After the Purge, Part 2

Thanks for the lovely feedback and questions about organization! I answered comments on After the Purge, Part 1, and will be happy to answer more after today's post.

Note that Part 3 of this series will include the other side of my craft space, which includes my desk, embellishment storage, paper trimmer, etc. In Part 4, I'll go into more detail on some of my favorite products and storage details (including the birthday card organizer that several of you asked about!).

For Part 2, let's take a look at my big bookshelf and the baker's rack. Here's the before photo.

Before the Purge

The bookshelf is a 7' tall shelf, so it holds A LOT of stuff.

After

1. The white photo boxes on the top two shelves hold wood-mounted stamps. Very few of these were purged in The Latest Purge as I've already purged wood-mounts so many times. Most of these are classics...timeless and wonderful. Some clear stamps get put into the photo boxes, especially very specialized stamps that only get used occasionally (Valentine's Day sets, for instance, and vintage sets).

2. The two little boxes on the right of the second shelf are full of random ephemera. The boxes originally held Christmas cards from Barnes & Noble. The lids are magnetically sealed and lift easily. The contents are useful for those rare shabby chic/collage cards I make. Their contents were seriously purged to include only small stuff that will work on cards with lots of white space!

3. The green boxes and wire CD case on the third shelf contain clear stamps, organized by theme. These include Autumn, Odds & Ends, Food & Drink, Graphics (borders, backgrounds geometric shapes), Botany, Birds & Bees (actually all animals), and Christmas. I purged enough sets that I might be able to move the Christmas stamps into the green boxes and eliminate the wire CD rack, but just didn't think of it before looking at the pictures. (Edited to add...I did eliminate the wire rack. YAY, me!)

4. The fourth shelf contains four white photo boxes: office supplies (post-it notes, pencils, erasers, binder rings, staples, etc.), Christmas cards I make throughout the year, Karen's Card Shop cello bags, and miscellaneous cards I've made for my own use, organized by theme (thank you, get well, etc.). The two green plastic baskets contain Cuttlebug accessories and dies. As I said last post, I'm trying to have a minimalist approach to dies: I'm not going to go wild with them. So far, I've held to that resolution.

5. The fifth shelf holds a three-hole punch, corner rounder, basket of bottles (alcohol, Friskit, rubber cement, etc.) and empty CD cases, and two pretty aqua-colored boxes full of Zentangle supplies.

6. The bottom shelf contains books and magazines of a crafty nature and my super-long metal ruler for cutting large sheets of watercolor and bristol paper.

And now for the baker's rack.

After

1. The large jar on the top shelf holds washi tape and my natural-noise sound machine. Love the ocean waves setting...very relaxing!

2, The second shelf holds my Buddha board and a basket of blank A2 envelopes.

3. The third shelf stores my paper. In the green hanging file box, we have specialty papers such as glitter paper, handmade inclusion papers, vellum, map pages, old book pages, marbled papers, and such. One of the Cropper Hopper accordion files holds smaller watercolor paper, and the other holds scraps of colored card stock. The Cropper Hopper vertical paper holders obviously hold whole sheets of card stock, starting with the white card (Papertrey Ink, Neenah 80# and 110#, and Gina K) and then colored card (StampinUp and Papertrey mostly). There are extra packs of Papertrey white on the far right because I get hives if I have fewer than two back-up packs.

4. Across the bottom of the baker's rack reside four 12x12, three-drawer storage units. They hold things like stencils, Creative Memories circle and oval cutters, fabric and accessories, cutting supplies (spare blades for trimmer and craft knife, eyelet setter, and such), odd-sized envelopes, washcloths for cleaning stamps, small punches in basic shapes (circles and squares). These are supplies I use but not all the time. There's also a large pad of watercolor paper tucked on the floor between the baker's rack and bookshelf.

5. Tucked under the baker's rack are a couple of dumbbells and two 12" squares of plywood. These make a lovely book press when I'm covering boards or need to flatten watercolor panels. I just wrap whatever is in the press with waxed paper, put it between the boards, and place a dumbbell or two on top. Works like a charm!

For context, the entire craft nook looks like this:

A bit of explanation of the overall organization. First, I don't want everything to be too convenient for me as I sit at the desk. For instance, if I am sitting and get an idea, I have to stand up and cross the space to pick paper, stamps, and most tools. If I decide to use the Cuttlebug, I have to stand up and move. I can't sit and trim or score at the desk...I have to stand up. This is all by design. I have some back issues and sitting too long isn't good for anyone. 

As I'll show in the next post, the stuff on the desk is super handy.

I feel so blessed to have this dedicated stamping space. It's fun and functional and not horribly expensive. The sliding door behind the curtain is HUGE (the ceiling is 8.5'), and the door looks out on a four-stair walk-up to our backyard (a dreary sight right now, not to mention the mess of giant muddy paw marks all over the outside of the glass...hence the closed curtains!). The natural light is fabulous, and I'm out in the open of our large finished basement, so I'm not isolated even when on a creative binge! Also, there's a wet bar to the left with a sink for convenience and a Keurig for refreshment.

Because coffee is warm liquid happiness.

I'd love to know what about your craft space makes you happy. Please share!

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan