Mission Organization: Paper Storage

Hello,
I am back with another installment of my mission organization series.  Today we are going to discuss paper storage.  All of the paper I am going to show you is 12" x12" but most methods should work with 8.5" x 11" paper too.  I am a total paper addict especially patterned paper!  I just love paper!  I have a ton of stamps and keep telling myself I can use these stamps to make my own customized paper.  I can also create my own paper digitally and print them out.  I don't need any more paper!  It never fails though.  A pattern catches my eye and I must have it! Sigh...how does the saying go...whomever dies with the most paper wins!

I feel one of the most important things in organizing your paper is purging.  Take a good look at ALL your paper.  If you have ever bought collections of papers you know that in most instances  at least two sheets of each paper comes in the collection.  Will you use both sheets?  Are there patterns in the collection that don't fit your style or that you simply do not like in the least.  Well then put them in the purge pile.  Now I'm not telling you to throw these away (gasp!).  I go to a crop in which we are allowed to sell unwanted items.  What isn't my cup of tea may be another person's treasure.  I sell my paper cheap 10 cents a sheet.  Now this doesn't seem like much but if I make even a little money off of the papers that better than having it sit in my cabinet going to waste.  Remember purging gives you room to buy paper that you love!  If you can't find a market to sell your paper then contact a school or nursing home and donate your paper.  I do give some of my paper to my kids and they just love adding paper to their crafting stash too.

Organizing my paper has been something I have always struggled with.   My current setup isn't ideal but I am using what I have and don't want to buy anything new so I will make it work. I do apologize for the bad photo.  It was dark by the time I got my paper organized. I have a cabinet with moveable shelves that I store my paper in.  I can close the cabinet doors and know that light will not damage my paper. 

Now I will go through the letter and describe what is in each.

• A-homemade paper holder using a used Priority Mail box (will post a website later on in this post that tells you how to make this yourself).  Contains Christmas paper.  I thought about covering this with wrapping or contact paper but since it's behind closed doors I figured why bother.
• B-Cropper Hopper Paper Storage.  Solid cardstock organized by the rainbow color system (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet)
• C-Cropper Hopper Paper Storage.  Mixture of patterns.  (More details later in the post)
• D-Smaller Cropper Hopper Paper storage.  Complete collections of papers that don't have any embellishments to match.
• E-Cropper Hopper Paper Storage.  Mixture of matching papers.  (More details later in this post)
• F-Box of K and C company classic patterned paper (sold in this box).  
• G-Accordion Paper Holder (got this at Ollies several years ago) Holiday themed and seasonal papers.
• H-Accordion Paper Holder (got this at Joann's it came with paper in it...several years ago).  Chatterbox papers only (got this paper as a huge stack deal several years ago..not sure if this company still exists..but I love this paper!)
• I-Cardboard file box with hinged lid and folders (got this at Joann's several years ago and it has seen better days...but it still works) Contains Basic Grey papers only.
• J-6 x 6 paper storage as mentioned in this post.
• K-Creative Memories accordion paper storage (very old as this was when they made papers odd sized..8.5 x 11.5 or something like that....need to sort through this yet)
• L-Art Bin Super Satchel (won this at a crop...if you like to store your paper horizontally this baby holds a ton of paper).  Contains all the paper I have purged.  I will take this to the crop simply set it on the table and write my info on the lid and let the dimes roll in! :)

 As promised I will explain my Mix and Match labels on C and E in the first photo.  When sorting through my paper I noticed I have some printed paper that is nice but does not have any coordinating paper to go with it.   I still like the print and may be able to use solid colors to enhance it or stamp some papers to match it therefore it goes in the "Mix" box.  I sort these as best as I can by the rainbow system again.  However, most patterns have multiple colors.  I find the dominant color and file it away using that.  If the pattern has any hint of pink or purple on it..it will go in those colors because I won't use them on my boy scrapbook pages.  At the end of the box I have multiple colored prints.  If the paper has one coordinating paper it will go in the match..only singles go in the mix.

Okay that is my paper storage.  I am happy to get most of my paper on that one shelf and I still have room for more! Oh and I store my papers that have matching embellishments in a different way and I will share that at some point in time.

Supplies needed for my paper storage

Cropper Hopper Paper Storage 

Used Priority Mail box

Accordion file folders

Cardboard file box with hinged lid and folders

Art Bin Super Satchel  to put purged papers in but you could use a 2 gallon zip lock bag or a clean pizza box

I have searched high and low to bring you some frugal paper storage options.  Unfortunately, I did not find many.  Sure there are a ton of fancy paper holders out there to buy but I wanted to give you some DIY holders to save you some money.  Anyway, I will share with you what I found and hopefully something will inspire you to organize your paper.

