for these types of containers.

1. Wicker, wood, or fabric storage baskets
2. Plastic storage containers
3. Lidded Storage Boxes

Wicker Baskets

There seems to be a growing trend of using storage solutions made from natural materials. Wicker baskets definitely fit this category and look really cute in a crafting space. They work very well for storing all kinds of things, and they are cute to look at as well. Here are some options I found:

This adorable lined rattan basket can be found at Target. I have also seen similar baskets at Michael's, A C Moore, Joanne Fabrics, Goodwill, TJ Maxx, Amazon, garage sales, and many other retail and consignment stores. You can find this basket online HERE.

This seagrass woven basket was also found at Target. You can find this online HERE.

There are many, many other options out there. I often look for baskets on clearance racks, garage sales, or consignment shops. I love that there are so many different textures, colors, and sizes to choose from. Really, the possibilities are endless with these adorable storage pieces.

Plastic Storage Containers

Plastic storage containers are another great option. One of the benefits in using plastic containers is that they often include a lid. This feature allows you to stack numerous bins on top of one another, plus it also prevents dust, glitter, and other fun crafting supplies from getting all over your pretty paper. There are many options out there, but it is important to make sure that the inside dimensions of any container you purchase are large enough for your paper to fit inside comfortably once closed. It might be a really good idea if you are shopping at your local store to actually bring a paper pad or two with you. I do this all the time. It really saves a lot of effort and money, plus as an added bonus, you can really visualize what it will look like in your space this way. It might seem silly, but I would rather bring the item to the store than come home and discover I purchased the wrong size. Nothing is more frustrating in my book.

I found this beauty by Art Bin online through Amazon. You can find that HERE. It is the Art Bin 6990Ab Super Satchel Double Deep Box with Removable Dividers. I think this could be a great storage solution for storing small paper pads, as well as a variety of other crafting needs.

My friend, Taniesa Vlasak recently made a video about how she uses Close to My Heart plastic storage containers to organize her 6 x 6 paper pads. She even sells Close to My Heart supplies and I should also mention that she uses this storage solution for washi tape and Thickers as well! You can find the link to her You Tube video HERE. She has a lot of really great organizational ideas. I highly recommend you watch this video. If you do watch her video, be sure to leave her a nice comment, I know she must have spent a lot of time putting that together.

Lidded Storage Boxes

Lidded boxes can really be found just about anywhere: The Dollar Tree, consignment stores, and you probably already have many in your home. One thing that I did discover while researching this topic is that most boxes designed for media, or to hold large photos is generally going to work for small paper pad storage as well. Take this one, the Semikolon Multimedia Box. This adorable box can be found at The Container Store HERE. They also come in a variety of fun spring colors, as well as neutrals if you prefer that look. If you do not have a Container Store near you, you can shop online through their website, or you can also find something similar in an office storage store near you.

I also really adore THIS lacquered box from The Container Store. The colors are so adorable and I love that it has a high gloss finish. How sexy is that? Well, if a craft storage piece can be sexy I guess.

I hope this installment of Crafty Organization Thursdays at life, scrapbook, repeat was helpful. I write these posts to inspire others to think of different ways to store their crafting supplies, and I hope you found something useful in this article.

Let's talk paper pad storage today. Anyone else finding they have quite a few? (sheepishly raising my hand) I sure do, but they also fit in my assigned storage. If you learn nothing else from reading these columns, remember my number one tip. When you come up with a storage system for a particular product that is working for you and that fits in your space, don't just keep adding more. If there is no more room, use up what you have, or get rid of some before you purchase more. If you follow this, you will never outgrow your space. 

If you have any other suggestions for small paper pad storage, please do not hesitate to list below in the comments. I would also love to see links of any great storage solutions you have found in your home, on a shopping trip, or via the Internet.

Happy Organizing,

xoxox

Toni

Crafty Organization Thursdays: Card Organization

Good morning fellow crafters, it's Thursday, and you know what that means? Yup, you guessed it. It's time for another Crafty Organization Thursdays post over here at life, scrapbook, repeat. My name is Toni From and I love to organize. Yes, you heard that correctly, I love to organize. Finding solutions for storage problems makes me thrilled beyond a normal level, and the sight of anything arranged in ROY G BIV order is the best thing ever! I started writing this column last year, and have had such a great response lately that I am going to attempt to write it on a semi-weekly basis. As I am writing this, almost 1,000 people have read my last organizational post! How humbling and just so awesome that so many of you enjoy reading about craft organization. If you missed my last column all about storing mists, you can find that HERE.

