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I'm a messy crafter. Worse, I'm a CLUTTERBUG!
Thankfully, my house hasn't reached hoarder proportions, but you'd not know it by looking at the mess in my little 9'x10' craft (ie:craft/office/junk) room.
I don't plan on purchasing the scraprack (it is sooo expensive and it takes up a lot of space that I can't spare), but I think her sorting ideas are great. (ie: sort by Alpha-Numbers; Theme A-Z; Calendar Year; and the Rainbow. I think this method might actually work for me! I really want this organization project to be my last one. If it works, maybe I'll actually have some space to craft!
Anyway, I wanted to post here in case anyone else wanted to jump in. There's a free online video workshop (at the link above) in case anyone else wants to get a head start on New Year organizing. :-)
I have been purging and reorganizing my space all day. It was so horrific I could hardly move in my chair without running into anything. I'm a little scared that the scrapbook teacher at the middle school is going to either hate me or love me for all the paper I am about to dump off on her. It's well over a foot tall. No joke. Let's not forget all the embellishments I've purged as well. HUGE bag full of stuff. I've also cleaned out punches. Scads and scads of punches. I can't wait until all this stuff is out of the room. It's not about the money spent. It's about my sanity!
Wow, a foot of paper to giveaway? You must have a lot of paper! My entire paper collection is just more than 2 feet, but takes up more space because I've got it sitting upright in holders with room to add more.
While I don't have a lot of anything, except maybe embellishments, I'll probably do some purging as well. I've decided that my craft items are going to have a place ... a place for everything and everything in its place. If I can't find a place for something, it's going to go!
Melissa, I'm so with you! I'm constantly organizing/reorganizing my craft room. I see a post on here and think I should do that or I should try that! Right now my craft room is a little out of sorts due to Christmas decorating and having to move things around! I'm also still in the process of un - mounting my wooden block stamps this has been a task for over a year! There are times when I cant go in my craft room because this thing called life seems to be so busy at times! Between work, kids, and after school activities there isn't enough time in a day!
I sure miss having the time to go into my room and play!
I often feel that I spend more time organizing than I do crafting, but after several years of perpetual organizing, I've concluded, "it's what I do!" LOL I always get excited when I have a new idea of making my space more functional. I want everything to be within reach. I don't want to have to haul my generous bottom off the chair and walk 2 steps to get something. Perhaps if I did, my bottom would be less generous? LOL
I have recently taken up a new hobby, and that is woodworking. I blame it on stamping and organizing my craft room. I started making my own punch and ribbon racks, and went on to make paper racks and most recently a ginormous work table. I should have stuck with stamping because I could have purchased several stamping stores with the money I've spent collecting pretty yellow power tools.
I think what I should probably be doing is organizing other people. I enjoy it so much more than crafting. Something aint right in Denmark LOL
__________________ �:*�*:�My next house won't have a kitchen. Just a bunch of vending machines and garbage cans.�:*�*:�
I knew I had a lot of stuff, but never realized just how much til we pulled it all out to put new floors in over the summer. Since then, I have been going thru and getting rid of things. I have a couple of friends at work and have been giving them some of the stuff. I still have a ways to go, but it is getting there. I will be at a stand still until after Christmas, but then it will be purging time again. It feels good to get rid of stuff and hopefully enjoy making stuff rather than picking up all of the time!
I have recently taken up a new hobby, and that is woodworking. I blame it on stamping and organizing my craft room. I started making my own punch and ribbon racks, and went on to make paper racks and most recently a ginormous work table. I should have stuck with stamping because I could have purchased several stamping stores with the money I've spent collecting pretty yellow power tools.
Oooh, I am SOOO jealous!
Back when I was married, I tried to encourage my then hubby to buy a table saw and router and start doing some woodworking. He wasn't interested. So, one year, I asked for a router for Christmas. I guess he thought I was joking, because he gave me a bread machine instead.
Actually, I think the tools would be cheap compared to the cost of wood. I think about how much paper I waste trying to make a card or scrapbook layout and wonder many thousands of dollars worth of wood it would cost for me to make a shelf. LOL
Sometimes, i wonder why i enjoy organizing more than crafting!
I love having a really clean and organized craft room, but I only like to organize when it is a mess (and it is one right now!)
