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I did this recently and am so happy I did! I have all of my holiday stamps/paper/embelishments together in their own space or container. This freed up loads of space for my "every day" things. I also bid a fond farewell to my Cuttlebug that had been getting no love since I got a Big Kick and the lady that bought it had just started this fabulous hobby so I was happy to pass a few other things along to her. Things that I loved in the beginning but did not use really any more. For me, that's the easiest way to purge is to pass along to someone who will be just as excited to get it as I was back when I got it
Yes and YES! I have major holidays in their own containers and labeled. Easter, 4th of July, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween have their own space.
As far as helping others get into the same hobby...one friend talked about her granddaughter getting into stamping. I sent a bunch of items to her...stamps, ink, stamp blocks, paper, etc. Recently I sent a box to another friend whose daughter is in a Girl Scout troop. In both instances, I used the USPS flat rate boxes. I don't miss ANY of the things I gave away.
i am really struggling with two areas right now:
--cards i have received over the years that i cannot part with
--little scraps (partially completed cards or tags, die-cuts or punched-out items i haven't used, magazine images that were cool, pages that were made with gelli plates or other techniques that i love, dsp scraps) ----- not sure how to sort them.
Hi Lela,
Do you have a binding machine, like a Bind-It-All or Cinch, or can do a simple binding stitch by hand? I like making junk journals and altered books, and most of the things, including the cards, you have would be perfect for those!
I have a 3-ring binder/album with top-loading page protectors to put in pages showing different techniques and samples, so I don't forget how to do something and the examples show the process results too.
I also have a couple of those 31-day accordion/tickler file folders which I label with the category (such as: animals-horses, people-faces, people-silhouettes, words-gratitude, words-love, etc., you get the idea!) for magazine cut-outs or partial items that I can use/alter later.
I've seen some people keep a little container on their desk/craft area to hold bits of ephemera or items that they want to use up. I haven't tried this myself, but maybe that'd work for you.
I have been reading this thread for the last couple of hours. Currently, the entire interior of our house is being painted with closets emptied and the rest pushed to the middle of rooms. Well. Sort of....This is after recarpeting where all floors had to be cleared. My craft supplies are all throughout the house and not sure where anything is for sure. Once painting is done I really want to reload my craft room with 1. What I use, 2. What I like, and 3. Those things I just can't part with at this time.
Thanks, Tisha. If it gives you an example of magnitude - I had at least ten "Creative Memories" accordion files filled with ephemera. That system was partly effective and partly unwieldy due to size. I'm hopeful to put them in a filing cabinet... same idea, with more dedicated room. One hard thing to decide is the categories... and if something gets filed here or into another system.
Love also your junk journal idea for cards. Love that. I used the roll-a-bind system a while ago for postcards and that also had its limits. But I love the hand-stitched idea and junk journal idea. As a matter of fact, some of the cards I am dismembering and putting straight images or meaningful bits onto my junk journal pages.
Thanks, Tisha. If it gives you an example of magnitude - I had at least ten "Creative Memories" accordion files filled with ephemera. That system was partly effective and partly unwieldy due to size. I'm hopeful to put them in a filing cabinet... same idea, with more dedicated room. One hard thing to decide is the categories... and if something gets filed here or into another system.
LOL I tried filing cabinets too and had that problem naming folders. I think lots of artists would have the same problem because we look at inspiring things and get ideas that sometimes go in opposite directions! That makes it difficult to find anything later if you can't remember the name or idea you had in the 1st place either. Then I became very detailed with my listing and the filing cabinet became stuffed with folders and papers that I spent a lot of time organizing but not using. Not fun or creative! I finally had to keep telling myself "Use it now! They'll make more!" If it's something I really love, I use it on whatever I'm making and keeping for myself. Yes, I'm selfish that way! :rolleyes: If it's just something that I like, then I use it on something for someone else to spread the joy.
Even though filing cabinets can work, it was too much for me. I know I can fill up any size space or container I have, but I wanted to make art, not store stuff, so just a couple accordion files with broader, more general categories is easier and more usable. Some categories are for specific projects too and they change periodically. If I have an idea for a specific image, then I write it on the background/margin before filing in my system or glue it in my idea sketchbook and make notes around it, so I can make later.
You might already know this, Lela, but one idea to use up a lot of magazine tearouts is to make a gluebook. Think of it as a book of inspiration boards that can help pare down the pretty & interesting to the cool & awesome.
Even though filing cabinets can work, it was too much for me. I know I can fill up any size space or container I have, but I wanted to make art, not store stuff...
I too have been organizing, labeling, filing - and I will fill up any size container I have. Its business as usual for me to always be on the lookout for a larger container to house X, so I'm going to stop that starting today.
