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scrapbook organization

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Scrapbook Obsession: Didn’t Meet My Newsletter Sign-Up Goal But …

I just wanted to write a quick update to my stated goal to reach 200 sign-ups for my Scrapbook Obsession Free Newsletter by Valentine’s Day (02-14-16).

Welllll … I didn’t make it. Almost, but not quite. I have 194 newsletter subscribers. I’m not gonna’ cry; that’s still pretty darn good for a something I started only last fall.

I don’t know if you’re interested but I’m also going to share what else cheered me up: my other social media stats. Since I last updated my social media tracking spreadsheet on 11-09-15 (3 months ago), everything has increased:

Blog Followers: 704 to 713, increase of 9
Bloglovin’ Followers: 142 to 155, increase of 13
Newsletter Sign-Ups: 162 to 194, increase of 32
Periscope Followers: 383 to 746, increase of 363!
Twitter Followers: 222 to 252, increase of 30
Pinterest Followers: 856 to 952, increase of 96
Facebook Page Likes: 105 to 231, increase of 126
Facebook Group Members: 57 to 85, increase of 28

I even had increases in Twitter (+28) and Pinterest (+15) Followers for my sister site OrganizedScrapbooking.com which I haven’t been able to spend ANY time on.

All that made me feel pretty good, and okay about not reaching my newsletter sign-up goal. I’m making progress in building the ScrapbookObsession.com site, getting the word out, and letting scrapbookers know I’m here.

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There are all kinds of things bloggers do to increase their blog and social media followers, including using scheduling programs, joining group Pin boards, guest blogging, etc. – all of which I’d be doing if I had time, LOL. But all of THIS growth has been “organic reach” – except for anyone who came my way because of a 7-day Facebook ad I ran in January for my Simplify Your Scrapbook Space class.

I know you guys share my posts, mention my site on message boards, and more. I’m so grateful! That’s my favorite way to get new readers because it means you believe in this site and our community here. Thank you so much!

Have a great day!

PS: If you’d like to follow me any of the places I mentioned above, they’re all clickable links. Hint, hint …

Beyond Excited! I’m Offering My First Online Scrapbook Class: “Simplify Your Scrapbook Space”

The full course title is: “Simplify Your Scrapbook Space: Declutter and Organize So You Can Scrapbook Stress-Free.” Catchy, eh?

The Short Version

If you don’t have time to read this long post, let me cut to the chase for you: The class is on sale NOW. You should sign up NOW because there’s a group of us starting on Monday together (but it can be self-paced too). It’s only $39 for 8 weeks of content, encouragement and accountability in a Facebook secret group and the classroom message board, not to mention a shared Pinterest board, and lots of free bonuses! You can learn more HERE and sign up HERE.

The Long Version

Here’s My History. What’s Yours?

I’ve been scrapbooking since 2001. Since that time, my scrapbook space has become so overrun with supplies and clutter that I often dread spending time in there and I sadly don’t scrapbook at home very much. {I mostly scrapbook at crops and retreats}. Periodically, I spend a day or two putting away purchases, sorting through my piles (yeah, I’m a piler), and rejoicing over seeing my desktop again.

Yet 2 months later, I’m back in the exact same boat. My scrap desk is piled high, I can’t put my hands on that favorite supply I wanted to use, and I end up just walking out of my scrap space without doing much because I don’t want to deal with it yet AGAIN. Can you relate to this at all?

Proof of the Crazy That Was My Scrapbook Space

BEFORE photos of my desk and file cabinet … yuck :(

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The Epiphany

After reading Marie Kondo’s ultra-popular book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, I had an epiphany: I’m ready for a change. I’m going to apply this home decluttering and organizing philosophy, which the author calls the KonMari Method, to my scrapbooking space. Would you like to join me?

A Different Concept

This class will be different from other scrapbook space organization classes. Instead of focusing on the smartest or coolest ways to organize and store your supplies, we’re going to focus on paring down what you have, mentally and physically clearing away all the scrapbook clutter that is blocking your creativity and causing stress, and only keeping those scrapbooking items that bring you joy. THEN we’ll talk about how to store everything.

A Scary Concept

Now I realize these thoughts are very scary for some. They sure are for me. Pare down? Clear away? Simplify? Does that mean I have to get rid of most of the supplies I love? NOPE. It just means that we’re going to be brutally honest with ourselves about what amount of scrapbook supplies we truly need, which ones “bring us joy” vs. which ones feel kind of heavy or obligatory, and what level of simplifying will allow us maximum creativity.

For example, I’ve been stubbornly holding on to MANY 12×12 postbound albums which take up most of my storage cubes. It’s crazy. I switched over to D-ring albums years ago and the likelihood that any of these albums will ever be used is very small. Why am I holding onto them? I’m letting them take up valuable closed storage space that could be better used for other supplies that are cluttering up my desktop – and making me feel too crowded to scrapbook there? I mean, come ON!

Deep Breaths!

Don’t worry. If you take my class, I’m not going to “make you” do anything you don’t want to do, PROMISE. I’m just going to give you ideas on how to simplify your stash, encouragement if you need it, and let you know that it’s okay to let go of things in your scrapbook space that aren’t bringing you joy and aren’t enhancing your creativity.

In the past, I’ve purged good amounts of stuff (for example, HERE and HERE) but I’ve come to the realization after all these years and all these attempts at organization that I’ve held on too tightly to too much. Not to mention that I keep buying cute new stuff while not purging or using equal amounts of it.

Months or years after a purge and organization attempt (which never seem to be completely finished because I get distracted before I’m truly done), there are items I’m still holding onto that, honestly, will probably never be used.

What if Someday Never Comes?

And you know what? That’s okay. What the Konmari method made me see is that I don’t have to feel guilty about letting go of things “because I spent good money on that” or because “I have a project I want to do with it” SOMEDAY. Yeah, always someday, right?

