How to Organize Your Stamp / Craft Space

I have a love affair going on with my label maker, I have never tried to hide it, I am not ashamed or embarrassed.

One of the questions I am asked a lot is how do I store my card stock.  I have a filing cabinet that stores it.  You can get one very inexpensively at different stores like Walmart, Staples or even look at your local school district or city to see if they have a surplus store.  The trick is to get the right kind.  And what I mean by that is do you want one that is horizontal or vertical?  Mine is vertical, because that is what works for my space.  If you go with a horizontal one, you instantly have a “counter top” and that might be something that will come in handy, be sure to check back tomorrow as I will explain why.

I went with hanging files and simple manilla file folders – labeled with my most awesomeist label maker!  My are sorted by color collection.  In this picture you can see last years In Colors and my Subtles.

Then we move onto scraps.  As I type that, it just has such a negative ring to it.  Did you just get unexcited as I said that?  Never fear, I am here with a solution.

To start with, I have these magazine holder box thingies near my “creation zone”.  There is one for each color collection.  They get dropped right into those boxes.  I don't recommend magazine holders that have holes in them, small pieces would fall out the holes, and if you set them next to each other, it might go into the wrong color collection.  (The words ‘cross pollination' just popped into my head.)

There are several things years ago I wish I had bought stock in.  Label Makers, Post It Notes, Papa John's Pizza and Ziplocs.

I love Ziplocs.  And I am a baggy snob – most of the time.  For my kitchen, any brand will typically do.  In my stamp room, ain't nothing like the real thing baby!

Why?  I put heavy items in these bags, as well as sometimes things that would poke holes through cheap bags – and then stuff falls out, I cry….  save yourself, and go with the good ones.

Once these magazine holders get full, you sort each color into a baggie and then store your baggies in your file folders.  Make sense?

(As the evidence shows in the picture, sometimes the baggies get temporarily stored in a magazine holders.  I'm not perfect, after all.)

So, now that I have the ‘ain't nothing like the real thing baby' song stuck in my head, I am going to wrap up.  Let me know if this tip with your scraps and storing your card stock is helpful to you in your questions on how to organize your craft/stamp room!