How I Organize, Part 3

This is the third post in a series on how I organize my supplies. I have changed things since the first and second posts. I'm tweaking the arrangement so that my supplies are located where it makes sense for my work flow. Plus, I just love to organize stuff.

How I Store My Paper
Most of my paper is stored on this two-shelf bookcase which I purchased from Target.



On the bottom shelf I have my 12" x 12" cardstock and paper in Cropper Hopper paper holders by color. Most of the holders contain a solid color and same color pattern paper except the last one. That one contains my DCVW Paper Stack pads. I separate the solids from the patterns with a divider that comes with the holder. I used a circle punch to make the tags on the front of each holder.

To the right are thinner paper holders which contain pattern paper that is organized by manufacturer (such as BasicGrey, Creative Memories, K & Company, etc.). These papers continue in the JetMax cube which is just the right of the bookcase.



On the top shelf of the bookcase is a basket which contains 8" pads of paper (or smaller). My current scrapbooks are 8".


Next to the basket is an 8" Cropper Hopper paper holder which houses my loose 8" x 8" paper.
Finally, to the right of the 8" holder is a tray that holds my basic journaling supplies.

My 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock for making cards are in another JetMax cube. The two drawers below the stack contains cards and envelopes with overflow located to the right of the paper stack.
Paper that needs to be returned to the files are in this paper holder on my work table.

Finally, I have two baskets of folded card blanks and envelopes in one of my cabinets, which isn't shown here.

How I Store My Embellishments

For the most part, I store my embellies by color. I have only a few items that are by theme (birthday, Christmas, holidays, etc.) and I tend to put those in the color boxes as well. For example, Christmas is in the red or green color box, Valentines is in the red or pink box, Halloween is in the orange box, and Thanksgiving and autumn is in the brown box.

Here's how I store the bulk of my embellies.

This basket holds my stickers. These are in large storage envelopes that were made to go on the Clip It Up. Long stickers are loose on top of all of the envelopes.
My eyelets, brads, buttons, embroidery thread, and small flowers are stored by color in bead boxes.
I used the Stampin' Up! scallop punch to make the labels on the side of the boxes. Here's the inside of the red/pink box.
Finally, my chipboard alphabets are inside vintage metal trays which I purchased from Melissa Frances while I was at the Great American Scrapbook Convention.
I glam'd up the handles with ribbons.
That's it for now. I'll post more later.

How I organize my supplies, part one

Most of my supplies are stored in five white cabinets which I bought from Target on sale for $40 each. I tried to group my supplies by use and type. Here is what's inside each cabinet.

Cabinet One

• acrylic stamps
• rubber stamps
  
• ink pads
• chalks and applicators

I mix the acrylic and rubber stamps together, group them by category, and store them in regular size CD cases inside of blue, dollar store baskets. I labeled each basket using my Stampin' Up scallop punch. I have four shelves of unmounted stamps. The yellow binder on the first shelf is one of two that hold index sheets of my supplies and stamp images. The black binder next to it holds some of my acrylic sets that I wanted to keep in tact and are too large to fit into one CD case.
Below is shelf three and four. The round tin, in back of the green mimi container, holds my foam Christmas stamps. Shelf four holds mini wooden stamps, self-inking stamps, and a Whispers ink pad set on the right.
Here's what's inside one of the blue baskets. I've tried to use broad categories but I got bogged down when it came to the words and phrases. I ended up changing mid-stream and will probably change again as my collection grows larger.
I used my label maker to create labels for the spine of each case. I make an index sheet in front of each case so I can easily see what's inside.
I keep duplicate index sheets in a 3-ring binder and store that on the first shelf (see the yellow binder above). I look through the binder to find the stamp I want to use. Some of my ink pads are inside a Sizzix die storage tower on the bottom shelf. I also have my chalks and applicators in the large white basket.

Cabinet Two

• embellishments
• adhesives
• tools (such as punches, tag maker, bind-it-all, heat gun)

My small embellishments (such as buttons, flowers, brads, etc.) are in bead cases (similar to this) on the top shelf and this, this, and a basket on the second shelf. All are labeled on the side.

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The third shelf holds my punches and the fourth shelf has my Creative Memories Custom Cutting System, Making Memories Tag Maker, eyelet setter, paper drill, and embossing supplies.


The bottom shelf holds my bind-it-all stuff.


Cabinet Three

• card making blanks (cardstock, envelopes, & templates)
• alterables
• mini albums
  

This is the messiest cabinet and it's stuffed. Shelf one holds my card blanks and some alterables.
The remaining shelves hold alterables, blank books, and albums.

Cabinet Four

• Paints
• Brushes
• Foam Stamps

The first two shelves hold my paints. I grouped the Making Memories paint by color groups (oranges and yellows; reds and pinks; greens, blues, and purples; blacks, whites, and browns) in the four identical white baskets. The other containers hold different brands of paint.
I've started to "index" my bottle tops with a sample of the paint like this

so it's easier for me to see the color when I pull out the basket. I also have the paints indexed in one of my 3-ring binders (see Cabinet One, yellow binder on shelf one).

The bottom two shelves hold my adhesives.

Cabinet Five

• Idea books and magazines
• Catalogs
• Office supplies
  

I also use the inside of the cabinet doors to hold things.
That's it for my five white cabinets. There's more to come in a future post.