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I was curious as to what items you keep within an arms length of your work table? I presently have a cupboard fitted with shelves that I can change to suit my needs, which is about 10 feet from my desk.
I keep almost all my stamping supplies there, with the exception of a tool caddy on my desk.In this desk I currently store my 12x12 papers solid and patterned. This is not ideal, aside from the fact that the drawer is bowing from the weight lol. So I purchased a storage unit from Ikea with castors, and some inserts that are made to fit into this unit, with plenty of space for my 12 x 12 paper.
Today as I was putting my inks and stickles into these little compartments I wondered how much of this type of thing should I put in here.Perhaps the extra blades, adhesives and blending stumps should still be stored in the cupboard leaving this unit holding those things which I use the most.This unit will be next to my work table.
So I wondered what items do you keep close at hand, and how do you decide which items do not need to be at arms length. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, I would appreciate all and any feedback.
I don't keep paper, any embellishments, stickles, most of my inks, and stamps near me. I do keep my paper cutter, atg gun, Memento ink, stamp cleaning pad and spray cleaner, and my heat gun near me as well as a lazy susan style tool holder.
Pam
__________________ ...I'm just meandering through life; trying to have some fun along the way!!!
Okay I have to ask, as both of the replys said they "do not" keep paper close by, and I am curious as to why not ......as its proabably the first thing you reach for when making a card. I am sure there is a good reason for this, and I would be interested to know why.Perhaps I should be re-thinking my re-organization.
My cardstock for the base of my cards( white and vanilla) are kept in the cupboard, and the rest of the colored cardstock and designer cardstock was kept in the desk close at hand. While everything has worked well with the exception of getting to my paper, I thought that if I moved the things I use the most close by I could put a lot of the extras in the cupboard
Thanks again for humoring me, I do appreciate your advice and hopefully can do this once ,and not have to re-do everything because I did not think it through properly.
I like your question and find it rather interesting because it tells about each person's crafting/creative style. I keep everything nearby.
I have a peg board above my desk. I managed to store on just the peg board: 4 hole punches, 8 scissors, 3 corner shapers, 8 basic shape punches, glue gun, brayer, heat tool, Cuttlebug plates, frequently used thin dies on magnetic sheets, adhesive, frequently used ink refills and cleaners, 4 stacks of 1$ cube ink pads, a basket full of decorative edge scissors, a 100 count marker holder with markers, a 100 count color pencil holder with pencils, and that's not including a couple of items resting above it (glitter tubes, flocking jars, MM paints, button jars, and a couple of stamps). That's just the peg board.
By the peg board on the wall I have nearly all my full size ink pads in a recycled cassette tape rack. Below the cassette tape rack is my Cricut on top of a filing cabinet (for office items).
On my desk I have a carousel tool caddy, a letter sorter holding long Cuttlebug plates, cutting mat, stamp press, then near that: ATG gun, Cuttlebug, small Tonic guillotine paper cutter, Marvy ink pads in 3 stacks, a Crayola pips carousel, stacked trays of embossing powder which also holds my acrylic mounts and a full size Tonic guillotine paper cutter. i also have a three tier embellishment caddy to my left. Most of these items sit on the wall side of the desk. It leaves me a good 15" x 24" of work space on good days.
Below my desk I have a rolling cart with hanging file folders full of letter size cardstock (yes I too am a fan of having paper nearby) and an Ikea Alex drawer cart filled with oh a hundred other items including additional craft mats, cutting tools, coloring media, a bazillion flower/leaf punches and 3/4 of Martha Stewart's collection of corner and border punches.
Adjacent to my craft desk are 12 Jetmax cubes (4 of which house my ever expanding UMs) and a child's armoire for additional craft storage. Behind my desk are a MM ribbon rack on the wall and a wheeled storage unit filled with my wood mounted stamps.
So basically, I like to keep everything within eye shot and hands reach. I find that I am much more efficient with my time having my most used items right in front of me. I am one of those "if I can't see it or get to it easily, I probably won't use it" people, but then I also don't want it too cluttered either. It's a struggle. My desk does get crowded when crafting, but I am able to function quite well with it that way. A clean desk seems a bit too intimidating. Anyhoo, thanks for the interesting question/thread.
