Jan 02, 2008
New Year’s Resolution – Getting Organized
The organization of my stamp room is ever-changing and always evolving with the addition of new toys! Since we moved in September I’ve struggled with organizing my growing collection in a new space. I decided to take an opportunity last weekend to get myself organized for a fresh start in the new year! Here are some organizational ideas that have worked for me:
I can’t imagine my stamp room without the Clip It Up! I used to have all of these embellishments stuffed into drawers where they were quickly forgotten and rarely used. Now that I have them all sitting out in front of me I reach for them often and have found myself with more and more empty clips waiting to be filled with new embellishments! My only warning about the Clip It Up is don’t be deceived by photos of this product… it is LARGE! It takes up a good portion of one of my tables. But if you have the space, then this is a great way to organize all those embellishments! 
I have my dad to thank for my wonderful paper organizer! It’s a very tall cabinet and takes up a lot of wall space, but I love it! My dad used to be an insurance salesman and he used this to organize all the insurance forms. When he left his job I inherited the cabinet! Lucky me! I printed the name and color family of each Stampin’ Up color onto sticky paper and adhered it below each slot. My scraps for each color are resting on top of the full sheets. I love doing it this way because when I go to reach for a new sheet of paper I’m forced to look at the scraps first! Thanks to Jami for giving me that idea! 
On top of the cabinet are my magazine holders…. a great and inexpensive find from IKEA. I have them organized by publication (PaperCrafts, Take Ten, Stampin’ Up) and a separate holder for copies of my published work. As you can see, I have yet to make labels for them, but I’m determined to get it done!
Jon installed a metal bar on the wall above one of the tables for my punch storage. Punches were taking up so much of my drawer space that I had to find some way to get them out of drawers and up on the wall. It’s so nice to have them at arm’s reach! I found the metal bar in the kitchen area of IKEA. It’s meant to hang wire baskets to store spices, etc. Below the punches you can see all of my Stampin’ Up ink pads in the Color Caddy. The box in the center with the black lid is Making Memories embellishment storage where all my eyelets, charms, etc. are housed. The purple drawer holds miscellaneous items like glue dots, sticky tape, rulers, cutting blades, etc. The clear drawer next to that stores all of my reinkers (which allowed me space to store more ink pads in the top of my color caddy!). I found it at the Container Store on clearance…gotta love that!
I have another smaller metal bar with a hanging basket to hold my Glimmer Mist and Acrylic Paint Dabbers. You’ll notice a little extra space to the right… Don’t worry, I’ll have that filled in no time! *wink* 
Ribbon continues to be my biggest organizational challenge. I’ve used this method for about a year and it becomes less and less practical as my collection grows. However, for small cuts of ribbon (5 yds. or less) it is a great storage solution and I’ll continue to use it for that! I use the Cropper Hopper embellishment boxes to store each cut of ribbon. Then the Cropper Hopper boxes fit perfectly inside tackle boxes from WalMart. I have four tackle boxes organized by color and then one tackle box for my American Crafts ribbon (pictured). 
And last (for today) is the storage of my Stampin’ Up sets. This 3-tier shelf is supposed to be an entertainment center which I also purchased from IKEA. It fits perfectly in my space! Each time I mount a new set I print out the name onto an address labels and stick it on the end of the box. This way they are all uniform and easy to read from my chair. I have them stacked up pretty high which might become difficult when I want to use the set on the bottom of the pile, but it’s better than the alternative of storing them in the crowded closet! On the bottom shelf you can see my ribbon tackle boxes and some multi-colored photo boxes. The photo boxes are empty and I use them to store project pieces for easy transport to classes and club meetings.
That’s all I have to share today! I hope you find something helpful in your own quest for organization! And if you’re already perfectly organized… congrats!! I’m hoping to snap a few more pictures tonight so I can show you the rest of my ribbon storage, 12×12 paper storage, and acrylic stamp storage tomorrow. Hope you all have a wonderful day!
