Shop in Your Own “Store” – Paper Organization

I know it has been a VERY long time since my last post. I really had good intentions this summer and I can’t even say life got in the way. Instead I have been crafting and organizing my craft space like crazy…so the news isn’t all bad. I DO have to go back to work in two weeks though and pretty soon crafting is going to have to take a back seat to getting dressed everyday and earning wages. Truly, I don’t know how so many of you are able to craft regularly, work a full-time job, care for your family AND keep your blog current. If there’s a secret, please do share! Anyway…on to today’s topic!

When I moved into my house in 2006 my third bedroom (10 ft x 10 ft) was made into an office with built in workspaces and shelving. In the last year, my crafty stuff has slowly been taking over and it occurred to me that I’m a simple school teacher, what the heck do I need an “office” for? So slowly but surely it has evolved into a craft room, and with that has come the need to move things around and organize.

I mentioned that I’ve been an organizing fiend this summer and in working through that task, I had an epiphany the other day. The urge to just buy, buy, buy is starting to dissipate (important because I’m a teacher, and well…’nuff said!) because I can put my hands on almost everything in my craft space quickly and easily, and in doing so, I am rediscovering many things that I totally forgot I had.

So…this begins my series of posts on organization, which I actually promised to do a long time ago. I can’t take credit for most of the ideas and when I’m able, I’ll point you in the direction that the idea came from so you can get more information.

Today…it’s my paper. By many standards, I really don’t have a large collection of paper but it’s enough to keep me busy for a long, long time! I store my paper in JetMax cubes and prefer to store it standing up because it is much easier to remove a sheet of paper and return it to the right spot if I don’t use it. I know some people worry about the paper curling or warping, but that really hasn’t been an issue for me. Awhile ago I stored my paper flat and it was truly an effort to keep it organized especially when I needed to put some back. I keep my cardstock organized by color, and my patterned paper organized by color (whatever color I “feel” first when I look at the paper). I don’t organize by mfg because I don’t buy enough paper that way. When I first started purchasing paper stacks, I would pull them apart and file them according to color, but I quickly realized that it is better to keep them together, especially when trying to coordinate patterned papers for a project. So now I just label the spines and keep them turned so that I can see them.

This summer I did pull out special categories of paper and stored them separately in this little basket. These are the categories I use: Autumn, Birthdays, Disney, Holidays, Kids, Metallic Paper, Places (zoo paper, Lego Land paper, etc.) Music, People, School, Sentiments, Shaped Paper, Sports, Spring, Summer, Transparencies, Travel, and Vellum. I also have all of my CM Power Palettes, Harry Potter paper and large alphabet sticker sheets in here.

I keep all of my scraps, and most 8 ½ x 11 paper I come by, in drawers according to color. Solids and patterns are mixed together and I don’t keep any pieces that are smaller than 2” x 2”. I always trim my odd-shaped scraps into rectangles. Whenever I need a small piece of paper for a card or cricut cut, I start there first! The bottom drawer contains paper I no longer like and so I used it for practice cricut cuts.

So today’s lesson is this…if you haven’t already done so, get organized. Do it in small baby steps a little bit at a time. Start with your paper, because that’s at the heart of PAPERcrafting! 

Thanks for visiting!