My stamping area is a converted closet so everything is within reach. I have two sets of deep shelves under my counter top that hold my hanging file boxes with paper and my 12x12 paper packs on the bottom and my cutters, excess punches, Big Shot, heatguns and other odds and ends on the upper shelf. I have a drawer mounted under the work top that holds my go-to scissors, stamp cleaner, bone folder, adhesives, etc. My work space is intended to be entirely clear though there are almost always several projects out or my computer out.
On each side of the closet walls I have shelves holding all my wood mount stamps that I am currently unmounting. Above is a large shelf where I have clear plastic shoe boxes that hold my embellishments and additonal tools. Everything is within reach when I stand up. It's a really functional space and I love working there.
__________________ Rachel Schott
As my best friend says, "Stamping....it's cheaper than therapy" to which I add, "Not by much".
My mom was the proud recipient of my first handmade card. Cost $200.
"A clean desk seems a bit too intimidating." - My thoughts exactly!
I almost always leave an unfinished project on my desk - that way I have something to work on the next time I sit down. And as I'm working on it, I've already started thinking about the next thing to work on. A very good way to keep the mojo flowing.
I have a pegboard to go above my desk - just don't have it mounted yet. But I already have shelves above where it's going, with baskets that hold my most-used inks, ribbons, clear blocks, stickles & Viva Decor pens, bling. One shelf houses jars of silk ribbon, left over from my ribbon embroidery days, and which I now love using on my cards. My desk is an open executive-type desk, so I have the Iris drawers underneath with paper and odds and ends. A carousel sits on the right, holding adhesive, stamp cleaner, pins, my Bow-Easy, emory boards and files, my Micron pens, my longer scissors - you name it! I have canning jars lined up against the back of my desk (it faces the wall), which hold my bone folder, craft knife, chopsticks, my gel and glitter pens, pencils, etc. My regular lamp and my Ott light are on the left side, leaving me plenty of work space.
Behind my desk is the sewing table my hubby made (and no, there's no sewing machine on it!); I have my Copics stored there; a plastic box with dividers which hold my envelopes, my blank cards, my pop-dots, Scor tape, clear sleeves for my cards, etc. Also located there are some silver rectangular trays I bought at Dollar Tree, which hold different projects and which I can stack.
To my right about 3 feet away are closets than run the length of my craft room. I took all the doors off to save room and hung sheer curtains in different colors to match my decor. On one shelf are all my clear stamps (in small binders) so I can just roll my chair over, and get what I need. To my left is my computer desk (custom made by my hubby), again about 3 feet away, so I can just roll over there whenever I want to waste time.
Then I have a 4-foot square work table (standing height) on the other side of my room, which houses my paper cutter and score board on one side, with my Bug and Cricut on the other side. Closet and shelves on one side hold paper and embellishments sorted by color. Shelves on other side hold my dies, embossing folders, etc. My wood-mounted stamps are below these shelves in a cabinet my hubby made for me (28 trays that slide in and out - love it!) I have 24 drawers beneath the work table, 12 on each side, filled with my watercolors, Perfect Pearls, etc., my extra envelopes and clear bags. And then one of my favorite things: an antique mail sorter that houses all sorts of little goodies. Almost forgot my other favorite storage: an index cabinet that my son got for me when the Air Force base where he was stationed held a yard sale. 10 bucks. I saw one online the other day (smaller than mine) that was priced at $800.
However, I've been purging and re-purging and now have quite a bit of empty storage area. I've been stamping for quite some time, and you can't imagine the stuff I had accumulated. DH told me several times I could set up my own craft store. (Which I basically did by boxing everything up, taking it to work and selling it!) Even after that, I have about 4 more boxes I'm filling with stuff to get rid of.
Oh the joy of having only the things I LOVE to work with! It's very freeing to simplify.
__________________ Linda E
Caution: You are entering an artistic zone. This is not clutter - this is creating. These are not pajamas - it's my work uniform.
