Organizing with Thirty-One & Win Some!

I love to organize.  And I'm a huge fan of Thirty-One bags.  They are great for keeping my stamping supplies tidy.  

When I found out that the February sale entailed getting my favorite bag for just $10, I asked my Thirty-One girl if we could conjure up an online party.  The Organizing Utility Tote makes an awesome craft bag!  It retails for $35.  It has 7 amazing outer pockets and zips across the top.  

Zip Top Organizing Utility Tote

JUST $10 WITH A $35 PURCHASE!

As part of our online party, Corey and I want to do a couple giveaways, too!  If you make a purchase, Corey will enter you in a drawing for a thermal mini pouch.  

Order to Win a Retired Mini Insulated Pouch

And I would like to give away a mini pouch to one lucky winner, too!  No purchase necessary. Just comment on this post to enter!  The winner will be able to choose the mini pouch of their choice.  Embroidery won't be included.  

Click HERE to see the 5 patterns and let me know your favorite!

Comment to Win a Mini Pouch of Your Choice

No Purchase Necessary

I thought I would show you some ways that I use my Thirty-One Items in the craft room!

Large zipper pouch for scrapbooking memorabilia

Littles Carry All Caddy for my punches

Keep It Caddy for my Selphy printer

Mini Zipper Pouch for Markers & Accessories

HERE'S HOW TO ORDER!

You can simply shop at www.mythirtyone.com/37095.

At the top, click PLACE AN ORDER

At the Jamie Kaufmann event, click SHOP NOW

Your items will be shipped right to you!

You can also join us on Facebook for chatter, questions, and answers at a private event. Just PM me at my Stamping Cafe Facebook Page with your email, and I will send you an invite! 

All who order will be entered to win the thermal zipper pouch.  :)

And don't forget to comment here for a chance to win a mini zipper pouch from me!  

Organizing My 2014 Scrapbooking Area

As many of you know about me...the New Year causes me to try new systems around the house, especially crafting systems.  

And that always entails new ideas and new organization for keeping up with my scrapbooking.

Jeff put the computer on my wooden, sit-down stamp table so that leaves me only with the standing table at the window for work space.  And I'm fine with that.  :)  I can always move to the kitchen or the classroom space if I want to sit.

This year I tried to organize my scrapbooking in a way that would be even easier to "grab-and-go" for monthly crops.  I missed the majority of them last year.  :(  While my "tray system" worked great at home, I wasn't real good at moving things into mobile containers for crop night.  

So as I show you these organizing items, just note how they are "to-go" friendly.  :)  

I have my favorite punches for scrapbooking in a small square tote by Thirty-one.  The mesh outside pocket is great for the smaller punches.  And it's a super sturdy tote with a handle, that can manage all the weight of those punches.  I have a second tote I can fill with more punches, but it is really my goal to only take what fits into one tote when I leave the house.

I am organizing my "accessories" in this wooden divider thingy.  I still can't believe I got this for $1 at a flee market.  Super lucky find.  This isn't the most portable but if I put it at the bottom of my tote, things rest on it just fine.  So that works.  Most of this is Stampin' Up! stuff, like washi tape, clips, button embellishments, paper flowers, crocheted flours, and even some pre-stamped and punched tickets that I made in kraft and white.  

I guess this next item is my "tag holder".  I got the container in an office section and just really liked that it had a lid.  So it lies flat in my "to-go" tote, too.  I have some tags from SU, some from the office store, some cut from SU paper (Sent with Love on clearance!), and some I punched out myself with the new SU Tag Topper punches.  Those are exciting!

On Sunday after church, I drug the family shopping even though they were starving for lunch (all in the name of my birthday weekend) and picked up these fabric boxes.  I liked their rectangle shape and thought I only needed the smaller one.  But since there was a cute matchy medium one, I grabbed it too and it turns out I had the perfect use for it!  Hey, I passed on the large one so that gets a pat on the back.  :)  

In the large fabric box, I have a tin of labels, a container of twine, my Xyron adhesive, and some alphabet stickers.  I am new to using alpha stickers as I have several Big Shot alpha dies (I'm an alphabet junkie).  But I thought it would be nice to have pre-cut letters especially for when I'm away from home at a crop.  I don't think I want to drag my Big Shot out too much this year.  ??? Maybe I'm just getting lazy...or maybe my bulged discs are telling me to take it easy on the packing!  ;)  

This is the smaller fabric tote and it has all my SU papers that I cut down to 4x6".  Still no regrets on doing that!  I also have the new SU Retro Fresh stickers and journal tags tucked into here.  See them peaking out the top in the back?  :)  Can't wait to use those!

