I {HART} my preschoolers: 2010

I think that, as crafters,we all have a natural inclination to want to see other people's crafting spaces. I love to see other people's spaces. I even like to check out people's houses when I can. (the background of your facebook photos have been spyed upon if you are my friend.... fair warning!) I decided tonight that I would take some photos of my space so that everyone who reads this post can get an idea of how I organize my "stuff" and hopefully inspire you to organize yours as well (if it needs it...)

Remember, this is my closet so there's not much room...Here goes:

Let's start with drawers. I have two sets of drawers and one cabinet. This set came from "Fred's" a while ago on sale for $35. I bought it for something else and then ended up finding out that the drawers were 8 1/2 x 11. Great size for cardstock! My drawers are labeled. From top to bottom: TOOLS (scissors, bone folder, Crop A Dile, etc), PUNCHES (I don't have many so they all fit), ADHESIVES (all types- scotch tape, glue runner, baby X, dimensionals,etc), STICKERS (this drawer is rarely opened lol), CARDSTOCK (only what I will use as card bases. The cheaper stuff is stored elsewhere), JUNK (everything else... stickles, hodgeposge hardward, bling, stamp cleaner, etc)

The next set of drawers is these! They are about 13x13 square so they are PERFECT for 12x12 paper! I store my patterned paper on top, My stacks in the second (forgot a picture of my stacks... I use 2 gallon ziploc bags to keep each stack together with it's scraps), the third drawer is 12x12 soids, the fourth drawer is...guess... ink pads lol. I think the ink all over the drawer gives it away! The fifth drawer is my finished pages that need to be put away and a couple of small empty albums

Now my bins... this is a magazine holder my dad and I made a long long time ago. It is about 11x11 so the largest sheets of paper don't fit but I keep my scraps in here. I was using a large flat rate box that I re-purposed as a magazine holder. It is better for the 12x12 papers. I am thinking of moving my scraps to a bin in my cabinet that you will see soon....

I had a sterilite drawer that was placed here for my markers and it was perfect. Today I reached to get something off my closet shelf and dropped a yearbook on it and ~~cracked~~ obliterated the drawer. It went to the trash and in came this green caddy. I bought it at Dollar General for $1! I bought a few more for my Head Start classroom. I ahve my markers in it and I am thinking of putting some on-hand stuff in it. I use the mini clipboard to hold my images as I color them so I thought this was a good place to keep it.

I guess these are containers too... lol I have one for cards that I plan to donate, one for one cousin I want to send a "Care Package" to, and the other one is for another cousin... I like these boxes because they are free and only $5 to ship! I can fill 'em and mail 'em easily.

I save all the little zippered bags that curtains and bed sheets come in. I love that they are durable and have zippers! I was using one for my markers until I got the Sterilite drawer (and may be moving them back into a bag and THEN into the caddy...) Anyway, These are my bitty scraps that would make great 3x3 cards. I think that may be why I have been making so many of them. 3x3 cards are good for putting ON a gift and as a little note. I also have a template for a 3x3 envelope tucked into one of the invisible pockets inside the bag.

This is my "use it now" container. I put everything new that I recieve into it so that I am more likely to use it. I also dig through my stash sometimes and throw things in there that I "know" I'm going to use... yeah... Anyway, it really works! Throw stuff in there and pull it out first!

My new card catch-all. I use this to hold all of my newest cards until I file them in my high-class system (next picture)...

Yes, my dear scrapping friends... if you have known me a while, you know I love my Gain boxes... I put a plastic grocery sack inside so that soap residue doesn't get onto my cards. I stand them all up vertically and place them behind the appropriate tab. I have two boxes right now. I got rid of a TON of cards recently... time to fill 'em up again!

Now to my big baby! I invested quite a few bucks into this guy but he is my lifesaver! I bought the cabinet in Wal-Mart in the home improvement section. I bought each of the larger green containers at Wal-Mart in the "Rubbermaid" section for about $4 each. The rest are from Dollar Tree. I once decided that I needed to figure out what I own and group each like thing together. Here is what is inside from top to bottom, left to right: Stampin Up stamps-regular, Christmas, Bind It All and fixins, Cuttlebug and fixins, chipboard letters and photos that need to be scrapped, CuttleKids and fixins, Alterables, 5x7 cards (no they dont fit into my gain box...probably a big one though...) and small embellishments, card sets for gifts, hot glue gun/ heat gun/unmounted stamps, stamped images (in photo albums and lined up inside the bin with my House Mouse images on top), envelopes, ribbon, tutorial pages and ideas, and memorabilia that needs to be scrapped... Whew!! that was a lot!

Here's a close up of two of the boxes. I am thinking of labeling them all with my Stazon and my acrylic stamps. Before I bought these boxes, I really was using the larger Gain Boxes for my cuttlebug stuff, my Bind It All, and misc other stuff. You use what you have!

One photo I totally forgot was my loose stamps. I have a Sterilite drawer that was given to me by a friend and it has a larger drawer on the bottom and smaller one on top. It is on top of my 13x13 drawers. I keep my generic stamps in the bottom drawer and holiday ones on top.

I hope you enjoyed peeking into my space! I also hope that if you are over run with "stuff" that I have inspired you to simplify. You would not believe the amount of "stuff" I have given away! I had an entire flat rate box of paper and two to three trashbags full of stuff that I gave to novice scrappers. Share what you don't use and buy what you will use!

MY OLD SCRAP SPACE

Happy Scrappin! Alicia

Today I was playing around in my scrap area trying to get motivation to create some more cards for my Etsy Shop. As I was playing, I decided that I wanted to do SOMETHING with the "Ahoy Matey" images (Stampin Up!) that I recieved a while ago via a swap. I started out with the images and some patterned paper from "All About Boys" stack (DCWV). I then got the bright idea (!) to distress my images and then I ended up distressing everything! Here is how I did it WITHOUT buying any special supplies:

1. Gather your images/pieces together that you want to distress.

2. Use Apricot/yellow/ orange ink to distress the images. I used "Always Apricot" by Stampin Up but any similar color will do the job.

3. Using a cotton ball, dab..dab..dab the ink and then wipe it on the edge of the image going from the edge out. Dab...dab...dab the ink and wipe wipe wipe again. The cotton will touch the image so that you do not need to wipe directly on the image. Only the edges. If you don't see enough ink, come in a bit from the edge until the ink lands how you want it to. I only inked the white pieces with the Apricot ink. I ended up using a tiny bit on the edges of my card, too. I f you want the white to be more distressed looking, use the cotton ball to gently pat the left over ink onto the top of the piece. Do not dab first.

4. Use a dark brown ink to distress all edges. I used "Chocolate Chip" by Stampin Up! but any brown ink will do.

5. Use the same cotton ball and dab...dab...dab... the ink and then skate the edges of the piece. I stayed closer to the edges of the paper to give it a more subtle color since the brown is so dark. Also, I distressed the edges of the darker pieces with my scissor edge so that the ink showed up more. As you work on your pieces, you may decide to use more brown ink on certain places.