Scrap Space Vol. 2

Hiya! It took more than a minute for me to update here. Sorry about that. But I had a really good reason I promise! This furry little girl came to live in our house last Friday. She's lovely and high energy and making me soooo tired. It's been a big adjustment for everyone in the house, Mac included. But we'll get there.

In the meantime I wanted to start by share my desk.

I scrap in my bedroom against the window. It's a small space but it has really good light. The biggest hurdle is battling the cat who loves to sit on the laptop. Prime retail for peeping out the window at neighbors. 

On the right side of my desk is my Silhouette, paper trimmer, pens/pencils/rulers holder, and my Raskog. Plus a lamp, my sticky notes and a penguin key chain for good measure.

The desk is kind of like a sawhorse and I have built in storage, in the form of two shelves.

The basket on the top shelf holds in-progress layouts. Or ones that I pulled product for but haven't actually put the page together.

The bottom shelf holds a basket with some lesser used tools and other craft supplies. A mousepad for paper piercing. An old tupperware for squirting acrylic paint into. My Xyron is in there. I also have a circle cutter in the back. I don't get into this basket very often. Which is why the Raskog lives on this side of my desk. 

Here's the Raskog. I'm planing to do a whole post on this thing because it holds a lot of different supplies.

On the left hand side of my desk is my printer. My Canon Pixma is pictured but it died a few months ago. An Epson has taken it's place.

On the shelves below are a few boxes and the only plastic bins I have. The top shelf is where my extra ink pads and other stamping paraphernalia are housed. You can only just see it but it's also where I keep my Silhouette cutting mats.

My punches live in the plastic bins on the bottom shelf. I still have a ton of these but I gave even more away. I also have a smaller bin for my corner rounder and hole puncher since I use those more.

And that's my desk! I have a lot of workable space but it still isn't enough. Especially since I tend to spread out when I scrap. If I'm working with a kit for example, I usually have all of the kit pieces laid out on my bed right behind me. I like being able to see everything all at once. 

Because of how the desk is built, I can access a lot of different supplies without getting up. It such a great table for that! Here's a similar one that looks a bit smaller [Pier 1] and I found another from [PB Teen]

I'll update soon with the other big furniture pieces in the corner of my room.

Since this series is all about my re-organized and de-cluttered scrap space, I also wanted to take a second to chat about Simple Scrapper's upcoming event: Stash Bash! It's an organizing/stash busting party. The format is very much choose your own adventure when it comes to focusing on either organizing or using your stuff.  I had so much fun cranking out layouts the last time I participated in Stash Bash (see here). Two of my six layouts even made it in my Top 14 of 14 post.

The fun runs July 14-20 so click over to find out what it's all about. Jennifer's even offering a promo to participate in Stash Bash and get 3 months of membership free. An awesome opportunity to find out what this community is all about. Also, I just read the fine print. If you take that route your membership after the 3 months is at a discount, $3 off every month. Win-win-win!

Ok, off to snuggle a puppy. Have a great July 4th weekend!

cheers & besos,

Scrap Space Vol. 1

Organization! This topic seems to be everywhere in the scrapbooking industry right now: 

• the latest episode of Paperclipping Roundtable
• this roundup of blog posts over at Simple Scrapper

Since it's been on my mind, I thought it was finally time to share my scrap space re-organization. I did all of this the first week of January. Yeah….six whole months ago. And of course I'm just now getting around to sharing! But I'm ok with that.

It all started with a book I keep hearing about: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. 

I initially found out about it in the Simple Scrapper Facebook group. Jennifer shared an article she read about the Konmari method of organization. Which I then read. I thought this solution sounded interesting so I bought the book (according to Amazon on November 20, 2014). And then it just hung out on my Kindle app for months... 

I tend to do that, jump in on a new project without taking a second to stop and ask myself, do you really have time to do this?? I did not. If you'll remember this past Fall was one of the busiest travel seasons of my life. Of the 12 weeks, I was traveling for 8 of them: different cities, different countries, some for fun, some for business. 

It wasn't until after the holidays that things started to slow down. And you know the power of the New Year.  January approaches and it's a time for re-invention and a chance to re-group. For me, the first of the year is always a lovely idealistic time when I set expectations (or resolutions) for what I'll accomplish during the year. One thing I knew I needed to do was organize the mountain of stuff that had become my scrap space.

