Paper Organization

Hello,

PJ Challenge asked us to share one of the ways we organize our crafting supplies. Unfortunately, I am too late to link this post to the PJ Challenge blog but I want to share my organization secrets just the same. I am going to share how I organize my papers.

Before I organized my collection of over 800 pieces of paper, I would get quite frustrated when I sat down to create a scrapbook page because it would take me a very long time to find the right papers for the layout. To help with my paper selection I have divided my full sheets of paper into 6 categories; solid colour cardstock 8x11, solid colour cardstock 12x12, one sided patterned paper 12x12, two sided patterned paper 12x12, children themed paper and Christmas/Winter Holidays themed paper. I use Cropper Hopper 12 x 12 and 8x11 paper holders, Scroll Texture Box by Office Harbour and various art boxes purchased at Wallacks or Michaels.

In one container are the solid colour 12x12 sheets of cardstock. In a smaller container are the solid colour 8x11 sheets of cardstock.
 

I have all my patterned paper seperated into two categories. In one container are one sided pattern paper organized by colour and in the other are the two sided pattern paper also organized by colour. This has made my life so much easier. In the two sided paper container, I shuffle through each sheet one way, then flip the container around and shuffle through the other side of the papers. Time is saved by removing the one sided papers from the two sided papers.

 

One of the other things I do is organize my scrap papers. Any paper that is 12 inches long and larger than 6 inches wide goes into a Scroll Texture Box with a chipboard label hanging from the handle (the label maker tape would not stick). Any cut paper that is 12 inches long by 6 inches or less goes into another similar container.

 

 

 

Through my years of crafting I have come to realize that I can't look past the shape that was previously cut out of the scrap paper to see that I can use the left over in my new paper project. Therefore, when I am finished a project I trim any remaining pieces to a square or a rectangle removing any evidence of a shape or curve.These pieces are placed in a scrap container. 

 

Specialty papers such as velum, cork paper, sequence paper and so on are place in a seperate container.

These organization methods have saved me plenty of searching time, as well as, cleanup time.

I hope that it may help you as well.

Till next time. Happy paper crafting.

Holiday Projects

As for many, the Christmas season usually brings a considerable size to-do list. You would think that after many years of stressing about all that needs to get done weeks before Christmas, I would learn to be more organized or make a smaller list... "yeah, no!"

Maybe 2014 will be my year for organization and smaller to-do lists.

One could always hope.

I am unable to include all the projects that I completed in December but here are a few. I will post the others after the recipients have received them. 

First up:

 

An apron I made for my mother-in-law. I used McCall's fashion accessories pattern 2947 and fabric I purchased at Fabricland.

 

Along the same idea is an apron I made for my son who loves to help me in the kitchen. My nephew was kind enough to fashion the apron for us. It's too bad that I needed to blur out his face, he is such a cute little boy.

 

The face was blurred to protect the identity and privacy of my family.



For this apron I used McCall's fashion accessories pattern M6476 and fabric purchased at Fabricland, as well as, Giroux Sewing Centre in Cornwall.

 

A gift card is a nice gift but it is extra special when it is presented in a homemade gift card holder. I was inspired by Marie's Present Gift Card Holders.  To make these cards I used paper from the Recollections Joyful Christmas paper pad, Stampin'up Merry Christmas stamp, Xmas Red Stickles,  Lil'Inker Bow die, Recollection brads, DMC floss, Forest Moss, Vintage Photo and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink, Creative Memories circle punch, Tombow glue, and Zapdots foam dots.

 



Other creative items made:

• a digital photo album for my grandmother of her and her three great-grandchildren
• a birthday card for my mother, and my father-in-law
• a ton of baking with my 23 month old. We baked every Saturday morning in December to get away from TV watching.

As the days faded away, I had to prioritize my projects and unfortunately some were removed from the list. Projects that were carried forward to 2014 are personalized Christmas stockings for my son and my niece and reusable gift bags (I want to use up my fabric pile). There are a couple of other projects that I had to delay but I cannot mention them here because they will be gifts in the near future and I don't want to ruin the surprise.

In a couple of weeks, I will post the other three projects that I did during the holidays.

Till then, happy crafting.

Paper dust

Paper dust is all I have left, well almost.

 

If you recall, at the end of September I assembled a card/tag making kit. The kit included 6 sheets of paper (3 of which were double sided), 5 stamps, 4 inks, 3 embellishments, 2 ribbons and 1 drink of choice. PJ challenged us to remain within the limitations of our kit and create cards and tags until there were no paper sheets left, only paper dust.

 

   

It was definitely a challenge, especially the 4 inks limitation. I love my inks and wanted to use more ink colours. I am not sure if I cheated by using Copic markers to colour Santa, probably. The other biggest challenge was not being able to use my arsenal of supplies to correct my errors. If I made a mistake I couldn't use other inks or papers to make the mistake look better or less noticeable.

 

With my kit I was able to create 7 cards and 9 tags. Some projects turned out better than others but I had fun just the same. Unfortunately, due to Internet failure I was not able to upload my projects before the PJ Challenge deadline (midnight November 3rd).

 

 

Which one is your favorite?

Till next time, Happy Paper Crafting!

 

Supplies used from inventory:

• Bazzill Avalanche paper
• Stampin' pad - Baja Breeze
• Blending tool
• Bazzill Basics Paper - Chipboard tags snowflakes
• Archival ink - black
• Stampin'up stamps - Welcome Christmas, snowflakes, and Jolliest Time of the Year
• Winterland - snow peeps
• Paper Bliss adhesive accents
• Harmonie - Meli Melo
• Copic markers - 100, C5, C3, R24, G29, YG03, E01
• Distress ink - peeled paint
• Big Shot
• Spellbinders Nestibilities - labels, blossom two, and create a flake four
• Tombow glue
• Lil'inkers - stitched mats and bow dies
• Stickles - xmas red
• Creative memories corner rounder
• Celebrate It - Ribbon bow-tique
• Stampin'up - Cherry Cobbler ribbon
• Martha Stewart - photo corners punch
• Martha Stewart - scor board
• Zapdots - foam tape
• EK Success - 3/4 inch circle punch
• Stampin'up, EK Success - label punch
• Spellbinder shapeabilities - snowflake pendant
• Fiskar personal paper trimmer
• Scotch advanced tape glider
• There are a couple of other supplies that I no longer have the name of the company that made them

 

Supplies purchased:

• None