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I'm pretty bad about cleaning up too but after staining a couple stamps pretty badly due to ink being left on too long, I learned my lesson (about the ink on stamps anyway. paper scraps don't stain! ;) ) I line an embossing/glitter tray that I never use (too hard to clean out the spout area all the time) with a wet paper towel and lay the stamps ink side down on it after stamping but before I am ready to clean. that way the ink stays semi-moist so it's easier to clean up when I'm ready, or I can reink and use again if I like the results of my card want to make duplicates.
for paper scraps, I keep a handled paper bag next to my trash can for recycling and I sometimes riffle through to see if there's anything I can reuse before taking it out to the recycling bin. that way I don't feel too bad about throwing away possibly reusable scraps and also won't feel nasty sticking my hand in the trash can. it's also incentive to throw away mess because it's ready to go if I feel like I need to make a clean sweep sometimes.
I clean my stamps and usually put them away. Paper scraps are left until projects are complete. That could sometimes be days depending on how big/many projects I'm doing. I've found I actually use those scraps if they're right there in front of me. Well, actually in a scrap heap off to the side of me. I'm lucky in that I have a huge counter with seating in a bonus room to stamp on and can leave stuff out and close the door behind me.
__________________ Amy - Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means you decide to see beyond the imperfections.
One of these days I should take a picture of my stamping table and upload it! It's always a total mess! I can't seem to stay with the task of cleaning for very long before I start stamping again. It's at the point now where I'm spending more time looking for things than actually stamping! I need to get my daughter over here for an hour or so. She's a real task master and won't let me get off track until it's neat again! She throws stuff out, too! I always have to keep my eye on her! LOL!
__________________ "Life is much too important to be taken seriously." Oscar Wilde Proud to be a member of Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge DT! My BlogMy Gallery
I wish I could clean as I go, but.....I did learn the hard way, close the ink pad when you are using more than one at a time. I tend to leave everything 'til I'm done, then I clean the stamps and put everything away.
I usually clean my stamps as I go. However, I usually have a huge mess of paper, embellishments and ink pads all over. I'm kinda anal about cleaning the stamp right away to scared to wreck them.
I sure try, but usually I fail. What ends up happening most of the time is I leave a big mess that doesn't get cleaned up until I stamp again. Then I have to clean everything up before I start. I think I need a better system!
Ahh, I've been stamping for 10 years now and I still can't get this one down. My friend and I have a joke bc when my DH would come through when we're working he would say, "That would be alot easier if you would just CLEAR YOUR AREA!" Now we always chant "Clear your area!" (In a mocking voice, of course) but we never learn!!! I always start out that way, vowing to put stuff away as I go. But soon the ideas start firing and I'm like the princess and the pea, stamping on top of a 2-3 foot layer. Good thing I have a fiscars paper cutter. It'll even work upside down (don't ask me how I know!)!!! I always say it's like an archiological dig. The layer on top is the latest project then it goes down from there! The good news is that I can make some really cool things.
Let it go.... CREATE!
I make a huge mess! So, I work on my dining room table--that way, it gets cleaned up every afternoon for dinner. I used to have a stamping table but it just got piled higher and higher until I couldn't use it. For me, having a daily clean up time keeps me more organized and productive.
I always clean my stamps as I go--it's automatic for some odd reason, with me? And, when finished with a project, I put the stamp set away on the shelf. I TRY to file paper scraps as I'm trimming so I don't have that stuff everywhere.
But, I still end up with piles and piles of stuff all around me--usually patterns or templates laying out that need to be refiled, and magazines for inspiration or when I take a break . . .
:( I'm trying to get better at cleaning up the studio once a month, tho . . . and no stamping until it's tidied . . . :eek:
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
My OCD of cleaning is starting to get worse as I get older, and I do now find myself cleaning after each project. It just drives me crazy to have a mess anymore. If anyone would like to be more like me, I can teach a class on developing OCD's. LOL
I have the best intentions, but........today, I had to make two birthday cards for my nephew(my mil asked me to make one for her to give). When I completed the 2nd one, I could not find where I put the 1st, lol!!!! I've got to clean up my mess tomorrow!! I cleaned up all of the stamps (at least I think that I got them all)!!