Another thing I’m okay with is just packing some things away for a while and revisiting them later. If there are supplies I’m not sure I’m ready to let go of, there’s no harm in putting them in a box in the attic or a closet and revisiting them in a year or so. Because in the meantime, I cleared some space! I made room for creativity! And that’s an awesome feeling.

I want you to have that feeling too. I want you to feel refreshed, unburdened, and free in your scrapbook space not dreading the chaos that currently exists. Maybe you’re already awesomely simplified and organized; if so, good for you! But if you feel like it’s time to make some changes in your level of supplies or just in how they’re organized, I hope you’ll join me for this class.

More About “Simplify Your Scrapbook Space”

The sales page is HERE and the purchase page is HERE. It’s only $39 for this beta class which will unfold over 8 weeks, no matter when you purchase it. (Only $5 a week?? Whaaaaat?) But if you want to roll along with a group of us doing the class together, please sign up by tonight – we’re starting THIS Monday 11/16/15! {Signing up any time after Monday is totally fine! You’ll receive the initial module right way and the following 7 modules week by week. You’ll have full access to the Facebook group, message board, Pinterest board, etc.}.

I plan to offer an expanded version of the class in January 2016. I know that the current time of year is tough for taking on a project. But if you can swing it, do the class with us now so you’re able to enjoy any holiday down-time or vacation days in your newly organized space :) Also, the price for the January class will be higher so now is the time to get in for less.

Whether you sign up for my class or not, I urge you to take a look around at your scrapbook space and REALLY examine if it’s serving you well. Does it contain only things that bring you joy? Does it allow space for making layouts, sorting photos, and using your die-cutting machine? Do you feel invited to enter your space or do you dread approaching it? If the answers to these questions aren’t positive ones, consider making a change, either now or in the new year so 2016 can be an amazing year of creativity for you!

Scrapbook Obsession Update: Facebook Page and Group, Team Lisa, and My First Class?!?!

Heyo scrappy! Remember in THIS post when I alluded that there may be another announcement coming? Well, it’s time. And now there’s a spoiler in the post title but I’m not ready to talk about that yet so you have to keep waiting :P

Facebook Page and Group

First, I wanted to update you on the new Scrapbook Obsession Page and Group that I talked about HERE. They both got off to a somewhat slow start – as things associated with me are wont to do – bwahahaha! I’m thinking me in the morning before cawfee, any form of exercise, that kind of thing.

The Facebook Page was pretty depressing at first, I tell ya’. I’d post something and it would say “1 person reached” or “3 people reached” even though the Page Likes were growing steadily (thanks to you guys, since the only place I mentioned the new page was here on the blog).

But that’s Facebook’s new algorithm; you can Like a page all you want but if you don’t regularly interact with it, the posts won’t show up in your feed. They want people like me who are desperate for approval from strangers to pay for boosting, ads, etc. ;)

Well, the joke’s on Mr. Zuckerberg because a. I’m cheap, and 2. I prefer to beg my online scrappy friends to “LIKE” me (please Like me!) before I’ll stoop to the level of paying for affection.

So I hung in there, begged my friends to give me some love, and the reach of the SBO Facebook Page has improved already! Take that, Marky Mark!! I even have one post that says “145 people reached.” Of course, it’s a post about one of my scrapbooking hauls. Now I know how to get your attention, you little minxes!

As for the Secret Facebook Group – well, it’s a SECRET so I can’t tell you. DUH.

J/K … J/K

Not only has the Scrapbook Obsession Facebook Group grown to 58 lovely members in just a few weeks, it has also caused my Scrapbook Obsession Free Newsletter list to grow from 140 to 164 in that same timeframe. ‘Cuz you have to sign up for the newsletter to get an invitation to the Secret Group. Hmmm, who’s crafty little idea was that??

See, there’s usually a method to my madness. Not always but usually. Sometimes I’m just a hot mess and have no farklin’ idea what I’m doing. Yeah, wow, I’d have to say that’s mostly when I’m cooking. So you’re safe – unless you come over for brunch. { That’s so silly! Why would you come over to my house for brunch??!! Because MIMOSAS! }.

Team Lisa aka “Anthology” by Lisa Bearnson

Since I joined on as a consultant for this line in the Spring, it’s been a good experience. The umbrella company – Youngevity – is wonderful to work with. They gave me my own pretty website to sell Anthology products and they provide great support and training. I’m still trying to figure out how that all fits in with Scrapbook Obsession.

SBO my anth site blog

I don’t want to over-post about it but in keeping it pretty “low pro”, I haven’t sold very much. Honestly, I thought people would be more excited to buy the products and find me when seeking information. While I do get blog hits from those searches, they aren’t translating to orders. No one asks questions. No one is begging to be a consultant even though you can get started for only $25. I bought 10 catalog/idea books and have sold 1 :( [ETA 11/15/15: Make that 2! Thanks Shari and Laura].

And that’s okay. I’ve never been a pushy salesperson type and apparently that hasn’t changed. If I choose to be more aggressive about it down the road, I have ways to promote Anthology that won’t negatively impact this blog – because I don’t want to dilute what Scrapbook Obsession is. And what is that, exactly?? LOL

My First Class?!?!

Yes, I totally just copied that heading from the post title because it’s midnight and I’m plumb tired. Brain no workee. Too long since above-mentioned coffee consumption.

So anyhoooo … if you’re in the Secret Facebook Group (ahem!), you know that I’ve been contemplating when to do my first online class – about organizing and simplifying your scrapbook space. Here’s where that stands: At this point, I’m thinking of doing an 8-week beta class starting next Monday. Yes, NEXT Monday 11-16-15. Even if it’s just a few of us, I think we can have a blast getting our space all tidied up for some winter-break, staying-warm-inside scrapbooking this winter!

Then I’d start a longer and more thorough version of the same class on or around 01-18-16. I know the holidays are too busy for many people to contemplate attacking their scrapbook space. The new year is a great time for that. With both classes, I’ll be running them live starting on those dates but you can purchase them at any time and jump in. The content will be released weekly and you’ll have access to our chats, photos, forum, Facebook group, etc.

