Week 4
The next task in the
Get Organized Challenge is TOOLS and ADHESIVES!
Gather together all
of your tools and adhesives into the Big Box, and let's start S.P.A.C.E.ing them!
Sort: one by one, put
each item into piles: FAVOURITES, TRASH, TO SELL, STORE, DONATE.
Purge: For the SELL
pile: bag up and assign a price and your initials to tools/adhesives that you
don't love/use anymore and put them in your garage sale box. Throw out
the TRASH pile. Arrange pick-up or drop-off of the DONATE pile.
Assign: Store your
most used items in a basket or box or other system ring on your desk, within
easy reach. Divide the STORE items into categories that make sense to
you: cutting tools, pens, punches, templates, etc.
Containerize: This is
the time to tidy up your tools. Tools need regular maintenance to keep
them efficiently working. As you put your tools away in whatever
container (drawers, shelves, boxes, baskets - always ensuring the container is
clearly labelled) give them a little maintenance.
scissors - sharpen your scissors using a
small scissor sharpener, or have them professionally done. Carefully clean the
blades (I like alcohol swabs to remove sticky adhesive)
pens - test pens and throw out the ones that
are dry or don't work well.
craft knives - change the blades
trimmers - clean the deck of your trimmers
with a damp cloth, and a little cleanser if necessary. Replace dull blades, or
cut through fine sandpaper or aluminium foil.
work surface - clean ink, adhesive and paint
from the mat.
punches - to prevent punches from sticking,
punch through wax paper. Problem punches may need a little lubricating oil such
as sewing machine oil, then punch through scrap paper several times to remove
oily residue. Dull punches can be sharpened by punching through aluminium foil
or fine grade sandpaper (both right side up and upside down)
rubber stamps - stamps should be cleaned
after each use, but if there is a build up of ink on your stamps, you should
clean them with an alcohol free baby wipe, or paper towels moistened with a
mild cleanser (ammonia free/bleach free) Use a soft toothbrush to remove ink
stuck in the crevices of a design. Store stamps flat, rubber side down.
EQUALIZE: Once you
have a system in place for you tools, putting them back in the same place
every time will become a reflex, and you will never have to hunt for you
scissors again! Take a couple of minutes at the end of each scrap session
to put your tools away.
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