A place to put your to do list!

My first project of 2017 for Imagine as an Artist in Residence is live on the Imagine blog today! The New Year reminds us of goals we would like to set for ourselves each year.  One way to reach those goals is to break them done into little chunks, and a “To Do List” is a perfect way to get started.  I often make lists and sometimes they get lost on my counter, so I choose to make a 7” x 9 ½” mini-clipboard to secure my list.  The bright colors inspire me to get the items on the list done!  Stop by the Imagine blog and see how I created this handy clipboard!

Get Organized for Imagine Crafts

My latest post at Imagine Crafts Blog is a way that I help keep my creative mojo flowing by visualizing what supplies I have on hand.

The challenge of organizing our supplies is a never ending dilemma!  Most seasoned crafters have accumulated so many fun products to work to play with on our project, we may forget what all is available at our fingertips unless we have a way to visualize our stash!  At times we may be stymied by color choice or product choice when getting started on a project.

 

To address both of these issues I decided to develop a color swatch chart for the products that are manufactured by Imagine Crafts.  It is a great way to track your inventory and help you know what new products you might need to add to your stash!  There are also additional spaces for your glitter, flocking, beads, and other media that may be in your collection.  At first glance it may seem time consuming to create the swatch cards, (and it is!), but their value will be quickly realized when your mojo is stuck and you glance through the swatch cards and are able to pick a new medium and technique to continue your project!  Check out all of the wonderful videos and tutorials that are available through the blog and Imagine Crafts website.  Be forewarned, this is not a project to tackle without allowing time to let swatches dry.  Take your time and enjoy going through your supplies and create color swatches that you will add to and use for years to come!

Stop by the Imagine Crafts Blog and read through the details of the tutorial.

New Beginnings at Anything But a Card Challenge

For Anything But a Card New Beginnings challenge I decided to re-purpose a mailing box and several cardboard tubes to hold my crafting mats.  Several years ago I made a re-purposed a 3” x 5” file box to hold my sketches that would look pretty while sitting on my craft table. This is the Sketch File Box that I completed in 2009.  

 Meanwhile my collection of craft mats were rolled and stored in cardboard tubes . . . nothing pretty about that!  So with a little bit of ingenuity I came up with this finished product.  

I started with a small priority mail box, but any box will do.  It just needs to be wide enough to accommodate the cardboard tubes.  The tubes are re-purposed from wrapping paper or from paper towel rolls and trimmed to fit the interior of the box.  I still had some of the Basic Grey Lucky left in my stash, so it was very easy to match the new craft mat holder to the existing sketch file box. 

 I started by determining the size of holes to cut in one end and used my old school Coluzzle template and swivel craft knife to cut through the cardboard.  Each of the edges of the box were inked with Colorbox Berrylicious. The paper is cut to the exact dimensions and adhered to the exterior of the box with Plaid Mod Podge.  The box was still flat at this point. 

Circles were cut in the flap where the holes were, but are smaller to allow a bit of paper to be tucked down into the tubes.  The paper is clipped, similar to the sewing technique, to allow for the curve.  Tacky tape was carefully placed on the inside of the tube and the tube was attached.  This wasn’t quite finished enough for me, so I also put a strip of paper around the top of the tube (not shown). 

My box was about the same width as the tubes, so I adhered the tubes to both sides of the box as I assembled the box into a closed position.  I used a bit of gesso to fill in the gaps and had to wait FOREVER for it to dry!  The gesso and edges were inked again.  A few more layers of Plaid Mod Podge, and the Craft Mat Storage was ready for my desk. 

 

Here it is on my messy desk next to the Sketch File Box.  Now I notice that the edges of the Sketch File Box have faded to white instead of the pretty purple they once were. 

 

Thank you for stopping by and please come on over and join the fun at Anything But a Card.  The theme is "New Beginnings" and can be re-purposed, or some other art form that references a new beginning!   

Organization, Wafer Thin dies and Embossing Folders

When I first started collecting wafer thin dies and embossing folders I put them in self-made pocket pages and stored them in zippered binders.  It was not easy or convenient to find the die I wanted.  I would have to get the binder, unzip, flip through the pages, pull out the chosen tool, and then reverse the process to put it away.   Meanwhile, during use the binder either needed to be put away OR left lying open on a crafting surface.  The binders also took up valuable shelf space.  So as I researched different ways to store my dies and embossing folders I had a couple of parameters I kept in mind:
 

·      The system needed to be portable and as light as possible.  This precluded using the magnetic sheets and removing the dies from the all of original packaging.  These latching boxes seemed to hold a number of dies, but the manufacturer information would need to be transcribed, or not included.

·      I wanted to easily flip through to find the tool I wanted.  A maximum of three moves to get out the tool to use it.  I read this somewhere . . . and have tried to use this concept as I continue my quest to organize.

·      It needed to be cheap!   So I was not interested in buying multiple DVD or CD cases or a specialty designed notebook.

I found these Sterlite storage boxes in the correct dimensions and went to work.   Almost all of my Spellbinders, Heartfelt Creations, and Quickutz 4" x 4" dies currently fit in one box!  That is about 400 dies or 75 sets.  I used repurposed packaging to make dividers to keep some level of organization.  I kept all of the original packaging cards and replaced the adhesive with adhesive magnetic stripes.  Much lighter than a magnetic sheet and keeps the dies attached to the packaging.  It also helps me know which die I am using because it is on the original packaging.  The new Spellbinders packaging is even better!  Just snip off the plastic hang tag and the pocket holds the dies!