What your scrapbook space will look like after you take my class:


(It actually belongs to Papermint Crafting Studio. I’m being “aspirational” like Martha Stewart. Heh.)

So I’m getting input on all this from the group members and from some scrappy friends. I need to decide, like, PRONTO. Are you in the mood to get started organizing on Monday? If not, how does January sound? I hope you’ll join me . . . more information to follow!

As for Scrapbook Obsession Overall . . .

If you read THIS post, you know that I went to online business school this year and, after blogging since 2007, I’m ready to take Scrapbook Obsession to the next level. Having the newsletter is a big part of that because of how it makes others in the scrapbooking industry view my relationship to YOU (in other words, it’s a great thing, so thank you for signing up!). My blog feed, Bloglovin’ followers, and social media followers are steadily growing.

I’m being contacted by more product sponsors and affiliates which is a nice vote of confidence. It’s challenging to find ones that are a good fit for a scrapbooking blog which is a pretty defined niche. But that’s okay; it’s not really a big part of my plans for Scrapbook Obsession anyway. I still have more awesome ideas than I have time. And I’m still waiting to make enough moolah from this venture to cut back on my day job. Someday, someday . . .

The best part has been the support from my online scrapbook friends like you and I couldn’t be more appreciative. Let’s keep this thing rolling strong and see what 2016 brings. I think it’s gonna’ be an awesome new year!

Scrapbook Studio: A Little Before and After

As I talked about HERE, my scrapbook space / home office / kids’ homework area was badly in need of some cleaning up and organizing. I was considering “going for broke” with a batch of free time I had coming up. In the end, I didn’t have as big a block of time as I’d hoped but I decided to try and make a dent in things anyway.

Although I didn’t do a major re-haul and purge, I did get my whole scrapbook office cleaned, dusted, and vacuumed. I got a lot of things thrown away and put away and tidied up.

Major accomplishment: I can see the floor and my desktop again! Woot!

Since there wasn’t a huge amount of progress, I’ll just share a couple of Before and Afters.

This is my area of Crop In Style cubes (holding mostly albums, projects, paper, adhesives, etc.) and candy jars (holding embellishments, chipboard letters, flowers, etc.).

BEFORE
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AFTER
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I washed the lids on all the jars so they sparkle now. I dusted everything, did a little bit of rearranging, and purged a little. Overall, it doesn’t look that much different. I did move the turquoise deco items in the middle over here from my desk but I don’t like how it looks; too crowded. I have some shelves to hang one of these days and most of that will be moved to the shelves.

This is a whole view of the room.

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AFTER
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You can tell that I generally just straightened up and cleaned. I can see the surface again of the coffee table, homework table, and – like I said – my scrapbook desk. I even cleaned off a patch near my work/home office desk and it’s nice to be better organized there.

It feels really good every time I walk in the room. It’s nice to know – when I have my next block of free time – I can actually scrapbook. Now, isn’t that a rare feeling? LOL I hope this is a little inspiration if you need it – to do a little tidying of your own space so you can get scrappin’! I would love to hear about any progress you’ve been making lately; feel free to link to photos or blog entries in Comments :)

Scrapbook Deals and Steals: Check Out Michaels Starting Sunday 04-06-14

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From April 6-12, 2014, Michaels is having one of their BIGGEST sales of the year! Check out their ad and coupons HERE.

I for one am happy because they’ll have Iris 12×12 scrapbook cases for only $2.99 (reg. $8.99).

Over time, I’m converting all my scrapbook storage that was in open baskets on my shelves to these closed cases. Love that they’re see-through.

Scrapbook albums and Recollections craft storage are 60% off! Maybe I’ll finally take a chance on a Project Life album at THAT price! {I’ve heard they’re not very sturdy. Do you have a review?}

Scrapbook paper pads will be $9.99 (reg. $19.99).

And Plastic Scrapbook Storage will be 50% off.

If you wanted to implement my PROJECT LIFE CARDS or WASHI storage ideas, now would be a great time to buy up some of those cute plastic shoeboxes or 6×6 Iris containers!

I know you love a good scrappy bargain as much as I do, so I had to share. Hope you find something fabulous. Happy Shopping!

PS: Would love to hear what you pick up at Mike’s. Please come back and let us know!

Online Scrapbook Classes: All 2013 Webinar Classes by Lain Ehmann/Layout A Day on Sale thru 02-14-14

Now through Friday, 02-14-14 at midnight, Lain is offering all ten of her scrapinars from 2013 for only $7 each, instead of the regular $17.95. Selections include organizing with Aby Garvey, crafting with office supplies from Lain Ehmann, tackling a photo-a-day project with Katrina Kennedy… and seven more!

AND you can get all TEN video classes for only $29, less than $3 a class!

Here’s the full line-up.

Each class is around an hour long (unless otherwise noted) and includes pre-recorded video, a Q&A period, and lots of scrappy fun. Many also include action guides or PDF “cheat sheets.”

Remember, this sale runs from NOW through Friday, 2/14.

If you can’t commit enough to click the link above (LOL), here are the icons from each class to see if anything blows your dress up :)


Organize, Energize with Professional Organizer Aby Garvey!

Although I usually attend Lain’s monthly webinars when they’re free, some of these I’ve missed so even I’m tempted at this crazy-good price. I really enjoyed Monica Bradford’s washi class and Lain’s about scrapbooking with office supplies, if you’re looking for recommendations.

You can find more info or sign up HERE.

Let me know if you have any questions <3

Scrapbook Deals and Steals: Lots of Project Life on Sale Plus a Bag in Bag You Need!

Do you like my new category? I *love* me some scrapbook deals and steals, saving money, and sharing them with you. So now we’re official :)

You can find the Project Life deals on Amazon RIGHT HERE!!

Don’t know what’s going on, didn’t hear it announced anywhere, etc. But I was on Amazon last night to get THIS amazing bag that you’ll *need* as well after you watch this:

. . . when I noticed that the Project Life Childhood Mini Kit – Bridgeport Edition that I had in my cart for months . . . was HALF PRICE with free shipping!