So on probably 1 January of this year, I read the book. It's a short book that's really easy to get through. I think I read the whole thing in just a few hours. It was a such an interesting read and interesting from both a tidying perspective and a cultural perspective (the author is Japanese). 

If you've heard anything about this book, you're likely familiar with one of its main principles: if something you own, an item that lives in your house and takes up space doesn't bring you joy, then get rid of it. OR, surround yourself only with items that spark joy.

That was huge for my organization project! As scrapbookers, we tend to have a lot of stuff. And a lot of stuff that we probably don't need and maybe even don't like! The odds and ends from a kit you purchased but didn't use because they just aren't your style. A whole collection pack of papers, when really you can only see yourself using a few sheets. A bag of things you purchased to create a project that you don't even have an interest in doing anymore. The stuff you bought on sale because it was such good deal! But once you got home didn't look nearly as fun or as versatile as you had imagined. I could go on and on!

With the idea of "does this spark joy?" in my head, I was really brutal about what I was going to give away. I tossed nearly all of my ribbon. I got rid of just about every bottle of acrylic paint I owned. I cut down more than six inches of my paper stash. 

So much stuff went off to my local CPS for their Lifebooks program. I wish I had snapped a photo of all that I gave away (Phone was left in the car. I had to make two trips to get everything inside and didn't want to lug my purse along in the process!). Visual a 5 ft tall stack of boxes plus a whole 12x12x12 cube full of all of my paper scraps.

It felt sooo good to give all of that away! Marie writes about the feeling you get when you lighten your load and it's so true. You feel it. I personally felt the spacious she describes.

The second big takeaway I had from this book, was the lack of organizational solutions. As in, don't go buy those pretty bins or that fancy wall unit just yet. You have to understand all that you want to keep (by purging the things that don't spark joy) in order to figure out the best solution for what you have. 

I have my stuff organized in some really gorgeous boxes now. But that didn't come until the very very very end of the process. When I knew exactly how much I had, and could therefore find solutions for organizing those specific things.

For me, this process meant going through every last drawer, bin, basket, magazine holder, bottle, jar and box I had. Looking at and touching each item. And once the triage--keep, toss, donate--was complete, figuring out where to put everything back. 

Over my next few blog posts, I'll share how I put everything back. I'll share how my desk is organized. What I have at my fingertips. Where I store my paper and embellishments. Where my kits and non-scrapbook/general office supply products live. I'll open up every box. Show a peek inside every drawer. I also plan to talk about how my shopping habits have changed.

I have a lot to say on this topic so I hope you'll join me here on the blog over the next few weeks.

I have some final words to say about that life changing little book (it's only 226 pages!) Which as the title suggests, is actually life changing. 

Here's what has changed for me, as I approached re-organizing my scrap space after reading this book:

• My scrap space is organized. I know exactly where everything is and can get to whatever I'm looking for within seconds. 
• I'm able to sit down at my desk and start scrapbooking. Like immediately! I no longer have to pick up a pile of stuff and figure out where to put it while I'm working at my desk, only to put the pile back when I'm done for the day. 
• I shop less and use more. 
• I feel that sense of spaciousness in my room

Not only is my space less cluttered, my mind is also free of the guilt that use to go hand in hand with this un-tidy space. So basically, not only does this book un-clutter your physical space, it also helps you un-clutter your mind.

If you consider reading it or have already read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Not only did I use what I learned to re-organize my scrapbook space, I've also re-organized my bedroom closet and bathroom as well. Next stops are the built-in bookshelf and chest of drawers in the dining area. For me slow and steady wins the race when it comes to these large organizational projects.

And an added bonus! This is one year when I've actually been able to stick with a New Year's resolution. Take that lizard brain!! But that's a sentiment from another non-fiction book...

cheers & besos,

No. 1152-Desk

We moved! It was at the absolute worst time and not at all something we were planning to do. But alas, it happened. And now we're here! And all moved in and unpacked. 

My scrapbook area was the very last to be unpacked, with everything else going on during that time. And with the sheer size of my stash (but more to come on that later this week). 

I'm still scrapping in my bedroom. Even though we've moved to a two bedroom apartment, the guest bedroom is too small to fit my scrap area + a bed. But I'm ok with it. I've made it look nice at least!

I snapped some pictures to share:

Here's my desk, imagine me working on my creations here!

Here's the view from across the bedroom (my apologies for the poor lighting in all of these photos btw).

