Tuesday, June 24, 2008

HELP!!!!

I have such a mess! I don't know how this happened, I think the same person that tangles Christmas lights in the attic did this to my scrap space. Leave me a tip on how to get my space back and once I have this chaos under control I will draw a comment for a RAK from my stash.

16 comments:

Judy said...

Do you have any space to work? Looks like the first thing you need to do is get everything sorted...like things together....and go from there.

Scrappin in my spare time said...

Girl your space looks like mine. When you get yours sorted please come and help me. lol

wendy said...

I would haul it all out of the room. This will give you a chance to clean the desk and any other surfaces you have. Then start going through things...throw stuff out! If you haven't used it or don't think you will...give it away or throw it away. Then slowly start putting things back . I just did this and threw out an entire bag of garbage...what a good feeling :)

Can't wait to see after pictures

Drea said...

Take an entire day, and just sort everything out into piles of what you do use, what you WON'T use and stuff that just needs to be given away.

Then sort those things into piles of how you scrap. I have my paper sorted by Manufacturer. I have my embellishments sorted by items like: Ribbon all together, Buttons all together, flowers all together. Then I have other things sorted by Boy, Girl, and Family.

Oh.......Cardstock has it's own special place also.

Here is a pic.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/67momof8/Summer2007408.jpg[/IMG]

Anonymous said...

I would start in the morning and just pick a spot and go to town organizing. Put everything in its place and if it dont have one make one or get rid of it.

Due to my past experiences with this - this will happen again i dont know when or how but it will so beware of the little monster cause it will return!!!! lol

Anonymous said...

Oh my... this looks like my dining room table... almost!

Welllll, let's see.... I would take a large box and label it "RAK" and then start dumping stuff in it (giggles).

Ok, really, the way to go is to methodically sort, like everyone else has mentioned. Once you get the area clear, you can clean and then start organizing your items back into your workspace! Good luck... sorry I don't have better suggestions, but I don't have a craft space yet... just my dining room table! :-) Kids need to move out!!!!! :-)

kristine said...

set out 8 baskets (give or take) big enough to hold the size of your paper and label them. eg tools, ribbos, chipboard, papers, rub ons, like dislike etc and start by just quickly throwing each item under one of the baskets. Once doing this have a break and then come back and sort through each basket more thoroughly and pu away into its proper place. hope it helps

ScrapMomOf2 said...

Sort and purge, and then get it in containers where you can see it all. Keep what inspires you, get rid of the rest. Take things OUT of the packaging. Packaging takes up a lot of space. Get things out of bags. Label things too. Good luck!

P.S. My space doesn't look much better! In fact, above is what I need to do!!

Suzanne said...

Lisa when you figure out how to clean & organize this let me know mine is almost as bad.

Karen Sue said...

wow what a mess, lol, take a bunch of boxes and sort everyting first, than put everything into containers with labels, I use nice flat tins to keep my stuff, then I hav everyting sorted into piles, I find that one of the best ways to keep papers sorted is to keep them sorted in folders and "filed" on a book shelf. tools I find are best placed at arms reach on shelfs, drawers, and on hooks lined up on the wall, hope this helps

Krysti said...

Take everything and put it into a tote - The start sorting the things that have places to go, and then have a pile of things you need to find places :) That's what i do, the things that have places part goes fast, finding new places for all the "new" supplies i buy is the hard part!@ Good luck, post photo's of the cleaned space!

Anonymous said...

I was reading all the comments for suggestions as my space looks just like this too. However I have now got a bookcase with 8 cubbyholes and plan to label each one ie stmaping/albums/patterned papers/plain papers/sewing etc, then when I tidy up I will know where to put it, and better still when I need to find it I will know where to look.
Good luck with your mission :)
Christine C #2264
cp.cleary@xtra.co.nz

Lucy Filet said...

Good to have you back!

I've just been working on reorganizing my scrap space and here are a few things I did.

-Sort all small inks, stamps, ink pads, punches, etc. into clear plastic containers with NO lids. Store on shelves. This allows me to pull down the entire container when I need something and throw everything back when finished.

-Get some of those baseball card holder plastic sheets and a binder. I sorted each letter (chipboard, acrylic, metal) into one of each of the pockets and used them for small embellishments too (like the ones that come with kits).

I'll post some pics when I'm finished:).

RobinDiane said...

Did you come to my house and take a picture of my space???? LOL My table looks sort of like that. But I am slowly getting organized. First thing to do is to sort all like items together. Then figure out what type of containers you need for each like items. That is what I am doing right now.

Anonymous said...

You just dig in and start with one piece at a time. Put like things together in the area that you hopefully already have designated for them. If you don't have those 'designated' areas then make them. Paper, Embelishments, Tools, Adhesive, etc......
Start sorting and you will find that it goes much faster than you first expect.

Luisa said...

I will siggest that you invite 2-3 friends to help. And then Divide and conquer:
1) Get containers! Personally I like the sterilite drawers (8 1/2" for tools and 12" for paper) because they are clear and I can make pretty labels or decorate them according to my space decor.
2)Sort all your stuff by category:
papers, punches, stickers, pens, chipboard, stamps, ink pads, etc.
3) Purge what you won`t use (if you have not use something in 6 months, chances are you are not going to use them) and put them in a box labeled TO DONATE or TO MY CHILDREN. You can donate to your children school, to an scrapbooking store, or take to a crop and put it in the swap table (if there is not, suggest to start it). Maybe your friend can use some of you "unwanted" stuffs.
4) Decide where you want to store your stuff. Frequent used items, shold be near you, not frequent can be on top or bottom places (below your desk/table).
5) Start storing everything in the designated place. Get some small container to divide inside the drawers, that will help.

If your friends can`t help, do it your self in small chunks of time. Assign 30-60 minutes per day and go thru your punches or papers.

Regarding papers, I sort them by color. Solids and Patterns are in different containers. I use the cropper hopper vertical system. I have a separate "pouch" for decorated (scallop, zigzag, special shape like heart, circle, etc), another for transparencies and another for spacialty paper.

I do have some favorite paper manufacturers, like making memories, scenic route, creative imaginations, basic grey, etc. When I buy this paper I sort them by manufacturer in 12x12 ziplock bags.

This helps me to create easily.

Visit my blog, I have some pictures of my SB area and also some organization tips that I use and work for me.
www.creativedivaluisa.blogspot.com