Nat's Scrap Room Organization Tips and a Fun Project

Good Morning Blue Fans! Thanks for stopping by today.  We are changing the pace a little and I'm sharing some personal organization tips with you as well as a fun project I made for Carter's birthday.

 

I'm in the process of doing a major overhaul and purge of my room.  This process scares Cat. Terrifies her, actually. I have no issue with parting with the old and making room for the new. If I haven't used something in years, it's obvious I don't need it. Do I have a pack of paper that has only a few more sheets left? Toss it. Yes, I said toss! Actually, donate, pass down to your fellow crafting buddies or have a scrap yard sale. Either way, GET RID OF IT. I know for some, this step may be hard to embrace. And that's OK. Now, for some of you that may be new to scrapbooking/paper crafting, a major purge like this may be daunting. Let me explain....I have been scrapping for years and years and years.

 

So, with that said, let's get started.

 

Here is a view of my craft room as you walk in. It's a bedroom that I turned into my own personal space.  Yes, the floors are cluttered. Yes, I did tidy up a bit before taking pics (sorry, I had to). I have a table dedicated to my computer and silhouette and a table dedicated to my creating.  On the walls, I have the IKEA Bygel rods that hold some of my punches, as well as ribbons on spools and buttons. I have shelves that hold my rainbow of inks and other hodge podge things. I also have a tool caddy on a lazy susan that I picked up at Oriental Trading eons ago. A great alternative is the Pampered Chef Tool Caddy.

 

 

To the right of my tables, I have an Ikea Expedit unit.  Recently, Ikea discontinued most of the expedit units, which I am so sad about. These work so well in craft rooms, play rooms, common spaces, everywhere. As you can see, my expedit is full of stuff. So, I have plenty of things to purge.

 



Here is a cart I picked up at the Container Store. I use this as my "art cart". Here I house all of my embossing powders, distress stains, glitters, special inks etc. Here's a tip for you....I store my embossing powders upside down so that I can easily look and see what color is in the bottle.  That way, I don't have to turn over various bottles to find a certain color.

 Here is my Raskog cart from Ikea. Do you see a trend? I love Ikea for storage. This cart is a mess. I like to keep my newer things in this and those misc embellishments that are an arm's reach when I am creating.  This cart holds so much. If you have the space for one of these, I highly recommend investing in one. And who can say "no" to a turquoise cart?!?!

Now, here's something that Cat introduced me to; the Multipurpose Bins from the Container Store. These are the perfect size for 12x12 papers, including collection packs. A plus? These have handles so you can move 'em around easily.  I have so many of these. I like to sort my papers by manufacturer, so I label the name of the company on the outside of the bins. Do you like the idea of these bins? Check the Container Store often because these do go on sale every now and then.

 

 

For my metal die storage, I use the Magnetic Die Storage Case from ArtBin.

 

 Lastly, is my collection of Thickers / Letter Stickers. Cat and I have an addiction to these.  I use the Kassett Box System. The packages fit perfect and as you can see, this box holds a ton.

Here is a tip / method Cat and I learned from one of our friends and fellow blog readers, Amy Click. We call this the "Mumma Click" method. Cat and I have so many paper collections and get overwhelmed when trying to decide what collection / papers to use. Not only that, we feel guilty about scrapping 1 layout with a collection only to file it away and never see it again.  Amy to the rescue. She powers through her collection packs; scraps all that she can from one collection and purges the leftovers. Brilliant. So now, Cat and I practice this method, especially at retreats. So, thank you, Amy!!! You are forever thought of when Cat and I scrap!

 

Here's a fun little project I made to put on the table at Carter's birthday party this weekend.  Have I mentioned how much I love my Silhouette? I made this with design # 59825 in the silhouette online store.  What's great about some 3-d projects like this is that they come with tutorials (linked in the product description). I just followed the tutorial, used a ton of pop dots and voila. So fun and easy.

 

And for a sneak of something coming up later this month. Hmmm, what could it be?

 



 Thanks so much for stopping by today. Would love to hear your scrap room organization tips. Or did you read anything here today that you'd like to incorporate into your craft space?

Come back tomorrow as Miss Tracy, Cat and I take one of our reader's challenges. We are giving away a prize tomorrow, so you don't want to miss out!

Stay True Blue,

Nat