Always organizing

Hieronder vind je dezelfde post in het Nederlands

I have an awesome scrap studio and still I am always trying to organize it better. I think it will always be like that, but I do have some handy things that I probably will not change anymore. I have two big magnet boards with some of the storage items from the Making Memories Modulair Systeem. It is a really handy system and the magnets are so darn cute! Underneath I attached hooks so tons off stuff can be hang there.Especially those things that I want to keep in sight.


Beside my cutting mat there are two pots/vases with ribbon. There's tons more in other spots, but these ones are at close range. Al the way in the corner there's a little basket which contains all sorts of tape; normal ones, double sided in all sizes, foam tape, dots and so on. In the little storage tin beside it are different kind of supplies like my UnDu, bookbinding glue, Diamond Glaze, PaperGlaze, ModPodge and a little glass jar where I keep all the little sticks that come with rub-ons. Do not ask me why, I have no clue what so ever! And ofcourse there's my Making Memories Toolkit. When I bought it I was talked in to the Luxe version. It costed an arm and a leg but I'll have to admit; It's been worth every cent so far. In that same corner there's a little halogen light for those times when I need that little bit of extra light. Though my regular light is a bit special too. Since a couple of months I replaced the regular bulb by a daylight bulb. And it works; colors are much better. I did buy one with 100 Watts, you can never have enough light. One thing......it does not give me a tan.


On the side there this little drawer cabinet that came from Ikea (too bad, it's discontinued). I use it to store my punches, my metal hardware, beads, glitter, microbeads and ZipLocks in all sizes (those are soooo handy to have around) The rack that is hanging is also from Ikea. It originally should be hanging in the kitchen with jars of herbs and so on but I use it to store my paint, juwels, Stickles, bottles of ink, Tacky Glue, a couple of jars of Prima Flowers and some other stuff that was hard to organize and that I do want to keep in reach and in sight. Before you go start to run to Ikea, this rack is also discontinued (at least here in Europe)


On the inside of the door I keep my foam stamps. Very simple: I bought lots of metres of self stick Velcro and stuck it on the door (dear husband was NOT amused). I sticked the other half on the foam stamps and my system was born. Unfortunately then Making Memories started to make foam stamps that were double sided. So they are kept in a box. And therefor I use them not as much as I want. Simply because I do not see them!


Beside my working space I have room for a little drawer cabinet. On top I keep my brushes and my Totally Cool Tote. I bought one way before they started making those turning ones. So what I did: put a Lazy Susan underneath. Simple as that! My most essential tools are kept in there; my cutting machine, stapler, Basic Grey File Set, Crop-A-Dile, date stamp, rulers, scissors, knifes, spare blades for all kinds of tools. But also lots of markers that I use on a regular base.


I have two cupboards / cabinets that store my cardstock and my patterned paper. Since getting a good paper storage system here in Europe is almost impossible I had to be inventive. You can imagine shipping costs to Europe for all those fancy systems. So the storage I used was not made for paper storage in the bgeinning. I keep my cardstock in containers that were used for storing LP's. I bought them at a rummage sale. The other cabinet for my patterned paper was given to my by my SIL Karin. She found it by the garbidge at the school she works for. I use dividers to keep the different lines apart from each
other. In the first slot I keep those lines which I have been using already. So there could be half sheets or scraps in there. The last slot is used for those lines I only have one or two sheets of. My used cardstock I keep in page protectors and sort it by color.


My unmounted stamps I store in CD cases. I first take the inner part out (the part where your CD is supposed to be) Don't worry about getting CD cases without the inner part, it is so easy to take out! I leave the clear stamps on their sheets, but the Inque Boutique stamps I stick in the case.


To paint I use those little aluminum containers (they have a 5 cm diameter) that you will find in the cooking section of your grocery store. If I paint with colors I have ready I mainly paint out of the bottle or jar. But when I have to mix colors I use those little containers. I have the bad habit of not cleaing tohse things right away. Now I can just toss them without feeling bad!


Lots of chipboard shapes and alpha's are packed in #$$#%$ packages. You can never get them bag in their original package or the package is not ment to put it back in, simply because you have to tear it apart to get the chipboard out. I try to store verything in its original package, but when not possible I keep them in ZipLocks. All those bags I keep in a container, so it will at least look a bit organized. Sometimes I even put the etiket of the package in the ZipLock. You can also write on the ZipLock with a permanent marker if you please.



Most of my stuff I keep my my shelving cabinet, Expedit by Ikea. Since a couple of months they also make doors and drawers for this cabinet, so I will have to look into that. On the side of it I hung a magazine rack, also from Ikea: the Allamala. In there I keep my losse sheets of chipboard, and all kinds of foam and felt, like the velt from Queen & Co.


For a long time I kept my Prima Flowers and buttons in their original package. But I noticed that packages were hiding behind each other and I did not use them simply because I did not see them. The regular and big flowers I keep in storage jars ansd the mini and tiny ones I keep in their original package (which I keep in the kitchen rack). I stopped sorting buttons! I put them all together in jars, and I love it. It looks great! Very decorative.



The window seal did not have a whole lot of function to begin with. My studio has its windows on the south and there for I can not put anything paperish in the window. It would loose its color in no time.
My printer has always been there. Great spot. Last year I switched from the Quickutz to the BigKick and that got its own place in the window seal. It can stand the sun, and it's not in the way on my tabletop. Beside it there's a basket with dies I do not have storage for (Sizzix, Cuttlebug, Revolution)



At last a total view of my tabletop. An ideal space where I can work relaxed and make a HUGE mess. In the middel there's a drawer cabinet which has a container on top where I put my trash paper in. I know, I keep most of my scraps, but there are some pieces that are really to small to keep. That container is empties in our papaerwaste. Have to think about the environment right?
So I am very very content with my studio. Though.......Moving the studio to the attic............