a new me...

It may have taken a lot of time but FINALLY, my new paper organization is done!

First I'll explain how I like to oraganize. It can best be described as organized chaos. I did a good job of making the room appear to be in order but it was far from it. On the surface it looked fine because everything is in little tubs or baskets, but take a closer look in those things and... whoa! Messy, messy. When I wanted to find something I always knew exactly where it was but I had to dig to find it.

I wanted a system that worked best for me and how I scrapbook and I wanted to cut back the time I spent preparing to scrapbook.

In my room, I have a corner with twelve drawers that hold 12 x 12 stuff. My ideal situation would be to have all my paper vertical but my shelves won't allow for that. I ended up getting plastic stackable drawers instead. Here's an idea of how everything in those drawers were "organized" before:

1. - A messy mix of 12 x 12 stickers, die cut sheets, and speciality papers.
2. - same as #1
3. - same as #1 and #2
4. - patterned paper, in no particular order or organization.
5. - same as #4
6. - same as #4
7. - same as #4
8. - same as #4
9. – same as #4
10. - red, orange and yellow cardstock
11. - green, blue, purple and pink cardstock
12. - brown, black and neutral cardstock

Here's a look at my new system:



1. - Fancy Pants (papers, transparencies, die cut sheets)
Since I am on the Fancy Pants design team I've got a ton of their stuff. Before all it was tossed in with everything else and I would have to dig through it all to find one sheet of paper.

2. - 12 x 12 Die cut sheets, 12 X 12 sticker sheets and transparencies
Before these were all mixed in the messy top three drawers that I hardly ever ventured into. I have a feeling I'll be using that stuff a lot more now!

3. - Flocked cardstock, glitter cardstock, die cut patterned paper, and die cut cardstock

4. - My Mind's Eye #1
This is by far one of my absolute favorite manufacturers. I am addicted to their paper and super cute embellishments. Addicted enough that I have to have two drawers to hold all the paper!

5.- My Mind's Eye #2

6. - Patterned paper (misc) #1
The next drawers are for all of my "generic" papers. The ones that are pretty but don't have a specific theme to them.

7. - Patterned paper (misc) #2

8. - Patterned paper (theme)
For specific themes like Christmas, 4th of July, birthday, etc.

9. - Patterned paper (boy)
For papers that have a very specific boy theme to them. Like dinosaurs, robots, or papers that say boy on them.

10. - Kit supplies
Each month I come up with the designs for two different kit clubs at SG and each month I frantically dig through piles of paper trying to find the ones that I'm suppose to use for the next month. No more of that now!

11. - Class supplies
I also teach at least four classes a month and tend to do the same as I do with kits. I pick out the papers, take them home and put them where I think I'll easily find them. Somehow it never works out that way!

12. - Page kits
Not only do I design page kits but I also belong to two different kit clubs from SG (Remember Me and Remember Them). I have yet to put together one page out of both those clubs. Maybe I would have done it sooner if I knew where they were!

I moved all of my cardstock into a vertical paper holder that sits beside all the drawers. I ended up cutting my cardstock stash way, way down. When I first started scrapbooking I thought it would be a good idea to have every single color of cardstock, just in case. Now I know that it's going to be a rare occasion for me to use pink or purple. I also know that most likely I'm going to use white or french vanilla for my background.

I also cut my patterned paper way back. Before I just bought what I thought was pretty and told myself, "I'll use it on something." Now I've figured out exactly what my style is, what colors I like, what prints I like, etc. I ended up cutting my patterned paper stash in half.

Next up, ribbon. This might take awhile! :)