cheiron's crafty life

organize & store: cling & clear stamps

I remember when I was not really into buying clear or cling stamps. I loved the look and feel of wood mounted stamps and that is all I was going to buy. There are so many great cling and clear stamps now that I seem to have quite a collection. At first I was putting them into small binders by company, but the collection became too big. Then I started putting them into some plastic sleeves, and putting those sleeves in 6 x 6 paper holders, and they stopped making those plastic sleeves. I think I have finally found a solution, at least one that works for me. I thought I would share it with you. 

This is what the stamps look like on my shelf: 

I like to keep my sets (especially my Hero Arts sets) out where I can see them with the original carboard packaging (but not the plastic bag) that has the name of the set on it. I found that these sets fit perfectly in half sheet page protectors that I picked up from Staples. It also gives me comfort knowing that if a stamp loses its "stick" (since I don't always clean them that well) and falls of the sheet, it's not going anywhere but inside the little sheet protector. For my cling and clear sets that come with an image detail on the outside, I just cut it out and glue it onto a piece of cardstock. 

Once I got all my stamp sets in their protective sheets, I found that they fit perfectly in the ITSO plastic storage bins that are available in the home storage section at Target stores (but not online). I then made little dividers for them out of chipboard, and put them into categories. For me, these are easy to find, they fit perfectly on my shelves and I can "shop" through them whenever I need to look for something. It reminds me of going to the fabric store with my mom as a girl and looking through the patterns.  

Here's a closer look: 

Hope you enjoyed this tip on storing clear and cling stamps. Are there any other supplies that you are having a hard time storing? Just let me know, maybe I can help!

Note: The link to the page protectors says out of stock on line, but check the pick up in store option. All 5 stores closest to me have them in stock! 

organize & store: distress stains

Thought I would share a little tip for you today on how I organize and store my Distress Stains.

Now that I have "collected" them all, I wanted to organize them in a way that made them easy to find when I am creating. I started by filling in my handy downloadable chart from Ranger, and as I was doing this I made a swatch of stain on a blank piece of cardstock.

When I was done, I punched out all the swatches with a 5/8" circle punch and adhered it to the top of the bottle with some Glossy Accents. This makes each color super easy to find if you are storing them in a container. 

 

Now where to put all these bottles? I like to have all of my supplies close to me when I am working, but already have enough stuff on top of my table. I use these little rolling carts and pull them out while I am working and just put them underneath the desk when I am done. I got the idea for this from Heather's blog a while ago. The contents of these carts change often, but they allow me to use whatever I am loving right now.

To store the stains I found these small galvanized metal containers at Michael's in the floral section. I like these because they are lined with a plastic liner (which gives me peace of mind in case of a leak).

Hope you enjoyed this storage tip. I am in the process of finishing up my organization and storage of my clear and cling stamps which I plan to share soon. Are there any other supplies that you have a hard time organizing and storing? Let me know!

christmas cheer

I have not been a very good blogger this month...but I have a very good reason. We finally got rid of the hideous carpet in our basement and replaced it with new flooring. So the crafty space was out of commission for the past few weeks!

 
Everything is finally back in it's place...and we even added a little Christmas cheer.

 
 
And I finally got to do the big purge that I have been meaning to do since we moved in March. I dropped on a giant bin of fun crafty supplies to my sister's second grade class, and had enough time to enjoy a little winter crafty time with them. The kids absolutely LOVED decorating their own gingerbread people that we made with this Tim Holtz die.

I have been really busy working on my December Daily, and completing some other Christmas craftiness around the house. I am also in the middle of finishing my photo projects for Kelly Willette's Finding the Holiday Joy. If you have not taken an online workshop with her, you should definitely check it out. The lessons are fabulous! 

Now that I feel organized again, I can get back to sharing more Christmas cheer with you!
 

Glenda's Random AMusing Challenge #19

Time for Glenda's challenge again! Check it out and make sure play along next week, since she will be giving away some BLOG CANDY (which is sure to be fabulous and hopefully A Muse) in celebration of her 20th challenge!

This week's challenge was to use only your scraps to make a card...this one was much easier for me than last week's (which was NO COLORING), because I hoard scraps! I keep all my cardstock scraps in a huge file folder and all my A Muse paper pretty little papers right on my desk, with a bin for scraps. All I had to do was pick a color and get started. Here is how I store my scraps:

 

 

 

Here is my card. Super simple and super easy..just a note card, with a scrap of cream, brown, and patterned paper!

 

A Muse stamps: Trees 2 clear set

My Scrap Space- A Rare Moment

Don't you just love looking in scrapbook magazines where they show pictures of the designer's scrap rooms? They are usually totally clean and there aren't any tools, stamps, or punches to be found anywhere on the table. I had a rare moment today where my space looked pretty clean. I spent the weekend organizing and getting rid of some of the stuff that I have not used in a while or figured I would pretty much never use. My space is small, but it is my favorite room in our apartment. Here is how I organize.

View from the living room.

My scrap table, has plenty of space to hold inks, bins of thickers, stamps, tools, etc. You can buy this from Target.  I also have a shelf from IKEA that holds all my paper, clear stamps, and bins of precut notecards.

 

I have 2 collection drawers made by Bisley that came from The Container Store that hold my stamps. On top of thes drawers I have two cakes tands that were on sale at Anthropologie, and the little flower bowls that were not on sale, but only a few bucks each. I try to put newer items in these bowls so I see them and do not forget to use them.

  

 

There is another little corner for my computer and scanner...

and fortunately, there is a pretty big closet in this little room...

These pictures are just for you Yasmeen...here is how I store the everyday stuff...

inks (Portaink)

THICKERS (Mesh DVD holders from Target)

RIBBONS (Ribbon Ring) Hook from Target

TOOLS (Making Memories Organizer)

 

BLING

 

SCRAPS  (12 x 12 organizer from Scrapbook.com)

ODDS AND ENDS (Mini Drawers from The Container Store)

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you enjoyed this little tour of my craft space. I would love to see what other people have done with theirs!