Some organizational thoughts

Hey bloggie friends!  Hey are you all tonight?  I have been puttering around working on my craft room here and there, but not making a lot of progress.  Working on cleaning out the closet so I can put my boxes of fabric in there to make more room out in the main part of my room.  I have decided that I will put my embellishments in my 7-drawer rolling cart.  Hoping they will all fit in there so I can keep them together.  I have made a list of everything I can think of and put them in groups such as:  Paper, Embellishments, Tools,, etc.  I had stickers in my embellishment list but I am afraid those are going to have to be their own category - I have a ton of those.  Don't use them a lot on my cards, but I do on my scrapbooks which I need to get back to so not going to get rid of them :)


I do have something to share tonight though on the lines of organization.  This will probably only be a good tip for my followers in the states, but there might be something similar in other countries.  There is a website you can check out www.publicsurplus.com - this is government surplus and includes things from schools, hospitals, and other government buildings that they auction off.  Some of you may know about this already, but just in case you don't, this is an amazing option for picking up things fairly cheaply and usually in pretty good shape or easily fixable.  Once you go to the site, you can then pick your state and browse everything. I have bought everything from my piano (which was an old elementary school piano and I love it) for $75 to Stampin' Up Ink spots for $2.00 for a set of 12, to Art easels at $2 (these are nice art easels that are adjustable for paintings up to 3 feet in diameter!  


Some pictures of things available in my state at this moment:

This is a map cart, the drawers slide out so it would be great for all kinds of things.  The bid for this is currently at $32.00 and it is close to my house so this is really tempting though I would really rather have one of the ones below :)

This is a blueprint cabinet and the current high bid is $40.  I have been wanting one of these forever and even though I would have to drive an hour each direction to get it, it is so worth it.  I have been wanting one to put my wet paintings in, but this would also be great for holding paper, ink pads, embellishments, and the list goes on.  

Same thing as above, but the bid for this one is currently at $52.00

This little cubbie is currently at $5.50.  It is again in Logan about an hour or so away from me, but isn't this a great little organizer?  The measurements say 

41 3/4" X 18 1/4" X 32" deep, but I am not sure that is correct - those might be mixed up a bit.  But I am thinking Copics (although I don't own any), colored pencils, paint brushes, longer strips of scrap paper/borders, maybe even ink pads.  

Another idea that I have seen on this site several times but have never bought is silverware holders - the kind they have at schools or restaurants. I have been looking at these for a while thinking they would be good to hold my paint brushes, but today it occurred to me that they would be great for holding all kinds of things!  There are not any on my site at this moment, some sold earlier today which is what made me think about them.  

So, back to sorting for me.  I hope you found this post helpful and that you will check it out!  Hugs!

God Bless,

Becky

Some organization ideas

So last night, when I was browsing around trying to get some inspiration for my craft room cleanse, I ran across some fun blogs.  The first one I want to tell you about is Sew Many Ways. Karen is from the US like I am and she has a blog all about sewing, which I admit I only dream about sewing, but she has a lot of great tips.  At the top of her blog, she has links to all kinds of fun stuff.  I think I spent at least an hour just on her blog last night!  Some pics of some of her organizing ideas that I thought would be very handy for my craft room:  

These suspension rods, I actually have some of these somewhere in my house - they are fairly inexpensive and I bought a bunch for my basement windows one year as I was going to make quickie curtains for all of the windows in the basement - never did it so these rods are here somewhere.  I love this idea.  I have to confess that I tried putting my ribbon reels on a rod once before, but did not think to secure the ends in some way (I know, that is dumb) so I got them all on there and lifted the rod and sudden 30 reels of ribbon start unrolling - duh!  Karen puts little straight pins in the ends of her rolls to keep them wound - love that idea.  Definitely will be using this idea!  

I love this idea too!  She used little take-out containers like the kind you get your fry sauce in - she bought a huge amount from a party supply store; I am thinking Costco might have them.  Anyway, I will let you read how she did this - just check out the organization link.