Just recently I had a home insurance inspection, and I had to put it all away and clear the clutter. Everywhere. Hated doing this, but actually loved my house/craft area afterwards and didn't want to start a project and mess it all up.
Through this de-clutter exercise, I did realize that I have spent a lot of money on storage/filing systems. And a lot of thought has gone into these systems. The time... time spent implementing these. I realized that I spend as much time storing, filing, switching storing systems, migrating to bigger storage systems, labeling, cataloguing, re-grouping, etc. than I did using it and making art/cards/presents. That stops this year also. I have gotten to the point that I am buying stuff over again because I don’t know that I already own it, so I started cataloguing it all… This isn’t a business for me, so time spent constantly upgrading my filing systems seems to be missing the mark of the whole hobby.
I've made some new year’s resolutions - the biggest one is to use what I have first. My supplies will last me a lifetime! If I don’t use it in a year, donate the supplies to my local library.
Secondly, use my computer to store tutorials/pictures/sketches/instructions of a process, etc. I will not keep this stuff hard copy any more. I am so tactile, this is hard for me. But my jobs are all going paperless, and I need to also.
Once a month, go through the scrap (yea, I have a huge filing system for scraps) and make cards out of it for charity. I have a ton of 2” and 1” squares/circles (I bought punches so nothing is wasted) that I keep filing, labeling, migrating to bigger files... I need to use it or morph it into something else I will use (confetti?).
Crux of this ramble - I vow to spend more time using the materials than filing, labeling, storing it. I am visual - I need to see stuff to remember I have it, but stuff out all over the place depresses me. So I need to put the stuff away, but rotate it out and use it regularly - or just stop collecting it.
I too have been organizing, labeling, filing - and I will fill up any size container I have. Its business as usual for me to always be on the lookout for a larger container to house X, so I'm going to stop that starting today.
Just recently I had a home insurance inspection, and I had to put it all away and clear the clutter. Everywhere. Hated doing this, but actually loved my house/craft area afterwards and didn't want to start a project and mess it all up.
Through this de-clutter exercise, I did realize that I have spent a lot of money on storage/filing systems. And a lot of thought has gone into these systems. The time... time spent implementing these. I realized that I spend as much time storing, filing, switching storing systems, migrating to bigger storage systems, labeling, cataloguing, re-grouping, etc. than I did using it and making art/cards/presents. That stops this year also. I have gotten to the point that I am buying stuff over again because I don�t know that I already own it, so I started cataloguing it all� This isn�t a business for me, so time spent constantly upgrading my filing systems seems to be missing the mark of the whole hobby.
I've made some new year�s resolutions - the biggest one is to use what I have first. My supplies will last me a lifetime! If I don�t use it in a year, donate the supplies to my local library.
Secondly, use my computer to store tutorials/pictures/sketches/instructions of a process, etc. I will not keep this stuff hard copy any more. I am so tactile, this is hard for me. But my jobs are all going paperless, and I need to also.
Once a month, go through the scrap (yea, I have a huge filing system for scraps) and make cards out of it for charity. I have a ton of 2� and 1� squares/circles (I bought punches so nothing is wasted) that I keep filing, labeling, migrating to bigger files... I need to use it or morph it into something else I will use (confetti?).
Crux of this ramble - I vow to spend more time using the materials than filing, labeling, storing it. I am visual - I need to see stuff to remember I have it, but stuff out all over the place depresses me. So I need to put the stuff away, but rotate it out and use it regularly - or just stop collecting it.
Don't forget to back up EVERYTHING. Too many viruses out there. Also when the Zombie Apocalypse comes you might still need hard copies, cause I am sure the internet and electricity will be down. ;)
__________________ The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable. Practice safe eating always use condiments
I too have been organizing, labeling, filing - and I will fill up any size container I have. Its business as usual for me to always be on the lookout for a larger container to house X, so I'm going to stop that starting today.
Just recently I had a home insurance inspection, and I had to put it all away and clear the clutter. Everywhere. Hated doing this, but actually loved my house/craft area afterwards and didn't want to start a project and mess it all up.
Through this de-clutter exercise, I did realize that I have spent a lot of money on storage/filing systems. And a lot of thought has gone into these systems. The time... time spent implementing these. I realized that I spend as much time storing, filing, switching storing systems, migrating to bigger storage systems, labeling, cataloguing, re-grouping, etc. than I did using it and making art/cards/presents. That stops this year also. I have gotten to the point that I am buying stuff over again because I don�t know that I already own it, so I started cataloguing it all� This isn�t a business for me, so time spent constantly upgrading my filing systems seems to be missing the mark of the whole hobby.
I've made some new year�s resolutions - the biggest one is to use what I have first. My supplies will last me a lifetime! If I don�t use it in a year, donate the supplies to my local library.
