Bigger Than Expected!

My whole craft room/studio redo has required so much more time and effort than I ever dreamed it would!  Yikes!!! And I'm still not done!  But one thing I've learned is that I can only do it for about an hour or so a day and then I gotta get outta there!  HAHA!

But it really is getting close to being done and I think I will really like my new organizational systems.  At least for now.  One thing I've noticed is that paper crafters generally love to organize and reorganize. What's up with that?!

The other day I posted "Taking Shape" and showed a picture of my nice cleaned off table.  Then Hurricane Debbie showed up and my room was again torn up and destroyed.  Debbie is a good friend of mine who is fabulous at organizing and she saw a great need to redo just about everything I'd done.  LOL!  So...for the next 5 days my table top was never to be seen.  But it has all been worth it and I'll share my progress to date.  Here it is in bits and pieces.

First of all....I love paper stacks although I am not buying 12x12 any longer (well, except for the cute one I got half priced at Michaels the other day. LOL!).  I do love the stacks I have though and had them in a basket crate thing but bought this 56 qt Sterlite container for about $7 the other day.  It's too heavy to lift but I don't plan for it to go anywhere anyway!  It sits under the table where my paper trimmers are.  I write the name of the stack and manufacturer on the binding with a Sharpie so that I can more easily pull out the one I want.

This container works well for these stacks and with the top on no dust or other particles can get in.

They are a perfect fit!

Next is a cube that I got at Michaels a while back and I have my white, brown and black cardstock stored in it.  I kind of wanted all my cardstock in one place but for now it didn't quite work out that way....it is all about an arms length to the right and to the left of where I sit.  I may work on that arrangement but that is what it is for now.

On my cutting table I have this very cool heat embossing station that my friend, Cyndi, brought me back from Kansas City.  I am known as the Fire Starter with my heat gun so she is doing her best to try to keep me safe.  Thanks, Cyndi.  Come to think of it...since I got this stand I have not burned any carpet!

Ahem....I do love 6x6 and 8x8 paper pads and here is my collection of those.  Right within easy reach. I love having all these because I might make a card one day.  (Waving at you, Cyndi!)

I have my plain 8 1/2 by 11 cardstock in magazine holders...some are labeled if the paper is oh so special and some are not.

I store most of my buttons in mason jars on a Lazy  Susan (I always took issue with that term! LOL!).

To the right of where I sit I have some wire racks and cubes that I purchased at Target a long time ago...long before Michael's came out with the nice cube system.  I'm really trying to use what I have, though so this still works for me although sometimes I wish it looked a little better! LOL!
On the right is most of my ribbon (oh, yeah...I have way more on the other side of the room which I'll share in another post). and it's in boxes and labeled.  Debbie did a great job of organizing the boxes by color.  It's so easy to see what I have.

 There is also a box with Baker's twine as well as boxes for embroidery floss and fibers.

 And...at the very bottom I have my colored 12x12 cardstock as you can see here.

 In the middle section of the wire racks I have card packs and envelopes (yes, I have a lot...and now they are all in one place! Hallelujah!).  Below that are some Hero Arts cards and products.

I have this old Cropper Hopper file box that I am using for vellum, acetate, and other specialty type papers.

 Back over near my white, brown and black cardstock I have a large box that holds my paper scraps.

I try not to keep the smallest bits but these scraps are wonderful for die cutting and I go to my box often! They are all sorted by color.

 I store my punches in the over the door shoe racks.  I have tried other ways to store punches....boxes, drawers, etc...but this works well for me because I can easily see what I have.  I have another hanger over another door with my Martha Stewart punches.

 On my table I have this little storage thing I picked up at Goodwill for a dollar which holds my Copics and my Distress pens as well as my acrylic blocks.  To the left of the little storage thing is a CD rack with my Papertrey Ink stamps.

 And here is a picture of my work table again....and you can see my ink pad storage.  I  need to paint the top one at some time...some day...maybe... LOL!  I'm probably a little more about function than I am about looks so for now this is just fine! ;)

Still a good bit to do but if I put my mind to it I think I might be able to be done by tomorrow.  I'm having crafting withdrawal but I really need to finish up before I start any new projects.  That's the deal I've made with myself anyway! ;)

I hope you've enjoyed a little peek into my studio!

Happy Crafting.