I don't think it matters how big your space is,,,you will mess it up, LOL
I often feel that I spend more time organizing than I do crafting, but after several years of perpetual organizing, I've concluded, "it's what I do!" LOL I always get excited when I have a new idea of making my space more functional. I want everything to be within reach. I don't want to have to haul my generous bottom off the chair and walk 2 steps to get something. Perhaps if I did, my bottom would be less generous? LOL
I have recently taken up a new hobby, and that is woodworking. I blame it on stamping and organizing my craft room. I started making my own punch and ribbon racks, and went on to make paper racks and most recently a ginormous work table. I should have stuck with stamping because I could have purchased several stamping stores with the money I've spent collecting pretty yellow power tools.
I think what I should probably be doing is organizing other people. I enjoy it so much more than crafting. Something aint right in Denmark LOL
One year when we were broke and my husband was laid off, I asked him to make me a ink pad storage unit(was drooling over some on line) I have to say its one of the best presents he ever gave me. I love it and it works perfectly! So, keep up the woodworking hobby, cuz it will keep you organized!
Oooh, I am SOOO jealous!
Back when I was married, I tried to encourage my then hubby to buy a table saw and router and start doing some woodworking. He wasn't interested. So, one year, I asked for a router for Christmas. I guess he thought I was joking, because he gave me a bread machine instead.
Actually, I think the tools would be cheap compared to the cost of wood. I think about how much paper I waste trying to make a card or scrapbook layout and wonder many thousands of dollars worth of wood it would cost for me to make a shelf. LOL
My husband always jokes that the quickest road to divorce is to give a kitchen appliance as a gift LOL Tools on the other hand . . . a completely different story. *snort*
O'm'gosh! I'm so afraid to make a mistake because it's not like paper. Toss the board in the trash and grab another one! I'd go broke in a day! LOL
__________________ �:*�*:�My next house won't have a kitchen. Just a bunch of vending machines and garbage cans.�:*�*:�
Melissa - I hear you! I've been listeningi to Tiffany Spaulding's webinar too. Makes sense to me. I've been trying to organize more like her categories. I should quit buying stuff so I didn't need to continually re-organize to fit it all in. That's my 2012 goal. - purge and organize for the last time!!
My husband always jokes that the quickest road to divorce is to give a kitchen appliance as a gift LOL Tools on the other hand . . . a completely different story.
To make matters worse, I was on a diet that Christmas. Fresh baked bread and butter were the last things I needed. But it got even worse when he said, "Now you can make me fresh bread for work every morning." (and no, he wasn't joking) This is the same guy who also gave me bed pillows for my birthday one year. Is it no wonder that we are divorced? LOL
To make matters worse, I was on a diet that Christmas. Fresh baked bread and butter were the last things I needed. But it got even worse when he said, "Now you can make me fresh bread for work every morning." (and no, he wasn't joking) This is the same guy who also gave me bed pillows for my birthday one year. Is it no wonder that we are divorced? LOL
Oh my! Someone missed out on the Sensitivity Gene on handout day! LOL
I completely understand! One year for Mother's Day my ex gave me a card, that I know killed him to part with is precious $4 then promtply asked for $100 so he can go to the hutterite colony to buy some fresh chickens. Needless to say, that was the beginning of the end. LOL Here's your sign!
__________________ �:*�*:�My next house won't have a kitchen. Just a bunch of vending machines and garbage cans.�:*�*:�
I love to organize my space!! I take it a little at a time though. I pick an area or an item and just work on that, and then stop for a week or so. But I definitely spend most of my time organizing and splitcoasting over creating. As long as I'm happy, right?
My husband always jokes that the quickest road to divorce is to give a kitchen appliance as a gift LOL Tools on the other hand . . . a completely different story. *snort*
Hey, I love kitchen appliances as gifts!! My Kitchenaid Pro was one of my best Xmas presents and I use it all the time! However, if you are talking about my MIL, it's a correct statement, LOL.
The best thing I ever did was de-clutter and get rid of a lot of my stuff. I moved it into the basement and told myself that if I didn't go down to get any of it in 6 months I was donating it or selling it. And I did- haven't looked back since.
I paired down my craft "stuff" by half and now try to keep it that way. I have one bookshelf that I have to fit all of my supplies in. If it doesn't fit- I can't have it. It's easier to say no in the beginning for me than to buy something and have to get rid of it after.
lol, the best organizational tip I got was to STOP organizing. I know many of us have fallen into the crime of OVER organizing stuff.
Remember back in the eyelet and brad phase? I had no less than EIGHT bead containers full of tiny embellishments, the long ones with 12 compartments. Every time I bought another package of eyelets I needed another container!
We won't get started on what happened the years I spent on my beading and jewelry making passion.....Or the hours spent organizing every color of DMC floss and storing quilt fat quarters.
I finally decided on the "Unorganized Organization" method. I have 6 large 12x13 paper trays, the flat black plastic ones. 1-cardstocks (arranged by color family, rainbow), 2-solid papers, 3-scrapbook paper, 4-specialty paper, 5-vellum and parchment, 6-gift wrap (the expensive parent sheet kind). Things are contained by general type, and sorted in that container usually by color. Drawers and ziplock bags - I had a serious Prima flower problem that still haunts me. It all goes in the "supply closet".
Yes, I have to dig, but not much. I found my creativity increased, my output increased and my buying decreased. I don't have as much "scrap". I have more room for tools and non-consumables. Instead of buying the whole "scrap pad", I go in search of 2 sheets of the patterns I'd actually use. Yeah, the $19.95 seems like a good deal, but not when I end up storing 40% of the product I will never use.
It's like going to the grocery store and buying a half gallon of milk instead of a gallon. It is just me, there is NO way I can drink a full gallon of milk before it expires. The half gallon may be more expensive per unit, but I'm using all of it, so my money isn't getting poured down the drain. I'm not going to store the heels of bread, it would take far to long to save enough to make croutons, and I don't like the heels - so I feed the birds with it.
And I have ONE drawer for socks. I don't have a drawer for black socks, one for gym socks and a separate one for colored socks. So, why spend money on all this plastic storage ware, when I can just take an extra two seconds to find something. I can spend the money and use the space for other pursuits.
I paired down my craft "stuff" by half and now try to keep it that way. I have one bookshelf that I have to fit all of my supplies in. If it doesn't fit- I can't have it. It's easier to say no in the beginning for me than to buy something and have to get rid of it after.
I have promised myself that, at least in my craft room, I would have A Place for Everything, and Everything in its Place. When I'm done sorting, cleaning, organizing and putting away, if something doesn't have a place, it's going to go.
Although I have plenty of organizing still to do. I identify with this. When I first set up my Memento drawers (small drawers) I had them in color coded rows... that lasted about a nano second. Now I know what is important is to be able to open the drawer to find a Memento inkpad by sight. Although don't you dare put a pen out of place in my Copic storage!:razz:
I often feel that I spend more time organizing than I do crafting, but after several years of perpetual organizing, I've concluded, "it's what I do!" LOL I always get excited when I have a new idea of making my space more functional. .........
I think what I should probably be doing is organizing other people. I enjoy it so much more than crafting. Something aint right in Denmark LOL
I think we are related because this is exactly me! I'm always reorganizing trying for that perfect order, then just when it seems ok I find a better way! Or just a "cuter more stylish looks better" way. LOL
__________________ Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
I think we are related because this is exactly me! I'm always reorganizing trying for that perfect order, then just when it seems ok I find a better way! Or just a "cuter more stylish looks better" way. LOL
I organize more than craft and am always looking and thinking about new ways to arrange everything. My goal for this year is to complete one last re-organization and get on with scrapping. I have moved my room around so much I think I am back where I started a few years ago!!!!
The best part of all the re-organizing is seeing all the cool stuff I have!!!! Fun!
I checked out the link in the OP. I'm going to try getting organized along those lines. I need to do something as I have no natural born talent to organize anything.
I have joined the Get Organized series. I've been working on it since last year when she did the first webinar. It's a great method for me and I have found that once I get it into my new "system", it stays organized. I do have the ScrapRack and it has made a huge difference in being able to find what I'm looking for. But you are right about being able to use the organizing system without the SR.
To make matters worse, I was on a diet that Christmas. Fresh baked bread and butter were the last things I needed. But it got even worse when he said, "Now you can make me fresh bread for work every morning." (and no, he wasn't joking) This is the same guy who also gave me bed pillows for my birthday one year. Is it no wonder that we are divorced? LOL
I got a vacuum cleaner on our first Valentines day after we were married.
