Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Organization of my craft room



Hello everyone,
today I would like to present you my craft room / study room / bedroom  - my multi functional room where I currently create. I created this blog post for Paperoamo. My topic of the month was "Organisation of your Craft Room"

When I started with cardmaking, I used just one cabinet for all my stuff. I didn´t like it because we live in a small apartment and I didn´t have enough place for a separate table to craft on. So I had to move my things somewhere else. My future parents-in-law have gorgeous cottage in the mountains. It was a dream. I had everything I needed - a lot of space (I used 4 tables :-)) Unfortunately it was far away from my home. After summer holidays it was hard to get there more than once a month. So I moved again with my things to my parents´ house. My room was storage of study materials so I cleaned it out. I used the Christmas holidays to adapt it for my actual needs :-)  

Prajem Vám všetkým krásny deň,
dnes by som vám chcela priblížiť a popísať moju pracovňu / ateliér / izbu - jedným slovom moju multifunkčnú miestnosť, v ktorej tvorím :-)  Celý príspevok si môžete prečítať na BLOGU PAPEROAMO.
 



It´s classic room with 2 wardrobes, 2 beds, 1 table, 1 shelf unit and looks like I have nothing there - and that was my intention ;-) 

This is my wood board where I took pictures of my cards. Photo tripod is always ready. Boxes with new stuff are always on my bed. 



Detail of my table and things I need to have always nearby: acrylic blocks, rulers, big scissors, craft knife, trimmer, spatulas, Mini Mister, double-sided adhesive, mini foam dots, liquid / wet adhesives, Glossy Accents, Clear Wink of Stella, bone folders, my favourite little non-stick scissors, tweezers, baby wipes ... I can´t live without self healing cutting mat and craft sheet.

Over my table I have things I use in my cards the most. Big part of my shelf belongs to watercolour department. General name for all my watercolour pencils, Distress markers, Brilliant water colours, regular water colours, artistic watercolours in little cubes ... as well as alcohol markers from Spectrum noirs and Papermania / Docrafts. What can I say - I love to draw the pictures on my postcards :-) 

I have all the embellishments up there, too. On the left side, there are boxes filled with brads, sequins, enamel dots ... just one middle box can hide so many beautiful enamel dots :-)

I heard some crafters / cardmakers said they are having problems to store their gemstones, rhinestones, pearls etc. I keep them in one of my box and it works perfectly for me.



On the right side I have all my stamps and dies for my Big shot. I will have a separate blog post on this topic so check it out :-)





Underneath my table I put all necessary things which are better storable:-)
Each shelf represents a separate category:
- essentials / basic stuff ( post-it notes, tiny attacher, markers, pencils, pens ...)
- inks in small and big sizes ( all sorts of inks - distress, memento, versafine, hero arts) 
- sticky stuff ( all kinds of adhesives )
- envelopes and bases for my cards. I believe it´s called Note cards.
- I keep all my punches and hole punches in one shelf.
- all my ribbons, twines, Bakers twines, threads create complete mess in my shelf :-)
- probably my most favourite department is Heat embossing
- I keep my washi tapes with gesso, texture paste, modelling paste in same place
- last but not least - some very useful machines and tools like heat gun, stamp positioner ...
On the right hand side is my Fiskars trimmer and on the left side is my Mini Scoring Board by Martha Stewart . I take them out and put it back with my eyes closed :-) 


I use lunch boxes for storing my embossing powders. Usually they are filled with muesli bars which are tasty :-) 

Opposite to my table, there´s a shelf unit and half of it is devoted to cardmaking as well.
Please ignore the mess! I was very satisfied with my organisation until I saw this picture :-)


On the first shelf is my beloved Big Shot machine and all papers in A4 size which can be in vertical position ( vellums, watercolour papers, cardstock ... ) and a few DIY sprays I have made. 

On the second shelf I have a big document cover. It´s not a classic binding, it´s compact presentation book. I have found out that European size A3 is perfect for American size of papers 12 x 12 inch. I like to keep my collections together in one pocket ( paper, stickers, embellishments ... )

Another shelf contains papers with bigger size than A3. I use to buy my favourite coloured cardstocks in huge sizes. My box with scraps of papers is small. If you have die-cutting machine, you will never have a lot of scraps :-) 


Shelf No.4 is reserved to the A4 size again - different sizes of paper sets, coloured paper packs, cardstocks, magazines and box with experiments or ideas for my cards. I have also a presentation book in A4 size for papers in smaller sizes - A4, A5 and 6x6 inch.

There are a few boxes on the ground filled with different notebooks and things I want to decorate ... and some of the boxes are still empty. I am so proud of myself :-)) 

Now my atelier is about 20 km far from my home. It´s not that bad, still it´s not ideal :-) I find it difficult to concentrate just on one project. My head is full of ideas, my hands are so slow ... That´s why I have decided to select a main topic for each month. I keep things in one pocket. Usually they contain papers, embellishments, stamps from different companies but with same topic e.g. Valentine´s Day, Easter ... It helps me to keep an overview about things I have. I really don´t want to buy 2 same things  :-) 

Another great idea is to separate new things from the old ones. As soon as I put the new stamp set among the old ones, it´s lost. That´s why I have more boxes with new things. 

Companies send their orders in "pizza boxes" and these are perfect for storage. They are flat, stackable and surprisingly can contain a lot of stuff :-) I have four boxes: Christmas, New papers, New stamps & dies and products I have bought by Paperoamo.

Ladies and Gentlemen, that´s all  ... and that´s all I have :-) Of course, I am always waiting for new boxes with new goodies :-)

When I started with this hobby I did not understand all the articles and videos about organizing your craft room. I thought everybody has his or her own system .... I realized it won´t be so easy with so many stamps, inks and dies early on. Since that time I really enjoy watching videos about organization. I know everybody has its own system but I learn a new trick in every one :-)
I hope you like the visit :-)