Miscellaneous Sizzix, Quickutz, Elizabeth Craft Designs, Technique Tuesday, and Impression Obsession dies reside in a second Sterlite box.  They are in their provided envelopes, in divided page protectors, or on the packaging with magnetic stripes. 

Grand size Spellbinders are stored in an accordion folder along with a few over-sized Quickutz dies.  The tabs are labeled for quick reference.

My large collection of Quickutz 2” x 2” dies is still stored in the original Quickutz system.   They are categorized by themes.  This system has always worked for me, so why change?

All my embossing folders are in another Sterlite box.  Each has been labeled with the name of the folder in Sharpie pen.  The manufacturer already labels all of the folders.  They are organized by theme and it is much quicker to pull out a folder from a box than it was in the previous system.  My collection numbers right around 100 embossing folders.

These are the systems that work for me right now.  Maybe you will be inspired in your organization process as well!  Stay tuned for the next organization post where I share how I store the wafer thin dies and coordinating stamps.

Organization, Stamp Organization That Is!

It is December and we are nearing the end of the year!  Not only do we have the wonderful time of sharing with family and friends the joy of Christmas; but we also look ahead to the New Year.  I have noticed after the Christmas holiday there are not only clearance sales, but also sales on all kinds of organization and storage options.  The retail industry wants to “assist” us in our quest to met our New Year’s Resolutions.  For me the battle of staying organized in my stamp room is on going!  I would still like to share what is working for me, and perhaps you can glean a few ideas to make your own!  I have never had a magazine worthy craft room, but do feel very blessed to have the space to create to my heart’s content.  My furniture and storage is mostly repurposed, with a few purchased shelves and many Iris and Sterlite drawers and containers.   

Sterlite Drawers and Plastic File Boxes

I have used a variety of methods to store my stamps.  Over the past 18 years I have collected wood mounted stamps, unmounted rubber stamps (mostly at conventions), and polymer stamps.  I recently converted to new Sterlite drawers and went on a purge and organize spree.  Part of my wood mounted stamps are still on the wood for sentimental reasons and are stored in plastic Sterlite drawers.   The only disadvantage seems to be if I don't know what image I want to use I need to look in two places as unmounted stamps are stored in hanging files inside a plastic file box.  

The unmounted rubber stamps may or may not have rubber cushion, in either case I used Aleene's Tack-It Over & Over on the back.  A thin but thorough coat spread with a small paintbrush and allowed to cure, usually overnight will do the trick.  I stamped a reference image on white card stock and wrote the name of the manufacturer and date of purchase (if known) next to the image.  I fortunately have this information for most of my unmounted stamps.  I will admit I am missing a few.  These are stored on 8 1/2" x 11" page protectors. The reference card stock and 8 1/2" x 11" chipboard provide stability.  On the edge with the holes I write which images are stored on that sheet.  Categories like Nature, Birthday sentiments, or Boy images are stored together.  Be forewarned though that the Aleene’s will need to be renewed after 10 or 12 years, or on the stamps that get more use! 

Polymer stamps are stored in 8 1/2" x 11" pocket pages.  Some pocket pages are purchased, others are self-made.  I insert a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of chipboard into the protector and stitch just above it with a sewing machine.  I cut a slit with a craft knife and metal ruler and viola two pockets!  To close the top of the pockets I use low tack painter’s tape.  Since these tend to be unstable I place them in thin vinyl prong folders that are readily available during back-to-school season.  The top edge is labeled with the theme and stored in hanging file folders in my plastic file boxes.

Before method and the sticky mess during!

 Recently I went through and unmounted all the self-mounted wood stamps and foam-mounted stamps from early in my stamping years.  The foam mounted needed a little trimming with my Tonic scissors, which are fantastic for cutting rubber.  I used the microwave method for some, be careful to not burn your fingers!  For others I used Undo.  It was a sticky mess for a while!  I re-organized my unmounted stamps into better categories during this process.

The process for a sentiment foam mounted set.

A future posts will describe how I store wafer thin dies and stamps that match wafer thin dies!  I hope this has encouraged you in your organization process and you will find a system that works for you!

Color Swatches V2

Still getting a handle on this blogging thing!  Lost this post so here it is again.  

I have been a crafter for most of my life . . . taught well by my mother!  I still have the little reindeer made from an egg carton that I must have made as a 3 or 4 year old.   

So needless to say I have about 4 decades worth of crafting, stamping, and scrapbooking products.  I am on a journey to organize my mixed-media supplies, alterable items, stamp supplies, scrapbooking supplies, etc.  I am fortunate enough to have a 12’ x 14’ room to call my own.  Right now it is under a major clean out and purge. 

 But for now I wanted to share how I have my inks, alcohol inks, mists, glitter, flock, Stickles, Radiant Pearls, paper paints, metallic rub-ons, etc organized for easy selection.

There are a few types of media that it is best to apply to a separate card stock and then punch a shape to adhere to the color swatch sheet.  Alcohol inks, glimmer sprays, Radiant Pearls, and metallic rub-ons are just a few.

The beads, mini mosaics, Diamond dust, flock, and glitter are all applied using Art Glitter Glue.  

I started with basic categories along the left column, and discovered as I went through my inventory that I had many more items to add than the categories listed.

I labeled everything in pencil—which does not run. 

I used the basic ROYGBIV (well actually Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple) order, and added Pink, Black/White, Brown, and Metallic.   

Mine are two sided, I would suggest you stay with single sided color cards.

These are a close-ups of the blue and metallic sheets.  As you can see I had some bleed through towards the bottom.  By that time I was too far into the process to start over, oops!