Organizing By Theme

[mpizzazz]

Recently I've been rethinking the way I store my embellishments. They seem to be scattered around in too many places because I have been storing like materials together. For instance, let's take Chipboard. It was altogether because it was chipboard. Back when I had a lot, it was divided by theme in several bags-flowers in one, swirls in another, plaques or squares or circles together, etc.

Now I think the same motifs and themes should all be together in one place like chipboard flowers with paper, metal, silk, flowers and unmounted flower stamps. Chipboard flourishes and swirls should be with all other swirls and flourishes.Including UMs in with embellishments is the part that I am wondering if anyone has done this and if it has worked out for you.

Some motifs or themes like hearts, arrows, stars, I don't have many so they are going in divided page protectors in a binder with the UMs stuck on the page protector. Other motifs like flowers or birds/animals have a whole drawer to themselves when you start adding in the UMs, metals, 3D items, paper, stickers, etc.

Any thoughts on this idea?

[Keitha]

I totally agree that organizing by theme is the way to go, if that's how you think when you scrap. It's certainly how I store my supplies. I've never heard of anyone putting their stamps in with embellishments this way, but think you could be on to something Marianne. I wish I had room in my embellie drawers to try it.

One question I'd ask myself first is do my stamps, which are also organized in categories, line up with my embellishment categories? Then I'd know if I'd have leftover stamps that I needed to house some other way, once the themed ones that match my other embellishments are taken care of.

I'd also be afraid that some of the smaller stamps would get lost in the drawers, so would probably incorporate some kind of system where the stamps, while in the drawers with other things, were contained in something so they couldn't get lost.

And lastly, because I really like the KISS method of organizing (keep it simple, silly), I'd probably also include images of all my WM stamps in the drawers too, so I'd be considering all my options at once. For me, keeping it simple means having as few places to look for or pull out things - and put them away - as possible.

Can't wait to hear if it works out for you.

[Monica]

You'll have to let us know if putting stamps with embellies helps you to use them more. That would not work for me at this juncture, mainly because I have 1000s of stamps, but I do keep them sorted in binders a lot like my embellies are sorted. Well, okay, with the exception of the TH stamp sets, but when I'm looking for a "something" I pretty much know if it's a TH stamp I'm needing (that's just how my odd brain works). I've not really trued organizing everything by theme. I do have some themed stuff, like Disney has its own huge drawer, Christmas has a drawer, TH has a drawer (to me he's a theme), but more of it is sorted by type than theme. I do have some of the Cropper Hoppers done by theme too, such as Christmas, Halloween, winter, fall, cats, and travel, but a lot of that is also sorted by manufacturer.

[Keitha]

You'll have to let us know if putting stamps with embellies helps you to use them more. That would not work for me at this juncture, mainly because I have 1000s of stamps, but I do keep them sorted in binders a lot like my embellies are sorted. Well, okay, with the exception of the TH stamp sets, but when I'm looking for a "something" I pretty much know if it's a TH stamp I'm needing (that's just how my odd brain works). I've not really trued organizing everything by theme. I do have some themed stuff, like Disney has its own huge drawer, Christmas has a drawer, TH has a drawer (to me he's a theme), but more of it is sorted by type than theme. I do have some of the Cropper Hoppers done by theme too, such as Christmas, Halloween, winter, fall, cats, and travel, but a lot of that is also sorted by manufacturer.

I totally agree Monica, Tim is a category unto himself! And I, too, pretty much know if I want something TH or something else.

[ScrappinJen]

My stuff is all filed by theme. I figured out that works best for me because I usually scrap by theme. As you have recently seen, January was balloon month. All of those papers, stickers, die cuts, etc. were in one pizza box. Called Up, Up & Away. It was very easy to grab it and start working.

I have a pizza box for all of the themes I would use, most of which started as Club Scrap themes. For instance, Road Trip became all of my travel stuff. Framed became my camera/photography stuff. Wheel & Sprocket is the one I am pulling out for February. Bicycle month.

