Hope you're enjoying your summer!
k and r - Heidi Grace stickers and alpha letters, EK Success Binding Edge Punch, Scenic Route chipboard, Kraft cardstock, journal stamp.
Nathan is 14 - Scenic Route paper, stickers, chipboard, and punchout, Heidi Grace stickers for number, Textured Bazzill, Upper Crest Border Punch.
ms 150 - white pen, Felt Thickers.
I just wanted to share a few more photos and some extra details plus answer a few questions that were posted in the comment section of my original entry and emailed to me.
I went from six vertical holders for my patterned papers down to two. When I was purging all the papers I realized there was a ton of cardstock mixed in with the patterned papers. After I separated everything and took out the patterns I knew I was going to use, I was left with two holders of patterned paper (and a 3” high stack of papers to get rid of!). The third holder will be used for miscellaneous household papers that have a quick overturn time… papers I need to keep, but not for long, usually relating to one of the kids activities. These use to sit on my desk but I’m trying to keep the clutter compact so I thought the vertical holder would be a great solution. 
I got the Making Memories Carousel a while back but decided to wait to use it until my new space was complete. I’ve got to say, it’s freakin’ awesome! love it! I have it sitting on the curve of my workspace close to my desk because I need to be able to reach it while both standing and sitting. I do have some odds and ends in the drawers like adhesive remover block, white erasers, colored staples, edge distresser, etc. 
I wasn’t sure how I wanted to store my alphas but I knew I wanted them out and accessible so I repurposed a basket and wa-la! To make sure everything stayed upright, I have a second plastic container inside. When it comes to certain products – like anything related to alphabets – if I don’t see them, I won’t use them so it was important to have them out in the open.
I’m lovin’ my little “choose to be happy” sign. The sign originally had an office number in the smaller portion and a company’s name in the larger portion. I printed out what I wanted my new sign to say with my printer, trimmed, and glued and now I’ve got my own signage. It’s one of those items that falls into the it just makes me happy category. I’ve also got a cute little caterpillar made my youngest… it always makes me smile!
Finally! I am beyond thrilled with how everything turned out and am happy that I finally get to share the end results of my new scrapbook room. I learned a few things during the process with the help of The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker
I learned through my purging and sorting process what kind of patterned papers I really like and use, that I don’t really like rub ons, embellishments that are too bulky, or cutesy stamps to name a few. I got rid of an obscene amount of product. Getting rid of everything was like a huge obligatory weight off my shoulders and the best part – I have no guilt!
Black Cabinets
This is where my printer and photo printer live as well as my patterned paper and cardstock, both which are sorted by color. I do have a special section for my Kraft cardstock because I use it so often. I marked each color by punching out a sample color using my Fiskars Squeeze Punch, folded it in half, and taped it over the top of the divider. Originally I wasn’t going to label the different sections because I know the order they’re filed in but having them labeled does make finding what I need a lot faster. I use Vertical Cropper Hopper Paper Holders for my patterned papers and my cardstock is in a large Itso Fabric Storage Bin that I found at Target (it’s the perfect size!). I’ve decorated the top of the cabinets with a few of my favorite knick knacks plus some new creations of my youngest (which always seems to be in heavy rotation so the cabinet doors will be a great place to display them). On the wall hangs a Picture Pageframe so I can display my current favorite layout. On the floor to the right I’ve got a container for my unmounted Ma Vinci stamps, one drawer for each letter.
I tried to place things in the black cabinets that I need but don’t necessarily use all the time. The unit on the left on the top shelf is where I have idea books, a semi empty container, and my magazines. On the bottom shelf I have all my photos. I have a few different systems I use… I’ve got a Library of Memories system in place but tweaked it a bit so it was tailored to my needs. The majority of my photos are in chronological order, I keep school photos separate as well as vacation photos. Any photos I don’t use get placed in one of my four category LOM files. I have a special spot for new/current photos. After I get a new month of photos, I put the previous month in a chronological album… I like to have access to new photos for a while, I feel like I get more scrapping done this way because I always seem to be inspired by new photos.