Today I thought we would take a look at how we organize cards since I was working on this project in my studio last week. I will show you what I did in my studio and then also go over some awesome examples I found on this subject via the web.

As you can see in the photo below, my studio is fairly organized, I am still organizing my island a little more, but the only real problem area was the paperwork and cards on the floor. I filed my paperwork and discarded what I did not need, and dove into my cards. I posted this photo on Instagram last week, I often post studio photos during the week, and if you want to follow along, my social media links are on the right side of the blog. :-)

I took all of my cards in various boxes that you see stacked on the floor above and organized them in this.

I have tried over the years to use various boxes to corral all of my greeting cards in one place. I wanted something with a lid and that was white. I ended up stumbling upon the  Bigso Greeting Card Organizer at the Container Store. I am impressed with just how many cards it holds. I also love that it includes many divided tabs that are just perfect for labeling card categories. This solution is working great for me and I got ever single card in this one box, and I even have a little room to add a few more cards as well! I do realize that many of you do not have a Container Store near you, so I searched the web, and found some other great card storage ideas.

Jen from the amazing blog I Heart Organizing has a great tutorial for making your own tabbed dividers and she even puts them in an adorable container too. I Heart Organizing Greeting Card Organizer.

I love the box she chose for her greeting cards, it is so adorable and happy. She picked this up at Paper Source, but I am sure you can also find similar boxes at your local Target, Dollar Store, Consignment shop, or maybe even in your own crafty space.

From the blog, AnyoneCanDecorate.blogspot.com I found this clever card organizer below.  I love that she uses chalk labels to pretty it up and that this storage solution is also portable. You can find this particular organizer at Amazon, but I have also seen similar lidded boxes at Michael's without the card dividers.

I am also really loving all of these storage solutions found on the web.

floral storage baskets

woven baskets

plastic weave baskets

As you can see there are many different ways you can organize your greeting cards. I think the most important thing is to organize them in a way that makes sense to you and your budget. I often find storage solutions in items that my family is no longer using, or at local consignment stores. Neighbors have also given me storage items as well as family members. I am always on the lookout for inexpensive storage pieces. It is an obsession, but I love doing it.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I hope you enjoyed reading all about card organization. I appreciate you being here and taking time out of your day to read my posts. Let's talk card organization today. Anyone else recently discover that they have about twice as many homemade cards than they realized? Yes, I am definitely guilty of that. Anyone else find that they need more of a particular category? What cards do you use the most often? Are your cards organized, or can you find them in your space? 

If you have any ideas about what topic I should cover next time for Crafty Organization Thursdays, I would really appreciate you commenting below. I get my ideas from either things I am currently working on in my studio or other crafter's suggestions. Please do not hesitate to offer suggestions at anytime. 

Happy Organizing,

xoxox

Toni 

Crafty Organization Thursdays: Storing Mists

I have missed writing about organization. I love organization and especially organizing crafty supplies. To me that is a really great time! It is really exciting to try to come up with solutions to solve crafter's storage problems, and I personally love a great organization post. This is why I take the time to write these posts, to hopefully help a fellow crafter make sense of their space. I hope you like reading this and would love suggestions for future topics or links to great storage or organizational ideas. I love a great organizational read as well, so please do not hesitate to link me to some great finds in the comments below. This can include your crafty space, and you just might be featured in a future Crafty Organization Thursdays post!

Today's organization topic was from a question posted directly to the Studio Calico message board. asking fellow crafters how they store their mists in their spaces. Now that there are so many different varieties of spray mists, what is the best way to store them?

I love that there are so many different ways that other crafters are storing their mists. I love the creativity and often ingenious ideas that you smart peeps come up with. I am always so inspired after seeing these great organizational ideas. Here are a few I am hi-lighting this month

Spinning Storage Options:

I found THIS image on Pinterest showcasing how Kinsey Wilson's is using her awesome Harbor Freight 12" Revolving Four Tray Bin to store mists. I love that she is able to get all of her mists on the top of this storage piece, plus she has room for all other kinds of crafty supplies as well. I also adore that this Revolving Tray Bin is very economically priced, and can easily be altered with paint or washi tape to match your decor. It also looks great in the original black metal finish as Kinsey has done. You can check out your local Harbor Freight to see if they have one, or you can order it online directly HERE. Another great thing about this particular piece is that it takes up very little counter space and is only 12" round, but offers up four shelves of storage!

