Happy Saturday - Let's Get Organized!

This card is just to get your attention. Did it work? I'm not going to give the "How To", but there is a supply list at the bottom of this post, if you're interested.

The real reason I want your attention is because I want to help you organize your stamping hoard collection. If you are anything like me, when the clutter starts to takes over, the creative mojo has a hard time working. For me, clutter equals chaos in my brain, which means I can't focus on being creative. Periodically I go through my hoard collection of stamping stuff to purge some things, and better organize the things I want to keep. Let's start with Designer Series Paper.

I have a lot of it. I spent the last three days working on it. My local stamping friends and I joke about us being ready for the "Paperpocalypse" but it's not that funny if it's not getting used, and the stash keeps growing. Eventually I'm going to run out of room!

I need to finish listing the colors used for each.

So I decided to cut all the 12" x 12" sheets into 4" x 6" pieces, label them all, and place them neatly into these awesome containers. It serves two purposes - the first is that I've refreshed my memory about what, exactly, I have. And second, it's super convenient now to just grab a sheet that is already pre-cut. (The reason I didn't cut them to 4" x 5-1/4" - sized to fit a card - is because I didn't want to deal with leftover scraps which would have taken up more room in the bins. I can do that as I grab one to use.)

Color Collection stacks - wish they'd bring 'em back!

Yes, I filled TWO bins. And no, I'm not finished cutting up the retired DSP. I just ordered two more bins.....and we'll just leave it at that, okay?

Some observations:

• Apparently I liked the English Garden and Pop of Pink Specialty DSP the most, because there wasn't much of them left to cut.
• And apparently I forgot I had the Neutrals DSP stack, because I had duplicates of both the old and the new designs. That's 160 12" x 12" sheets, cut into 6 pieces each. Do the math. And that was just the Neutrals.

I could never have done all that cutting without my trusty Carl Cutter. Yes, it is pricey, but it is an absolute workhorse and worth every penny. It consistently gives crisp, clean cuts and I have not had to change the blade yet, after all that cutting! I use it to prepare card kits for my stamping classes, as well as ready-to-go card bases (more on that tomorrow). The one drawback is, it doesn't handle smaller cuts of less than 2". But that's where my Stampin' Trimmer shines! Between the two of them, I have all my cutting needs handled very well.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for more organization ideas. I know what works for me, and I'm happy to share it with you!

Product List

Sure Do Love You Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Heart Happiness Photopolymer Stamp Set

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Powder Pink 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Basic Gray Archival Stampin’ Pad

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad

Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad

Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad

Blender Pens

Big Shot

Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits Dies

Garden Trellis Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Pearl Basic Jewels

Stampin' Dimensionals