How do you store your "scrap" cardstock
 

Hi Ladies,

Just wondering how all of you store your little scraps of paper? I'm trying to get so organized, but the scrap pile looks awful. Any ideas?
I just became a SU demo and now I have soooooooo much paper I don't know what to do with it all!
Thanks!
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I have two 5" notebooks that I keep 8 1/2 x 11 clear paper sleeves in. I put two colors in each one and keep all my scraps handy this way. The notebooks store upright and I can see at a glance the size of all the scraps I have. They are easy to reach into because you can just reach in from the top and easy to drop scrap into as well. I have a large desk in my craft room and I store them on top.

Relatively cheap too because the page protectors came 50 to a box and I only needed one box and have tons left over.

I store mine in 2 ways....

1st I have a large expanding file - I think it is designed for legal checks - anyway it will fit up to a half sheet of paper 8.5 x 5.5 - so I have all my half sheets and larger scraps....(BTW when I need a smaller piece of color and I don't have a scrap I usually automatically cut it in half for 2 card bases - I put one in the file and use the other one...about once a month I go through my half sheets and scraps and make cards to use up my scraps and half sheets - I will also give my customers small grab bags with thier orders - 2-3 half sheets in diff colors and some larger scraps for them to use)

for amy smaller pieces I use the large stamp boxes...I have one for colored CS and one for white/vanilla/specility CS and designer paper....

I keep them on my desk and when I do up small batches of cards (3-4) I try to base colors on what I have in my scraps...I have been known to stamp images - use a basic card design with different colors for each card and then color in my image based on the card colors...works well to use up all those scraps

I use plastic drawers for my scrap paper and have it sorted by colour. it works really well for anything 8.5x11 or smaller.

I keep mine in a binder with the top loaing page protectors. I use one per color and it makes it so easy to see at a glance what you have, or have too much of. As the binder fills it motivates me to try to use the scraps on my cards.

If I store mine separate from the uncut cardstock, I'd never actually use it. So I store my cardstock in hanging folders and just drop the scraps in the front of each folder. I've "trained" myself to check the front of the folder first - and if there aren't any appropriately sized scraps I don't need to go to another drawer/ folder to get the uncut piece.

[quote=Suzyq01]I keep mine in a binder with the top loaing page protectors. I use one per color and it makes it so easy to see at a glance what you have,
This is what i do too, it works like a charm. I even found some page protecrors that had a little flap at the top to keep the scraps from coming out. They cost a little bit more, but they were well worth it.:)

These are awesome ideas....

I'm glad someone posted this thread because I truly needed a good way to store my little bits of paper. I'm a pack rat....I keep everything!

Me too! I look through the scraps first to see if I have a piece I can use,so I dont' have to cut up a whole sheet of beautiful paper! ;)

I'm hesitant to say what I do --- it's pricey and takes up room, but it works for me.

I got a literature sorter from Office depot (I think 2 or them stacked on top of one another). Two or three colors of cardstock are in each section. On top of the full sheets is an acryllic box 8*11 frame - and it stores all the scraps for the card stock colors in that section. One the side of the frame is where I placed my labels of the colors.

I went to WM and bought a large expanding file folder thingy - It has about 18-20 sections in it and I labelled them according to color. The top fastens and has a handle on top. It's really nice to have all my scraps in one place and each section is big enough for 8 1/2 x 11 paper, so it will fit really long scraps. It was about $9. I really like it.

Connie

Ditto

Wow! You all have such great ideas for this, thank you for sharing!

This is EXACTLY what I do. I used to store my scraps separate but never used them and was spending more money than I needed to buying new paper. Now I have them with my uncut cardstock and I rarely need to buy new paper. :)

Wow, you are all so good and organized. I keep all my scraps in a huge ziploc bag (not zippered shut) and I dig through it when I'm looking for something that I want. LOLOLOL!

We're renting, so I'm not ready for "permanent" storage. My ziploc (full to the gills) moves from the drawer to the table and back again.

I have a plastic expanding file folder. I group it by general colors (blues, reds, etc.) Don't have the patience for filing each and every specific color. Then I
just look through there before taking a full sheet.

I have hanging folders w/regular 1/3 cut folders backs in them (cut them in half and use the part w/the tab). I have one folder-back for each color and each color group in a hanging folder.

My scraps are stored in quart-sized ziplock baggies in the front of its coordinating cardstock. I grab my baggie first and use what I can from that before I grab a whole sheet. A 5.5 X 8.5 sheet will fit in the baggie. Anything bigger than that I file w/the whole sheet. That way I'm using my scraps first -- for layers & punches.

I have a large plastic hanging file box from WM. I'm outgrowing it -- quickly. Especially now that I've purchased the In Colors. OH! And I don't keep a full package of cs in the folders.

I'm definitely going to have to rework my cs storage.....

http:////www.splitcoaststampers.com/...500&ppuser=362

Like that. I have a *lot* of scrap. ;)

I do the filing system also (for scraps). I put 2 colors in each folder, it's organized by color family. Then I also have folders for metallic, acetate, patterned paper, mulberry, vellum...

I keep them in a metal horizontal filing cabinet, top drawer is for personal long-term filing (you know, important documents that you rarely go back to), the bottom drawer is all for meeeeeeee!

I love that idea� I was lucky enough to come across a huge office literature sorter at the flea market ($35), which I use to store my full sheets of cardstock. I love the idea of having the clear frame boxes for scraps. :D

I have a small accordian file that will fit up to card size sheets, I just sort by color, not by family....pinks together greens together etc.