So I snatched that baby up, sista’! You can’t beat that with a stick. Here’s just a few examples of other great deals:

Photo Pocket Pages – Big Variety Pack 1 (60 Pages). Wowsers! Regularly $29.99, on sale for only $17.33 with free shipping.

Project Life Core Kit – Seafoam Edition. Regular price $29.99, on sale for $16.48 with free shipping.

Project Life Grid Cards 4 x 6 – Box of 100 Regular price $7.99, now only $3.92 with free shipping.

Many scrappers are lucky to have Project Life in local big box stores like Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Archivers, etc. where you can use a 40% off coupon to take a bit of sting out of the prices. But I only have a Mike’s – with a small PL selection at that – and other than refill pages, I’ve already used coupons to get the few sets I like that they carry.

Now you understand my HAPPY-NESS at finding Project Life on such a great sale at Amazon, yeah!?!?!

I also got this pretty blue BAG IN BAG like the one shown in the video above!!

It comes in other colors, including these:

OMG! My mind is going crazy with uses for these amazing little bags. First, so many ideas involving scrapbooking:

Portable Tool Kit: Scissors, journaling pens, adhesive/refill, eraser, Cats Eye inks, etc. On your desk and easy to take to crops

Stamping Kit: Most used stamps and inks, again portable for crops or even just to sit in front of the TV while you stamp card sentiments or page titles

Project Life Kit: Journaling cards, washi tape, wood veneers in those outside mesh pockets, corner rounder, date stamps, etc. I currently have all this stuff in a tray on my desk. How cool to be portable instead :)

Crop Misc. Kit: Finally! One place to put your charger cables, iPhone, Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers (oh, wait – that’s probably just me), hand lotion, photo paper, sticky note pads, and all the random things you want handy on the crop table but don’t fit in another category.

Then there are all the other things you could use it for: make-up, office or bill supplies, purse contents (to make purse-switching easy or just to organize all that stuff), travel toiletries, on and on . . .

I got to thinking what great Christmas gifts they would make for all the chickies in my life. Who couldn’t find a use for a bag like this? I had to restrain myself to only one for now but I’m definitely going back for more when the budget allows.

Speaking of money, there are other vendors selling the Bag in Bag like THIS ONE. They are much cheaper – in some cases costing just a couple dollars – but make sure you check where they’re shipping from in case it’s Asia. That will take a lot longer to get here. Just a tip :) But if you’re in no hurry, it’s all good. I mistakenly ordered earbuds from Hong Kong once and it was TORTURE waiting for them to get here. After 4 weeks, I tried to cancel the order and of course couldn’t because they were already in customs or some such. Anyway, that’s why I won’t order things anymore that ship from outside the U.S. Oh, and they wouldn’t provide tracking information either. And they were (supposed to be) part of a birthday gift :(

With my Amazon Prime, I got the Bridgeport PL kit and the cute blue bag for about $20 bucks out the door. Not bad. Made my ever-lovin’, bargain-huntin’ heart so happy!

How about you? You gonna’ take advantage of the great Project Life sale or snag a Bag in Bag? Or five . . . :)

Scrapbook Obsession Blog + Pinterest = Another Addiction

I did it. I gave in to the Power of the P.

Aren’t you proud of me? I finally started a Pinterest account for this blog. Now, before you lecture me, let me just say this:

– I know I’m late to the party. But I brought pretzels!

– I know it’s addictive; I’ve heard the warnings.

– No, I will not forget to blog because my eyes are glazed over from all the beautifulness over there.

– I will still love you if you don’t Follow me on Pinterest . . . just not as much. Hey, deal with it.

So, please go check out my Pinterest boards! I even made it easy for you by putting that handy-dandy little “Follow Me On Pinterest” button in the right sidebar. There. You have no excuse.

I have scrapbooking boards of course – products, organization, studios, etc. – and some Project Life boards. Also other fun things that interest me like books, Italy, quotes, free printables, coffee, and more.

I was THISCLOSE to adding a martini board but I didn’t know if that was bad form for a NEWB. Maybe once I’ve been around Pinterest for a while, you think?

Are you on Pinterest? If not, why not?

If you are a Pinner, will you pretty please put your Pinterest link/name in Comments below? I will Follow you!

Especially if you’re going for martinis ;)

Project Life: My New Storage System for PL, Snap, MAMBI, and Other Scrapbooking Cards

Raise your hand if you’ve been collecting Project Life cards like they’re going out of style! MEEEEEE!!! ME ME ME!!!

I just jumped on the Project Life bandwagon this year. And the Sn@p! card bandwagon. And the MAMBI card bandwagon. And the free printables bandwagon.

Wow. That’s a lotta’ bandwagons! Must be why I have so many dang cards.

Here are the Project Life kits I have (so far, wink):

Blush
Honey {See why it’s my favorite Project Life kit HERE!}
Jade
Midnight
Slate
Wedding
Baby
Wellington
5th and Frolic

What I’ve been doing is buying partial kits, trading cards, and selling cards. I think the only kit I still have all the cards for is Baby and that’s because I’m going to use it for multiple baby books. Oh, and I have all of Wellington and Wedding but those are mini kits.

The large and small boxes that Project Life come in are very nice but they’re not a very efficient use of space, especially when you only own 1/4 or 1/3 of the larger kits. So I decided to throw away all the PL boxes and come up with a new storage system.

Requirements:

1. Easily accessible
Opening one lid is fine but I don’t wanna’ be opening cases inside of cases and I need to be able to flip through the cards.

2. Something I can label
I need to SEE the names not just SEE the cards. I’m weird like that.

3. Something I can keep on my desk
Another thing I didn’t like about keeping the cards in the original PL box was that they were too big to keep on my desk, so I had to go over to the bookshelf to get them every time I worked on my Project Life or a PL-type album.

One idea I’d thought about replicating was from LAYLE KONCAR at SIMPLE STORIES. She used one of those old cassette holders (in case you are disgustingly young, cassettes were music-playing things before iPods came along). She tilted it up and it’s genius how you can see all your cards so well with this system.