My good friend and fellow blogger, Danielle Higginbottom-Brown from piperloo.blogspot.com uses a Lazy Susan (turn table) to store her mists. She loves that this allows her to reach all of them easily. Well, to be truthful, she use to store her mists this way until her collection grew…but she really enjoyed using this storage method while it lasted.

Mist Caddy:

THIS storage idea was pinned from an image I found at Scrapbook.com by Created4you. This Caddy is perfect for storing paint, but the creator found that it also worked perfectly for storing mists. I could not find a link for where to purchase this particular item, but I still think it is a great example of using a pre-existing product that was made for one purpose, and using it for something else entirely. It also reminds me of spice racks, and I have seen many crafters effectively using spice racks to store creative supplies.

Storage Shelves:

This is how Danielle is storing her fabulous mist collection now. The girl loves her some mist doesn't she? I love looking at her collection, pure eye candy. She recently moved into a new scrap space and her handy hubby hung these three crown molding shelves for her. She loves that she can easily get to them while she scraps at her desk below.

This next image was found on Pinterest and from the blog Creations with Christina. I love that this crafter found a way to make great use of wall space in a corner desk set-up.

Wall Units/ Storage Cubbies:

The next two images are from my studio. I found this storage shelf a few years ago at Michael's craft store. I purchased it with a 40% off coupon and a gift card and I believe it was right around $60 for the shelf. It has been a really great investment for me and I love that it is a very flexible storage piece. I am currently using this for mist storage, as well as embossing powder, and buttons. I think I will be moving sequins to the bottom shelf soon however and buttons to another location.

In the image below you will find a close-up of the mist area on the shelving unit. The shelf that stores the mist is actually only one shelf, but I had my handy hubby help me better utilize this shelf. I did not have anything to store that was 10 inches tall and had a lot of wasted space about the single row of mists. I had him cut a piece of scrap MDF for me to 3.5 inches tall and the width of the shelving unit. This piece of scrap wood is only 1 inch wide, but it is wide enough to store mists on! I then painted it white and lined it up on the back…I now have storage for two rows of mists in one storage space! If you look really closely you can see my little shelf sticking out behind the first row of mists. He is making me another shelf this weekend that will be 1.75 inches tall, which will enable me to have three shelves (at various heights) in the space intended for one shelf! This is a good reminder to remember to alter pre-existing storage pieces if they are not working of you.

Unfortunately, after several attempts, I cannot find a link to this exact storage piece, but if you go to your local Michael's I still see very similar shelves every time I stop by. I also found this smaller desktop storage piece on their website HERE.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. I appreciate you being here and taking time out of your day to read my posts. I love my blog readers and I can honestly say that you make me smile each and everyday reading your lovely comments.

Let's talk crafty organization today and mist storage. How are you storing your mists and paints that you use for crafty projects? What is working for you and what is not? Is there one storage method featured about that would be useful for you? Have you seen any other great mist storage or other crafty storage methods that you want to share below? Let's chat…

xoxox

Toni

December Daily Organization Part 3 and December is Amazing!

December is Amazing. I love this month. I love the sense of wonder and magic. I love the lights. I love having a real tree in my house. I love candles burning and warm cozy fires. I love holiday crafting and mailing Christmas cards to friends and family. I love spending time with loved ones and spending time telling them how much they mean to me. I find that most people try a little harder to be nice to once another this month. Don't you just love Christmas time?

Today's blog post is two parts: December Daily Organization and a little bit about what you can expect to find over the next month on life, scrapbook, repeat.

December Daily Organization:

I have previously talked about December Daily Organization and pulling all of my December products into one location. You can find that post HERE. This worked really well for all of the Christmas crafting I did last month (a large mini book, some layouts, and cards that I will share later this month.) Now that I am into December, I decided to pull supplies from this holiday stash specifically for my 2013 December Daily album and re-organize my supplies a little bit. It's amazing what moving around some pretty embellishments in ceramic bowls does for my inspiration. I have been crafting up a storm. THIS blog post discusses my color scheme for 2013 and some products I am using in my album.