My paper, scraps, collections and photos are to the left of my desk. I also picked up a Raskog to hold my essential stuff, like date stamps, adhesives, inks, acrylic blocks and other bric a brac.

To the right is two Alex Drawer sets full of stamps, ephemera, embellishments, sewing supplies etc. And on the wall I mounted my cubby organizer for my embossing powders, glitter, paint, mist and tape.

Here's another look at the some of my storage.

I managed to get everything in on this one wall and just one storage container under the bed.

There's nothing like starting the new year with a new scrap area. I can't wait to create here in 2013!

cheers & besos,

No. 143-Desk

Hello, hello!

Last week I promised to share how my desk is organized with you all.

I snapped a few quick photos to show the general layout of my area.

Thankfully, I didn't have to do much cleaning before hand. I'm trying to keep this area fairly mess free this year.

For the most part, it's working!

So this is my layout right now. Computer and magnetic pad are front and center.

In red bins below are my stamping supplies: ink, pads, distress tool, etc.

To my right is room to spread out if need be, and lets face it you always need that when you're working!

To my left is my trimmer and two organizational bins.

The littler one holds all of my go to supplies: pens, pencils, erasers, corner rounder, tape runner, charcoal chalk ink and Versamark ink pads.

The larger is where my scraps go before I sort them into their color folders. It's also a place where started projects hang out and marinate.

Above them are my pickle jars, which hold buttons and other little odds and ends. My Matryoshka measuring cups hold the tiniest scraps of the best paper, also circles that I punched and didn't use, butterflies of the same.

Above my desk, hangs some of my largest stamp sets. The rest are in binders to the right. My photo printer's right in front of me. As is my heat embosser, which is PLUGGED IN! I can't stress how important this is for me. If it wasn't, I'd never use any embossing powder.

Also a jar of pretties aka ribbons for me to consider when I'm scrapping. These were previously under my desk and never got used. At least now they're visible if I want/need to use them for anything.

Then up and to the left is my latest acquisition, a lovely Cubby Organizer from Pottery Barn. It rather haphazardly holds all of my acrylic paint (seriously, I need to go through and purge these!!), embossing powders, spray mists and washi tape. I love it! I think it's just gorgeous to look at as well.

And that's my space. If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to ask. Or if something's working really well for you flow, please do share!!

cheers & besos,

Stamp Storage

Happy to share with you today, my stamp storage system!

My stamp stash is always growing, and recently, it's been outgrowing my space.

So I had to figure out some way to get them all organized in one place.

I modeled my storage off of Reyanna and Jennifer McGuire's systems. [Videos for each can be found by clicking their names.]

They both store their stamps in binder using different sized page protectors.

Here's Binder 1 with my miscellaneous stamps:

And Binder 2 with all of my Studio Calico ones! (And yes, I have enough SC stamps to merit a whole binder of it's own :)

Here are some photos of the pages:

I opted for Reyanna's version of putting the stamps onto transparencies, and then removable adhesiving (yup, just made up that word) the printed images of the stamps.

And like Jennifer, I purchased some pocket pages originally intended for DVDs, to hold this fairly standard stamp set size.

I also had some divided 4x6 in protectors, where I was able to combine some of my smaller stamps.

I was even able to add CD cases inside the DVD pocket pages, to make sure my Papertrey Ink stamps weren't left out of the fray.

Lastly, have to show you just how many pages of stamps I have :) Lots and lots it seems! But I love my stamps and I use them on nearly all of my pages.

If you're looking for some way to store your stamps, this is a quick, easy and inexpensive way to do it!

xxbesos

No. 143-The Scrap Space

Tada! My scrap space!! You might have seen it before I moved; it was featured over on the Scrapbook Trends blog. But it’s back in a different form, definitely new and very much improved...and full of a whole lot more stuff!

I’ve embraced my small space and configured it to maximize my flow and my organization. Since it is very small, just a corner of my bedroom, I had to think “up” rather than “out”.

The hanging baskets, the floating shelf and the curtain rod, all help to utilize as much vertical space as possible, since I don’t have any more ground room for new bookcases.

I love that I can have inspiration right in front of me as well, and tools within grabbing distance.

I hope to make many a great project at my little crafting station. Hopefully, you’ll see some of it in the coming months!

Also, any questions about the storage featured here, please feel free to ask :)

xxbesos