Ah, this little beauty...an oldie but a goody.  This was probably my very first Thirty-One tote, and I still use it for how it was intended years ago...as my crafty caddie.  And out of all the Thirty-One bags that I own, it's the only one that I had embroidered.  That's how permanent that little sucker is to me!

The contents have changed over the years but overall it's serving the same function.  I have my SU markers in a jar...with brush tips down because that's my favorite tip!  My cleaning pad and cleaner spray is also in the center along with a pouch of extra adhesive.  In the side pockets are journal pens, scissors, adhesive, etc.  

Oh, in one side pocket are my two rotary stamps by SU.  One for dates and the new adorable Retro Fresh Make Note one!  I just ink the rotary stamps with my markers when I'm out.  No need to haul ink pads.  

Now for my NEWEST toy...my Selphy printer!  Oh yes, I vow that I can keep up with my scrapbooking when I can print my pictures at home.  We shall see!  I just didn't want a black machine sitting out on my table so I hid it in another Thirty-One tote.  But it actually works nicely because the feeder fits into the side pocket and pictures can slip into the front pocket.  :)  When I take this out to crops, I have a lunch cooler from Target that's insulated and padded and the perfect size to safely tuck it into.  Super excited about that re-purpose since I bought it for $2.50 when the LAST thing I needed was a 5th lunch tote in the house.  Sometimes it pays to pick up a bargain and find a use for it later.  ;)  

And here's just one more picture of my little printer.  The fam wrapped it in this pretty, pink tissue for my birthday.  It may have been Victoria Secret tissue they found and re-purposed...I've taught them well.  Do not waste money on wrapping paper when there is ink and photo paper to be bought, ha, ha.   

That's pretty much the extent of what I have out on the craft room table for 2014.  I'm hoping to keep up with drop in, Project Life scrapbooking better this year.  I will have 2013 done hopefully this week, and then I get to start printing and scrapping a new year!  I'm hoping to have a whole new style going on...so I will share that as I get started.  It entails iPhone apps, collages, white borders...I'm gonna try to get a little techy.  Wish me luck!  ;)  

If you are looking to organize or re-organize your crafty space, take some time to look around the house for things you can re-purpose first.  That's what I did.  Then I filled in the holes with a few new pieces from discount stores.  Flee markets, antique stores, and garage sales are other favorites of mine...or even the dollar store and the Target dollar section.  I've kind of trained my brain to think "organizing" anytime I'm out shopping and looking.  And look in unique places, not just the organizing section of a store.  Check out the kitchen section, the office section, even the bathroom section.  You just never know when the perfect organizing piece will pop up!  ;)  

If you have any questions, just post them in the comments, and I will try my best to help!  Thanks for stopping in for the latest organizing tour!  And be sure to click the "Organize" tab at the top of the blog for other posts about how I've organized crafting supplies in the past.  :)  

Have a great week!

Organizing Tag-A-Bag, Washi Tape, & More

Check out this wooden organizer that I found!  :)  I just love the character that it has in the notches along the edge.  It's chunky and sturdy.  And it was....ready for this?  Only $1!  I have Graham to thank for dragging me to garage sales and flee markets.  The kid is gonna be a good little "junker" someday, ha, ha!  

But I knew this piece would be so fun for organizing my Stampin' Up! supplies.  I have a few retired items from the Spring catalog in here.  But much of it is current from the new SU catalog.

These are current items in my organizer and are my very favorite accessories!!!

Tag-A-Bag Supplies

Washi Tapes and Lace Tape

Metal Clips  

If you can't wait to find a rummage piece for organizing, you can always pick up a plastic organizer at the craft store that is almost just as fun!  

And you can always order fun, SU accessories by contacting....me!  :)  

Have a lovely day!

Wooden Ink Pad Holder $20

As many of you know, I like to organize my craft room....a LOT!  

When I come across the perfect organizing "thing", I pick it up.  If I won't use it, I know one of you will!  How do I know that?  Because many of you ask when I'm going to come organize your stamp room for you...that's how!  I can't come to your house and organize for you, but I sure can keep my eye out for fun finds to make your organizing easier.  :)  

This wooden rack is one of those things I recently picked up.  I thought my punches may fit in it, but that wasn't so.  However, this would make a kick-butt ink pad holder!  You would have a column for each of the 4 SU color families and have 8 slots left for in-colors or whatever.  