 I am using a letter tray to sort all of my alphabets, larger sticker 

sheets, some embellishments, doilies, and punches I plan on 

using in December Daily. This was purchased at 

Staples a few years ago.

 I am using this ceramic mini loaf pan to store 4 x 6 inch and 3 x 4 inch paper I have already 

cut up for my album. I am also using it for small paper scraps, journaling cards, 

mini bags, and tags.

This white melamine tray was purchased at Target last summer and I use it to store my white 

ceramic dishes full of all kinds of holiday deliciousness, some mists, and also my 

favorite Christmas stamps I want to use in December Daily.

What you Can Expect To Find Here this Month

In honor of my favorite month, I am celebrating on the blog. I will be blogging everyday weekday Monday-Friday through Christmas Day and I really hope you will enjoy me along this fun ride of Christmas magicness. Here is what you will find at life, scrapbook, repeat.

• Mondays: December Daily. I am also participating in Journal You Christmas as well, so I will be responding to some of those prompts as well.
• Tuesdays: Project Life. I see this as being a good place for all of the non-holiday stuff, but there will be some overlap as well.
• Wednesdays: December Daily
• Thursdays: More Christmasy goodness: Mini album, Christmas cards, and holiday crafts
• Friday: December Daily

I hope y'all had a great weekend. I will be back tomorrow morning with my first two days of December Daily to share with you, (I started on November 29th.) 

Let's talk December Daily. Who is participating? Do you have supplies pulled already, or did you already pre-plan all of your pages? On the flip side, are you more or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants crafter? If you are doing any holiday crafting I would love for you to leave me a link below so that I can leave you some love. I would also love to see non-holiday projects. Until tomorrow then friends.

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

December Daily Organization: Part One, Getting Your Supplies Together

I have to be completely honest with you, this will be my FIRST year finishing a December Daily. I had great intentions last year, but between moving mid-December and having family come to stay with us at our new house four days later, I did not have time to work on it. I also am more of a seasonal scrapper. I like to work on Christmas themed items around that time of year, and once the holiday is over, I want to work on other things. Now that it is November and the Christmas season is approaching, I am so excited to be working on December Daily as well as other Christmasy projects.

The Albums:

This year I will be making a 2012 December Daily in November and setting up my 2013 December Daily as well. I figure after I finish one, I should have a good idea of what does/ does not work for me. I will be sure to keep you posted. I have two Studio Calico handbooks ready to go. One is the new Magical Handbook and the other is an older chevron chipboard design also by Studio Calico. It is similar to this one HERE. I primed the plain chipboard album with white acrylic paint and when dry, I used Krylon Gold Metallic Spray Paint, followed by a coat of clear protectant. Since I am loving everything gold this year, I am leaning towards using the gold album for 2013 and using the Studio Calico Magical red cloth album for 2012. I also added patterned paper to the spine of the gold album and polka dot washi around the corners. You can see the pictures of both my 2012 and 2013 December Daily albums below.

If you want to see the steps I took in spray painting the album, I posted my progress on Instagram last week, You can find my Instagram link at the right hand side of the blog. If you have any questions just leave a comment below or on Instagram, I would be happy to help.

Organizing Little Bits and Pieces:

My first recommendation would be to collect all of the supplies you are planning on using into your December Daily album into one place. Then you get to start the fun part. Organizing all of the little bits and pieces!

There are a multitude of ways you can store little embellishments, but one way is by far my absolute favorite. You might remember that I am a sucker for a white ceramic bowl. Seriously, I am so in love with these little guys. They are very affordable, so enchanting, and they just make my heart happy and I smile every time I see them. I discussed my love for ceramic bowls in another organization post HERE. I purchase these bowls at Target, World Market, Pier One, Michaels, and various consignment stores. The star-shaped bowl was purchased at Michaels last week, and is my current favorite. Currently I have approximately 21, and yes they are ALL being used.

*The glass candy dish is out year-round. I store my paper clips in it

 and since it was my mother's I just love it. It reminds me of her

 and my childhood everytime I look at it.

Other strategies I have seen fellow bloggers use for organizing December Daily, include;

• Baskets
• Clothespins
• Cups
• Mugs
• Muffin Tins
• Tool boxes
• Various ceramic containers
• Vintage Letter Trays
• Wooden boxes

You can see many of above organizational ideas implemented, as well as read some other December Daily organization tips by clicking on any of the names below. All 3 scrapbookers have very inspirational, well-written posts, and are bloggers that I enjoy reading.