Thank goodness there are other "piler-uppers" besides me out there in the stamping world! Did you know you can cut paper mid-air with the Fiskars paper cutter??!! That's right, there was nowhere to set it down on the table! LOL I do clean my stamps within 5 minutes of using them, just hate to have them dirty, and don't want to ruin any ink pads! And I agree you must move or close the colors you aren't using to avoid mistakes!!!
I wish there was a revolving filing system for all the embellishments and stuff and a little robot to put them all away! We could just push buttons and it would all be nicely put away.... OK, OK, I'm getting crazy now....
Have a great week, everyone!!!
Diane
__________________ ~Women and cats will do as they please; men and dogs should just get used to it!~
I do think it is better to clean as you go. I do not like stained stamps and find that I am in control of my stamps if I clean as you go! My DH is a neat freak and after 44 years of marriage, I am too....... I really do think it is easier to to keep control of what you are doing.
I end up with a huge mess too! I do clean my stamps right away and always close my stamp pads but I always end up pulling out this or that paper or ribbon to see what will work so have those all over....plus scraps, mistakes, embellishments, etc. I find there are crafting days and there are cleaning days. Sometimes it's such a mess I can't even get inspired to work on anything until it's tidied up! Glad to hear I'm not the only one!
As I said before, I do like to be neat. BUT I do make quite a mess when I am creating "HA HA"! It is chaosis while I am doing a card but I do like to come back to a clean page. My DH, who is a neat freak--even corners magazines on a table, wonders why I creat such a mess when creating a card. Just remember, we can make a mess but we can also clean it if we want too!
I think I am an in-betweenie, lol. I have to clean my stamps immediately, I just cannot stand stains on my stamp. My baby wipe bill is enormous (it's what I use to clean my stamps, alcohol free, of course).
But I do have stuff everywhere. I keep everything in clear boxes, so I always have a box of white card, a box of inks, a box of embossing powders, my box of tools and my cutter on the table.
But everything else, like boxes of stamps, ribbons, eyelets, other embellishments etc. get put away.
I too work on my dining table so it has to be put away every night. Sometimes I am neater than others at putting the things away.
I always clean my stamps as I go--it's automatic for some odd reason, with me? And, when finished with a project, I put the stamp set away on the shelf. I TRY to file paper scraps as I'm trimming so I don't have that stuff everywhere.
But, I still end up with piles and piles of stuff all around me--usually patterns or templates laying out that need to be refiled, and magazines for inspiration or when I take a break . . .
:( I'm trying to get better at cleaning up the studio once a month, tho . . . and no stamping until it's tidied . . . :eek:
Ditto!
I'm committed to a once-a-month tidy now that I have a stamp camp each month in my craft room! Of course that doesn't stop me from just piling "stuff" in boxes to sort/put away later!
__________________ Liz
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless ~ Mother Teresa
My mantra used to be "There's a desk under this pile!?!! Now I have a room twice the size of the old area. There are shelf units on 3 sides. I designated areas in each unit for the different products I have. In each section I put a small basket to dump things back into quick. Once a week I'll go around and put away what's in the baskets. Yeah, sure. I'll try. LOL
It is all within reach so it is very easy to put stamps and tools away. I found a tall Fellows round (it turns!) cassette holder. I glued the boxes in from the ink families so they fit and all the extra fit above the boxes. It has a nice flat top so I'm going to glue a basket there for small stuff. I have a space on a shelf for it so when I'm not creating I can set it away.
The best thing I found to use was a long wire rack shelf (They're used to create space in your cupboards for more than one layer of plates or pots.) I have that on my desk area, it creates a space to set stuff up from the ink area as I work.
I'll try to get a digital picture taken (I have to borrow a camera) then get something posted.
One of these days I should take a picture of my stamping table and upload it! It's always a total mess! I can't seem to stay with the task of cleaning for very long before I start stamping again.