Hey, I love kitchen appliances as gifts!! My Kitchenaid Pro was one of my best Xmas presents and I use it all the time! However, if you are talking about my MIL, it's a correct statement, LOL.
But that's not an appliance. That's a tool!
__________________ Diana
*******
Save your drama for your llama.
My KitchenAid mixer has been a real blessing! But Diana is right. It's a tool, one that I begged for when my electric hand mixer bogged down and gave up the ghost while I was mixing frosting for a cake decorating class.
A vacuum, however, is nothing like a mixer. There's nothing fun or creative about it. But it is a necessity if you've got carpet (which I no longer have). My parents gave me a vacuum for my 21st birthday. Somehow, there just seems to be something very, very wrong with turning 21 and getting a vacuum cleaner.
BTW ... sorting my solid cardstock was so easy using the RAINBOW method. But sorting my printed paper has been harder. If a paper is pink on side and green on the other, does it go in with the pinks or the greens? If a red page is distressed, do I put it with the reds or in the Vintage (theme) section?
Finally, I took the suggestion of others who've done this and started going with my first impulse. I'm trying not to overthink things. As Tiffany says, if something seems like it doesn't belong, I can move it to a better place later.
I'm so glad I looked at this thread. I thought there was something wrong with me because I enjoy organizing my craft things and tend to do that way more than craft..lol I began to wonder if I only bought crafts so I could have a special room just for me to organize..lol The rest of the house isn't so organized, I try but we are 6 people on one house and no one else seems to have the same bug as I do. I've tried to "rub off" on the others but they seem to be immune...lol
Now that I see I'm "normal" I will happily continue to organize and reorganize (if I see a better system) my stuff. I will craft when I am resting and not sweat the small stuff.
I am going to check out the link that was put up in the original message. I must admit that I don't know how to organize everything I have. I'm not sure how to put them together where they would fit with other items in a group. Mostly it's those obscure things one buys because they think they have a great idea for a card but forget what it was when they get home...lol
I have loads of paper and have no intention on getting rid of any. I really like the fellowship opportunity that stamping / scrapping (though I'm not a great scrapper--very intimidating..lol) gives me and if I only kept the colors that I like maybe someone comes over who likes the opposite colors..lol or what if I get a wild hair and actually get inspiration using pastels and don't have any?
Anyway, Thank you all for sharing your experience and for being so real. It helps
The upcoming organization seminar will begin in January and will include all 8 topics, instead of the 5 listed in the original post. I may not make it to the live webinar gatherings, but I plan to follow along as best I can without buying any new storage stuff.
Still love to organize and love to purge too!
Two missions in 2012...organize my paper (saw how one demonstrator did it with a shopping cart, OMG, I now need a shopping cart!)
give away my samples....I have so many samples and cards, that they are overflowing and threatening to topple! No good way, that I have found yet, to bring them to workshops (the 3-d items) and display, so I just need to give them away! Last time i did this i filled one of my children's bedrooms with samples and let my class attendees go at them(well, they earned points from purchases and could pick anything up to their point limit)
My stamp sets and stuff are pretty well organized, the worst things are the stuff I have collected, JUST IN CASE, containers, bits of ribbon, things to decorate, and the things from crafts i used to do....just can't seem to part with those things!
WOW!!! I am so glad that I am not alone with this issue. Maybe there is a 12 step program for stampers and scrapbookers. SSA - Stampers and Scrapbookers Anonymous
I think you have to use the one year rule, if you haven't used it in a year, donate it
Oh my! Someone missed out on the Sensitivity Gene on handout day! LOL
I completely understand! One year for Mother's Day my ex gave me a card, that I know killed him to part with is precious $4 then promtply asked for $100 so he can go to the hutterite colony to buy some fresh chickens. Needless to say, that was the beginning of the end. LOL Here's your sign!
I don't know...I'm thinking I can top that card story. LOL. For my birthday one year my EX bought me the only card he ever gave me. On the front it read, "To someone nice to know." You know the kind...not, "wife" or "darling" or "sweetheart,"...just "Someone Nice to Know."
Reading Melissa's quest for organizing and your responses, I'm thinking we need to send you gals over to the Pay It Forward thread. If you can handle the cost of postage to send some of your unwanted treasures, there's lots of gals over there that will take it off your hands. Forums at Splitcoaststampers
AND, who knows, you might find "stuff" to replace the "stuff" you're getting rid of! Merry Christmas, Everyone!
...Reading Melissa's quest for organizing and your responses, I'm thinking we need to send you gals over to the Pay It Forward thread. If you can handle the cost of postage to send some of your unwanted treasures, there's lots of gals over there that will take it off your hands. Forums at Splitcoaststampers
AND, who knows, you might find "stuff" to replace the "stuff" you're getting rid of! Merry Christmas, Everyone!
I'm going to check it out but I don't usually get rid of anything I just simply move it around. LOL
__________________ Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
WOW!!! I am so glad that I am not alone with this issue. Maybe there is a 12 step program for stampers and scrapbookers. SSA - Stampers and Scrapbookers Anonymous
I think you have to use the one year rule, if you haven't used it in a year, donate it
merry christmas to all
I made this up a while back, I hope you enjoy it.
THE SUPPLY COLLECTORS TWELVE STEPS
1. We admitted we were powerless over craft supplies - that our lives (or at least our space) had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that our sister crafters could help us return to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to ourselves and not be influenced by coupons and bargains.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of all our supplies.
5. Admitted to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our shopping.
6. Were entirely ready to realize that shopping is not a defect of character. We are not bad people for buying supplies, we just buy too much of what we don�t need.
7. Humbly asked ourselves �Do we really need to buy this?�
8. Made a list of all persons and places we could donate to and became willing to do so.
9. Made direct donations to such people or places wherever possible, except when they really didn�t want our supplies.
10. Continued to take inventory of our supplies and when we were overstocked promptly admitted it.
11. Sought though creating and using our existing products to improve our space and our mojo.
I don't know...I'm thinking I can top that card story. LOL. For my birthday one year my EX bought me the only card he ever gave me. On the front it read, "To someone nice to know." You know the kind...not, "wife" or "darling" or "sweetheart,"...just "Someone Nice to Know."
My ex-mom-in-law still jokes about the Mother's Day card she received from my ex-hubby. It said, "To My Best Friend's Mother". Uh, yeah. He put a lot of thought into that one! LOL
Quote:
Originally Posted by RavioliGirl
Reading Melissa's quest for organizing and your responses, I'm thinking we need to send you gals over to the Pay It Forward thread. If you can handle the cost of postage to send some of your unwanted treasures, there's lots of gals over there that will take it off your hands. Forums at Splitcoaststampers
AND, who knows, you might find "stuff" to replace the "stuff" you're getting rid of! Merry Christmas, Everyone!
Yes, I think you are right! That's the perfect place for people to start downsizing their stash!
1. We admitted we were powerless over craft supplies - that our lives (or at least our space) had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that our sister crafters could help us return to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to ourselves and not be influenced by coupons and bargains . . .
This is a GREAT 12-step list!
I don't have a ton of stuff, like some people do. What I do have is a very tiny room that is used as a combination office, craft room, storage room. Even so, I'm finding stuff I don't won't use. In going through my stash I came to realize I have three bad habits that I need to break:
1) Buying bunches of stuff because it's on clearance. A great price doesn't make a good deal.
2) Buying stuff I love but am afraid to use because my skills aren't good enough. If I buy it, I need to use it--not save it!
3) Inability to throw anything away. I can give things away, but if I think I've got something nobody will want, I have trouble tossing it in the trash. ie: a single brad that doesn't match anything, stickers, 3" piece of ribbon, etc.
1) Buying bunches of stuff because it's on clearance. A great price doesn't make a good deal.
2) Buying stuff I love but am afraid to use because my skills aren't good enough. If I buy it, I need to use it--not save it!
3) Inability to throw anything away. I can give things away, but if I think I've got something nobody will want, I have trouble tossing it in the trash. ie: a single brad that doesn't match anything, stickers, 3" piece of ribbon, etc.
__________________
AND I SAY, "AMEN TO THAT!' Those three things describe me as well. Very well said, Melissa.
1) Buying bunches of stuff because it's on clearance. A great price doesn't make a good deal.
I felt so proud of myself yesterday when I put down 5 cling stamps sets that were reduced down to $2.99. I need another Christmas stamp set like I need another hole in my head!
I'm tired of organizing more than I craft!
I have had all year and here I am trying to get them done and out in a week 