The upper cabinet on the right holds more administrative/household type items. I’m in charge of bill paying so I needed to make sure I had a place for all things related to that activity. On the top shelf I have some extra Fiskars Trimmers, ones I don’t use often but didn’t want to get rid of. I’ve also got envelopes, CD’s, DVD’s, and a few miscellaneous office supply type items. The second shelf holds my 8 ½” x 11” page protectors, a 3 ring hole punch, 4” x 6” in photo paper for my photo printer, and regular printer paper. On the third shelf in the basket on the right is where I have tools like a hammer, big stapler, Cropadile, electric eraser, etc. To the right of that are my Ultra Fine Point Sharpies, a basket where I collect all our receipts/bills, and then various notebooks for filing bills, dealing with taxes, etc. Tucked away to the right of all that is larger photo paper.
In the lower left cabinet, on the top shelf is where I am keeping my 12” x 12” page protectors and paper containers. My red sketch folder is in there too because it doesn’t fit in the upper cabinet. Behind the folder are some empty albums. The second shelf contains all my to be altered items. Before I had these items in a box and basically shoved in a cabinet and never saw them and it was too much work to pull them out so nothing got altered. It will be easier to work with them now that I can see them and they are accessible. The lower shelf contains my sewing machine, sewing box, and memorabilia containers. I don’t consider myself much of a memorabilia person when it comes to using it on layouts but when I was sorting and purging all my supplies, I found items everywhere and in the craziest places. It’s nice to have it all contained in one location.
The right lower cabinet contains a 12” x 12” storage unit that holds various papers. The top two drawers hold extra 8 ½” x 11” cardstock and the other four drawers contained themed papers and related items. There is one drawer each for Birthday, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas. On the bottom shelf is where I keep my light box and an extra Fiskars 12” Desktop Rotary Trimmer. I don’t use the light box very often but it is nice to have when I need it, plus the kids like to use it so it’s easy for them to get to.
Main Work Surface
I love my main work surface. It’s a little wider than my previous one and with the addition of the corner surface, I can really spread out. I tried to keep the items on the work surface to a minimum and really put out what I use and what I find motivating. Everything that is on the counter are the main items I scrap with so it was important to make them accessible, which will help make my process easier.
From left to right, I’ve got a red container that will be for new, smaller products before they get put away, buttons, tags and journaling spots, my decorative g’s that I like, a light, in the basket are all alphabet related items like stickers, punch outs, and die cuts (inside the basket is another plastic container to help the larger/taller items stay upright), and a container full of chipboard alphas. Next to that is my Making Memories Desktop Carousel, which is filled with my pens, scissors, adhesives, etc. I put beans in the bottom of the carousel to make sure each item stayed upright. It’s easier for me to find things when they are available to grab and I don’t have to shift items around to find what I am looking for. I also have a section for regular pens, pencils, and erasers because I need those items to be accessible also when I am working at my desk.
On the top shelf of the double lower cabinet, you’ll find my favorite paper trimmer (with my Fiskars Bypass Trimmer behind it) as well as various cutting mats and rulers. On the shelf below is where I keep all my embellishments, which are sorted by color. To the right of the embellishments are my ribbons. My ribbons are sorted by color in sandwich bags which sit in a narrow Itso container.
The single cabinet doesn’t have much in it at the moment. The top shelf is empty. On the middle shelf is a three drawer plastic container, the top two are empty and the third drawer contains layouts that need to be put away in albums. The bottom section of the cabinet contains various art type supplies like Gesso and Mod Podge. I put all my paints and brushes into a plastic shoe box container so they could easily be pulled out and sorted through. There are two containers in there also, one has markers and colored pencils, the other has various chalks and more markers.
