The Magic of Page Kits Through the magic of page kits you can arrive at the crop with only what you need -- no kitchen sinks. You can set up quickly and you are ready to scrap. Planning is the key. Step 1 - Photos Take the time to organize your photos by date and event. If you are doing the organization challenge, you are already done or working on this. This will save you hours of searching for photos. Put the photos for each event in individual bags or page protectors. You can re-file unused photos after the layout is complete. Step 2 - Accents Pick you accents first to insure that the paper you choose will match both the photos and accents. Don't add any "lumpies" that can damage your photos to the bags. Make a note of them on an index card or post it note and then pack the lumpies separately Step 3 - Papers The "experts" suggest you pack at least one base paper and 2 or 3 patterned papers. You may change your mind or decide to use only one or two p
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It's Time for Challenge #3 So, your paper is beautifully organized, your scraps carefully stashed or purged, and your desk is gleaming! You are starting to get organized. Doesn't it make you feel creative? Don't you want to get cropping? Well, you CAN'T scrapbook without PHOTOS! Our third challenge is to organize our photos. Here is an excellent article to get you thinking about how to organize those precious photos before we start to S.P.A.C.E. them: https://www.scrapbook.com/articles/organizing-and-storing-your-photos-and-negatives Please take a moment and read this excerpt from Design Strategies for Scrapbookers : Photo preservation begins with safe storage. Remove photos stored in the old magnetic albums immediately. A magnetic album has cardboard pages with adhesive on them and a plastic sheet to cover the photos. The adhesives and plastics in these albums are highly acidic and can ruin your photos very quickly. To safely remove photos from magnetic albums
You may recall that Challenge #8 was organizing your paper cosmetics. I have a rather large collection although I am pretty sure there are lots of you with even more. But mine ARE organized. So I am more than ready for Challenge #9 ~ The Final Challenge . . . Books and Magazines Inspiration for scrapbook pages is everywhere. But what is the best way to organize it so that it's actually USEFUL? First consider cutting up your magazines and idea books, and only saving the ideas that you really plan to use. Magazines and idea books that just sit on your shelves aren't really useful. It can take hours to go through your books to find the one layout you remember. Having your ideas in a condensed form, arranged in a way that makes sense to you is much more effective. If you are able to cut up your magazines, here are some ideas for arranging them: theme (holidays, birthday, babies, pets, travel etc) number of photos used in the layout journaling ideas colours q
e·phem·er·a /əˈfem(É™)rÉ™/ Learn to pronounce noun things that exist or are used or enjoyed for only a short time. items of collectible memorabilia, typically written or printed ones, that were originally expected to have only short-term usefulness or popularity. While you are organizing your photos is the perfect time to organize memorabilia, journaling notes, and create a holding album. Gather your memorabilia together in one spot. Sort by event name, or date, or whatever works for you. Choose your storage system. You can use file folders, oversized manilla envelopes, 12 x 12” iris boxes or pizza boxes. If you are making page kits you can include your memorabilia in or with the page kits .
After an interesting discussion on our Facebook group a few months back I realized that finished layouts are something we've never included in our challenges . . . until now. Even if you don't have albums available or if your layouts are randomly done and not chronological, you still need to protect your finished layouts. I'm not the only one who has noticed that improperly stored layouts are prone to damage and missing pieces. I suggest storing your layouts in pizza boxes, iris cases or some other safe environment where they won't be constantly handled and damaged . . . until it is time to put them in an album. So Challenge #2A is to find a safe way to store finished layouts.