I cleaned this rack up for quite awhile.  My e-cloth Cleaning and Dusting Wand was the PERFECT tool for the job!  I also patched up a couple spots with wood glue.  Now the rack is clean and ready for a new life...tucked into a happy stamp room somewhere in Springfield.  ;)  

I just have one of these.  If you would like to purchase, be the first to contact me.  Local buyer only.  Thanks!

Organizing Epic Day This and That

My stampers all know I love a good organizing project.  So I thought I would show you how I have put my Epic Day This and That Bundle into a to-go basket.  :)  

I cut down my 12x12" papers into 4x6"...for half the pack.  It's great that we get two sheets of each design.  I left the other half of the pack in 12x12".  Good plan, eh?!  

My stickers are tucked safely into the smashbook.  

And I added a few extra, coordinating SU items:

In-Color Markers

Designer Clips

Punched Tickets

Adhesive

Scissors

Coral Twine

I am using my smashbook as a diet and exercise journal.  I will give you a peek inside soon.  :)  

You can still order Epic Day, This and That supplies or the Bundle.  See my earlier posts for all the details!

Organizing Card Stock Scraps

Alright, this has got to be one of the biggest quandaries in organizing paper crafts.  What to do with all the cardstock scraps!  Right?!  

I have stamped for over a decade and am just now figuring out a decent "scrap-keeping system".  I didn't want to share this until I tested it for several months.  And I am happy to report that the system is still working very well for me.  So it's time to share!  

Here we go.  In my craft room, I have a great closet.  The best closet in the house, actually.  Our other closets need these organizing shelves, desperately!  Anyways, this is my closet for storing home decor and homeschooling supplies.  Down on the floor I have overstock of bulk foods, some folding chairs, and my vacuums.  

One day while perusing crafty sites, I saw someone hang their cardstock scraps, in gallon size baggies, on pant hangers.  I thought it was brilliant, and they looked oh-so-cute hanging in rainbow order.  :)  But with my vacuums having to stay in this closet, that wasn't an option for me.  

However, hanging them facing me parallel instead of perpendicular on hangers would work.  I figured out that the way to accomplish that was to use clothespins.  I actually like this system better than pant hangers because then I just have to mess with one clip per bag, not two.  I simply clip each bag in the corner, keeping the bags open, so I can easily throw scraps in.  When I need to retrieve scraps, I take the bag down and clip the clip up on the higher wire so I can find it easily for putting the baggie back.  

I only had room for 3 of the 4 Stampin' Up! color families.  So my Neutrals and In-Colors are organized a little differently.  But anyways, this hanging system takes care of most of my colors.

I put them into color families:  Regals, Subtles, and Brights.  Then I put them in rainbow order within each family.

Here's the cool part and why this post took awhile.  The new SU ink pads have label stickers in four languages for you to peel off and use.  While I put the English stickers on my ink pads, I put the Spanish stickers on my scrap bag clothespins!  I can't read much Spanish, but I can find colors at a quick glance.  :)  I had to save up for and get all the new ink pads to finalize this organizing plan.

Here is how my closet usually looks, with the vacuums in place.  It's not ideal but it works.  :)  It's easy enough to get to my scraps when I need them.

I hope you are inspired to find organizing solutions in some unsuspecting places.  :)  

I am linking to Organize & Decorate Everything

Getting Supplies Mobile for In-House

I recently posted about how I have organized my crafting so that I can easily craft in my stamp room or out with friends.  But as I sat in my craft room and worked on my scrapbook the other night, I had another thought.  How can I get these supplies mobile for just taking up to the kitchen if I want to?  

Yes, I love my crafty room.  It's a space that's all mine.  And it's the only place in the house without Legos on the floor, yahooo!  But I homeschool, and my boys are home with me all day, every day.  So I am not able to retreat down to the craft room as much as I would like right now.  I mostly just go to the stamp room at night when the kids are in bed.  

So that's what spawned my desire to find another "mobile system" for crafting, within my own house.  

What quickly came to mind was a wooden tray that I had in the garage, waiting for its special purpose to be revealed.  I brought it in and quickly cleaned it up with an e-cloth.  Then I rearranged a few pieces in order to have a spot for the tray.  

I pulled white sterilite drawers from under the stamp table and put them over to the side of the table.  That allowed for me to put a nomadic house stool next the wall.  Yay, a new home for my tool caddy.  Then the tray went on top of the white drawer system that houses whale punches.  

I went ahead and put my scrapbooking supplies onto the tray.  Random ribbon, twine, designer papers, my foldable trash bin from 31 Bags, and a tin with journal pens, journal pieces, corner rounder, and mini stapler.  