The three drawer Jetmax Cube holds my scraps in the first drawer, the middle drawer has all sticker and punch out related items that are not alphabets. I got rid of almost all my rub-ons but the few I did want to keep stay in this drawer. The last drawer holds everything that is chipboard related, minus alphas.
The four drawer Jetmax Cube holds a variety of miscellaneous items. The first drawer has my Xyron X in it as well as a label maker, tape measure, color wheel, etc., basically items that didn’t really match up anywhere else. The second drawer has various papers to write notes on. Lined paper, plain, sticky notes, post-it’s, items along those lines… it seems like I always need to make a list or send a note. Drawer number three holds my blade refills for my trimmers, my circle cutter, and my Ultra ShapeXpress. The last drawer is my refill drawer, which holds all my extra adhesives, unopened pens, glue sticks, etc. The Jetmax Cubes can be found at Target or Michael’s.
Desk
The desk is to the right of my main work surface and I love how everything flows together. I like to stand when I scrap but there are certain activities I like to do sitting (like being on the computer, journaling, paying bills, etc) so I opted to have this portion at regular desk height. I have room for everything I need without a lot of clutter. I’ve got my date book, a few knick knacks, and my iPod speakers. To the left of the work surface on the floor is where I am keeping the paper shredder, I’ll just slide it out when I need to use it.
Island
The island won’t ever have any type of permanent items sitting on it. The work surface will be used for what I consider zone activities like stamping, punching, and die cutting. Basically any activity I am trying to accomplish and want to keep the mess from that task out of the way and off my long work surface that is against the wall.
In the cabinet on the top shelf, I have a three drawer plastic unit that contains some of my stamps and stamp related items. In the top drawer are some of my favorite alpha stamps (Medium “It’s My Type”). The second drawer has my favorite wood mounted stamps, and the third drawer contains embossing powders, embossing tray, and a handful of inks. The binder to the left of that contains my clear acrylic stamps, which I put on plastic backing and then slide into a sheet protector. On top of the plastic unit are my Fiskars Stamp Presses. In the back of the top shelf, I’ve got some foam stamp and a heat embossing gun. These are items that need to be stored but I won’t use them often but am not willing to get rid of them. It works out great to stick them in the dead space of the cabinet.
On the second shelf in the small Itso Bin, I have my premade card bases. Next to that I have my Quickutz Revolution. Behind the Revolution I’ve got cards that I’ve previously made… they’re nice to have on hand when I am short on time. In the back of the lower shelf, I’ve got another Stamp Press stored as well as the Revolution case… more great use of dead space.
The first drawer in the island contains all my punches, most of which are Fiskars. I love these punches! The second drawer has more stamping items. My small alphas and journaling stamps as well as my cleaner, chalk inks, etc. The third drawer contains all my Quickutz related items, alphabets, and die cuts. The fourth drawer contains electronic related items like my camera, charger, older film camera, etc. The first three drawers are what I consider zones but they’re all located within the island. When I want to do an activity out of one of the zones, I plan on keeping it all contained on the island.
Things that still need to be done
These are things that will eventually get done but there is no real hurry. They’re what I consider extras and won’t make a big difference in the space.
Thanks bunches to my man
My husband deserves a HUGE THANK YOU for finding these cabinets for me (they were free!!!) and having the know how to do the work to fix, adjust, paint, and assemble. I am lucky and he is awesome (and has killer legs… just sayin’!). We bought the green paint for the walls, black paint for base boards and two sides of the black cabinets, white paint for the base boards, and a new blade to cut the countertops (which the man says cuts like butter by the way!) plus various construction related items. I picked up two new frames, the empty red container on the white workspace (a cheap, plastic Target special!), the glass container holding the flowers on the upper black cabinet, and all three red Itso Containers and that’s about it. I repurposed as many items as I could, I had everything else so not a lot of out of pocket money was spent… we estimate right under $100, not bad!
Updates and other related links
That’s about it… longest blog post ever right? I hope you enjoyed the tour!