Alas, it didn’t meet requirements 2. and 3. above :(

I got this wild hair late Friday night so no time to go shopping for a storage system. I perused my stash and decided to use some plastic shoe boxes I got from Target awhile back. They were holding handmade cards I’ve received over the years and various mini albums, mostly made at CKU and such. So those things were dumped out and I need to find a new home for them now. Which is a pain.

But totally worth it because look how great my new Project Life card storage came out! All my PL cards are in there except Wellington which is on my desk as I’m currently working with it.

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As you can see, the box on the left is for Project Life cards and on the right is for Sn@p!, MAMBI, free printables, and misc. cards like those calendar cards from ELLE’S STUDIO. I used lined Project Life 4×6 blank cards to create the dividers, along with washi tapes and my Brother label maker. No, I’m not super creative but it got the job done.

I’m so happy that all my Project Life, Sn@p!, MAMBI (can you say “Addicted!”???), and free printable cards are all in one place! Well, two places but you know what I mean. They sit to the right of my chair at my L-shaped desk. A divided tray with all my other Project Life-y type stuff sits to the left – washi, 6×6 pads, WRMK small pads, corner rounder, arrow punch, date stamps, ink, stickers, etc.

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It gets very dusty in my scraproom so I love that this is covered storage. When I’m actively using them, I can slip the shoebox lids right underneath the boxes so they don’t take up extra room or flop backward covering other things like the PL boxes do. And when I’m not using them, they seal on the boxes tightly and keep the dust out.

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Plus I {heart} hearts SO much! They just make me happy and I’m glad they’re now sitting so close to me at my desk instead of way across the room on that ol’ bookshelf like before. Now we can get to know each other better, maybe go out for a drink, play Scrabble, you know, that kind of thing.

So there’s my latest version of scrapbook storage for all those Project Life-type cards. What do you think? How are yours stored? I would love to hear!

Scrapbook Products: Scrapbooking Lap Desk at Michaels

I saw this when I was at Michaels recently and thought y’all might be interested in it. It’s a lapdesk specifically for scrapbookers made by Mike’s store brand, Recollections.

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I think it’s a clever idea. So many scrappers don’t have a designated scrapbook space, others like to sit in bed to scrap or join their family in front of the TV. OOH! Or you could use it on long car rides!

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The pink print is, well, kinda’ bright – but pink is one of my favorite colors so I’m down with that. And the price {retail $49.99} is a bit steep but they routinely put storage items on 40% or 50% off (if not, use a coupon!).

One the one hand, I don’t think I’d use that clip at the top on layouts as they probably intend for fear of damaging my paper. On the other hand, it could be handy to hold your pen, scissors, a journaling tag, etc.

What do you think? Do you like this new scrapbooking product at Michaels?

Scrapbook Organization: Current Year Memorabilia for Project Life

When I sat down last weekend to scrapbook, I *thought* it was just to work on Project Life. Finally. Other than a week I skipped ahead to in June, my Project Life layouts are only done through mid-February.

By the way, it’s July. In case you were wondering.

Please don’t report me to the Project Life Police! If they ask, you have the right to remain silent and if you talk to the po-po, I’ll crop you. For reals.

I’ve been taking photos almost every day, keeping notes, and collecting memorabilia. I’m not worried about being “behind” with my Project Life. It’ll all get into an album eventually. I’m busy. What’s new? Not gonna’ beat myself up about it.

Needless to say, I was excited to finally have a few hours to devote to scrapping. But I got sidetracked. Of course.

I put the photos I was going to use into their slots. For the days I didn’t have photos, I figured I’d see if I had any memorabilia – ticket stubs, business cards, receipts, invitations, etc. Maybe a flyer to jog my memory or a Post-It with a cute quote from the kids.

And that’s where the train went off the rails.

My version of “organizing memorabilia” this year has consisted of tossing everything into a basket on my desk. It’s a very bad thing, Martha.

It was all in one place {an improvement over years past, I must say} but certainly not in order. I could’ve just plucked out the things from February but what fun would that be!?!?

I felt the call to ORGANIZE. Right then and there.

Hmmm . . . what to use? My first thought was file folders by month so I grabbed 12 from my office supply stash and started to label them. Then I remembered that I had 8.5 x 11 clear page protectors with a monthly calendar in each one that I printed for free from MISS TIINA. {Super cute, right?}

Originally I had planned to put them in my PL album as kind of dividers between the months. But when I tried it, I didn’t like it. So they were sitting in a basket on my desk just hangin’ out, loitering, cutting class, smoking, generally just being future felons. I decided to put them to work.

I filled each of the page protector/calendars up with all the loose bits of memorabilia from each month. It worked out really nicely and I feel so much better now. Phew. I can find stuff.

I was able to get that week of PL from February done, including a coffee cozy from my favorite latte’, a sticker from a dental appointment reminder card, and a funny quote from one of the kids.

I’ve tried many different methods of sorting memorabilia over the years – accordion files, manila envelopes, and stacking trays to name but a few – and never been happy. They were hard to access and see what’s inside, little bits fall to the bottom, things get dusty, etc.

But this one may be a winner. I’m thinking once I’m done pulling stuff out for the current month’s Project Life spreads, I’ll store the page protectors in 8.5 x 11 albums by year. I can access them again later for everyday, sports, school, or special events layouts. For all the bits that never get scrapped, just having those little memories of daily life could be fun to flip through in the future.

And now when I get another chance to work on my Project Life, say in May of 2014-ha, it’ll be a piece of cake. Mmmm, c-a-a-a-k-e.

Oh, um … yeah, I’m back!

How do you tame the memorabilia monster? I would love to hear about it!

Photos! Maggies Holmes Paper Pad @ Michaels

As I posted HERE, Michaels craft stores now has the name-brand Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper 12×12 tablet. I was sure that my Mike’s wouldn’t have it because they rarely have the cool stuff I hear people talking about. But they proved me wrong!

