Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
One of my goals today is to organize my stamp space- might take more than one day! I have just recently bought two paper pads from LSS and have lots of single pages that I have bought when they are on sale. I'm not sure how to store them. I have a expandable file thingy and thought about sorting them by color. However, if they color is mainly purple that doesn't necessarily mean I will use it on a purple card. And a lot of the papers have so many colors in them that it would be hard to name one color to file it under. Am I making sense? Do you leave your pads together or take it all apart and store it somehow? I am not really ina position to go buy some fancy storage thing nor do I have room! Thanks for any suggestions!
Right now, I don't have a ton of patterned paper. I started out buying SU designer prints, and I keep all of them together in a single decofile folder (I'm a CM rep, and I really like to use those folders for my paper. I know that other companies make similar folders.) I sort my solids by color and added this one for prints.
OK, now I'm buying more non-SU products ... thanks to the enablers on this board! I have my pads still together because that helps me know who makes the paper, and I end up just flipping through the pad to see if anything strikes my fancy for a project. The loose sheets are lumped together in another decofile folder (so I have one for SU prints and one for non-SU loose prints).
If I lived in a perfect world and had an entire room to play, I'd separate my prints into major color groups, and I would catalog my prints so I knew what I had ... a tip I learned from Amy Westerman's blog here
I have a standing rolling rack thingie that I bought at AC Moore. I have my basic grey, TAC & SU and other 12x12 papers in there. I keep it in the closet of my craft room to minimize light exposure. I also have one of those 12x12 files with pockets. I put smaller pieces leftover when I cut a large piece. Works for me!
__________________ My Gallery Team Jasper! "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" Mt. 6:21
Anne,
thanks for posting the link to her blog. We discussed in crop a lot of times about how to keep track of what papers/embellishments that we're using for layouts/cards. The information is required when submitting work for publication.
I'm in the process of a major move out of state and from a big 2 story Vict. to a smaller 2 bedroom ranch. Everything is having to be condensed and organized storage is a must.
I've started storing my paper in the cropper hopper paper totes. they're about 12.5x12.5 and hold 200 sheets of paper. I'm putting them in main color families. Shapes are stored in their own-ie stripes, geometrics, florals, etc. I bought all our local $ Tree had (12) and need about another 12-15 more.
the only slabs I'm keeping together are the Girl Scout slabs from K & Company and the Once Upon A Time slab from Die Cuts. Everything else is coming apart and separated.
I love the 6 cube wire storage that you can get at target for around $13 (they're always on sale). For my paper, I assembled 2 of the cubes vertically. Then, I use the extra grid pieces to divide each of the cubes into thirds, securing them with cable zip ties. I have accumulated the Iris 12x12 scrapping boxes and they fit perfectly in the sections. The boxes are about $5 each, but I bought them, one at a time with 40% coupons so they end up being $3. I would snap a pic and post it but my digi cam crapped out. If you would really like to see a pic, I can use dh's cam later this afternoon and post, just let me know.
As for sorting the paper, I sorted by color, but I am thinking of switching to sorting by pattern type. The boxes hold A LOT of paper, probably 300+ sheets each. I also have a couple of 12x12 letter trays that I use on my table top to hold the papers I'm thinking about using for a project. I think I paid $5 for a set of 2. Probably wouldn't make good long-term storage b/c of dust and light but it works to keep materials nearby.
HTH!!
__________________ An - SCS member #44271 "I'm a mystery wrapped in a riddle, covered with chocolate sprinkles." - Cookie Monster my tiny gallery
I have the wire cube thing in my room, and I love it. But I have way more paper than it holds! LOL! So I have an old dresser that i use in addition. I keep the brands sorted int here and have a little room for other stuff.
I use the Cropper Hopper plastic things too (they store the paper vertically) and basically keep them organized by manufacturer (since there are some companies that I have a LOT of patterned paper from!! Like Basic Grey, Chatterbox etc etc etc) - I prefer having it all stored vertically as I'm getting to the point where I have a LOT of patterned paper (and 12x12 CS) and it's easier to get at it this way.
I use the Cropper Hopper plastic things too (they store the paper vertically) and basically keep them organized by manufacturer (since there are some companies that I have a LOT of patterned paper from!! Like Basic Grey, Chatterbox etc etc etc) - I prefer having it all stored vertically as I'm getting to the point where I have a LOT of patterned paper (and 12x12 CS) and it's easier to get at it this way.
My system is similar using those 12x12 vertical holders. Some are sorted by manufacturer and others are clumped by what it is:
Christmas/ other holidays
floral
solid
geometic
Stampin' Up color families
Stampin' Up neutrals, specialty, designer
I bought the 12 x 12 craft keepers when they were on sale for $1 at Michaels. I have a seperate one for each holiday etc. I need to get more next time they are on sale.
I organized my cardstock by color (combining SU, CTMH, Bazzill and Prism together as I don't need to know who made it) and my patterned paper by manufacturer. I am using the black Oxford Decoflex containers from Office Depot (must order them online--they no longer carry them in the stores) as they hold about twice as much as the CH vertical holders and they are sturdier. I kept my CH vertical files to store my monthly scrapbook kits (used small CH storage inside the vertical files).
Kristen
I use the Cropper Hopper vertical storage as well. I really like it...doesn't take up too much space and it also has dividers available to further organize your papers. Cropper Hopper also sells the same vertical storage in other sizes...to fit 8x8, 6x6, 8 1/2 x 11, etc.
Because I have sooooooo much paper, I've had to get more organized too.
My solids go in the big tower paper holder from ACM.
My SU prints go in a plastic 12 X 12 3 drawer thing from WalMart/Target. (this is how I used to store my solids so I have a lot of them)
My pads stay all together and are stacked. (I rip off the top page if it shows all the patterns and hang that on the wall.)
I also bought a bunch of those IRis plastic 12 X 12 cases. (They're on sale at Michaels this week!) These I use for paper I don't use all the time. They are labeled and I have one for Fall/Thanksgiving, Christmas, Baby and Africa/Animals (I collect this paper, in hopes that one day I will finally be able to scrapbook my honeymoon safari to Kenya!
Other patterned paper goes either in the plastic 3 drawer thing filed by: vellum, flowers, geometric, and I actually have an "ugly" file!
I also have the cheap plastic 12 X 12 envelopes for: birthday, kids stuff (fire trucks, baseball, etc.), food/party, nature, etc.
So far it seems to be working OK. I am usually able to find things. My issue is letting paper stack up before I file it!
for patterened paper, I use a vertical system, and alphabetized by seasons, and themes. I use my pattern paper also for cards. Besides the seasons,
I have holiday, masculine, feminine, kids, sports, camping, heritage, vellum, Misc. etc
I use the cropper hopper paper organizers for my patterned paper (by brand). I stopped buying 12x12 cardstock. I store my 8 1/2x11 cardstock in a mobile file cart. (Metal rack that holds hanging file folders) Most of my cardstock is SU so I put a tab on the folder with the color name. I roll it under my table when not in use and it keeps the dust out. And roll it out when needed! It's worked out GREAT!
How do you store patterend paper?
