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ok so I sorted my cardstock into a rolling cart that has 7 12x12 compartment. One color of the rainbow per compartment. Now I'm stuck with a ton of neutral scraps and full sheets. I also have a lot of patterned paper in both scraps, sheets, and pads. Any ideas how to handle this?
__________________ Colleen Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.-Ephesians 4:32
I tend to keep my neutral with colors with the browns, or blacks. I keep my solid color scraps in a box that has file folders. And one of those files I used for scraps of patterned paper. Lately though since I mostly just buy paper pads i tend to stick the matching scraps right in the pad and they are all lined up in a box.
I have my scraps in a separate place from my full sheets. I keep stackable sterilite with drawers. I have them separated by color and have one drawer for scrap designer paper.
__________________ My husband lets me have all the stamping supplies I can hide.
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For each of my card stock colors I have a 8 1/2X 11 inch clear page protector with a sample of that color in the page protector. When I have left over pieces (less than a full sheet) I place them in the page protector. If I need a piece of card stock less than a full sheet, I check the page protector first to see if there is a scrape I can use. That way I don't have to look through all my scrapes.
I keep my scraps in page protectors by color: reds in one, greens in another, etc. We are getting ready to move now, so I donated all my scraps (along with lots of full sheets I wouldn't be using) to a school art class. It's so nice not to have all those scraps anymore, since I could never throw them away.
I put my less than full sheets in accordion folders by color family and have them right above my stamp space. It's easier to grab that than a full sheet then. Green, red, pink, black, brown. etc. I have more shelf space than floor space. I have started putting my less than full sheets of designer paper in with them so I remember to use it.
I struggle with the whites and ivory because there are so many different ones and I have so many shades, white isn't always white. I finally gave in and if it has layers, you can't tell if the whites are off a little.
I keep my scraps in a file box...in folders marked Blue, green, white, vanilla, designer paper...and so on....this is for paper scraps that are 8 1/2 X 11 and smaller...the scraps that originate from 12 X 12 papers are in a larger file box....this is usually designer paper because I only buy cardstock that is 8 1/2 X 11!
__________________ Susan (John 14:6) SCS Fan Club Member My Blog
thanks all for your suggestions. I'm thinking about keeping all of my neutrals in a small plastic drawer next to my desk. I have been getting new sheets when I don't need to just because my scraps were so unorganized. I have two days off coming up i want to get this worked out so i can get back to crafting!
__________________ Colleen Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.-Ephesians 4:32
For each of my card stock colors I have a 8 1/2X 11 inch clear page protector with a sample of that color in the page protector. When I have left over pieces (less than a full sheet) I place them in the page protector. If I need a piece of card stock less than a full sheet, I check the page protector first to see if there is a scrape I can use. That way I don't have to look through all my scrapes.
That is what I do too! They are all in those plastic magazine holders from Staples and sitting on my work desk...just a touch away! LOL My New Year's resolution this year was to use up all my scraps on my cards..so far so good. The pile is gradually dwindling!! Whooo hooo!!!
I won't address the scraps issue directly but I will address how to handle neutrals. I have a 6 drawer unit for my 12x12 solids and monochromatic patterns, also sorted by rainbow (modified). The neutrals fit into this scheme quite nicely. The colors go like this:
black-white-gray
brown-cream-yellow
red-orange
purple-pink
blue-turquoise
green
Obviously I have a lot of green!
Now, my patterned paper is different...I sort like Tiffany does on the Scraprack organization forums. That's by events or calendar, not by color. Those are in clear folder/envelope things by subject.
Then I have a couple of folder/envelopes of multicolor paper...floral and plaids/stripes...and one of specialty paper like glitter and metallic.
But I have to admit to not hoarding a ton of patterned paper.
I mostly have 8.5x11 cardstock since I'm a cardmaker. I store them on a bookshelf in IKEA magazine holders organized by color (I decorated the outside with pretty paper that goes with that specific color): FLYT Magazine file - IKEA
I have been struggling with this too, esp. the little scraps, as I put anything ~ 1/2 sheet+ back into my file folder with that color (for solids). I like the idea of page protectors for scraps by color, and think I am going to use the Martha Stewart ones with the flap on top (Staples has them), and put in a magazine holder. Thanks for the ideas.
Wonder how clear DVD cases would work- anyone tried that? Do they hold a fair amount? Seems like they might be easier to get the scraps out of than a page protector.
I do have way more 6x6 pads than I should have, so I am challenging myself to use them up so I don't have to store scraps. When I had a full day to craft I chose one pad and made 32 cards from it to send to "From Our Hearts" in Jefferson City MO, who will send to our troops overseas. I added in solids as needed, and used scrap strips of PP from that pad on the inside. I also made card backgrounds out of strips of scraps- glued to thin printer paper and then cut as needed for backgrounds, die cuts, etc. Only had a few small strips left, and was happy that I was able to share such pretty/cool/cheerful papers. The covers went into recycling; one pad down, only ?? to go.
For each of my card stock colors I have a 8 1/2X 11 inch clear page protector with a sample of that color in the page protector. When I have left over pieces (less than a full sheet) I place them in the page protector. If I need a piece of card stock less than a full sheet, I check the page protector first to see if there is a scrape I can use. That way I don't have to look through all my scrapes.
That is exactly what I do. It minimizes the time required to search for scraps. Makes the most sense to me.
Keeping paper organized is always a challenge. Sounds like you're winning tho'
I'm fortunate to have a 'paper tower' where I store my papers. It's 8' tall and has two columns of shelves. I store cardstock on the left and patterned paper on the right. Sorted in this way,
1-whites & creams
2- yellows
3- greens, soooo many greens!