Secondly, use my computer to store tutorials/pictures/sketches/instructions of a process, etc. I will not keep this stuff hard copy any more. I am so tactile, this is hard for me. But my jobs are all going paperless, and I need to also.
Once a month, go through the scrap (yea, I have a huge filing system for scraps) and make cards out of it for charity. I have a ton of 2� and 1� squares/circles (I bought punches so nothing is wasted) that I keep filing, labeling, migrating to bigger files... I need to use it or morph it into something else I will use (confetti?).
Crux of this ramble - I vow to spend more time using the materials than filing, labeling, storing it. I am visual - I need to see stuff to remember I have it, but stuff out all over the place depresses me. So I need to put the stuff away, but rotate it out and use it regularly - or just stop collecting it.
I am tactile, too, and just love hardcopies, but also like you, I have begun changing what I can to digital. If I have card ideas or instructions that aren't digital, I'm making up that idea then scanning and storing it in my computer. Loved having samples of all my cards, but the storage got to be way out of control, space-wise.
Don't forget to back up EVERYTHING. Too many viruses out there. Also when the Zombie Apocalypse comes you might still need hard copies, cause I am sure the internet and electricity will be down. ;)
Cannot say this often enough! I had 2 computers die within 6 months of each other. It's painful trying to go back and find some of the files I had. I keep copies of everything important to me on flash drives now and I'm trying to decide which type of portable hard drive to use also.
__________________ Denise
"If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then God is an iron.�
― Spider Robinson
Once a month, go through the scrap (yea, I have a huge filing system for scraps) and make cards out of it for charity. I have a ton of 2� and 1� squares/circles (I bought punches so nothing is wasted)
Sounds perfect for "patchwork" type backgrounds or quilt-design cards.
I have the week off between Christmas and New Years and plan to spend it sorting, organizing and purging in my craft room. I have been in my house for 10 years. It is an old house with "character". My craft room has a smaller room off of it that I use for my sewing room. I have never made a "home" for everything in my craft room, so I can't find half the things I know I have and have duplicates either because I forgot I had something already or buying it again was easier than looking for what I knew had to be there somewhere. I spent this time doing my sewing room a couple of years ago. Other than over flow from the other room I have been able to keep it organized and can actually sew when I want to. I find myself dragging card making supplies down to the dining room table because I can't find the desk top in my craft room. So now I can't find the dining room table either. It is making my crazy. I start back to school in mid January, so if it doesn't get done before then, it won't for a long time. I keep two purge boxes in the upstairs hallway at all times. One is for clothes and household items that go to Goodwill. The other is for crafty items. Some of them go to my sis's former daycare provider and the rest I take the LSS semi-annual rubber rummage sale. That started as a stamp sale and has evolved into anything an anything crafty sale. Purging isn't really my problem, it is finding some place to put everything. I know as I purge the stuff I know I WILL NEVER USE, I will make room for the stuff I love where I can find it to use it.
Now that I have a whole room to myself I am not as tempted to buy as I used to be. I can see most of what I have now and so I don't buy dups or more than I need.
So true. If everything's easily accessible it's obvious what you have, and you can be inspired by it! I do wish I had a good storage solution for my DSP and cardstock. Almost everything else is in my craft towers and readily accessible.
Yay! Just listed a bunch of items here for sale. Luckily I checked terms. I want to sell all of my blendabilities but they are current, so onto ebay they will go. But this is progress.
__________________ aka Sue. Or Sue-odd.
No blog for me. My gallery chronicles my card-making successes and mishaps.
Arlene, shortly after I bought them I decided to take an online copics course, fell in love with copics, and decided to get rid of my blendabilities. It's not that I didn't like them, I like the copics better.
__________________ aka Sue. Or Sue-odd.
No blog for me. My gallery chronicles my card-making successes and mishaps.
Just an fyi about the external HD's. I lost 2 within a 2 year period. GONE all types of irreplaceable pictures, music videos from my family etc. I would recommend dvd storage. You can get a LOT of data on a 4.71 GB disk. I would consider backing up your external drives. When they go, your heart stops. Actually, if you talk to a geek or high techie, you will find that those external drives DIE more than the actual computers. Just an FYI that I would like to put out there.
I back all my stuff in my cloud and DVD's. I refuse to buy and lose 2 terabytes of data again. I have them in the air and on a disc.
I have online backup, and an external hard drive. So if my computer crashes, I'm ok. If my house burns down and I lose both the computer and the hard drive, I'm ok. If hackers take over the net, I'm ok.
Now, if the zombie apocalypse hits and all three stop working, I'm not really going to by worried about my stamp inventory.
__________________ aka Sue. Or Sue-odd.
No blog for me. My gallery chronicles my card-making successes and mishaps.
