PURGE YOUR CRAFT ROOM! A Summer Challenge

[pamcook]

That’s great Debi!

Keep up the good work everyone. Ry, you’re an encouragement to all of us!

[paddlegal]

I hit the die purge job hard last night. It was pretty easy pulling out the ones I never use nor will. Don’t be alarmed at the TSOL bird dies on top of pile. That will go to my grandkids at some point. I think I reduced my die stash by about 40%. This of course doesn’t include stamp sets with matching dies. I looked through those while doing my stamps.

I had been toying with the idea of getting a Gemini Jr machine. But the reviews really put me off of that. I wondered why amazon had such a good deal on it. But I am looking for a smaller profile machine. Possibly electric. I love my Big Shot Plus but it takes up a ton of desk space. This isn’t urgent but I hope I can find a suitable one to reduce the clutter on my desk.

Next stop...PAPER & CARDSTOCK.

[Monica]

My first thought was "I wonder which dies she's purging and if I need them?" followed by "Ireally should go through mine like that!"

[paddlegal]

My first thought was "I wonder which dies she's purging and if I need them?" followed by "Ireally should go through mine like that!"

If I can get my act together I should photograph what is going to go. It’s all good, just not what I am using these days. But photographing what is purged so far would take me all day.

[Monica]

Okay, you all are infecting me. I spent the morning going through one of my two shelves of papers purging and reorganizing. And I hope to get the other one done tomorrow. There's actual empty space now!

ETA: I purged about 5 cropper hopper holders' worth of paper, both pp and cardstock. And now all my paper that hadn't been neatly tucked in one are happily stored in them, and I have two empty holders to contain my Disney papers when I finish the album I'm working on. And I feel like a weight has lifted. So thanks for the inspiration!!

[Keitha]

Great challenge Farley; I just wish I was home this summer to participate. I tote a lot of projects to my hotel room, but draw the line at bringing craft supplies to purge LOL. Loved the stamp of the coffee press; don't think I've ever seen one before. That's the only way I make coffee - I have a number of presses at home, the office and my hotel room. Hmm, maybe I need to purge those too...

I think the only reason all those shows about organization tell you to tackle ALL the contents of your space at once, often removing them to the front lawn or something equally silly, is for the shock value. As with most projects, if it's overwhelming to contemplate never mind start, chances are you won't be successful. Typically I tackle one box or drawer or shelf at a time; not quite the same as focusing on one product, other than I tend to store like items together.

While I'd love the space ditching all my magazines would yield I can't let them go without one final look at them. Typically I find that with scrapbook magazines I can easily part with ones 4 or more years old, the newer ones still seem to have some worthwhile content in them. But a lot of my magazines now are mixed media, and those ideas are often more timeless. And so the magazines live on in my space.

[paddlegal]

Great challenge Farley; I just wish I was home this summer to participate. I tote a lot of projects to my hotel room, but draw the line at bringing craft supplies to purge LOL. Loved the stamp of the coffee press; don't think I've ever seen one before. That's the only way I make coffee - I have a number of presses at home, the office and my hotel room. Hmm, maybe I need to purge those too...

I think the only reason all those shows about organization tell you to tackle ALL the contents of your space at once, often removing them to the front lawn or something equally silly, is for the shock value. As with most projects, if it's overwhelming to contemplate never mind start, chances are you won't be successful. Typically I tackle one box or drawer or shelf at a time; not quite the same as focusing on one product, other than I tend to store like items together.

While I'd love the space ditching all my magazines would yield I can't let them go without one final look at them. Typically I find that with scrapbook magazines I can easily part with ones 4 or more years old, the newer ones still seem to have some worthwhile content in them. But a lot of my magazines now are mixed media, and those ideas are often more timeless. And so the magazines live on in my space.

Moving everything to another room is really a good idea. Startling for sure. When Charley was in HS he had a big project to build a catapult. So I “generously” donated my long craft table. This meant clearing it, which then in turn meant clearing everything out. It was great but horrifying at the same time. Once I reclaimed my room it looked great for about a week.

[pamcook]

I agree Keitha (shock value) and that’s why it works for me to purge by type of supplies. I had more than 7 sets of stamps because I like the cameras in them. Three were almost identical (slightly different sizes). Ridiculous (for my crafting needs).
No one can tell you the best was to purge or organize. Once I realized how I use supplies (and search for them) and the best way for me to purge - it’s made all the difference.

[Monica]

It really does come down to how you search for things. I find myself looking for things and unable to find them because how I labeled a drawer for that item isn't how I think about it when looking for it, so I was relabeling things over the weekend along with purging so I can hopefully find what I need when I'm looking for it now.

I've been eyeing my shelf of Tim Holtz stamp sets and I think that will be the next purge. Those I love I'll keep, but I bet I can get rid of at least a quarter of them. Hmm... and the basket of CTMH stamp sets too.

[ChristyB]

So far things that have left...


A large flat rate box STUFFED with flower embellishments and sold on eBay (I needed that many WHY????)

17 various quilt patterns sold on a FB group

42 quilting magazines sold on another fb group.

Box of wood mounted stamps donated to goodwill

More fabric quilting panels listed on a fb group for sale.

Slowly but surely there has to be a dent made in the amount of stuff I have....right?

[Monica]

Hey, that's good progress, Christy!

[nchoney]

The dies are all sorted into their respective bins... next project is photos! Have to get them out of the paper sleeves and into some sort of organization. I've got 3 of these that I got at Tuesday Morning.


They're currently on sale at Michael's for $14.99 plus shipping.

https://www.michaels.com/color-photo-an ... lsrc=aw.ds

The containers are 4x6 boxes. They're perfect for a dozen ink cubes, too. That's what all my ink cubes are stored in. Perfect for taking to a crop in one of those totes... or just pull a couple little boxes out and toss 'em in the tool tote.

But these other 3 are going to be for photos. Then I can put some masking tape on the outside of the container and mark on there what's in the tote. I normally keep things printed by year but right now all the envelopes of printed photos are a mess all around my scrap room. So I need to sort them by year and figure out which photos I'm still missing. And then they'll be organized and I can start scrapping them! Whoohhoooo!!! The plan is part of the project, right?

[pamcook]

I’ve seen folks use them for embellishments as well.

[Monica]

You're one better than me if you've got the photos printed, Debi! I'm really good about sorting them into folders on the laptop but bad about printing them off.

[paddlegal]

Debi, I have one of those containers too and have stored my ink cubes in them. It’s a great organizer. I think you have more dies than I do. How did you classify them?