Honestly, even if I found it I wasn’t sure I was going to buy it. I’d never seen the Maggie Holmes line in person, had only seen it online. And although I liked/loved the designs, the shade of pink used in the collection was throwing me off. It looked like a very ‘cool’ shade of pink with a touch of flourescent so . . . um . . . yeah. Wasn’t sure it was going to be my thing.

And then I saw it in person.

IMG_2224

INSTA-LOVE <3 Yes, the pink is in fact a 'cool' pink. But that's okay. It actually looks great with the other colors and adds a fresh touch. Here are some photos I took. Sorry, the lighting is off and I'm not sure how well you're seeing the true colors. I took them with my iPhone first thing this morning near a window. Who knew that would produce such weird results? Anyway . . . here's a glance at all the papers: IMG_2225

IMG_2227

IMG_2226

It’s probably hard to tell from the photos, but there is VELLUM! For the following patterns:

Pink doily
Turquoise bokeh
Navy polka dots
Multi-color flowers
Handwriting
Cloudy sky

I think I found a typo on the cover. At the very bottom in tiny-tiny type, it says “6 in x 6 in”. How funny! Should that make my SCRAPBOOK TYPOS and ERRORS list even though it’s on the packaging not the product?

There are 2 each of 24 designs, either 2 papers or a paper/vellum for each pattern. The papers are a cardstock weight . . . very nice! Even the vellum is very thick. The papers are single-sided and use both white and cream for backgrounds. When I bought this on Monday 07-08, it rang up on sale . . . $11.99 instead of $19.99, no coupon necessary.

Oh, also in the first photo, you can see I got some other things at Mike’s. They had the Iris 12×12 storage cases on sale for $3 each which is an amazing price. They’re usually about $8. I got 2 but wish I would’ve gotten more. I got clear ones but they also came in pink and light green. I’m slowly switching the storage on my scrapbook room shelves from open bins to these Iris cases. It gets very dusty here and I like how the cases protect my goods :) I also love that they’re clear so you can see what project or kit is inside, even though I usually label them anyway {anal much?}

I also got the little bottle of acrylic paint for 22 cents on Clearance. It’s my favorite color these days, sort of a deep robin’s egg blue. Pretty!

So I hope you enjoyed the Maggie Holmes paper photos. Even though they aren’t the greatest quality, I’m hoping they’ll give you a good enough idea as to what this paper pad looks like . . . and whether you can save yourself a trip to Michaels – or whether you need to run someone over to get there faster!

What’s it gonna’ be, sista?

Scrapbook Room: Katie Tate

Check out the awesome scrapbook space of Katie Tate as posted to the create: blog HERE.

If I could build my perfect desk – with all the white cubes and huge workspace – that would be it. I love her cheerful rug, huge space, and how she says it’s often the center of “real life” activity.

What’s your favorite part of Katie’s space?

Scrapbook Organization: Another Room I Want

I found THIS amazingly organized scrapbook room on one of my favorite manufacturer’s blogs, OCTOBER AFTERNOON.

The room belongs to Stacey and I just love it. She uses a lot of my favorite ways to organize including …

– 12×12 Sterlite-type drawers, which I love because they hold just the right amount, are easy to access, and easy to put things away in.

– Cropper Hopper vertical 12×12 paper holders which make your paper so easy to flip through. I use them to sort by manufacturer and put everything in there – 12×12 papers, letters, stickers, die cuts, ribbon, and all other embellishments. I like to scrap using things from the same line and sometimes mixing and matching from the same manufacturer (many use the same color families over and over, which I love!). So I love having everything from, say, CRATE PAPER or FANCY PANTS, all in one place.

– Ribbon in jars … not only can you see all the varieties you have so you know where to start diggin’ (LOL), but they’re so decorative too. Which leads me to another thing I love about Stacey’s room …

– Everything is organized by color, and in ROY G BIV order no less. It makes this anal retentive girl’s heart skip a beat! Srsly. I have my cardstock, ribbons, Stickles, brads/metal embellishments, and Making Memories paints all organized by color. I’ve toyed with the idea many times of organizing all of my embellishments that way – like EVERYTHING red in one holder, etc. – but I don’t think I’d like it. I can see it works well for her, though. It’s all in the way you personally scrap.

– Memorabilia organized by family member in accordion files. I would love to do this … but she must be WAY better at paring things down than I’ll ever be because I could never squeeze each family member into just one file, LOL.

So a big shout out to Stacey! She has, over all her years or scrapbooking and changing spaces, refined the systems that work for her. She’s super organized and has created a bright, functional space to create in.

What do you love about her room? What things would work for you and what wouldn’t? Do you use any of the same organizational systems of items she does?

Scrapbook Organization: Stickles Sort and Store

For those of you with a Stickles addiction, I’m about to make your day. I present to you … the STICKLES SORT AND STORE!!

Stickles sort and store

Is that cool or what? My 3 favorite features:

1. It stores the bottles upside-down which is the preferred method for many Stickles luvahs.

2. You can leave the cover off to see all your pretty colors or you can put the cover on to take them to crops, or just to keep the dust off.

3. Speaking of pretty colors, you can line them all up in ROYGBIV order. Oh, be still my anal-retentive heart!

Okay, that’s 3 but I just thought of 2 more. So sue me.

4. You get 3 units in the set and can store up to 30 BOTTLES, people! {Don’t sit there all righteous and pretend you don’t have that many … we know you do}.

5. The Stickles Sort and Store can also hold other popular items like Liquid Pearl, Stampin Up ink pad refill, Claudine Helmuth Studio Mini Acrylic Paint, Mini Art, and Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink.

Oh crap. I thought of another one.

6. It’s only $24 for a set of 3 which hold 10 bottles each.

I’m thinking they’re a new item because Tiffany’s website, THE SCRAPRACK MULTI-CRAFT, says they ship January 17th.

