Organizing Your Crafting Space, Part 2

Today, let's continue our work on getting your crafting space organized.  Remember, these are ideas for you, based on what works best for me.  You must take them and use them in ways that work best for you!
More important than anything:
- Keep your space fun, but functional.
- Keep your space organized.
- If something's not working, work to change it.
- It's your space.  Make it truly yours!

Here are some examples of favorites from my studio.  I hope they will give you some fresh ideas to use in your own space.

Up first, a perfect example of what I mean by keeping your crafting space fun but functional.  I LOVE old boxes.  This one was a fabulous find because it is in super condition and has a wonderful old metal handle on it.  It brings back special memories because I was with my father on an antiquing trip when I found it.  He was so delighted with how much I loved it.
This is not just a special box, however, it is a key element to my working space.  It contains all the tools I need out all the time.  It stays front and center where I work.

I decorated it, keeping with my black and white basic decor, to add even more fun to my work space.

This old basket brings back more special memories, going way back to my childhood.  Would you believe this was an old Easter basket from my youth?  It's holding up better than I am, maybe:)  I have DSP samplers in it, each design on its own ring.  As you can see, I use rings a lot.  I added some coordinating ribbon to each ring, to decorate it a bit and to show examples of ribbons to use with each of the papers.

Above and below:  Remember my 3-tier server I showed in my Part 1?  These 2 containers are kept in it.  Small containers like these are great for keeping all those little left-over pieces from getting lost.  I found the darling little cup (along with its twin) on one of my antiquing trips.  I love it.

Anyone need a button?  I cannot tell you how many buttons that I have, but it's probably a zillion.  I love buttons!  I love to use them and I love the way they look in cute containers.  I have lots of old jars full of buttons and now, I notice that I seem to be getting quite a collection of vintage molds going, as well.

This is a neat old drawer that I found while antiquing.  I thought I was going to use it, with dividers, for cards or maybe make a jewelry holder to hang on the wall, or maybe make a shadowbox...
As you can see, I had lots of great ideas for it.  One day, while it was sitting on my desk, I stopped work to clean up a lot of papers that were out and looking messy and in my way.  The next thing I knew, I'd lined the drawer with fabric, decorated the knob (could NOT leave it plain) and it became a wonderful IN box for my desk. It's turned out to be quite handy.  I hate paper mess and paper has a way of getting out of control in no time at all.

Here's yet another way I've used a sewing machine drawer.  This contains spritzers of all types.  You can add a punched circle on top of the lid to remind you of the color, but I also label the side.  I don't want to grab the wrong one.

On this ring, I have a stamped flower for each of the Stampin' Up! colors, including all the In Colors.  It's a handy reference for project planning and easy to keep handy with them all on a ring. 

Last, one of my most special treasures --- an old crockery bowl that was my grandmother's  I love and cherish this bowl.  It looks really nice with balls of string and twine, in neutral colors.  I actually use these a lot in various projects, so it is not just something pretty to sit out, but a useful item in my crafting space as well.  Before using it this way, I had rolls of ribbon in it.  That worked well, also.

So... we've arrived at the end of my 2 parts on Organizing Your Crafting Space.  I hope I have gotten you excited about fixing up your crafting space.  I will share a few more tidbits here and there in future posts, but these were the ones I wanted you to see right away.

For more ideas, click here to see my previous Studio Tour.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Organizing Your Crafting Space, Part 1

I'd like to share some ideas with you that may help you in organizing your crafting space.  Whether you have a tiny part of your home or an entire room, organization is more important than anything else you can do.  I don't care how fancy you have it all set up, if you can't find anything and can't work efficiently, your creativity will be seriously impaired.

Before we begin, let me share one of my newest ideas with you --- a rotary stamp holder!  I've had this holder for a while and it certainly isn't new, but I had a new idea this week to try my own Stampin' Up! rotary stamps in it and they work!  How fun!

I was having trouble finding a way to contain these so I could find them, but not have them in the way.  This is the perfect solution!  If Stampin' Up! comes out with more rotary stamps, I have a little more room for them.  Bring it on!

Now... on to Organizing Your Crafting Space, Part 1:
I cannot tell you how to organize your space because each person has a different style of working and creating and you must do what works best for you.  I can give you tips and then you can take it from there.
One thing about crafting spaces is that they are constantly evolving.  The reason is:  We are constantly getting newer and better tools and products, keeping older loved tools and products, as well as retiring some each year --- to make way for something else.  Along with this, each new product creates a need for its own unique size and shape of space.  This makes organizing an ongoing project, totally unlike your clothes closet, for example, where you simply remove old clothes and add new ones --- all in the same space and same configuration.