SPEED ROUND ~ Challenge #1 Clean Your Work Space. The first challenge of our ORGANIZATION CHALLENGE is to clear off your crafting work space. Maybe you have a desk committed as your craft space, maybe you have an entire room of tables, or maybe you have taken over the dining room table. Wherever you craft, completely clear off the entire surface of your work space, dumping everything into a big box. Give your surface a good scrub and polish, removing every speck of paint, adhesive, and uh.... is that chocolate???? Take a photo of your newly scrubbed craft space and upload it to our Speed Round Challenge #1 Album in our Facebook group. Here is my BEFORE photos: And now for my AFTER photo: My table is nicely scrubbed and ready for use. Okay, now let's get to work on that big box of stuff. Now is the time to learn that you need S.P.A.C.E. to craft: * Sort * Purge * Assign * Containerize * Equalize * We're going to use this method for each and every challeng
SPEED ROUND ~ Day Dreaming Why do we come up with cute, self-deprecating names for our crafts and our craft space? Why do we not take ourselves seriously? Several years ago I realized the only thing holding me back from taking my work seriously was me. How could anyone else take me seriously when I didn't see my self as a serious craftperson? I’m “only” a scrapbooker but I’m a scrapbooker who has been developing her talent for over 20 years, who has taught others, who has written books on the topic . . . so why wasn’t I taking my skill seriously? I started ordering my business cards with my title, Paper Artist and Blogger. And my crop room became my studio. I may never become rich or famous but that doesn’t change the fact that I am an artist and what I create is very serious and very important to me. Organizing your creative space should be taken seriously too. Constant clutter will block your creative energy and keep you from doing your best work. So it is time to do a
Welcome to our Speed Round: Craft Space Organization Challenge For inspiration, sharing and support please join our Facebook group In My World: Craft Space Organization Challenge This is my studio today . . . It is the one room in our home that always seems to become a cluttered mess. As the clutter piles up it becomes harder and harder to find what I need. Same for you? Today is the day to begin taking back your space so you can accomplish more and get more enjoyment out of your precious crafting time. The problem with setting such a lofty goal . . . Cleaning My Craft Room . . . is that it is too big of a goal and there is no instant gratification. We have broken down the big lofty goal into 10 easier to attain goals and built in some rewards along the way. I am a big believer in gold stars and pats on the back. I think it is important to celebrate our successes. The benefits of a Clean Craft Room are many. * You’ll be able to enjoy your crafting time bec
Are you ready for Challenge #6? Let's talk about Ribbons and fibres. I must have done a lot of collecting of fibre in 2019 because I had to update my storage system to fit everything. I'm pleased with the new plan and I have shared my photos in Album #6 on our Facebook group . There is no "right" way to store your ribbons and fibre. The most important factor is that the system works for YOU. First, let's make some S.P.A.C.E. SORT: Gather together all of your ribbons and fiber, and sort them into piles: KEEP, TOSS, SELL, DONATE. PURGE: Throw out the TOSS pile. Immediately make arrangements for pick-up or drop-off of the DONATE pile. Bag up, and assign a price and your initials to the SELL pile, and immediately put these in your garage sale box. ASSIGN: Sort your KEEP pile into types/colours of fibre and ribbon. If your ribbons are in a big wrinkled mess, take time now to give everything a pressing (careful with the heat, some synthetics may melt!). CON
Chall enge #5 - Stickers, die cuts, and rub ons Stickers, etc. are another great challenge to me. I have yet to find my perfect storage solution so once again I will be seeking inspiration from you. Please share your storage solution with us by posting photos at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.2634148083337735&type=3 Stickers, die cuts, and rub-ons are some of the hardest things to organize because the different sizes and shapes pose many challenges. Rub-ons present their own challenges because if they aren't stored properly, they stick to each other and then they are useless. SORT : time to be ruthless. Consider if you are really going to use these items. If you bought a whole sheet of die cuts just to use one or two tags, why are you hanging on to the whole sheet? Those stickers you bought in 1999 were adorable then, but definitely not your style now, are they? So, sort into piles: TRASH, SELL, DONATE, TO KEEP PURGE : Throw out the TRASH pile. Bag up,
I've done the photo challenge so many times over the years and developed a system that works well for me. How did you decide to sort and store your photos? If you are ready, here is Challenge #4 . . . Tools and Adhesives Gather together all of your tools and adhesives into a 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 right 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 work