Thanks again for humoring me, I do appreciate your advice and hopefully can do this once ,and not have to re-do everything because I did not think it through properly.
Good luck with that! I'm CONSTANTLY tweaking/rearranging/purging/adding it seems...
Regardless, I do have a dedicated room for stamping and sewing (I sew for a living - home dec), but it's TINY, so everything is close by. I work on a very large, heavy dining table. On one side is a "wall" of JetMax cubes and small three-drawer plastic storage units. All of my embellishments, ribbons, adhesives, chipboard, glitter, embossing powder, and some paper (12" cardstock, mostly) are here. On the other side is a "wall" of shelves and a filing cabinet. Inks, stamps, Big Shot, Cuttlebug, dies, etc., are on the shelves and the rest of my paper and cardstock are in the filing cabinet. I have a spice rack with all of my acrylic blocks in it (All of my rubber is unmounted with Sailor 2-in-1 glue on the back) and I just move it to the table when I'm stamping. I also have a small "tool bag" with pockets that has things I'm constantly reaching for in it - foam tape, scissors, tweezers, bone folder, gel adhesive, pop dots, etc. That's on a shelf until it's "stamping time", then it gets moved to the table, too. BUT - like I said - still tweaking
Anything I do not use all the time and extra tape blades are on the top shelf of the cupboard.Besides my small tool container on the desk I put a number of basic tools in my desk drawer ( where the 12x12 paper was) ,so I only have to open the drawer and the tools are at my finger tips.
Finally took my "bug" out of its box and placed it on a shelf. The thing is 5 years old and I still packed it away each time after using it....slow learner. Actually, I kept the box as we go south for the winter ,and I like having the original box to pack it in as well as a few other goodies that I can cram in.
So when I make my next card this week, we will have to see if I thought this through, or if my "organized chaos" of the past will come back to haunt me. Thanks for all the input.
Location: along the bluffs of the Upper Mississippi River
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Punches, cardstock scraps, craft scissors, ribbon, ink, gel pens, blender pens, aqua pens, SU markers, stickles, paper cutter, heat gun, baby wipes, ATG, garbage bin.
Very, very close but not in arm's reach are cuttlebug, buttons, brads, crop-a-dile, embossing powders, rhinestones and pearls, extra adhesive, sponges, glue dots, and crimper.
__________________ All I want is the chance to prove money won't make me happy!
Last edited by Allistamps123; 05-14-2012 at 10:11 AM..
Okay I have to ask, as both of the replys said they "do not" keep paper close by, and I am curious as to why not ......as its proabably the first thing you reach for when making a card.
Exactly. I go for the paper ahead of time, not usually in the middle of the process.
My area is one long wall. I can't possibly have everything in reach. So the stuff I choose first (paper, ink and stamps) live in the bookshelf and wood cabinet that's just out of reach.
To the right: the white drawers hold all sorts of tools like my stamp-a-ma jig, stamp cleaner, ATG gun, acrylic blocks, the dies and folders for the cuttlebug, blending stumps, and so on. Hanging from the wall are my pencils, twine, stickles, gamsol, and smooch stuff. In the pencil holder I have markers, scissors, gel pens, paint brushes, and so on.
To the left, the sorter holds glues, dots, masks, tapes, and other small items. The plastic drawers hold my ribbons, brads, embossing powders, and extra supplies.
__________________ aka Sue. Or Sue-odd.
No blog for me. My gallery chronicles my card-making successes and mishaps.
This may sound crazy, but I actually don't have anything on my work surface/desk except my keyboard, mouse, monitor, and a lamp. All of my supplies are in a bookshelf which is about 5 feet from my desk. So I can either roll my chair over there, or just get up and walk over to it. I do a lot of work standing up, so this is why I don't mind the movement.
I have 2 boxes of 48-pack markers on the side, fit into this groove along the side of my desk; one is a SU pack of dye markers, the other is a Zig 48-pack of pigment markers. Both are the same size, like this:
On top of those markers is a box that holds my glitter and embossing powder and heat and stick powder. It's flat and fits right there up against the wall so that's where it goes, handy for adding some bling in a pinch! Box organizes like this and can be and will be hung along that cabinet when I get a hook for it:
I have any other pen or small tool like scorer or empressor or embossing tool in a drawer right in front of me (the "pen" drawer you typically see in a desk).