I’m trying to decide if I should get a set or not. My Stickles are currently lined up on a stamp shelf above my desk. Let me go count my bottles … K, I’m back. I have “only” 18 :P So I’ll probably hold off for now but I’m glad to know about this great new scrapbook organizational item. When I make it to 30 bottles, I am SO getting this.

What do you think of the Stickles Sort and Store?

Scrapbook Room Organization: See Tiffany’s Before and After

I’ve posted before about my love of the amazing product, THE SCRAPRACK. I bought one years ago and it’s made all the difference in keeping my scrapbook products organized. {HERE is an older blog entry about it}.

I do have a lot of my items in vertical Cropper Hoppers stored by manufacturer … my 20 or so favorites like Pink Paislee, My Minds Eye, and October Afternoon.

For the (many) things I have that don’t fall into those main manufacturer categories, I use my Scraprack to sort them by theme. It’s so nice so be able to say, “I want to scrapbook a Christmas layout,” go to my Scraprack, turn to the Christmas/Winter section, and find all kinds of papers and embellishments that go with that theme. Sure, I might have some Christmas stuff mixed in with my MME or October Afternoon vertical file, but who wants to go digging through there? LOL If I know I’m working with a theme, my Scraprack is the first place I look.

Anyway, I follow the Scraprack BLOG and the owner, Tiffany, recently posted the BEFORE AND AFTER of her scrapbook room makeover. In this particular entry, she doesn’t go into detail about the Scraprack (there are other posts on her site that do, though!). But it was fun to follow along with her photos and see how she put her room together. My favorite things are the handpainted flowers on the walls, and the cute flowerpot cart that she uses to hold tools and pens. I also agree with what she says about having a big room and needing to make it “smaller” to maximize your efficiency when you scrap. Great job, Tiffany!

New Scrapbook Organization Storage Seen @ Michaels

I was at MICHAELS today for the first time in a long while. I had a 3-pronged mission:

1. Get my kids another craft or two so I don’t go cray-cray before Thankgsgiving break is over.

2. Use the 40% off coupon in my wallet.

3. Buy my annual bag of cinnamon-scented pinecones. It’s just not the holiday season here without them :)

So I accomplished all 3 missions, actually combining #2 and #3 by using the coupon on a $10 kids’ craft. Got my cinnamon pinecones … mmm, the car smelled so good on the way home. Oh, and these jumped into my hand so I had to get them, too:

k & company sequin flowers

They’re called “Elizabeth Brownd Christmas Sequin Adhesive Gems” by K & Company. They are so pretty and sparkly in person!

So while I was at Michaels I also saw some new storage items that could be used for scrapbooking organization and my favorite one was THIS (I’m linking to another site because I can’t find it on Michaels.com):

Iris custom front storage drawer for scrapbooking

There was no price on the shelf but it looks like they retail for about $50 … which is steep for sure … unless you have a 40% or 50% off coupon, girlie! Or wait for all their scrapbook storage to go on sale as it often does.

So many of us scrappers use Iris bins, carts, and drawers to store our crap … erm, I mean, SCRAP stuff. I love how you can personalize the front of these drawers, even the handle! You could put in fabric or wallpaper that matches your room decor, a photo collage of your favorite people, or even a 12×12 scrapbook page with room to spare (we just gotta’ figure out how to work around that knob handle being right in the middle of our artwork, lol). You could also add a label of what’s inside.

Anyway, just wanted to share a few of my Michaels finds! I hope you have an amazing and blessed Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends … and yummy food!

Scrapbook Room Organization: Store in Style Cubes and Glass Jars

As I said in my LAST POST, now that the scrapbooking part of my office has been reorganized I’m going to do a series of blog posts showing the befores and afters and explaining how I organized.

From the whole room photo in my last post, you couldn’t even see this but it’s probably my favorite part of the room. It’s the wall made up of STORE IN STYLE CUBES and a variety of jars.

Here’s how the setup looked before my latest reorg project.

BEFORE

And here is the new and much improved version.

AFTER

So back to how it looked before:


*Disclaimer: I own so much MME paper because I bought a few of those huge packs that they sold at Costco years ago. I used the papers for goody bags when I held crops, sold them open stock, etc. There’s no way I’m EVAH going to use all that MME paper. But I have no plausible excuse for the rest of it.

In the past, I’d bought these cubes, assembled them, and put them in a good configuration for the room. I didn’t want to stack them too high because I need to be able to get to the jars spread across the top. {Otherwise – I love these stinkin’ cubes so much, I totally would stack them to the ceiling, lol}. In the past, I had also started using the CROPPER HOPPER VERTICAL FILES to store my paper and embellies by brand name.

I used a label maker to label each file with the brand name, then put in 12×12 papers along with embellishments. I like to store a lot of my things by manufacturer because when I go to scrap, I pull out that whole file and pretty much everything matches. I don’t have to rack my brain going, “Now, did I buy the matching letter stickers to go with this?” or “What paper would look great with this one?” Everything I need is right there.

So that organizing scheme worked out well but, as you can see, as I bought more items, instead of taking the time to pull the vertical file out and put the new things in their proper place, I just kinda’ shoved them on top. Hey, at least I got them in the right cube! But yeah, not the most effective way to find things later on and it sure started to look messy.

As you may know, my original plan to reorganize my scrap room/home office was to take 3 days really focusing on it, emptying everything out of the room, then put things back in an organized way, purging unwanted things as I went. {Details are HERE}. Needless to say, it didn’t much go to plan after Day 3 :)

But this photo is from Day 1 when I cleared most of the cubes out and moved all the paper files and other things to the dining room and living room.

I decided to keep some things where they were because their organization wasn’t going to change. The drawer jam-packed with adhesives and SNAPLOAD packs was left alone, as was my filer cube which has generic patterned papers filed by color.

Then it was time to install the doors on cubes that were still open.

I’d bought the doors months {gulp – or maybe even a year} ago but they’d just been sitting in boxes in my scrap room since then. I ain’t gonna’ lie … I absolutely HATE putting stuff like this together, even when it’s something this easy. I’d rather, like, go to the dentist or watch paint dry than assemble something. But I finally did it.