I have mine in separate file folders in a drawer arranged by colors - so far it has worked pretty well! however, now that I read that some of you store them in the binders with page protectors - I think I may try that! sounds like a great idea! :-D

I totally understand that it is easy to pass over when it is not stored with your full sheets. I also had to train myself - before rolling out my portable file box which houses my full sheets, I pull out my binder and keep it at my workstation. I go through that to determine what I will be using. It doesn't always work, but I try!

I have a drawer I put larger scraps in, which I always check first to see if I have the colour I need there. For smaller scraps, I have a rectangular plastic basket that I keep handy on my scrapping table. Because its right there, I grab for it often and they always get used. I find I often paw through it even just looking for colour inspiration, and its easy to grab a few small pieces to hold together to see how they look.

Well mine isn't the best idea, but it works for me. I keep all of my paper in the packs they come in, and I just stand up all the packs on my desk. On each side of all of the pack of paper I just keep the proped up like a bookshelf, with my ink pad rack on one side and my ribbon rack on the other. I keep all of my scraps in the front of their packs with their own color. I'm way to lazy to look somewhere else for a scrap.

Good thread! I love reading about everyone's organizational systems!

I keep all of my scraps in those Sterlite plastic drawers you can buy at Wal-Mart. I use one drawer per color family. Since each stack of drawers has three drawers, I use two of the stacks. One drawer for each of the following: brights, earths, subtles, regals, neutrals, designer papers.

My uncut cardstock hangs in hanging folders in filing drawers (puchased on clearance for only $5 each at an office supply store). One folder per color (two color families per drawer -- so that's 24 folders/colors per drawer).

Because the Sterlite scrap drawers are within reach of where I sit at my craft table, I have trained myself to look in the scrap drawers first for what I need. If the scrap drawers don't have what I want/need, then I get up and walk over to my hanging files to pull out a sheet of uncut cardstock.

I am hoping to change systems after my birthday, but we'll see if DH actually takes the hint!

For now, I store my paper in literature sorters from OfficeMax; there are three stacked on top of eachother. I keep a ziplock bag in each cubbie with scraps that are less than 5.5" x 11". Like so many of you, I've trained myself to look through my scraps before cutting into a full piece - I actually HATE cutting down a full sheet of CS...it's the hoarder in me coming to the surface, I think!

It's a fine system except that the paper is exposed to dust and the sun, causing it to discolor. Wouldn't seem like a big deal except that I freak when I think about how much $$ is invested in my paper alone! I'm hoping to move to a filing system with drawers that close.

The sorters are made by Bankers Box; here's a pic:

Paper on the left

Gallon sized ziploc from Wally Word for each color of CS
 

I do something like this too but I keep my each color of CS in it's own Gallon sized ziploc baggie with it's scraps. Better to have it all in one place for each individual color.

I have tried several different ideas, but as my paper collection grew, so did my scraps. What is working great for me right now is sorting my scraps into large freezer weight ziplock bags - one bag each for reds/blues/greens/pinks/purples/yellows/neutrals/specialty. Now I'm training my dear daughter (17) to be sure to check the scraps bag first as she's a major culprit around here for cutting into new sheets of CS when there are lots of scraps suitable for what she needs!

I like this bag system because its cheap, light and takes up only one drawer of my storage area, and is very portable when I head out for scrapbooking crops.

Terri

Oh Robin, we were typing at the same time! Looks like great minds think alike ;)

I finally just got a system down.

I went to Staples and bought 2 clear Iris File-N-Stacks (they were on sale!). It is a platic bin type of thing. It's portable, holds hanging files and the lid snaps on and off nicely (it also fits perfectly under my son's crib). I have everything labeled and separated by color family. I punched out 1/2" circles of CS and glued them to the top of the file tab so I can see the colors easier. I even made a file tab that says, "You're being lazy" for the times when I need to clean up fast and don't have time to put everything in its corresponding file.

So far its been working great and I'm actually using up my scraps - I didn't realize how much I had until I got organized. Oh, and full and 1/2 sheets of CS are kept in a literature sorter that I purchased online.

Ok they're plastic not platic!

This is exactly what I do. I used to keep it in a separate folder, but I never went there first -- and wound up with MORE scraps. Scraps and full-size pieces stored together works much better for me.

I store my scraps, 1/4 sheet cs and smaller in a photo box. I made cardboard dividers for each color paper, labeled with thier name and a square of the cs. They are sorted alphabetically by color family with dividers for the neutrals, designer paper scraps and vellum. I keep this on my desk and I find I use up the small pieces much quicker this way.

I have a small gift bag for each color family. I store anything smaller than a 1/4 sheet of cs. This is so easy. I can just toss the piece in (It stays under my table), so there's no extra time in organizing. And when I need a little piece, I just grab the bag and look before getting a new sheet. By having the gift bags, there's no opening and closing containers. Everything is really fast and informal. And it has worked sooooo much better than anything else I've tried. Now I just need one for my new In-colors!

I feel that way too! I keep my scraps with my cardstock in a page protector stored in front of the cardstock. This way I pull the whole protector out to see what size scraps I have.

I keep my scraps in a plastic magazine holder, blues together, reds, browns, etc. I keep it right next to me when I'm stamping and the regular paper storage is a little farther away, so I look through the scraps first. I love the idea of having the scraps sorted more precisely, but I'm not disciplined enough to put them away like that each time I stamp.

I have a small set of drawers that are just the right size to hold quarter sheets and pieces smaller than that. It sits on my desk and I put color coded stickers on the front of the basic color (blue, green, purple, etc.). When I need a card front or smaller I just pull out the drawer and have it quickly.