Organised ? It's a Myth...or is it?

Hi again from Di (on a budget) from Cape Town South Africa; following on from Cath's great post yesterday on getting your precious photographs organised.

When I started sewing I was organized. When I started decoupage, I was organized. When I started crochet and knitting I was organized. When I started bead making I was organized. When I started drawing and painting, I was organized. When I started gardening, I was organized.

Even my computer is organised!!!

By “organized” I really mean that I have a box or two of stash, tools etc and I do not need loads of space. With some crafts, it’s easy to be organized. What is it about paper craft that leads to CHAOS???

When I started the 'new' scrap booking in January 2005, I had this little pencil case that contained everything I needed.

Then I hit the shops and bought loads of "stuff". So then, I bought loads of Tupperware style boxes, each of which contained something specific. BUT, it just does NOT work for me… We all know (whether we admit it or not) that mothers normally know best. My mum and I played with beads for a while. I gave her a very neat box with everything she needed all compartmentalized and colour coded. What did she do? She sat down at the table, put a tea towel in front of herself and TIPPED the whole lot on to the tea towel, and had lots of fun. AAAAGGGHHH. I was horrified But, guess what, that’s what worked for her. So what are some of the things that we need to organise? Brads Cardstock Chipboard letters Chipboard shapes Die cut letters Die cut sayings and shapes Eyelets Inks Metal letters Paints Patterned paper Photographs Punches Ribbon Rub on letters Rub on sayings Stamps ”Other” embellishments Work in Progress - Projects

I want to talk about just a few of the things we need to organise because the same principles apply to just about everything...

Chipboard letters (incomplete sets): I have been trying Mum’s technique. Now instead of 32 boxes of chipboard letters I have ONE BIG BOX. When I need something I tip the whole lot on to the table! This is what my incomplete sets of chipboard letters used to look like...

And this is how they now look...

I got fedup opening 32 boxes of letters. I made one box of all my leftover letters! and you know what; its fun. When I tip them out, I get to see all the different styles all together. I can push them around, mix and match and feast my eyes. When I have more chipboard letters, I just throw them in the big box. When the box is full, fill a second box. Ribbon:

Ok you can roll it up, colour code it, hang it up. It all depends on how much you have. Me I throw it in a big box where it sits loosely, does not need to be ironed, and when I need some, I tip the box up, have a look, select what I want, and close the box up. If you have loads of ribbon, you can hang it up on coat hangers, wind it up and pack it colour coded. It's really about whatever works for you.

So I have used the big box idea to store quite a few things!!! The boxes measure 13 inches by 8 inches and are 5 inches deep and cost about R30 (2 pounds sterling). Quite a cheap storage solution.

Then there are the little things like brads and eyelets. I love these little stacked " jars" which my darling son in law bought for me at the "Muji" shop. I think they cost abut 1 pound sterling, so also an inexpensive storage solution for all the litle bits.

Now a "nifty but thrifty" idea: I bought some pizza boxes for R5.oo each (about 35p sterling). I reinforced the sides with double sided tape (1 inch wide), decorated the lids with patterned paper ,and put labels on the front.

Now I have boxes for complete sets of chipboard letters, chipboard shapes and sayings, die cut letters, die cut shapes and saying, rub on letters, rub on sayings., and odd embellishments. I use small ziplock bags to separate the embellishments. If for example, you have LOADS of rub ons, categorise them by theme and have a separate box for each theme. My pizza boxes look cheerful and are "cheap as chips". What's more you get to use some of that stash in decorating them. Organisation is a journey not a destination. Disorganisation starts for me when I buy new stash and when I finish a project. Lets consider what happens. A package arrives full of great goodies, or I get back from stash shopping. What do we do? We either do not open the package and it sits there for days, or we open it up, lay it all out, ooohh and aahh at all the goodies, and it sits there for days. I think the trick is to unpack and put it all away in the RIGHT place . Then when we finish a project normally there are some leftover bits and pieces. What do we do? We clear the left overs and put everything away in its RIGHT place.

We'll be back with more ideas to help you get organised and we'd love to here how you organise your stash, and where you need help, so keep those comments rolling in.

Thanks for reading and love from Di XXX