• Jen Chapin 
• Michelle Wooderson and HERE
• Leena Loh

Thank you for stopping by today. I will be back soon with a layout share. I hope to see you then.

Happy Organizing,

xoxox

Toni

Crafty Organization Thursday: Organizing LIttle Bits of This & That

My name is Toni From and I love to organize. It is just something that is in my nature and finding the perfect storage solution for crafting items thrills me beyond what is probably normal. Regardless of my unhealthy addiction to labels, color-coding, and design ideas, this weekly column, is all about my readers, and a way for fellow like-minded crafters to help one another solve our clutter problems once and for all. Good morning, it's time for another Scrapbook Organization Thursday and today we are talking about how to store all of our little bits of this and that. I will also be discussing how I store my ink pads and my Project Life tools. Last week we discussed tool storage, you can find that post HERE. The other Scrapbook Organization Thursday posts you can find HERE, HERE, and HERE.

All of those little bits are so difficult to sort and containerize. There are just so many different types of embellishments, for example. There are wood veneers, brads, gems, bling, buttons, and let's not forget all of the ephemera packs that so many scrapbook paper lines have come out with. The list is endless and I find that there is not a lot on the subject for how to store these adorable little items.

The systems I use are not earth-shattering or things that others have not probably already done, but they work for me. When you are trying to figure out how to sort all of your little embellishment bits, I am going to suggest you ask yourself these three questions.

1. If you were designing a particular crafting project and pull out embellishments do you look for them based on type of embellishment (wood veneer, buttons, brads, stickers, etc...?)
2. Do you search for these items based on color (red, yellow, green, blue, purple...?)
3. Do you search for items using a little bit of both of these?

If you are like me, you probably found that all three of these were a little bit true. That realization can make it so baffling to figure out how to sort all of this little stuff. What I would highly recommend is to seriously down size all of these little things. If you have less to store, the items you do have are easier to find. Once you have downsized all of your little bits and pieces, then it's time to organize them in a way that makes sense to you and your creative process.

One storage solution that I have found that works really great for embellishments was this letter sorter from Staples. It is from the Martha Stewart collection, but unfortunately I do not see them online anymore. They are just a basic letter sorter/ mail center organizer that you can find just about anywhere. I found a similar acrylic option at The Container Store that has divided sections that I think would also work really well for sorting embellishments. You can find that HERE.

I use this letter sorter for items I have pulled for a project

 this letter sorter is used to organize embellishments by type, such as, 

labels, tags, enamel dots, and mistable shapes

I store other larger embellishments in these three bins. They are located on my white bookcase behind my craft table and very easily accessible.

The first two pins hold my accessories (sorted by type) 

and the last one is for items I have pulled for projects

Now this is my favorite organizing find to date and one that is working so great for me. I use this to sort all of my little bits of this and that which are not kept in their original packaging. This is also working really great for printable labels and embellishments, random stickers that were left on sticker sheets, and also vintage tickets and what not.

  This acrylic compartment box is from the Container Store. 

You can find that link HERE. It is my 

favorite small embellishment organizer ever!

If I want a little embellishment in a specific color I just pull it out, grab what I need, and put it away. I keep this acrylic tray safely stored and tucked away in my white Jetmax cube on my white bookcase located behind my craft table. You can find Jetmax cubes at Michael's craft stores HERE.

acrylic tray storage

I store embellishments that come with kits in little white ceramic bowls that I purchased from either Target, Pier One, or World Market in the $1-$2 range.

kit embellishments

more kit embellishments

shipping tag storage

all of my white ceramic bowls grouped together

The Breakdown of How I Store Little Bits of This and That

• Labels, enamel dots, tags, and mistables are stored in a letter sorter
• Items pulled for projects are stored in my second letter sorter
• I have pull our drawers that store larger embellishments still in their original packaging
• I use an acrylic tray to sort printable labels, cut out stickers, and other small bits (sorted by color)
• I use ceramic bowls to sort wood veneer, kit embellishments, buttons, confetti, sequins, and any other bits and baubles.

