Welcome to the farewell blog hop of the current Crop Chocolate design team (sniff, sniff)!!! For this hop we decided that we would share our scrappy spaces (be they rooms, corners of rooms, or tables), and some organizational tidbits for you. If you did not come from
ScrapAddictsAttic (Paula M), or just happened upon this blog, please go to the start of the hop at
Ambaju (Amber - our fearless leader).
For a long time, I used a collapsible 6foot table (the kind you see at churches for dinners and such) as my craft table, while sitting in a folding chair. I did my scrapbooking and card making on it, while my sewing machine was constantly taking up valuable work space. The table ended up so cluttered most of the time that I would actually carry my stuff over to the coffee table (where my kids would craft) instead. Then I amassed so many supplies from Crop Chocolate and other places, that I needed more storage space also. And I had a drafting chair just sitting collecting dust. So shortly before Christmas I got this bright idea that maybe my DH would help me create a better work space, and he could do it while home with the kids for Christmas break.
So I told him my plan and ideas (which were fairly simple), and he went off and did one better. Yay hubby!!! The top of the table is now about 8feet long and 3feet deep. The base is made up of the 14inch square cubes that you can get from various places (M's and ACM being two of them). I had about six before, but had to buy more to fill in the space underneath (darn, while snapping fingers), and now have 12 of them of various arrangements. The only problem is that the corner of the room is now a little crowded, but I can deal with that.
The dimensions were in my favor, as when we put the cubes in place we had left a space in the middle for cords and such to pass through (like when I use my sewing machine), but that space ended up being exactly perfect for my sewing machine to fit and sit on the base he made. Luck was on my side that day. I then used the space above my sewing machine to store my Cuttlebug dies and folders (they are in the blue cases - these are made by Cuttlebug and have pages that fit various sizes of dies and folders).
I also have a smaller table in the corner that I use for sorting pictures and storing smaller items like inks, extra adhesive, some ribbon and my clear stamps (as well as my overflow of paper). The table is one I bought when I was in grad school, and has served us many purposes (dining room table, sewing table, etc) over the years. I love baskets and try to use them to store these small things to make help it look nice. They also allow for easy access to things. The only problem is that they often don't stack well, so over the years, I've moved to some of the squarer baskets.
Under the table (and they ended up pushing the table up a little) are two filing cabinets I procured when my the company I work for moved to a different office (we were getting all new furniture and they were giving away the old stuff). In the one cabinet, I have all the paraphenalia from trips and events that I need to scrap (I've got my work cut out for me).
In the other cabinet, I am storing the majority of my wood mounted stamps (a few of the smaller ones I felt would get lost are in the blue basket on top of the table). I have them on end for easy access, and to read the label. In the back of one of the drawers I have my 8.5x11inch cardstock. I was hoping that I might be able to store my 12x12 in here, but they don't quite fit. It would have been awesome though if it had. In between the filing cabinets, there was enough room to store my extra cutting mats, scoring board, and t-square.
To help me remember which stamp sets I own (I think I need more though, LOL) and some examples of how the company has used them, I saved the catalog pages (most of them are from SU) and stored them in page protectors in a 3-ring binder (the red binder to the left of the table). For those that you don't have a catalog page for, you can either photo copy the top images, or you could stamp the images onto a sheet of paper, making your own "catalog page".
For my 12x12 paper, I have various ways of storing it. One of the cubes I got (which I think is fairly new) is a sliding drawer with hanging files. In this cube, I have stored a lot of the kits I have bought for easy access - I feel they fit better in here with all the accessories they sometimes have. I also have the slotted cubes (some I have in the vertical position, and some in the horizontal position - just for variety really). In those I have the paper sorted by topic - Christmas, baby, boy, girl, seasons, etc. I also have my stickers and other accessories sorted that way in the square drawers.
For my overflow paper (I have a lot, and it doesn't all fit in the cubes partly because I allowed two of the drawers to be stuff for my kids), I bought a few of the plastic 12x12 storage bins. In those, I have sorted the paper by manufacturer (one bin for EP, one for MME, etc). I also have those for projects I have started but haven't finished.
I don't know if you can make it out behind my big table, but I also have access to a two-shelf book shelf, which is where I store my idea books and magazines. There are also some baskets, which is where I store my punches for now. Eventually I would like to get some rods for the wall and hang them so that I can see them and remember which ones I have. The other idea I have would be to use some cardstock and punch the images, and then store those similar to my stamp images.
I think that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed reading about where I do my work, I certainly enjoy creating in this space (especially now that I have room to really spread out - I certainly love that I can keep my newly acquired Cameo on top of the table all the time and have plenty of room around it). I also hope you learned something to help you store or sort your supplies.
If you leave me a comment and follow my blog (if you don't already), I will put your name in a hat for some blog candy. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to actually figure out all that I'm giving away, but I can say that it will involve some alphas, some paper, and some other goodies. If I receive more than 30 comments, I will give away two blog candies. All comments received by midnight June 10 will be eligible. I will draw the names on Monday, June 11, and will post the winner(s) then also.
I hope you have also enjoyed seeing my work over the last eight or so months, and have learned something from me. I certainly enjoyed being on the DT and creating and learning new things. I will miss the experience immensely, but will be looking forward to what the new DT has in store for us.
Now please join our next DT member
Little Miss Crafter (Jamie) and enjoy her scrappy space. I can't wait to see where she does her work.
Here is the project that I have started for this challenge (I have not finished it yet - there are only 35 stars on it so far and nothing is attached yet). It is from the July 4th when my DS was 1.
