Taming the Beast (a.k.a. Craft Hobby)

(can’t for the life of me find the source!)

A new week.  Whew!  Last week sure went out with a bang for me!  I don’t believe I want to clean out my craft room again for a very long time.  Half way through it, I really did feel like I needed some sort of super powers to get through it!  Yikes!  I discovered I have quite the addiction to fondness for decorative paper and it’s time to tame that addiction fondness and get my collection back under control!  Good grief!  Here I thought stamps were going to be the challenge in the whole reorganizing process and, while they were somewhat of a challenge, the paper seems to be my one big weakness!  I think I’m going to be shopping my stash a little more wholeheartedly from now on!  Moderation!

Since I’ve been taking inventory of my craft supplies, I haven’t taken much time to stamp anything.  I stamped one clean & simple card yesterday, but that’s for tomorrow.  For today, I’ll share with you some more photos of my organization project & then see if the day provides opportunity for some stamping time!  I know you are probably as curious as I am when other people let me take a peek at their craft rooms!  I know mine is rather small, but it’s amazing what you can do with one this size!

As you can see, my favorite color combination (red & aqua) are part of my decor.  A few grey & black accents are added here and there, as you’ll soon see.  I know I said I was eliminating the work desk I had in the previous arrangement, but after working on a card I decided that wasn’t such a great idea.  I like a little room to spread out.  I did downsize the desk & made it out of two 2×3 ClosetMaid cube shelves instead of the 3×3 ones I’d originally had and that seems to give the room enough breathing room.  The three fabric bins contain most of my stamp stash (my SU stamps are in one side of the wardrobe).  I still need to find a good way to organize my clear and cling stamps!

The little white shelf needs to be mounted on the wall yet, but the buckets contain the tools I tend to use most every time I stamp.  My ink pads are close by and my most used punches are above those (see my “craft studio” tab above for a picture).

Here are all my JetMax cubes & cardstock:

The majority of my decorative paper is in the white file under the cardstock trays.  The rest I had to put into two fabric shopping bags for now.  Sigh… 

I have my white, kraft and SU In Color cardstocks stored vertically within reach of my work table as these are cardstocks I like to keep separate from the other colors.

I decided to keep my Project Life album, the refills and a few other albums that I work on from time to time out where I can see them (& be reminded to work on them):

The colored buckets on and hanging from the white shelf contain my lesser used, but need-to-be-accessible tools.  One contains my rainy day fund!

That red box…

…contains my embossing folders.  I wanted something fun and found this miniature red trunk at Hobby Lobby at half price!  All my folders fit with room to spare!  Love it!

Behind the door (on the left before you get to the work table) are the rest of my ClosetMaid cubes, stacked on top of each other.  These fabric bins are my embellishments, etc. organized by color.  The basket contains my overflowing 6×6 paper pads and the two other spots contain a few magazines, books and catalogs I regularly use for inspiration.

Above these cubes is a shelf/drawer unit where I have put my lesser used (but want to keep) books and magazines.  The three little drawers contain cards I have made.  These are organized by subject (thank you, birthday, wedding, etc.)

My Copic markers are hiding out on the other side of the navy album, up out of the reach of my three boys!

Finally, I really wanted to get a dry erase calendar back up on the wall to keep a visual of upcoming events and deadlines.  This is just to the left of my work table & I will use the small lower portion for little things I find that inspire me.

Whew!  That’s enough!  Don’t even ask what is inside the wardrobe because that is another project for another week in the future!  Right now, I’m itching to stamp something!