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So, we found out that we are expecting baby #2 in December, which means for now, I have to give up my craft room. I have a small area in our bedroom that DH has agreed that I can have my therapy sessions...err, I mean, stamp area
My question to everyone is, what would you pack away and what would you keep handy. I know there are the "obvious" items to keep out, but how do you decide.
I don't know what to suggest because I don't know what you have or what you consider to be indispensible for your crafting. As a sort of general guideline, though, I'd keep out a paper trimmer, corner rounder, stamps and ink. Specialty tools (giant stapler, for instance) and rarely used embellishments might be better in storage.
I'd also recommend sorting embellishments by color rather than item in sterilite storage drawers. That condenses them really well...one drawer for each color of the rainbow and one for neutrals and one for metallics.
Best wishes. What a great reason to have to give up your craft room!
The same thing happened to me. When I was expecting our third baby I knew I had to give up my craft room. I was lucky enough to win a scrapbox here on splitcoast and so it all worked out for me.
My daughter got her own bedroom and my scrapbox is my work space. The reason I am telling you this is because I didn't really have to give up anything because my scrapbox holds so much stuff and it might be something you can consider purchasing. When my scrapbox is closed it doesn't take up much space.
I have some photos on my blog of my scrapbox if you would like to see what it looks like and how much stuff it holds.
Candice congratulations! What a neat reason to give up a stamp room. I wouldn't know where to begin.
I guess keep your paper cutter, favorite go to colors and we all have favorite stamp sets because they are so versatile and fun to work with. I would keep all my inks because I love to watercolor with them.
I found some links for Basic Tool Kits that might jumpstart your decision process (I've found it's too easy to sometimes overlook the obvious, like scissors, and smiles when I read it on the list in several of the links LOL):
I have to ask this because it has come up in my own house...We only have one guest bedroom because the other is my rubber room...
Family gets upset because I will not move out and make another room for them to come and free load...
Same with children...as a child - I shared a bedroom until I was 12...Does every one give every child their own room? I really am curious about this...
__________________ Karen
...My life is like a stroll on the beach...As near to the edge as I can go...Thoreau...
What I'd do is pay real attention to what you use on a regular basis for the next few weeks of crafting. Then start packing.
Another option I thought about is to pack by season or theme or holiday. That way if you were sitting down to make holiday cards in October you could just pull out that stuff and get to work.
__________________ Victoria
~Made of awesome
~My 6th Avon 39
I really like everyone's idea of packing by catagory. Could you add a piece of furniture to your bedroom, like a dresser? If not, what about adding a shelf on top of something like an existing dresser? I did this in my dining room to clear out some cabinet space (dishes), I found a shelf that fit on top of a buffet. I added baskets and boxes to hide stuff in.
I would think about what do you like to make/do while in "therapy" when you do have time to create that it should be with your favorite items.
If still unsure for me I would keep the neutral stamps out Birthday, sympathy or thinking of you, congrats. tend to be the more in need cards. Then from there I would probably keep a selection of colors (maybe take half the paper out and store the rest). Ink pads go for the basics for now.
If you are a scrapbooker than go for all baby theme
I have to ask this because it has come up in my own house...We only have one guest bedroom because the other is my rubber room...
Family gets upset because I will not move out and make another room for them to come and free load...
Same with children...as a child - I shared a bedroom until I was 12...Does every one give every child their own room? I really am curious about this...
Well, all of my children have their own bedrooms, but that's because their bedrooms are small and I wouldn't be able to fit 2 children into them unless I used bunk beds and I wasn't crazy about that idea.
When my sister and I were little we always shared a bedroom.
I have small drawers in a cabinet for nearly every bit of what I use regularly. A good stock of those sterilite 3 drawer cabinet things will store a lot! Maybe stacking them on the back of a table will solve your storage problems. Check out my blog...and go to "workshop" on my keywords to see what I have. You can picture having drawer units stacked instead of on racks in my cabinet. 72 drawers (24 of those little drawer units) stores everything except ribbon, backup packages of paper and punches. Those are shelves below.
Try packing packages of paper in a box for storing...but cut and fold several card bases of every color. Keep quarter sheets of paper for layering and scraps, of course.
If you're like me you always have lots of backup adhesives and stuff. Pack them in boxes and label. Keep just the one you're using.
Another thing you might try is wrapping ribbon on matboard cards and getting rid of round spools...they take up so much room!
I may have missed it but did anyone suggest under the bed storage, epecially the ones with wheels.
As for sharing a room - The law says we only have to provide reasonalbe food, shelter, and clohes - nothing about separate rooms, cell phones, etc. Personally I think a happy Mommie with her own space is not unreasonable. DH and I (empty nesters) each have our own dens/craft rooms and about 5 years ago we converted our guest room to a library/photo lab for DH. No more overnight guests unless they want to sleep on the air bed. Most opt for a nearby hotel or mooch (er, I mean stay) somewhere else.
Congrats on the baby! That is always great news!
I think most of us really use the most:
a good paper trimmer, a good scoring tool, your favorite adhesive, stamp inks and a good stamp cleaner, scissors-your favorite paper trimming and ribbon cutting scissors and a clear zeroing ruler. The cheapest and smallest tool I use almost all the time is toothpicks!
I use toothpicks with glue placing embellishments, holding tiny things in place until I can glue it down, and sometimes to guide twine and ribbon through tiny holes. If you have some punches, can you put up a decorative towel rack and place your punches on the rack? Other than that, and a few storage boxes for your favorite card stocks and designer papers, you are good to go. Pack everything else up but keep the storage easy to get to. Don't put it too far up or too far down or hard to get to. Keep it stored so it's fairly easy to get to when you need it.
I recommend getting an armoire of some sort that you can store lots of things in, but can close up at the end of the day. I gave up my scraproom when we had the baby and I used bookshelves and expedits from my scraproom in the bedroom, but the bedroom just seemed too cluttered and not like a bedroom anymore. That situation didn't last for very long, especially when the baby could get into everything, because I decided to take over the guest room. When I did have to downsize, I put away all of the things I had for altering. I also put away anything that I had a lot of, keeping a small working stock handy that could be replenished from storage when necessary. I did not put away any of my patterned paper, though because I have to always have lots of choices for that. I also kept anything I thought might get ruined in storage like my inks and stamps. Like others have said, you need to see what you use a lot and what you hardly ever touch. Congrats on the pregnancy, and good luck with setting up your new therapy area.
What Would You Keep??
And a newborn can share the space with the stamps. Not unitl she is crawling that you would actually have to worry, right?? 