Obviously some themes have migrated into two pizza boxes. And Christmas/Winter just graduated to three boxes. And with stamps for Christmas, they are filed in those boxes. Other stamps are filed in a different system because they can be used with most any theme.

It's working for me. My goal now is to empty out each of those pizza boxes, theme by theme.
So I can buy more stuff, of course. And get my life documented.

[jfugina]

I've tried sorting my theme before, and it didn't entirely work for me. I'm not saying it was right or wrong, but it just didn't work. The thing that wound up being the most problematic, was that when I wanted to do a page where I knew I had embellishments that matched the paper (think Websters Pages, or anything that came in a kit), I had to dig through everything to find what matched.

So, I now ultimately have two types of sorting. Embellishment collections that go together with paper that I have are kept together, and I have a drawer specifically labeled "Embellishment Collections". Past that, I have a drawers for the following:

Flowers (includes feathers because it somehow seemed the most logical place to put the few feathers I have)
Trim - stuff that's still wound around a board. I have a hanging ribbon ladder for spools
Alphas - any kind of material or thickness
Bling - anything sparkly or shiny
Chipboard (except chipboard alphas)
Everything else - stickers, tape, rub-ons, or any other random thing that doesn't have a home elsewhere. Holiday stuff (unless part of a collection) would likely land in this drawer), along with baby stuff, music, seasonal, you name it. The fact is that I don't have enough stuff for any one particular theme to justify dividing it any further.

So far, this is working out for me. I don't use stamps for anything but cards, so the integration of those probably wouldn't help me. And, I'm pretty happy with my stamp storage.

I wish you luck on your reorganization efforts! Let us know how it works out.

[pbp908]

The only things that I had by category were ribbon and flowers. The flowers were broken down by color, and then the jars started outgrowing the space. Now all of them are dumped into a couple of large cookie jars together. You find some odd color combos that way. The ribbons and fibers are still for the most part together. The only thing by theme is Christmas, and that's not 100% anymore. TH is everywhere because it seems there's so darned much of it. I do keep all of the Distress Ink together because I use it more than anything else.

Ah, well. At one point this room was nicely organized but now it's turning into a disorganized mess again. Maybe if I can get a few more snow days???

[mpizzazz]

I don't think this method I am trying would work for people with a room full of stuff who have 100s/1000s of UMs but it might work for me who has 24 drawers and a few boxes of stuff. My UMs fit in one cardboard wine box in page protectors standing on their edges.

[pamcook]

My organizing system changes from time to time based on how I'm scrapbooking. I have most things organized by theme or color and I even have some UM stamps in the scrap rack page according to theme. Obviously, you have to organize according to how you think - how you identify each item. Is it vintage, brown, Tim or seasonal? Ideally, I'd like to resort everything to see how much I have and then ultimately what size/sort of container it needs. My scrap rack is still working for me but lately, I've been putting collections in the scrap rack rather than breaking them up - again, that's because I just took that shimelle.com class and I'm approaching pages differently. I have a jar of buttons (all colors mixed together) and a tube of ivory flowers (I can spray them whatever color I might want). I have a draw of ink pads/distress stains. Another drawer of rub-ons, doilies and a few chipboard pieces. My stamps are out of control. I simply don't use them. They need to be set free.

[clamscrapper]

I am constantly rearranging my stuff. When it stops working for me or I get a new major purchase, then I stop and make a change. I try and keep my art/mixed media supplies, stencils, spray inks, dies, ink pads and most used stamps closest to where I work. I try to make my storage work for me according to what I'm most interested in at the time. I like to get to things I need for art related projects such as watercolors or art journal pages close by so I don't have to get up as often.

I do very little storage according to theme. My biggest exception to that is stamp storage. All but my most used stamps are stored by theme. Then all my TH stamps or other stamps by a specific artist are stored together and kept closer to my table.

Most things are stored with like items. Ex: flowers with flowers, chipboard with chipboard, fibers with fibers, etc. All my paper is sorted by color ( 12x12 together, 81/2 x 11 together and pad papers together).