The tray is right next to my work space downstairs but can easily be carried up to the kitchen table.  That saves having to carry 5 individual pieces up and down the stairs, and that makes a big difference.  

Do you have a good system for crafting anywhere you want in the house?  I hope you are inspired today!

Organizing Paper Shares

One of my most popular offerings is Designer Paper Shares.  I love them as much as you do!   6x6", 4x6", I don't care.  Just give me a sampling of the latest Stampin' Up! papers, will ya?!  :)

Our last paper share was from the new Spring Catalog, 24 6x6" sheets for $8.  It was a very popular share. What a bargain!

I used to keep my shares in the plastic bag that I hand them out in.  I have been so inspired by clothespins lately, though, that I decided to clip my DSP together by themes.  Then I put them all into my Berry Basket from my special friend, Noelle.

It's so true that "cuteness" is motivating.  Having these papers out, so nicely displayed and organized, just makes me want to craft!

So that's what I'm off to do.  Just thought you might like to see another fun organizing system.  :)

Organizing ~ Leftover Pictures

There's one part of scrapbooking that I find very hard to get to....filing away the pictures I didn't end up using in the scrapbook.  Don't get me wrong, I have a system.  Oh, you know I do!  I have three white shoe boxes labeled according to whose pictures go in each one.  But actually putting the pictures into the boxes after scrapbooking...well that's just not the most pressing job on my "to-do list".  So instead, I just let the "file these" picture pile up and up and up.

That is, until I realized that even a 5-year-old could sort these pictures into the boxes!  You guessed it, I solicited my boys to sort and file the pictures for me.  My 7-year-old took the job a little more seriously but...I expected that.  The boys had fun looking at the pictures during the process too.  And now all my "not using" pictures are put away.  Yay!

Sometimes it pays to spend a minute figuring out an alternative way to get something done.  :)

Reconciling Craft Room with Mobile Crafting

I have several opportunities to craft away from home...which is probably a good thing for this stay-at-home, homeschooling mama of 2 little boys.  Some adult, girl time is sometimes just what the doctor ordered.  But often the idea of packing up my "stuff" just doesn't sound worth it...

As part of my New Year organizing, I decided to try a new system for getting out the door easily for crafting with friends.

See, here is the quandary.  I have this fabulous craft room in my house.  And I love to make it pretty with permanent storage like vintage glass, baskets, and such.  However, these containers are NOT conducive to packing up and leaving the house.  

ALTHOUGH, I do have a lot of containers and organizers that ARE perfect for leaving the house.  When I gave those containers up for pretty ones, I just threw them in closets, used them for other purposes, etc.  When it was time to pack up crafts to leave, I had no idea where the plastic containers were, no desire to empty them of their new contents, and no idea how to pack them up with craft supplies.

So my new thought for 2013 is to have these plastic containers ready to go for crafting away from home, have them in one place, and have a plan for what craft supplies to fill them with.    

I started by putting most of my on-the-go containers on this book shelf in my stamp room.  

The second shelf has my basket of designer papers (that I use at home too), my basket of memorabilia for scrapbooking, and my plastic organizer for punch-out's.  

The fourth, bottom shelf has my photo organizing box, a tin of ribbon scraps, and a plastic tote with blue lid ready to fill.  You can't see this well but also tucked down there are two collapsible totes that I used to think HAD to be used somewhere in my craft room.  

But now, I am ok with containers sitting empty and just being "on call" for hitting the road!  

Here is my basket of memorabilia.  I use this at home, too.  I could probably take it out of the house as is...in the basket.  

Here is my container of punch-out's and accessories....with a lid.  Love it!

Here's the basket of designer papers.  They would get tucked into one of my collapsible bins.

Here are those collapsible bins.  One will make a fine trash can.  The other can hold my pre-cut papers above.

Here is my tin of ribbon scraps.

Here is my box for photo organizing.  I never use this as intended.  Let's see if I do a better job in 2013.  

If nothing else, the containers are great for holding DSP, accessories, ribbon, etc.  :)

The lidded plastic container is perfect for hauling my accessories like ribbon spools, twine, buttons, etc. I will just take them out of their milk glass and wire basket and organize them quickly in the small plastic containers within the big plastic container.  

Also, on the side of my hutch, I have a bag hanging with an empty tin all ready to fill.  

Storing empty containers within empty containers is quite a good idea for finding what you need quickly to get packed.   

Bad sideways picture, but the bag and tin will be good for a few of my favorite punches.  :)

 

I have another large bag, Amy Butler, that fits 12x12" papers.  I usually put my 8.5x11 cardstock and my laptop in there, though.  It sits under my stamp table, ready on stand-by.