And leave it to a scrapbooker – when I couldn’t find any Elmer’s or white glue to install the magnets, I just used my trusty GLOSSY ACCENTS. Hey, same diff. It’s all sticky, right? And just think how glossy and shiny it is inside those tiny holes in the cubes. I bet they feel really special.

Okay, here’s some more things that didn’t get removed from the room because they were going to stay essentially the same.

These 4 gingerbread jars were chock full and had been organized already (journaling spots, flowers, and chipboard letters sorted into baggies). They didn’t need anything but a quick wipedown with Windex to get rid of some dust.

Speaking of cleaning …

Here are all the lids of the gingerbread jars laid out on the homework table drying. Yep, I washed everything with soap and water because I wanted to start over sparkly clean.

In the background of the photo, you can also see where I started to fill in the cubes. I decided to move the Vertical Paper Holders to another part of the room. Part of the reason was to prevent fading of my papers. Can you see the lightswitch to the top right of the photo? To the right of that is a sliding glass door that gets full sun for half of the day. I noticed that the edges of some of my Beloved BAZZILL was fading :( I know, right? We CANNOT have THAT. So even though doors were going on those cubes, I thought it would be a good idea to move all my papers away from the sliding glass door.

Here’s what the cubes looked like once I got all 7 doors installed.

It looks so much neater, doesn’t it? The Store in Style DOORS only cost $13 each which I think was a good investment for my space. Other than the fading issue, another important advantage is that now I can use the cubes to hide things I don’t feel are very attractive to look at: empty albums, pages/page protectors, projects, etc. Most of these items used to be kept on an open bookshelf and I just hated looking at them. They looked so sloppy not to mention uninspiring. Now they’re hidden {wink}.

Here’s a closer photo of some of the things that are now kept on top of the white cubes.

Jar, jars, and more jars! There are also a few decorative things that I’m starting to collect that are in my favorite colors ~ turquoise, ocean green, robin’s egg blue, and white. These are colors that remind me of my favorite place in the world: the ocean. The Ball canning jar on the left I got from an antique store in Seattle last year. The pretty vase on the right is from a nursery near the beach house we stay at each summer. {I know I should put something cute inside it but I like that grassy straw stuff it came with for some reason, lol}. The dish is from my mom who is an expert at collectable china and often gives me pretty things. I’m thinking I can use it as a holding area for pretty embellies or flowers until I put them away in the proper jars.

Speaking of all those jars … I don’t have a good picture of them all put together, do I? But I’ll go across from left to right and tell you what I have stored in them:

– Sport embellishments
– Making Memories embellishments
– K & Company embellishments
– Ink pens
– Bling
– MAMBI/KI Memories embellishments
– Mists
– Flowers
– Chipboard
– Ribbon
– Twine and jute
– Photo corners
– Chipboard letters
– Journaling spots
– My Minds Eye embellishments
– Misc. embellishments (2)
– Decorative river rocks
– Decorative glass shells
– Empty (1)

Yes, I actually have a small ginger jar that is empty. It’s one of the jars without a lid so it’s harder to think of things to put in those. Maybe that will be an “embellies to file” jar or something :)

So back to the final product.

AFTER

You can also see my travel art hanging on the wall above the cubes. As I mentioned before, I wanted to add some personal touches that WEREN’T about scrapbooking this time around. I love to travel although I don’t get to do it much, so I dream through pictures of other countries and reading books about them. My first love is Italy but I dream of traveling all throughout Western Europe someday. For now, I can look up from my desk, see images of Paris, Provence, and Tuscany, sigh, and be content with dreaming.

With each of these entries, I’m going to put a list at the end of products I’ve used and where I got them, so here goes…

STORE IN STYLE CUBES: I collected these over time by using 40% or 50% off coupons at MICHAELS. You can also get them from Oriental Trading (the link is above).

GINGER JARS: I got these ones AND MORE for $40 from a local candy store via CRAIGSLIST. I’ve seen these at BED BATH & BEYOND which seem to be the same thing. THESE are sure cute from Pier One; you can label them with chalk.

MASON JARS: I’ve had these for ages but I got them at Pier One. I can’t find them on their website but THESE ONES from Amazon.com are sure cute.

Thank you for checking out my “cubes and jars” wall in my scrapbook space and please let me know if you have any questions!

Scrapbook Room Organization: Sneak Peek of the Finished Room

Well, the “three day project” that I talked about HERE, ended up taking slightly longer (okay, a month, sheez…) but I got it done. Well, done enough to show you an AFTER photo at least, LOL.

So here is the view of my scrapbook room/home office from the doorway (it’s right off the dining room):

When I see this photo, I’m wondering if – to you – it still seems very cluttered in here :) But believe me, for all the junk you see now, it was WAY worse! This is a huge improvement, fer shizzle.

I’ll be doing a series of blog posts with before and after pics of different sections of the room and what I did to organize things. But I wanted to start by showing the entire room that I’m very blessed to have, clutter and all…

Scrapbook Room Organization: Almost Done …

Thought I would check in again with my progress. Here are some of the things I’ve accomplished since last post:

– Organized my mini-album stash including changing their location so I could get to them and, uh like, USE them more easily. I had too many – got rid of some – kept too many.

– Went through 3 crates kinda’ like this that I’ve had forever, like, since my early days of scrapping in the early 2000s, LOL. I knew I had a lot of unfinished projects and project ideas, but it was ridonculous how many I actually had. Again, I purged a few and kept too many. But they’re in a new location now, better organized, easier to get to … and actually finish? We shall see :)

– Organized my 6×6 and 8×8 papers and refill pages, got them all from various places into one place … so I can start using them in my mini albums mentioned above, right?

– A LOT of cleaning and dusting.

– Took out years’ worth of things I’d been hiding under my big L-shaped desk, purged, moved, got better organized, and made room for things I use (but want to hide) today. I’m happy to report that I still have leg room!

I’m planning the Big Reveal for this coming Monday. So stay tuned …

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