My grandkids love to work at my art table so I have to keep supplies they can use close by too. Otherwise they want to get into my more pricey tools and supplies.

[mpizzazz]

That is the main reason why I am trying the UMs in with other embellies, Pam, is because I don't use them regularly. My thinking is if I want an arrow on something, I can choose from all of them whether it is metal, paper, chipboard or a stamp. Unless you only use stamps for cards, a stamped image is an embellishment so it should be in with the rest of them. I already do it to some extent with specific themes like Christmas, Beach/Sea, etc, so I might as well try it with as many other themes as I can think of.
Our stashes are constantly evolving so I don't think there is any one right way to do it forever.

[pamcook]

Exactly Marianne! When we had a place at the beach, I had a ton of beach-theme embellies. Now, not so much. I'm going to blend them into my summer section. My themes are holidays combined with seasons, baby (slowly diminishing), birthday, family (almost at the point of used up), kids, sports, travel, weddings (if I ever scrap my kids weddings, I can get rid of that section) and then colors. My flowers used to be in the color sections. Now that I've stopped buying flowers in different colors, they're all in that clear plastic tube. I'd like to eventually have a work space where my supplies are within a couple of steps from my desk. I'm at the point where I have too much (yes, I said it!!). It overwhelms me. The only think I'm really not purging is my cardstock. Most of it is solid and the few left with patterns can be used as backgrounds or card bases. I don't see myself buying so much themed-specific supplies any more. I have trouble using them to make pages I'm happy with.

Now, organizing craft supplies is another nightmare. I have a drawer of glitter, a drawer of small ephemera for art journals and tags, a drawer of tags, 2 drawers of punches (I'm sort of proud that I'm selective about my punch purchases so I use them fairly regularly) and a drawer of seam binding (anyone want it? I don't use this kind at all). My paints and mists are mostly in totes - one looks like a tackle box and the other was a gift-with-purchase for cosmetics.

My big dies are in a basket - theoretically so I'll use them more often.

[jfugina]

Something that had crossed my mind, once upon a time, was to take white paper and black ink, and stamp images of all of my stamps, and file that stamped image (rather than the stamp itself) with the embellishments - just writing a note on the image about where the stamp is stored, if it's something like a club scrap UM.

Of course I never did it. But it's crossed my mind that it might work. The same is true of my cricut carts. I figure with 60+ carts I have every single die cut imaginable. But of course I don't think to look to my cricut images nearly often enough.

I love hearing about how everyone is organized - there's clearly no one right way to do it - it's whatever is right for the way you work, like Pam said.

[Keitha]

... The only thing I'm really not purging is my cardstock. Most of it is solid and the few left with patterns can be used as backgrounds or card bases. I don't see myself buying so much themed-specific supplies any more. I have trouble using them to make pages I'm happy with...

... I have a drawer of seam binding (anyone want it? I don't use this kind at all).

I think it's fascinating reading how we are all different in what we use and the ways we organize it. My box of cardstock is one thing I've considered purging most of; I've often said I could scrap in a World Without Cardstock, usually preferring patterned papers even for backgrounds. White is the one colour that, when I want it, I reach for cardstock because most pattern papers aren't true white. Other times I use it because I want an exact shade for something that I can't find in patterned paper. Of course I'm not a card maker, so don't need it for that.

As for that seam binding, if it's white or light colours you could spray/ink it a la Tim and use it in place of crinkle ribbon for bows, etc.

[Keitha]

... I figure with 60+ carts I have every single die cut imaginable. But of course I don't think to look to my cricut images nearly often enough...

I had an 'a-ha' moment reading this. I don't have a Cricut (although will admit to owning one cartridge - don't ask), but I do have a bunch of QuicKutz dies. Although the dies are organized in little pockets in binders I kept all the cards that illustrate them; I've just realized I should stick those cards in the corresponding embellishment drawers, so I consider them when choosing my embellishments. Thanks Marianne and Julie; without this thread and your comments that would never have occurred to me.