So, how do we keep up with it all?  Here are some tips to help you:
- Keep experimenting to see what works best for you.
- Tour various studios and crafting spaces online to see what others are doing.
- Pinterest is FULL of ideas to help you.  I even have a board there with examples.
- Make small changes at a time.
- Try working on a project in your new space and see if it works for you
- If it's not working, change it.
- Maybe you need to start back at square 1 to organize your space.
- Maybe you just need to tweak things a bit to make your space work for you..
- Make notes and/or diagrams to help you plan.
- Incorporate things you like in your home into your crafting space.
- No matter how you do it, control and contain everything.
- Leave space for yourself --- space to create.
- Use a neutral color story, so you can add and change accent colors any time.
- Above all, keep a file or notes on ideas you may like to try.
- Ideas from others just may inspire new ideas of your own, too.
- It's your happy space.
- Make it fun.
- Make it functional.
- Make it be yours.

I truly hope this post will inspire you to get going on some new organization of your crafting space.  You'll be glad you did!  Keep scrolling down and see all the unique ways I've used vintage items to organize and store things in my studio.  You will see that I use a lot of favorite vintage items as useful storage containers, while adding interest to my work space.  I've done it all in a neutral black and white color story, so that I can add favorite new color accents whenever I wish to change things out a bit.  Enjoy your little tour!

Let's start out with 'Command Central.'  This is where I store all my CS and DSP.  I am fanatical about keeping it neat.  Neatness is not only essential to finding things quickly, but it also protects the papers.  There are 2 smaller drawers inside the armoir doors and then a large drawer on the bottom.  All the drawers contain alphabets, many of which are retired but still used for personal scrapbooking.

Now, let's go to smaller items:

I made this holder for string and twine from vintage spools that I mounted onto a round base that I stained before attaching them.  It is useful and fun.

A 3-tiered server contains all the odds and ends of pieces from ongoing projects so that they don't become lost or damaged or a pile of clutter.  My next post will have more about the cute little cup and the vintage mold being used as containers for smaller items.

This vintage crockery bowl was actually my grandmother's and I love having it out to enjoy each day while it provides a useful place to contain spools of Baker's Twine.

I added more little spools of twine to this little box made from the front of a sewing machine drawer.  I painted it and 'grunged' it up a bit.  I absolutely love it!

This is actually an old cheese box that I fancied up.  I keep it on my desk for corralling little note pads and 'stuff' I need close at hand. 

You've seen this decorated sewing machine drawer before.  It contains my embossing folders.  I keep it out all the time, so I have easy access to my folders and can enjoy how pretty it looks.

This is my sampler for our embossing folders.  Every time we get a new embossing folder, I add a sample to the ring.  When a folder retires, I keep the sampler but move it to a 'retired' ring.  I seldom get rid of an embossing folder.

And last, but not least for today, remember my longer sewing machine drawer?  This is incredibly handy for holding all my Thinlits and Framelits.  Since posting about it previously, I've had the opportunity to use it a lot and it works!

So, now you've seen some of my ideas for organizing a crafting space.  I've followed my rules of...

- keeping it fun but functional.

- keeping a neutral color story, so the pops of accent colors really have an inpact.

- using favorite vintage items from my home that are special to me.

- keeping all my supplies and tools contained, so I have plenty of room to create.

For more ideas, click here to see my previous Studio Tour.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

What's in The Box?

I have LOTS of exciting news in today's post, so be sure to keep scrolling so you don't miss a thing!  Previously, I gave you a sneak peek at this next project over on the side of my blog and in my last post.  Did you guess what's in the box?  If you guessed an organized card keeping system, you are correct!  What better way to start off the new year than to get organized.  As I've been sprucing up my studio, I decided to include improved organization wherever I found a need.  Having cards more easily accessible was at the top of the list for me.  I had them organized all along, but they were in a basket inside a drawer.  Sometimes out of sight really is out of mind.  I decided that if I made a pretty box that coordinated with my studio decor, I could keep it out and actually use it!!!

Are you wishing you could make one, too?  Well, you're in luck!  We'll be making this at the first session of my brand new class --- Monday Night Stampers.  We'll begin on Monday, March 3, 6:00-8:30.  I'm very excited about offering this brand new class.  We will focus on a special project, theme or technique at each class.  Class fee is just $18.00 OR free with your order of $35.00 or more (before tax and shipping).  Orders or class registration must be paid at least 2 days prior to the class and may be placed from any current catalog or special promotion -- online through my website or directly through me.  These wonderful boxes are from my retired stash, so I have a limited number of them.  Class spots are only available while my supply of boxes lasts, so hurry to sign up for our first Monday Night Stampers class.

We'll be adding a title to each card, to label the sections in our box.  You'll know at a glance which cards are low and what you'll need to make next. 

The tabs for each file card are made with one of our new tag top punches.  I used the Scalloped Tag Topper punch.  (Say that 5 times in a row, fast:)

We also have an Angled Tag Topper punch.  It would work for this project, as well and give an entirely different look.

Aren't these new punches just fabulous?!!!  I'm already working to fill up my new cards box.  Whenever I need a card right away, I can go to my cards box and find just what I need.  Here's how the labels will look for our dividers.

I used the Scalloped Oval Punch to punch out typed labels.  I decided to type them so they would all be a uniform size.  I added an extra divider in the front with a pocket.  This pocket is for stamps, etc. for your cards.  You'll have no excuse now for not getting that card into the mail on time.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.