Scrapbooking is great fun but how do you stay organized? I have been doing scrapbooks now for about 6 years or so I think. It is something I got into after I was invited to a very quaint Creative Memories party at a friend's home. I was hooked!
I started out using only Creative Memories product as they promote of course because I was convinced that they offered the best product around. As I continued shopping for variety since CM offered what I considered a small selection, I came to realize that there are all sorts of great product out there. With this realization came the shopping and so the collection of supplies grew and grew to enormous amounts!
Before my supply became unmanageable I was able to complete about 6 albums. This was over the course of only about 3 years, if that. While that does not sound like much of an accomplishment, it is important to note that I am a perfectionist and rarely put out a simple page. So my average looks at this point like about 1 album per 6 months or so. Well, as my collection of supplies grew, so did my choices of course and then I found myself unable to make decisions without second and third guessing myself about the choice I was making for embellishments, layouts, and journalling.
What I failed to realize initially was that this new trait of indecisiveness was further impacted by my disorganization that came along with all my supplies. It's hard to decide what to do with your stuff. You want to have everything within reach but at the same time many of us like to crop with friends, which means you have to pack some stuff up to take on the road every now and then. Geez... how do you get organized?
I finally decided to take action. I bought myself a rolling bag that offers only a few large compartments but within those compartments are other organizing units. For instance it has a pen holder that allows you to put pens in individual slots. It also has a small pocket with dividers for photos and several other small organizing compartments. With this bag I can organize a couple of things that I can also take with me when I scrap "abroad".
I purchased a paper shelf. I now store my paper on this shelf and am able to easily see what papers I have available to use at any time. While it is true that it does not have 100+ slots for each different colored paper that I now have, I can organize by shades of colors or by coordinating colors and patterns.
I picked up a couple of divided trays that allow me to organize my embellishments. These trays are covered and lock tightly and have about 20 small divided areas that will accommodate fibers, letters, buttons, or whatever kind of embellishment you might own.
Finally I picked up a couple of inexpensive upright magazine holders for all my craft/scrapbooking magazines. You know, they are not hardback books so they don't stand up well on their own. These holders allow me to stand the magazines upright so I can read the titles on the binders and pull them out easily for use anytime I'm in the middle of a page.
These things are very simple organization tools but you could get even more organized if you have the space. It is really only limited to your space, money, and/or creativity. Unfortunately I do not have a large room for scrapbooking so I can't pick up an elaborate organized desk unit but my arrangement works well for me. I only have a simple little table for scrapbooking so these organizing tools also help to make the most of a small space.
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