Organization- My favorites

So my good friend Andrea wanted me to post about scrapbooking organization. This is a somewhat difficult subject for me because I feel like my organization is always evolving. As I get more supplies and change where and how I store things I find new and clever ways to store things. But I am going to post links to a bunch of supplies that I like and have become my tried and true friends. I am going to post most of the links to scrapbook.com, but you can also find many of them at paperwishes.com, joann.com, createforless.com and many other craft stores (but those are the 3 I shop at the most). I have everything linked, and I am including some links to blogs of the people who have inspired me to get organized.

First I am going to suggest a great book, The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker by Wendy Smedley and Aby Garvy. It will help you to set up an area that works for you both functionally and inspirationally. I really loved this book and all the suggestions it gave me for setting up my space. Plus you get to see how the scrap-celebrities have their spaces set up.



OK, I store my paper by color (green, yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, brown, white, black) and then by project, event, or theme (Disney, Christmas, Key West). I store them in the Cropper Hopper Paper Holders. They hold about 200 sheets of 12x12, but also come in 8.5x11, 8x8, and 6x6 sizes. I like them because they are clear (although they also come in black) and so you can see what color or company you have in there. Along with these I use their sticker envelopes, and dividers to store each colors stickers and to separate patterned paper from cardstock.




As for all of my supplies that I like to have right on hand I use the Tote-Ally-Cool tote. I like that it holds a TON of stuff, it has a handle, so you can easily take it to crops. It comes in a bunch of colors, which is also nice. If you buy this though, make sure that your aren't buying the mini... it holds a lot less and isn't really very functional. This is a similar product, it costs a little more, but I think it has a larger center section and it spins.

I am also in love with the new line of Making Memories organization products, but they are really hard to get your hands on because they are so popular. I really want the desktop carousel, the desktop organizer, and the wall unit... but I will be wanting quiet a while.

As for everything else. I use THIS and THESE for my ribbon, but if you add THESE then you can also store embellishments too. The only down side to the little boxes it that you have to fold them all together yourself. If you don't have a ton of supplies you can get a great Cropper Hopper deal on there website under Holiday Bargains. I recommend THIS set because it has the paper holders, some dividers, sticker pockets and the embellishment organizer with all the little boxes, plus some other stuff. I also bought THIS set because I store all of my scraps in the accordion file by color and then use the other 2 pouches for projects I am working on.



As for all of my tools and embellishments (I have a lot so they won't fit in that embellishment box) I use clear Rubbermaid shoe box-sized boxes that I bought at Costco... but I think these are cool, especially since they are open in the front and they stack! The embellishments are divided into the colors listed above... some have their own box and others share (yellow and orange) it all just depends on how much I had of that color. And then I have boxes for clear and metallic embellishments, and plain or raw chipboard.

My buttons are sorted by color and stored on top of my table in a spice rack like this one. I got it as a wedding present, but after 4 years most off the herds were brown and I had used and replaced anything I was going to keep on using, so I dumped the spices and washed them out, and now they hold my buttons. Spice racks are great for embellishments because they have a small footprint (don't take up a lot of table space), the generally have clear jars, and they either revolve or are staggered- so you can see everything you have.


Certain things that I use on a regular basis are kept on my table in little crates that I bought at K-Mart (about 5x7 in size). I have one of these crates full of just journaling supplies... Micron pens (my favorite for writing) in different sizes and colors, blank scraps of white cardstock, little journaling cards, and I hope to add THIS or THIS too (if I get around to shopping soon).

I hope this answers any questions any of you may have... but if you have more please just leave a comment and I will message you back.