Let's talk storage. How are y'all sorting your little bits of this and that? What fun ideas have you implemented into your space? My friend, Taniesa, from The Crafty Pickle has a blog post discussing a really inexpensive ( and I believe totally ingenious) way to store little embellishments that you do not want to forget to use. You can find this blog post HERE. If you stop by Taniesa's blog make sure to send her some love and tell her I sent you. 

I will be back tomorrow with some cards to share, and next week I will be soon with another Scrapbook Organization Thursday: Organizing Project Life. Next week, there will also be posts with scrapbook layouts, Project Life, and with a little luck a full studio tour (I am really trying to get the last little bits finished.) I hope to see you here.

I hope you all have a very Happy Thursday and Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Crafty Organization Thursdays: Getting Rid of the Extras and Storing Tools

I am a nerd. Yup, a nerd. I love to organize. I love spending time surfing the internet for functional and inexpensive storage options for scrapbookers. I find it very relaxing and almost therapeutic. By reading a website or looking at a particular photo, I can single handedly solve scrappers organizational problems by just surfing the internet. For this reason, and because I thought this regular column could be helpful to all crafters, I decided to start Scrapbook Organization Thursdays.

If you missed my previous studio tour photos, you can find those HERE and HERE. I have found that going through my studio piece by piece and (organizational system by organizational system) makes for really photo heavy blog posts. I am hoping that if I keep plugging away that I can wrap-up this tour up in five posts. Today is post number three. We will just have to see how it goes. If you have any questions, about anything you see please do not hesitate to ask in the comment section below, I love to help.

Currently, I am still plugging away at organizing my studio. It is a process. I am about 80% there. Last weekend I had a garage sale and donated five boxes of scrapbooking supplies, embellishments, paper, and what not to my daughter's school. I had not used any of these items for a year or longer, so it was time to let them go. It felt so great to give then to an art teacher that was thrilled to have some new treasures for the students. I do get rid of supplies quite frequently, in fact I have two small plastic shoebox sized tupperware containers that I frequently put items into to either sell, give to a friend (hello Danielle and mom) or to use for giveaways or auction items. I highly recommend that every crafter have a donate box in their space. I keep my two plastic boxes at the bottom of my tall bookcase, towards the right (you can see them in the image below.) When they are close to being full it is time to get rid of the stuff, pretty simple.

And to remind you of my space here are a few photos:

Overall layout:

Computer desk (to right of craft island):

Today, a fellow reader, asked me specifically to discuss how I store my tools. I will discuss this with you today and show you some images of some storage solutions that are working for me.

For my frequently used tools (besides my adhesive and trimmer, ) I store them in a Pottery Barn tool carousel. I decided to get this one over the ever-popular Michaels' variety, because I like that the openings are narrower (less room to junk it up) and I like that it takes up less room and has 6 dividers. I divide my carousel up as follows:

1. Copic markers or stamp markers
2. Small tools: Tweezers, paper piercer, glue pen, embossing marker, brad setter, red eye reducing pen, small ruler, Xacto knife, and, utility knife.
3. Black journaling pens and tiny attacher
4. Pens that are not black, gold leafing pen, white glitter pen, and a few sharpie markers
5. Pencils, ballpoint pens, hilighter
6. Tim Holtz and Cuttlebee scissors, favorite brad setter, two bone folders.

My adhesives are kept in a green ceramic bowl and my paper trimmer is located on the white bookcase directly behind my chair.

Extra date stampers (also behind my chair on white bookcase):

Extra adhesives, glue, ink pads, gesso, and art supplies I use for scrapbooking:

 Punches-frequently used: Circles, doilies, tab folder, pinwheel, and stars

All other punches (including border punches) and Crop-A-Dile:
Larger stamps, masks, alphabet stamps, and stamp press are in the bin to the left of the punches:

Small Stamps:

Today I did a quick studio overview and I went over how I store my scrapbook tools (both frequently and infrequently used tools.) Next Thursday I will show you how I organize Project Life, embellishments, little bits of this and that, ink pads, and the rest of my tools that I keep with Project Life. I will be back tomorrow sharing two more layouts made with the Planetarium Scrapbook Kit by Studio Calico. Both layouts are of a similar theme: Any guesses?

Let's talk organization. How are y'all storing your crafting tools? I would love to hear what is and what is not working for you.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask in the comments below, I would love to help. 

Until next time, Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni