I'm hoping and hoping that Shelley has her baby today so I won't miss that. She was having contractions all throughout this morning and then at lunch. I even dragged her around Hobby Lobby hoping they would get stronger. heehee I picked up some amazing autumn papers at H.L. I feel so sad for those who don't live near a H.L. That is one of the first things I worried about when I found out we were moving to Georgia. I called up my friend Lori who once lived around here and asked her (begged her) to tell me there was one close to Warner Robins, GA. She looked it up and happily told me they had just built one. Whew! I spent a few dollars today. The sad thing was I was just there yesterday. Paper is 50% off this week though, which means all of the 12x12 stock is 25 cents- even the double-sided papers! And don't forget my coupon for 40% off one item which I got here. Have you noticed the manufacturers know how to get our money? They make paper "collections" so you have to buy all of the matching pieces. And that brings me to my real dilemma... how to store my paper so I can find the piece I'm looking for... the perfect piece for the project I am working on. This is becoming more and more of an issue for me. I have nine 12x12 drawers. They are 3 units of 3 drawers each. At first I had my paper separated by color, but then at times I would be separating those "collections" that work so well together. Now, I have all of my solids still separated by color and then the rest by manufacturer. However, that may soon be a dilemma as there are more and more manufacturers coming out and I am not partial to any one. I buy what I like. And my paper does not fit in just those 9 drawers. I also have 4 pizza boxes full as well.
I know this is a long post, but if you're still with me and you have a storage suggestion, I really want to hear it! I know there has to be a better way than my way. What the heck...let's make it a drawing for some Butterfly kisses (blog candy- hubby calls me Butterfly, Kisses=candy...get it?). Whoever makes a suggestion will be in the drawing. I'll post a pic of the winnings later today or tomorrow and let my godson Zach draw a name for me on Sunday.
Good Luck! And thanks for helping!
Angel
ETA~ Blog candy pictured here.
Blog candy will not be mailed until I return from my trip to DC on September 1st.
23 comments:
Well, what I do with my paper is, I get one of those milk crates that you can get at your local Dollar General or i'm sure Wal Mart has them. I then get those office dividers from wal mart and write each color (example: yellow, blue, brown, black) at the top of each label and stick them in between each color so that way if I just have a few peices of one color and can not see the actual color just by looking at the crate I can see the label and just pull the label back to see if I have any of that color still left. It works really well and I can just shove the containers right under my desk and they are right there when I reach down. Hope I helped some.. :)
I'm not sure that my system would work for anyone but me but here it is: First, since I use SU paper for workshops I have it stored seperately into 5 (one for each color family and neutrals) of the vertical paper holders by CH that have a slot to seperate each color. Any size paper/scrap of that color goes into its designated slot. My other 12x12 papers are in 2 CH hanging file metal trolleys (on sale at Joann.com right now) and I have them divided by color BUT when I have a group of paper from the same line, I choose a dominant color and store them all together. My solid 12x12's are put in the back of the file. I do have a seperate file for Christmas, Autumn, Metalics, Lg sheets of die cuts etc. What can I say, it works for me! Take care!
I store my patterned paper in something I got at Michael's called "Snaptop Scrapbook Case". I store my cardstock just on a shelf, but am anxiously awaiting my hubby to make me a craft table with legs that are a slanted shelving unit for my cardstock. I need to do something with my plain cardstock though before they get bent etc.
I have been looking myself because I have huge tote boxes full of paper and then one of just stamps. The paper is all divided into sets and kept together by dividers but it really is not all that efficient. I have been looking for something better. I have thought of just going to Michaels and seeing what they carry.
I use a 12x12 paper keeper.. it's a expandable file folder that has about 20 slots in it. I have one for each type of paper: Solid colors(2 for this bunch, actually), designer paper, SU! papers, vellums... I usually know what I'm looking for so I can go to the folder I know it's in. I can sort them pretty well since there are so many slots to put them in. When I close the top, it keeps them very straight and not bending, since I have to store them standing up. They are pretty compact in size and don't take up too much room. I started with only one for my SU papers when I demonstrated, but when my darling friend Angel introduced me to the wonderful world of DP I HAD to get more! My space is limited, so it had to be pretty compact. This seems to work so far.
I wrote a comment here and it disapered. So I'll try again:)
My solution to any type of organizing is always IKEA. They have so many great solution for storaging lots of things using a minium of space. I don't know how big your drawers are but if they fit file folders maybe you can buy file folders in different colours, one for each manufactor/solid colour that you storage.
And maybe this company will be making a solution soon: www.mycraftsolutions.com They have great storage solutions for stamps, ink pads and ribbions:)
Hope you figure something out!
Good luck:)
I feel your pain! My 8.5x11's are happily stored in standard file folders (awaiting to be sorted into an office 'mail' shelf I recently picked up cheap (you know the kinds with all the slots). However the 12x12s won't fit in there. Currently I have them either in pizza boxes or similar containers but am slowly purchasing the expabdable file folders like 'misplaced texans' suggested. I'm in the midst of setting up my studio so am holding off until I know how much space I'll have available. I know I'll need several containers and like the file folders much better than the pizza boxes. Of course, I'm super thrifty so I want to find something sturdy AND cheap!
I have never been to Hobby Lobby, and I know I'm missing out...lol!
I just started turning into a paper collector, so I will be curious to see what others are doing as well.
How well I understand your problem, I have it myself. I have the cropper hopper paper holders and I'm still not happy with that way of storing my paper. I'm anxious to hear what everyone suggests.
Claudia
I have my SU! solid color cardstock in hanging file folders in a file cabinet attached to my desk. The patterned papers don't fare so well! I have them "sort of" organized - by Christmas, baby, western, etc. But these are in file folders in a small box - not a good method since it's bursting at the seams! I need another file cabinet I guess!
I store my 8 1/2x11 DP in hanging file folders in one of those plastic storage boxes with a handle - 12x12 DP in some boxes I picked up at J's a couple years ago, sorted mainly by color groups. I need to do something else with 8 1/2x 11 cardstock - presently on a shelf in a bookcase, but since my work area is a sunroom, all windows & skylights, I have to be careful of fading from the sun - need to figure something else out. Oh, to be totally organized!!
NancyS
Great question and even giving away some butterfly kisses. How sweet! I would send the extra paper that does fit anywhere, MY WAY! (tee hee). I put mine in drawers in hanging folders with labels on them. I do like hearing how others store theirs. Thanks for a chance.
I store my patterned paper in color groups. I like the pizza box idea, clever. Here is to hoping your friend has her baby. I was hoping my friend would have her's before she moved away, and no she had it three days after she moved. Now it's been a month and I have yet to see her beautiful addition.
Hi Angel!
What a dilemma...too much paper to store :)
I use those 12 X 12 plastic Craft Keepers from Michaels (sometimes on sale for $1.00 ea).
If you are like me, you know the name of the manuf. whose paper you want to use. I have a separate craft keeper for each manuf...labeled so I can easily find the right one.
Or, you could use a separate craft keeper for each collection. I like to keep the collections together, too. Much easier to coordinate colors & patterns :)
I have paper storage problems, too! I currently have paper standing upright in hanging file folders in tubs. I would rather have the paper flat so I don't risk it bending, but this is my only option right now, and at least I can see the colors and manufacturer. I do group by season, and also by manufacturer (so all Basic Grey Christmas would be together with all other Christmas, not my general Basic Grey stack.) The problem with this is it sometimes hard to see double sided paper. That is why I like the manufacturer sort. Maybe cropper hoppers for different companies? Can't wait to see all the responses to this thread, and thanks for the chance for butterfly kisses! (And no Hobby Lobby here in Oregon; at least my checkbook doesn't know what I am missing!)