My dear, I've seen your gallery. If your mess is the secret to your success (and you DO have an amazing gallery full of awesome talent!!) then I'm gonna stay messy too!! ;)
In reality, I'm with someone else here who classified themselves as an 'in betweenie'. I like it clean before I start creating, but it has a tendency to get pretty cluttered (doesn't cluttered sound better than 'messy'? LOL) as I'm working. I do clean my stamps as I go and stack paper scraps to the side to re-file 'later'. (notice, I said "refile LATER" .... though I'm not going to admit how much "later" it can be sometimes...LOL).
I'm getting better about putting away other things (embellishments, etc) as I go, but heck, it still manages to get so cluttered!
Of course, when your stamping space is fairly small, it's easy for it to clutter up pretty quickly. BUT...I'm not complaining because I'm just totally thrilled to even *have* my own (small) stamping room (since I shared my 'space' with a corner of the family room in our previous house...talk about CLUTTER! LOL)
__________________ ~Sheri
"I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to."
"When we forgive, we free ourselves from the bitter ties that bind us to the one who hurt us."
I think I'm a "wanna be" neat freak. I am, but then a lot of times I am not. I stamp like I cook, every drawer and door ajar, pans and pots everywhere, dishes piled in the sink, ingredients laid all over the counter.... when I am in the "mode" my stamp desk looks just like that.
I do manage to clean my stamps fairly often, sometimes I even put them in the boxes. But they don't get put away until I am done for the day/evening. I have a little box to my right where I keep card fronts, etc., and most of the time my larger scraps go in there. I'm getting a lot better about actually throwing away the tiny scraps instead of saying, "I might use these sometime!"
I am trying to do better, I am trying to do, I am trying to, I am trying, I am....Oh Well! I give up!
__________________ I stamp ~ therefore....I work!
NavyWifeArmyMom Come Visit Me At ... A Work In Progress
I have a small area in which to stamp, so I try to keep things picked up as much as possible. I always clean my stamps right away. Unfinished projects are kept in a basket. All my stuff is in baskets (one of these days I'll have to straighten out the baskets...sigh).
The little scraps, along with shredded stuff, makes great fillers for packages, but that in itself creates another mess.........
I clean as I go, especially my stamps. After I finish a card/project I have to put everything away before starting on a new card/project. I must admit I am a bit of a neat freak and I like everything in its place or I just can not think clearly ;)
My work area usually looks like the catty exploded, and having kids I am often interupted mid project. I finally found something that makes things manageable.
I like to use medium size pizza boxes for my work in progress (scrapbooking pages). I have several projects going at once, each has it's own box. In it I keep the photos, papers, sketches, embelishments.... I like to do my work in batches, so I take down a box work on titles or journaling or cropping, and when I have to stop I toss everything back in the box. The box is often a mess, but everything I need is in that box, and when I close the box a bulk of my work space is clean. Depending on what I am doing I may work right in the lid, and if I need space on my work top, I don't have to pick up a bunch of little items, just the box. When the pages are complete they go in page protectors and when I have the time I clean out the box and then fill it up with another project.
I also use this system for demo's - most everything I need for a project fits in the box. I demo the project, dump stuff in the box, and pull out the next box.
What a COOL idea!!! Do you do this for stamping as well, or do you stamp? Right now I TRY to keep works in progress in qt. size freezer baggies with the swap "ingredients" or whatever project I happen to be working on. This is an idea I might have to think about and maybe CASE!!
__________________ I stamp ~ therefore....I work!
NavyWifeArmyMom Come Visit Me At ... A Work In Progress
I am usually a half and half type person, there are days when I right away clean up my mess and other days that I don't and those are the days that I tend to make a mess that no government would want to help clean.
Today I was busy stampin up a storm when I dropped my basic black ink pad, you guessed it, ink side down right on top of my fine dining room table. i have been harassing my DH to build me a scrappin table out of some plywood but he's been procastinating for quite sometime. I know that i can somehow blame this on him......
__________________ IF YOU'RE NOT THE LEAD HORSE,
THE VIEW IS ALWAYS THE SAME. COME SEE WHAT HAPPENS AT MY Get Away
New Stamping Concept?
Clean as you go!
