Before I dive into this post, let me thank each and everyone of you for the positive response I have had with my Blueprint templates and Graduation Mini Kit! Through your comments here, comments left on Jessica Sprague's General Forum and those who sent me personal emails, I feel I must be doing something right! You are motivating me to do more! Keep checking back regularly for more freebies and kits! You all rock!
In preparing for our move overseas, I have been faced with reducing the amount of scrapbook supplies that I have collected over the years. This was not an easy task, but needed to be done. Not only was I slimming down the amount of stuff I have, I was simultaneously moving my studio from my large 17'x20' room in our finished basement to a smaller 11'x12' bedroom upstairs. Why? A few reasons. One, I had absolutely no natural light in the larger room. Although I loved the room, I love light more. It was getting really hard to pick the perfect shade of card stock to go with that perfect photo! I needed to make the switch. And two, before our big move, I needed to see how I would function in a smaller space without as much stuff...what I would miss...what I would not...what was the best way for me to organize things before we go.
I have to say, the whole process has been very enlightening. During the sorting, storing and throwing, it really made me think of how I've recorded my family memories in the past and how I want to go about it in the future. I hate to admit it, but in the past it has all been about the latest product and cute embellishments. Come on and admit it...I know many of you out there feel the same (It is the first step in admitting you have a problem)! But I can't even begin to tell you how good it felt to just let go of those stickers or brads that have been sitting in a box for years because I was convinced I would use them "someday." "Someday" never came and it was time for a lot of my stuff to go. A more simplified way of scrapbooking is definitely in my future. I can totally relate to the Becky Higgins' philosophy behind Project Life and believe that once we are settled in Europe, I will be scrapping this way instead of the way I have in the past.
Now don't get me wrong...I love all the latest and greatest products on the market right now. And I didn't get rid of everything–I still have quite a bit. But I think I will use these products sparingly in my scrapbooks and use them more in small, special occasion chipboard books, home decor items and handmade cards.
One of the largest obstacles I had to tackle in this whole process was to go through all of my card stock, patterned paper and paper scraps. I am a firm believer in ROYGBIV when it comes to organizing things by color. I figured since my closet is organized in this way, my card stock should be as well! Below is a photo of my paper and bookshelf (it is from IKEA):
The card stock and patterned paper are organized in Cropper Hopper 12x12 Vertical Organizers (they store up to 600 sheets of card stock).
I am a big fan of organizing colors by ROYGBIV. My clothes are organized this way in my closet, so why not organize my card stock in the same manner?
I organized my patterned paper in the following categories: boys/sports/pets, girlie/everyday/love, baby/school, patriotic, summer/beach/vacation, fall/halloween, winter/christmas, SEI (I love the original SEI line and just can't give it up), kits (these are packaged projects that I got at various crops and conventions).
In addition to the Vertical Organizers, I have scraps stored in the Cropper Hopper 12x12 Paper Organizers (they hold up to 100 sheets of card stock), which store nicely inside the Vertical Organizers (if you click on the photo of the shelf, another window will open making the photo larger so you can get a better view of what I am talking about). I had a lot of scraps. Some small pieces, others large. I decided to throw anything smaller than a 4x6 rectangle in the garbage. It wasn't worth keeping. Anything else I trimmed down into the following sizes: 4x6 (perfect for mats), 6x6, 5.5x8.5 (perfect for cards), 6x12, 8.5x11. If there was a sheet larger, that went into the organizer as well.
I know this was a long post! Thanks for reading! I hope some of these tips will help you to organize your papers when it comes time to do so! Keep coming back as I will be posting more organizing ideas in the near future!