How does it feel to know we are nearly done. Your crafting space should be looking a lot better by now. I bet you aren't opening 15 different containers while trying to find one item. Challenge #8 It is time to organize our "paper cosmetics": paints, inks, embossing powders, mists, and other products that add a little something special to our pages. If you do mixed media art I bet your stock of paper cosmetics is pretty substantial. Let's get started . . . SORT: first go through each of these items and make sure your colours haven't expired. Are ink pads still juicy? Are lids still intact? Do paints still mix together when shaken? Are your chalks still intact enough to use? Sort all of your paper cosmetics into TOSS, KEEP, SELL, DONATE PURGE: Throw out the toss items. Bag up and assign a price and your initials to the SELL pile, and put them immediately in your garage sale box. Arrange for pick-up or drop-off of the DONATE pile. ASSIGN:
Are you ready for Challenge #7 ? Embellishments are some of the easiest things to buy. Everything looks so good, and you really believe you NEED everything! But embellishments are also one of the supplies most affected by trends. Careful consideration is really needed here. It's also important to find a system that will help you store all of your embellishments in a way that won't overwhelm you, yet also is visible enough that you don't forget to USE them. Let's S.P.A.C.E. them. SORT : As always, bring all of your embellishments together. Touch every piece that you have and ruthlessly sort through them, deciding what to KEEP, TOSS, SELL, DONATE. PURGE : Immediately throw out the TOSS pile. Bag up and assign a price and your initials to the SELL pile, and put them in the garage sale box. Set up a drop-off or pick-up of the DONATE pile. ASSIGN : Sort through the KEEP pile in a way that makes sense to you. Some ideas for sorting your embellishments: 1) by cate
Are you ready for Challenge #6? Let's talk about Ribbons and fibres. There is no "right" way to store your ribbons and fibre. The most important factor is that the system works for YOU. First, let's make some S.P.A.C.E. SORT: Gather together all of your ribbons and fiber, and sort them into piles: KEEP, TOSS, SELL, DONATE. PURGE : Throw out the TOSS pile. Immediately make arrangements for pick-up or drop-off of the DONATE pile. Bag up, and assign a price and your initials to the SELL pile, and immediately put these in your garage sale box. ASSIGN: Sort your KEEP pile into types/colours of fibre and ribbon. If your ribbons are in a big wrinkled mess, take time now to give everything a pressing (careful with the heat, some synthetics may melt!). CONTAINERIZE: Consider the space that you have, and the way that you work. Here are some ideas that work for both ribbons and fibres: 1) on those little cardboard bobbins meant for embroidery floss 2) organize
Chall enge #5 - Stickers, die cuts, and rub ons Stickers, etc. are another great challenge to me. I have yet to find my perfect storage solution so once again I will be seeking inspiration from you. Stickers, die cuts, and rub-ons are some of the hardest things to organize because the different sizes and shapes pose many challenges. Rub-ons present their own challenges because if they aren't stored properly, they stick to each other and then they are useless. SORT : time to be ruthless. Consider if you are really going to use these items. If you bought a whole sheet of die cuts just to use one or two tags, why are you hanging on to the whole sheet? Those stickers you bought in 1999 were adorable then, but definitely not your style now, are they? So, sort into piles: TRASH, SELL, DONATE, TO KEEP PURGE : Throw out the TRASH pile. Bag up, and assign a price and your initials to the SELL pile and put them directly into the garage sale box. Make immediate arrangements to rid yo
It's Week 4 of the Get Organized Challenge Tools and Adhesives Gather together all of your tools and adhesives into a 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 and adhesives that you don't love or 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 right 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 t
It's Time for Challenge #3 So, your paper is beautifully organized, your scraps carefully stashed or purged, and your desk is gleaming! You are starting to get organized. Doesn't it make you feel creative? Don't you want to get cropping? Well, you CAN'T scrapbook without PHOTOS! Our third challenge is to organize our photos. Here is an excellent article to get you thinking about how to organize those precious photos before we start to S.P.A.C.E. them: https://www.scrapbook.com/articles/organizing-and-storing-your-photos-and-negatives Please take a moment and read this excerpt from Design Strategies for Scrapbookers: Photo preservation begins with safe storage. Remove photos stored in the old magnetic albums immediately. A magnetic album has cardboard pages with adhesive on them and a plastic sheet to cover the photos. The adhesives and plastics in these albums are highly acidic and can ruin your photos very quickly. To safely remove photos from