Saturday, January 27, 2018

Happy Saturday - Let's Get Organized!

Sure Do Love You, Heart Happiness, Valentine, Occasions 2018, Stampin' Up!

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.

Sure Do Love You, Heart Happiness, Valentine, Occasions 2018, Stampin' Up!

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?

Smiley from Millan.Net

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.
Smiley from Millan.Net
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

9 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your way to organize. I'd like to know in 3 months if it is still working for you. I can't wait for the next tip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sue! I'll try to remember to update. No promises, though. "Old timers" is rearing its ugly head, LOL.

      Delete
  2. where did you get the bins and what are their dimensions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lyn! There is a link in the paragraph between the two pictures of the containers. The product description says "Exterior Box dimensions: 15.25 x 14 x 6.25 inches" - hope that helps! ~C

      Delete
  3. Love this! How did you make the labeled dividers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Babara, I just wrote a post with step-by-step instructions!

      Delete
  4. Hi Cindy,
    I thought I posted the other day but I do not see it.
    I was wondering if cut the 6 x 6 paper stacks also fit into these bins. I would rather leave these as 6 x 6.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Paula! YES, the 6 x 6 will fit perfectly!

      Delete
    2. Thanks Cindy for letting me and the group know that the 6 x 6 will also fit. I will think more about purchasing the bin.

      Delete

Thank you for visiting - I'd love to hear from you!