That's it for "within arm's reach" stuff - so really the only thing on top of my workspace is the magazine rack and my lamp. Oooh forgot to add my recent addition:
This is my punch storage - I put it on one of those 2 tier metal spinning racks people use for kcup storage - I discoverd this and posted as my own discovery on my pinterest site, it holds 16 SU original punches (the black ones prior to redesign).
Everything else is on shelves far to the left or in drawers/cabinets below and far to the right. I didn't want anything else on top there so I would actually HAVE work SPACE. I found tool caddies to be a junk collector and didn't work for my visual clarity so I did away with it, and put the pens I needed in my drawer, and my adhesive in a side drawer in the desk. Visual clutter is the death of all my creativity (as well as lack of work space) so after years of visual clutter I finally realized I had to put an end to it, it's helped TREMENDOUSLY!!
__________________ ~Dayna~
Last edited by pigfingers; 04-25-2012 at 04:44 AM..
I have 2 boxes of 48-pack markers on the side, fit into this groove along the side of my desk; one is a SU pack of dye markers, the other is a Zig 48-pack of pigment markers.
On top of those markers is a box that holds my glitter and embossing powder and heat and stick powder. It's flat and fits right there up against the wall so that's where it goes, handy for adding some bling in a pinch! Box organizes like this and can be and will be hung along that cabinet when I get a hook for it:
I have any other pen or small tool like scorer or empressor or embossing tool in a drawer right in front of me (the "pen" drawer you typically see in a desk).
That's it for "within arm's reach" stuff - so really the only thing on top of my workspace is the magazine rack and my lamp. Everything else is on shelves far to the left or in drawers/cabinets below and far to the right. I didn't want anything else on top there so I would actually HAVE work SPACE. I found tool caddies to be a junk collector and didn't work for my visual clarity so I did away with it, and put the pens I needed in my drawer, and my adhesive in a side drawer in the desk. Visual clutter is the death of all my creativity (as well as lack of work space) so after years of visual clutter I finally realized I had to put an end to it, it's helped TREMENDOUSLY!!
Thanks for enabling...I would love to order one of these could you post a link where i can get one please. I am not getting anywhere with the link above. Thanks!
Thanks for enabling...I would love to order one of these could you post a link where i can get one please. I am not getting anywhere with the link above. Thanks!
Are you talking about the Flambeau compartment box? I picked mine up at either Walmart or Joann's - let me see if I can find one somewhere online. Your best bet is to go into a store and see what you have that fits in the compartment boxes, tackle boxes, etc. I had to go through a few I had around the house to find one that was large enough.
This looks to be the most similar, it has the same dimensions but I don't see a tab/hole on the end to hang it up. Not sure if that is necessary for your use, but here it is on Amazon:
If you were referring to the magazine rack, sorry I got it at Marshalls/TJ Maxx and I have no idea where else to get one - it's flat bottom like that though and mine actually has a handle - I tried to look online for one the same but struck out. But any magazine rack would do I suppose.
__________________ ~Dayna~
Last edited by pigfingers; 04-25-2012 at 05:33 AM..
I have one of the Making Memories carousels with adhesives, scissors, foam tape, and all of my other essentials in it on my desk. I have Jetmax cubes to the right of my desk filled with everything else. Pretty much everything is within arms reach for me!!
I just recently got a craft room so I am still in the organizing and purging stage. I have my desk sideways at the window so I have a wall behind me that has my best craft organizer with all my wood stamps, punches, embellishments, and inks stored. Right beside that I bought myself a tall file cabinent with all my papers stored in there. My desk is our old kitchen table and it is usually stacked with stuff. Most days I am working in a 12 x 12 spot and my family laughs at me. I just dropped a box of half finished projects, extra pieces of paper, ideas and envelopes so now that is all over the desk getting either tossed, finished or sorted. I am never tidied up for long.
How do you organize your work area?
