Friday 29 June 2012

I Like Organising! {The Organisation Celebration Blog Hop}

Hello! Hello! Today I'm delighted to be part of The Organisation Celebration Blog Hop, organised by the lovely Jennifer of Jennifer's Jumbles. If you haven't just arrived from Jennifer's, you might want to pop back there for the 'official' start. Either way, I hope you'll be able to join us, as we'll be sharing our craft organisation secrets - and there's an amazing collection of October Afternoon and Studio Calico goodies to be had! 


So let me start by sharing a secret - I like organising. Sometimes I enjoy the organisation as much as the crafting (but if anyone asks I will swear I didn't tell you that.) Anyway, since I find it incredible difficult to be creative in an untidy environment – it's probably a good thing. But, my main advantage in maintaining a well ordered and organised craft room actually lies in a 'deplorable' habit I picked up from my dad – I don’t throw anything away.

While this is a habit that could, quite easily, have toppled me across the line into the disorganised, hoarder cohort, I’ve managed to find a few ways to make it work for me – both creatively and organisationally.

Here’s How -

First of all, I now almost exclusively work from a kit. Joining in with the Counterfeit Kit Club has revolutionised my life. There’s no more rummaging around every time I want to make something and no more leaving papers and embellishments all over the room. I keep each of my kits in a zip-locked bag – cardstock, patterned papers, alphas and embellishments.

To further prove my anal retentiveness, I have a smaller bag which I use to keep all of my kit scraps together, meaning that I have them on hand for additional cards or layouts (and let me tell you, there is no scrap too small.) This, smaller bag, gets popped into the larger one to keep everything together. Whenever I need a smaller piece of patterned paper or cardstock, I will rummage through the smaller bag to see if I have anything suitable, before I attack any of the larger pieces with my scissors!


When I ‘retire’ my kits, I spend a little while sorting the remaining items back into the rest of my ‘stupidly organised’ space. Cardstock and papers are organised by colour - and anything that's larger than around 5x7 will end up back with the full sheets.

Anything smaller than that will end up in an old shoebox, which I will occasionally rummage through  when I need to add to my Counterfeit Kit. When the box gets full, I have a little 'session' with my paper trimmer, corner rounder and some loud music - which results in little stacks of card in 5x7, 6x4, 3x5 and 2.5x3.5. Perfect for mini-albums, artistic trading cards or a small greetings card.


Teeny, tiny scraps and anything that looks a little bit awkward (which would normally end up in someone’s bin) are not overlooked in my craft room! I tend to use them with some of the smaller stamps or punches in my collection, which provides me with additional embellishments and leaves me with very little wastage.


Now, About That Amazing Giveaway -

You may, or may not, have noticed a little letter hidden away somewhere in my post - can you see it? Well, in order to be entered into a prize draw for this amazing collection of October Afternoon 9-5 and Studio Calico Take Note goodies, all you have to do is 'collect letters' from each of the blog hop participants, then e-mail Jennifer with your answer. Don't worry if you don't have time to complete the entire hop today, you have until 11:59pm (BST) on the 2nd of July.


So, ready for a little bit more organisational fun? Then head over to visit Leanne at My Little Life Of Scrap, who has some more organisational tips and techniques for you, along with that all important new letter!

27 comments:

  1. Like you, I can't throw away anything. It's a curse to be able to see things in a different way, but not have enough time to bring it all into fruition.

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  2. I'm hopeless at throwing anything away too. Sadly, I am not nearly as organised as you though and it does threaten to overwhelm me at times! I always punch shapes out of my tiniest scraps, rather than chucking them out. I like your idea of cutting the bigger pieces up and I think I'll be doing that in future :o)
    Off to check out some of the other blogs in the hop.
    Fiona x

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  3. Oh my word! Your organisation has blown me away! I love the little scraps in the pretty bowls! very clever.

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  4. Wow you are oganised wish I was half as organised as you.
    Jenny x

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  5. Being a kit fan as well, my organization is close to yours except I don't bother straightening my bits into even sizes.

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  6. I like organizing, too, but I throw away lots of things that are too small.
    Rinda

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  7. Your tip sounds like a workable one for me. The only thing i usually organise are my ideas... in notebooks.

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  8. I'm impressed with the stacks of rectangles and punched shapes ready to go onto projects.

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  9. I'm so glad its not just me that keeps all the little bits - some of those punches are so small and it physically hurts to cut into something too big doesn't it?!

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  10. Oh to be so organised, I need more tutorials like this, thank you.

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  11. I love your punched scraps in the bowls, I've got something a bit like this coming up later in the weekend! You are really very organised, I love those neat stacks on your desk! I'm amazed at the teeny tiny scraps you keep, that's the sign of a true hoarder :-)

    Thanks so much for joining in with the blog hop! x

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  12. lovely to see a little insight into what scraps you keep...and they look very organised too.

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  13. Love it! organised hoarding - so good to know I'm not alone :)

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  14. My girls always say I am a very organiszed hoarder.
    I say scrapbook supplies are too expensive to be thrown away!
    Thankls for your organizing tips...I too cut and trim my scraps down and when they are really small I punch them or diecut them as well!

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  15. I feel like I've lost my organisational mojo lately, and I'm soooo glad you're having this celebration as it seems to be helping! Think I might have to sort through my scraps and trim them down like this - think I might get more use out of them. Thank you!

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  16. I love your system! I've never really been a "kit" person, but may try to couterfeit kit idea out in future months . . .

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  17. Hey thanks for those tips... and the letter =) greetings from México =)

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  18. I too love kits, great idea cutting scraps into sizes like that.

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  19. I am so with you about saving small bits of paper, but now they are organised they are a complete blessing and feature loads in my crafting. TFS

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  20. I agree, of course, that kits rock! But I still enjoy times when I just pull stuff from my stash to work with - often this happens when I am putting other stuff (like kit leftovers) away.

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  21. That is some neat organisation. I wish my attempts at organising my stash were as neat lol

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  22. I am a real hoarder but sadly I am not very organised lol xxx

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  23. My first time visiting your blog courtesy of the bloghop! Your organisational system is great:D
    Also, I love how you got in the letter - very crafty!

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  24. I am so glad to hear that other people also keep the tiny scraps! I love your idea of cutting the pieces into set sizes and really love the idea of punching out shapes from the smaller pieces! :)

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  25. Some cool organisation ideas, thanks for sharing. I love to organise too :) x

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  26. I'm with you! I keep everything so it has be organized to keep this from getting out of hand. I also keep ALL of my scraps no matter how small. I dabble in mixed media so all of the scraps get put to use there :D I'm a new follower!

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