My tools are now housed only in my 31 caddy organizer.  I used to have this for "going out" and then another cutesy "tool organizer" for my sit-down table and ANOTHER tool organizer for my stand-up table.  OVERKILL!  I was incapable of maintaining 3 tool organizers...never putting things back into the right one.

So this is now my ONE tool organizer and it's cute enough for the craft room AND is easy to take on-the-go.  

My Stampin' Up! markers are also handy for taking out.  For at home, they are in their dividers and not in the carrying case.  When I take them with, I can just throw them into their carrying case with the handle.  I love that SU packages them this way!

I also love these Iris cases for keeping my 12x12 papers and cardstock happy.  I use them both at home and  out-and-about.  Right now I have two and tend to organize them by "pages done" and "pages to do".  

Maybe this isn't so exciting for you, but for me...this is a major organizing break-through.  Reconciling my desire to have a cute craft room with my need to get out and craft is a huge accomplishment.  I hope you are inspired by something I shared here.  And I can't wait for my next crafting girls' night out!  

2013 Craft Room Revamp ~ Pretty Things I Collect & Dust

I've been organizing this week!  I have figured out that this pretty much happens each new year.  It's kind of how I celebrate my birthday.  ;)  

Click on the pictures to see more details as you read on.  

My file cabinet still holds my card rack for cards I am selling.  Something new is putting cards from friends into a huge glass canister.  I love that!  Both the rack and canister are on my file cabinet.  I decided to tape pictures onto the file cabinet as putting them on with magnets was getting messy looking.  Now I freed up some cutesy magnets for my magnetic dry erase board (see later).  

My white tower shelf is still full of baskets.  Baskets for giveaways, baskets of sale items, baskets of card samples...  Oh, and plates for food photos at Milk Allergy Mom.  

My favorite part of the tower is the crate of blue jars.  I got these at resale stores.  The wood clothespins are good for wrapping ribbon around.  And the wood cubes are just decorative until my boys ask for them.

My stand-up table now houses an oblong milk glass dish (great for holding accessory containers from SU), a ceramic egg carton from Mike's, my Joann's white organizer (bought last year), and my adorable new, purple   ceramic strawberry basket.  Squeeeeel!  Love it!

Oooo, my hutch shelves are reorganized.  I kept the canisters up top.  But I put my Copics and Sharpies out now.  The Sharpies look much happier in the milk glass goblets.  Ooooo la la!  More milk glass houses SU accessory containers.  Love my metal shopping cart from the antique store and wire basket from consignment, too.  They house ribbon.  The Sizzix embossing machine matches the Copics tote too well...on accident.  The little white coffee cup is from Goodwill.  :)  And a big thing of twine always adds a natural touch, don't you think?

I am REALLY liking this new solution.  On my sit-down table, I put a wine crate across the front.  It was from an antique store, and I got it for free when I bought all the blue jars inside it.  I would have paid for the crate.  ;)  But don't tell them that.  I put the perfect sized milk glass vases inside to corral all my go-to supplies like clear blocks, writing tools, and the candy dish of course!

And I am GAGA over the clothespins that clip nicely onto the crate.  It's now the perfect place to clip up my finished products or notes as I work.  Last night I finished these cards for upcoming Stamp Club.

More things I dust are the items on my Memory Keepers wall shelf.  I collected some ice cream dishes, salt shakers, and milk glass vases at Goodwills and consignment.  I bought my Ball Jars at Meijer although they are usually at resale places.

In case you are wondering, I don't live at Goodwill and consignment stores.  I just get in the mood a couple times a year to go searching for things.  And I always find useful items!  Then I get it out of my system for 6 months or so.  :)  My garage sales are always part of my purging and making room for more treasure finds because I'm not really a hoarder.

I love having all these special, unique items as part of my organizing.  Cutesy items inspire me, and I love to be in my stamp room surrounded by all the fun things around me.

But with all this cutesy stuff on display comes dusting.  I get asked about that.  And honestly, I don't dust as much as I should.  But in my reorganizing, I used my new e-cloth dust cloths and seriously, they made the job MUCH easier.  It's nice when a cloth will actually PICK UP the dust and not just push it around and into the air.  I foresee dusting more often now that I have e-cloths!

Yep, I use both the dusting and general purpose e-cloths for crafting.  :)  Feel free to purchase at our online e-cloth store!

Stay tuned for other parts of my 2013 stamp room revamp including storing scrapbooks, hidden items, and organizing those darn scraps of cardstock!

Dusting Cloths (2 Cloths)

$9.99