Boy I think we are all in the same boat. I use the Craft keepers and have all my paper sorted by color, including patterned paper and then use the wire cubes to stand them up in, however by sorting pattern paper by color I miss out on the beauty of what the manufacturer has done by coordinating their paper lines, so I'm back to searching for a new way to sort and store. I used to have it sorted by manufacturer and then thought, well I'm missing out on some paper combinations I may not think of by using two different manufacturer lines....no, I'm never satisfied, lol! I'll be checking this often for everyone's ideas.
Paper storage is such a challenge! I have a hybrid system. I use Cropper Hopper 12 x12 plastic storage cases (kind of like magazine holders). For my DP that's patterned, but not particularly themed, I sort by manufacturer, with all the Basic Grey together, all the My Mind's Eye together, etc. For paper that is themed, I sort by theme. So all the Christmas is together, all the beach is together, all the cat paper is together, all the motocross paper is together. This system works particularly well because I buy most of the themed paper for scrapping and a lot of the patterned, but not themed, paper for cardmaking. Can't wait to see what you come up with!
I also use the Cropper Hopper magazine storage units, mostly because I'm a Stampin-up demo and that's what they sell. I like them, authough I admib I loose the little scraps to the bottom. Someone suggested to me putting each paper family in a file folder, then putting it into the Cropper with the fold down, so you can pull out a family with all it's scrapps.
For the moment, I have an accordion file from Walmart for 12 x 12 paper with a handle. It has 8 or 9 different slots. It's just a cheapy, but it works ok. Although, I don't have a ton of 12 x 12 paper. I usually divide it up by cards, scrapbooks and others. I hope to find some better suggestions here!
I have two storage methods that I use. First I have a cropper hopper that is on wheels that you can get from JoAnn's and the second is the cube system that I got from Target. Down the scrapbook isle at Target (they're hard to find so you have to look very carefully) there are these white storage cubes that you have to assemble and they're fairly cheap. I don't know what they're called but they are wonderful!
I first organized my cardstock by color, and then by the shade of that color.
My patterned paper was a little more of a challenge to organize. I looked through the papers, and realized that I tend to buy papers with similar designs. I decided on some major design categories of papers and started making piles.
Solid - papers that are mostly solid colors, but are not cardstock
Stripes
Swirls
Dots
Plaid
Stars
Floral -papers with flowers or leaves as the primary design
Realistic - animal prints, wood grain, photographic scenes, etc.
Specialty Paper - mulberry, handmade, velveteen, metallic, etc.
Vellum
Embossed
Miscellaneous - anything that doesn't fit in the categories above
Once they were all divided into categories, I organized each small stack by color. This makes finding the right color and style of paper much faster for me when I'm working on a page. If a piece of paper has many colors in it, I tried to categorize it according to the most prominent color.
With all of my paper organized, I put the one I really like to use in aplastic container from Target. out the color I needed without disturbing the rest of the pile.
To hold my patterned paper, I used a set of hanging folders inside a small plastic file container that I found in the office supply section of Wal-Mart. Each hanging folder holds a different category of papers. The weight of the hanging file container helps hold my cardstock in an upright position, so that it doesn't get bent or warped.
And you can also think Ahead - Many scrapbookers enjoy putting together Page Kits. I do this regularly. That way, when I find a few minutes to scrapbook, I have everything for that layout handy. I use a page protector, slide in the cardstock and/or patterned paper, and then I place in the embellishments - any ribbon, fibers, metals, eyelets, brads, etc. If I already have photos to accompany that layout, I place those in there too. (Come on scrapbookers - we all know we buy stuff even when we don't have the photos yet!)
Good luck!
Because I am a lazy person with very little craft space, I organize it into 5 piles depending on season. I use dollar store large, deep trays. Pastels go into spring, brights into summer, earth tomes go into fall, and holiday or cool colors go into winter. My neutrals go into a 5th pile.
I just love reading all suggestions myself..always looking for a better way of storage. I started out buying the 12x12 storage boxes that stack..but after you start accumulating more
the next step is to think about going vertical. I do theme sorting.and color sorting..print sorting. I listen to all suggestions. Thanks for a chance at the blog candy and Have a great day !
Dee
We do not have a Hobby Lobby in this area at all...but we do have a new Michaels.
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