I myself, do have 2 forms. I agree with you. Everyone should have everything backed up. I use DVDs and my cloud account. My cloud account is probably the safest. I'll never purchase another external drive again. The 2nd drive that died on me, I had barely a year and I barely used. I lost way too much irreplaceable stuff on 2 separate drives.
Sites that offer storage, may say that they think that DVD's aren't a safe form, but I store them carefully and with DVDs I've NEVER lost data ever. I have DVD's full of my music library that is about 1/2 terabyte (500GB). Both my cloud account and DVDs is now my back up of choice. With stuff that is really important to me such as photos, I burn 2 DVD's, the 2nd DVD, I place in a static free sleeve and store in those lovely photo boxes from Michaels. They are in a closet. I've never had to go to them because the 1st DVD is fine.
I do believe that my cloud account is the most reliable. The cloud account too, is very cheap. It's free up to 5 GB then after it's like $12 for 200 GB a year, ($1 a month). I'm still in 5 GB right now. I've only got my photos on it. I'm getting ready to expand and put everything on it.
This lucky girl got an apple tv for Xmas so EVERYTHING will be accessible from my apple tv. I will be able to store all my digital copies of photos, movies and music in cloud. I just feel safer keeping it there easily accessed from my computer, phone and now my television. I love technology, but things like external drives scares me. Everyone I know that has used them has lost mounds of data to them.
Oddesign, I agree with you. If everything around me explodes, my cloud account says "You're ok"...lol
I do realize from what that one articles says that as technology changes, you have to change your backups, but things like DVD's, cloud accounts and Online services will be around awhile. I like the later 2 the best simply because you can access your stuff ANYWHERE!!
Good information from everyone though!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by fionna51
From what I understand (from the genealogical community) DVDs are not safe storage for long term either.
I do believe that my cloud account is the most reliable. The cloud account too, is very cheap. It's free up to 5 GB then after it's like $12 for 200 GB a year, ($1 a month). I'm still in 5 GB right now. I've only got my photos on it. I'm getting ready to expand and put everything on it.
Who are you using for your cloud storage? Is it automatic backup or is it "save to the cloud"?
While we aren't planning a remodel to accommodate my crafting space, I'm hoping that it will help out some! We are planning to add a dining room to our downstairs (right now our kitchen is very open and we want to divide it up and make a formal dining room)... With that being said, some of the things in my scrapbook room really don't belong there but have been stored there since we moved into the house waiting for their room to come along lol
Aside from that, I love giving donations to the local Goodwill and plan to purge the craft room to take them some soon. It will be my first time taking paper crafting things there, so I'll have to see how it goes for future purges.
Mine is through Apple, since I have all these apple electronics. There are other cloud accounts though, I believe. I heard that toshiba for instance offers a cloud account. I'm sure other companies do too. It's inevitable for the other companies to follow suit.
Mine is set up to automatically save my pictures to the cloud, but here shortly, everything will go to the cloud. I want to get rid of all the junk on my computer. It's something that I'm working on. I should have it done in a couple of weeks or less.
Now videos and things I take, (like my grandson's Christmas concert with his band), will automatically upload. What's kind of cool is when my apple tv goes to sleep all my pictures slideshow in a multitude of ways. I selected the scrapbook mode. Also, any movies and stuff from my cloud or computer can wirelessly stream on my tv. I love that part of it. When you by some movies now, you can get a digital copy of them. They can be uploaded to my cloud. I was confused about the cloud when I first got my computer and phone. The last 6 months, I figured it out. How cool is it to have all you stuff like pictures, data, movies, music etc with you at all times?? I can access it all from my phone. I just love that!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by fionna51
Who are you using for your cloud storage? Is it automatic backup or is it "save to the cloud"?
It's a good price for peace of mind...
Last edited by Denverkat276; 12-28-2014 at 08:17 AM..
I have a tiny space and can't clutter it up or I feel overwhelmed and less creative. I spend one hour once a week cleaning up my space. Now go tame those scraps!
Purging is my project for the new year. I have dies I will never use (both steel and wafer) still in their packaging...impulse shopping. I have stamps I will never use....again, impulse shopping.
I have been so overwhelmed with the stuff I have accumulated...I have forgotten what I like and that is to color stamps. I am going back to the basics. If I want a die cut...I own an unused Gazelle and I am sure there is a cutting file out there.
Paper scraps...I had a basket full of them all sorted out in color order and stored in clear zippered pockets...that went out the door to my grandson's preschool (after my daughter has raided it).
Most of the stuff I am going to get rid of will be placed in a box where my daughter can "shop at the house of mom"...the rest will be offered to friends and then the rest can be donated.
__________________ I stand alone without beliefs...the only truth I know is you