Another interesting idea for ribbons -  These are large metal spikes from Home Depot.  Karen says they are not sharp, but I am sure I could figure out some way to injure myself.  I really loved this idea until I saw the suspension rods - that is the way I will probably go, but I still think this is ingenious!.  

And before we leave Karen's blog, lets' take a look at her lovely sewing/craft room.  I do not actually see the items above so this is another part of her room.  I would love to just spend all day in a room like this.

Check this room out below with its peg board and I love the jars in the cubby holes!  I love vintage mason jars anyway and these are so sweet. This pic comes from Nest of Posies.

  These 2 fabulous rooms come from HGTV.  I quickly left this site as I could get stuck there all day...  maybe all month, I would get nothing done!  I would so love to have a craft room like either of these - I would never leave.  I wouldn't even have to craft in there, it would just be a pleasure to spend time there :)

Okay, so I am going to go think about going to bed.  I had to work today, first day of my regular work week and I am wiped out.  And the weather played a mean April Fool's prank on me today...  Yesterday was definitely spring - about 70 degrees, working in my yard, had my windows open - it was beautiful.  Today... snow!!!  I have been cold all day.  Blah!

Night all.  God Bless!
Becky

Craft room lists

So next in my craft room cleanse is to make some lists, look at what I have and what I need, not to mention what I want :)

My craft room assets:
1.  I have an actual room!  I need to measure it.
2.  I already have cupboards built in - metal so I have built in magnetic boards :)
3.  I have lightweight tables that can be set up or stored.
4.  I have 3 closets in my room, including a full length "clothes" closet, a cubby closet that is probably meant for brooms/ironing board - it is deep and narrow, and an under-the-stairs closet which is of course packed with stuff that I need to go through (story of my life).
5.  I have 2 large cabinets from Costco - they are metal with shelves inside - lots of space for crafting goodies, but they are not currently in my craft room.  They are, however, mostly empty.  I had my craft supplies in there in my laundry room, then started moving stuff to my new craft room which quickly got unorganized and messy - how did that happen?  They were in my craft room at one time so I know they will fit.
6.  I have a 7-drawer rolling thingy - also from Costco, currently filled with stickers and alphas and scrap paper.
7.  I have several baskets and boxes for organizing already so really I don't need to buy anything except maybe something for my ribbons.  That does not mean I don't WANT to buy anything!  However, since my budget right now is totally shot, I will be working with what I have.


What do I want in/from my craft room?
1. Organization and space - uh huh, that is why I am doing this lol
2. Separate craft spaces - I do a lot of paper crafting, cards and albums, etc., but I also oil paint - mostly Plein Air (outside) landscapes but I would really like to do some "studio painting", some still life and some landscapes.  Right now, I have no place to set up an easel in my craft room.  So I need a space that is specifically for painting.
3. I would love some "natural light" sources besides my one small window - not in the budget at the moment, but will have to work on that.
4. For my paper crafting, I want to be able to see everything at a glance.  I don't mind if my stuff is in my cabinets with the doors closed, but when I open the doors, I want to be able to see everything.    My paper especially - I have lots and I want to store it so I can see it all.  I have thought of stacking it flat in one of my cabinets by color or on my shelves of my cupboards if they are deep enough.  I would really like those wire stacking things or the wooden ones they have at Michaels, but neither is in my budget.
5.  Heat!  I have no heater vent in my craft room so in the winter it is very cold.  Space heaters are great, but make me a little nervous when I have so much paper in the room.  So a clear space for a "safe" heater would be a great thing :)


Kate's post today talks about me... well, actually she talks about herself but she might as well be talking about me.  We are lazy crafters!  I would rather craft that put stuff away and pretty soon, my crafting space becomes too cluttered to create anything and I can't find anything.  That is when I start spreading to other areas of the house and my  hubby threatens to call Hoarders Anonymous.

So, I am going to end this post right now, but I will be back to show some creative spaces I looked at last night and some organizing tips.  I forgot to mark where I got them from so now I have to go on a scavenger hunt and find them again!

Hugs,
Becky