The Dilemma Files: My Small Scrapping Space - with Kate

 

The desk is tiny, but beloved. Given to me by my grandfather when I was 5 years old, and has had a place in every home of my life. There are scribbles on it from my school & university years & I wouldn't want to have any other desk! As you can see, I keep a ton of stuff right in front of me! I'm one of those, "I need to see it to remember to use it" kinda people! 

So, right there on the surface, I store the things that I use the most, on pretty much every project. To the left, my stamps & stamping blocks. In the centre of the desk is an awesome Martha Stewart Letter holder that I picked up at Officeworks. That thing holds a TON! I have the front section filled with tags, enamel dots & mini alphas, and the back section holds all my 6x6 papers & packs of stickers. There would probably be 50 alpha sheets in there. Like I said, it holds a ton!. Behind it there is a small shelf that holds my bowl of washi tape (which is overflowing!), my pens, mists, tiny attacher & Copic markers. All within easy reach.  I also have this container right on my desk.

It's just a plastic container that was going unused in my kitchen. I think it's designed for dips & snacks & things! (I hate having to spend my craft $$'s on storage, so I tend to try to use what I have already!) I use it to store my current Polly! kit. (I'm currently *im*patiently waiting for my April kit to be delivered! I keep one container with embellishments from the previous kit that I would like to try to use this month. For now, that's the gorgeous wooden sequins & some cork die cuts from March kit, and the beautiful silver arrows from the Feb kit. In another compartment I put all this months printables. The final 2 compartments are for all the embellishments & small cards from the current kit. That way, when I'm working on my spreads, I can see easily see what I have available to use. It really works for me. 

To the left of my desk is a set of 10 drawers (which are terrible, but at the moment they are all I have! Just keeping it real!!) They store my tools, inks, blank cards, card stock etc. I'll show you one drawer - my Polly! drawer! This is where I keep every leftover from the previous kits - so if I need to add something, I can have a good look through there before going through my other stash.

I was very excited to discover that 4 inserts from the mini kit boxes fitted perfectly into one of my drawers! So, a little bit of re-use! I keep all the printables I haven't used, embellishments, larger off cuts of paper etc. I like to be able to see it all at a glance.

On top of that set of drawers I have a basket, with my first - "I need a better solution" area.

Currently this basket holds a LOT of photos, in packets, in no set order. I really have no clue what is there! And it also holds some stamp sets that are larger than 4x6. All shoved in there, and I swear it's going to make the drawers collapse one day! So, dear Polly readers I ask you - how do you store/sort your printed photos? Do you separate Project Life vs Traditional Scrapping. I'd love to hear any & all of your suggestions! Moving onto the other side of my desk. Here is something I've done recently and I LOVE it. It's totally working for me. 

These two small sets of drawers hold the majority of my stash. They hold SO much. The LHS drawers have some of my smaller tools - corner rounder, date stamp, staples, pop dots, adhesives etc. The right hand side holds all my embellishments, sorted by colour. Yep, everything is taken apart, and sorted into colour drawers. It has changed the way I create & I really can't recommend it more highly. I love picking through the drawers to find something I would like to use. I can also remove the drawer to get a better look. And I love that it doesn't take up much room at all. A perfect solution for small spaces.

The colour drawers I have are:

* Gold, silver, bronze

* Aqua, Teal, Blue, Green

* Red, Pink

*Yellow, Orange

*Black, White

*Woodgrain & Cork. 

Here's a couple of photos.

I do also have one additional drawer that only contains labels, months & days of the week embellishments regardless of colour. I found I was wanting to use those a lot & it was easier to keep them separate.

In the desk I keep my smaller inks, mini kits, gelatos & watercolours, card stock & trimmer. The drawer has all my Thickers in it (it's actually getting a little full - I might need to get rid of some, or at least not buy any more!). Beside the desk are my 12x12 kits stored. I even keep my Big Shot under my desk on the floor & only get it out when I need to use it! 

And the final storage item I have are these 2 containers from Lincraft. Each have 12 smaller boxes (I should possibly consider one of these for my photos). One container has Becky Higgins Project Life cards & card stock, sorted by kit. The second has non BH Project Life cards sorted by colour. Again, I LOVE how this has changed how I create. It has made it so much easier to back kits & sets apart & colour code them. My spreads are now quicker to create - less places to look for things!

So that's it! I hope you've enjoyed my tour of my "non flashy" but "works for me" small scrap area. I hope it shows you that you really don't have to have a huge space or stash in order to craft. I actually find that I get overwhelmed when I have too much stash & choice. It slows me down & I don't feel creative at all. I also like that my computer is not in my space. When I'm there, I'm there to craft (or clean up from a previous crafting session!), not to get distracted (or intimidated) by what I see online. 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Don't forget to let me know if you have any tips on storing/sorting photos! I'd really love to hear.

Take care

Kate