4- reds, pinks & oranges
5- purples
6- blues
7- browns
8- blacks & greys
9-special events/holiday papers
I store scraps larger than 4x4 on top of the whole sheets on the shelves, and pull from the scraps first. Smaller scraps are stored in a sterilite drawer, sorted loosely in the same color groups. I have had to learn to let go of some scraps for sure but storing my papers in this way has really reduced the scraps just because they're readily available to use and I only have to look in 1 spot. AND when the >4"x4" drawer is burgeoning I pull it to the work area, challenging myself to design with just the scraps. Just my two cents.
I keep all my card in polypockets (the ones that go into folders). I have one for each colour (eg pale yellow, dusky pink etc) and I keep all the scraps in the polypocket with the whole sheets. that way, when I decide which cardstock I want to use I can see straight away if I have a suitable scrap I can use before cutting into a full sheet. I know if I kept them elsewhere, I'd never look at them as the colour matching would be too much like hard work!!
My biggest tip for scrap keeping is don't be afraid to throw away some! I use a cart that has open files on the top of the cart. I have several colors listed. Pink, red, white, vanilla, brown, black, blue, green, yellow, orange,etc. System works great and I use most of my scraps now, where as I didn't previously. BUT when one folder gets too thick, it's time to purge!
I have gallon zip lock bags with scrap in each one. I have one bag per color, patterned and plain together. Anything that's bigger say more than 4 inches i place back in the hanging file folder. I have milk crates with 1 folder for each of my solids and the bigger solid scraps generally go back in the folder.
I drown in my scraps! I occasionally give some away to a school and I make myself throw out stuff. I have a resolution to use scraps up this year more than I have in the past but it is not working that well - I am better, but not good. I use the zip-lock bag with my 4 x 4 pads and that helps, as I clip the bag to the pad. As the size of the pad diminishes the size of the bag increases! I keep paper in milk crates and have no room to add scraps into this - at the moment, smaller scraps get thrown into an old shoe box and if it gets full, I have to use it up or thrown out stuff. Die cutting takes a bit! I have a plan to store scraps of card nearer to the Big Shot and die storage so I can just reach in and grab a suitable piece of card/paper for mounts, accents or such. Hasn't happened just yet - no room!
I've been working on paper organization recently, and thought I'd share a couple of things that are working for me. I recently acquired a 27" deep file cabinet with full-extension drawers, so I have the vast majority of my papers and cardstock in it now. The first picture shows my patterned paper drawer. I put the adjustable stop (that was in the drawer to keep the files towards the front) as far to the front as I could adjust it to create a drawer divider. All of my 8" and 6" and "mat stack" papers are in cut-down folders in this space. The hanging files in the remainder of the drawer contain patterned paper organized with holidays in front, then ROYGBIV, then neutrals, with two folders per color group. The first has papers that are "textures" or geometrics (stripes, plaids, polka dots), the other is flowers/flourishes/text. If I have an overabundance of a color (I seem to have a lot of green), then I break them down a bit more. Many of them were originally 12" papers, but I trimmed them down to 8 1/2" x 12" specifically so that I could put them in a "normal" file. Scraps are in the front of the appropriate folder.
Cardstock full or mostly-full sheets are in folders in the drawer below, but smaller scraps have been dealt with as shown in the other pics. I previously had them in page protectors, and it was a hot mess. I went through and organized by first selecting any scraps large enough for a card base, trimming and scoring. I have A2, 4 1/4" square, "lunch note" or ATC-sized, and miscellaneous gift enclosures (usually 2 1/4" or 3" square) - those are in the top two rows of the pic showing the scraps all laid out. I also trimmed any that would work for card fronts or large mats. Smaller scraps were put together by width/height and held together with "ouchless" clear rubber bands (get the cheapo ones from the dollar store - the Goody or other name-brand ones are too strong and will bend the cardstock), and all of them are put into clamshell cases (I used the 6 1/2" x 8 1/2" ones). The card bases are stored separately in clamshells by size, regardless of color.
As you can see in the pics, I started to cut borders and punches, but decided that I would have to dig through too many options that way, and just kept the scraps that would become borders or punchouts or diecuts. Now when I want to make something, I can see at a glance if I have an appropriate-sized scrap for the project before cutting into a new sheet.
I still have some 12" cardstock and dp that I haven't tackled yet - still on the fence there...
__________________ ~ Sue Happy for no reason...
Last edited by gregzgurl; 08-25-2013 at 07:39 AM..
Reason: clarification
My scrap plan can be seen on my blog as one of my popular posts. I use Cropper Hopper and love it. I find that I go to my scraps first because it's readily accessible, and easy to take to crops when you don't have something specific in mind. Hope it's helpful to someone.
I'm really organized but lazy about putting things away and every system I tried for scraps meant I had to file and I hate to file. I now have a scrap drawer in my JetMax/Recollections cubes. I just open the drawer and toss in the scrap. They don't get ruined or scrunched-up and I don't have to worry about the small scraps falling out. When I want a scrap I can pull out the entire drawer. Often I find something that is perfect when I wasn't considering that particular shade. I have a drawer for:
Black/grey
White/Vanilla
Reds
Pinks/Purples
Blues
Greens
Brown/Tans
Yellow/Orange
I've been using the drawers for almost a year and I no longer have that bag of scraps that need to be filed.
Also, I sorted out my 6x6 pads and put the paper in the scrap drawers. I wasn't using the 6x6 and now I do.
paper everywhere!