As promised Oakie shows how you can cut a used Priority Mail box to make your own version of the Cropper Hopper boxes.  Check out more info here.

Above is another version.  I love how she covered the boxes in little squares of scraps.  I may just have to do this to mine!  You can decoupage the squares on and/or cover it in clear contact paper to protect it.  See more photos here.

Soraya discovered vinyl record holders fit 12 x 12 scrapbooking paper perfectly!  Way to recycle!  Time to ask your relatives if they have any of these in their attics!  Check out more info here. 

I would never in a million years guessed what this cabinet is supposed to be used for.  It is an Ikea shoe cabinet but two stacks of 12 x 12 paper fits side by side perfectly.  Check out more info and see more of LeAnn's wonderful craft studio here.

Another great way to store paper is in hanging file folders.  However, 12 x 12 folders are very expensive and not readily available in my neck of the woods at least.  Cynthia Ewer shows how you can transform ordinarily legal sized file folders into folders that will hold 12 x 12 paper.  Brilliant!  She mentioned these will actually fit in most legal sized folder holders too.  Read the tut here.

When I first started scrapbooking I bought a bunch of those wire cubes and hooked them together with zip ties as shown in this tut.  I didn't really like it..didn't seem that sturdy and I didn't have any way of keeping it out of the sun.  However, for some reason I saved all those wire shelves.  Not sure why but now I know!

Ohh isn't that wonderful!  It uses those wire racks but surrounds them in wood so the shelves can be slid out to get to the paper.  It even has a counter top on it.  One of these years I will find someone who can build this for me!  I think I'd want doors on it though or some way to attach a curtain to the front just to keep the sunlight out.  Ahh this would be my dream paper cabinet!  Check out more of TechGoddess's amazingly organized room here.

If you are at all handy.  You may want to check out Sew Woodsy's awesome tut here.  You'll find step by step instructions on how to make this wonderful paper cabinet from scratch.  It is 93" high so it might not work for you if you are small in stature...but maybe the design could be modified to suit you! 

Well now I soo wanted to get this post to you on Monday but alas it is 12:40 am so it's actually Tuesday.  Oh well better late then never.  I am soo happy to have my paper organized and can't wait to find some time to use it!  I found pretty papers I didn't even know I had!  LOL!  I hope I have inspired you to get organized too.  If you are just tuning in I have had several mission organization posts...you can see the ones you missed by clicking on the tab on the top of my blog.  Please become a follower if you don't want to miss future posts. I will not rest until my room is completely organized!  Thanks for stopping by I must get to bed!

Share:

Read more

Mission Organization: 6 x 6 paper

Welcome to the next installment of my organizational series.  Today we are going to talk about organizaing 6 x 6 papers.  Why you ask?  Why not talk about the traditional sized papers like 8.5 x 11 and 12 x 12?  Well I just discovered 6 x 6 paper pads and am soo excited about them!  (Yes...I know these aren't new...it's just I don't live near a craft store so often I make do with what I have...and I didn't have these before!)  You see I do scrapbook and I have always purchased 12 x 12 paper.  Lately though I have been making more cards than scrapbook pages.  I always dread cutting into a full sized sheet just to make a card.  Sometimes I'd pass up the perfect patterned paper even if it matched the theme of my card because I just couldn't justify cutting into that 12 x 12 sheet.  So I browsed on Etsy.com and founds tons of 6 x 6 papers that are perfect for card making!  I ordered a few and was soo impressed with them when they came!  I even took some of my 12 x 12 papers that I had duplicate sheets of and cut them into 6 x 6 too.  I did the same with some of my scraps.  Another nice thing about these smaller papers is that they are so much cheaper than the larger sheets not only in purchase price but also in shipping costs too.  Don't you just love being frugal!

Here is my 6 x 6 paper storage solution. I just love this little pink plastic tote! It cost me $1.00 at the Dollar Tree. I may just have to get some more bins in case my paper collection expands one day! LOL!  Anyway, the tin with the handle inside the pink tote is just to keep the papers from flopping over since I don't have that many.  I was inspired by Patter Cross's stamp inventory rolodex (you can see it here) when I made the tabs for my dividers.  I simply cut cardstock into 6 x 6.5" sheets.  I applied the oval tag from my tags galore file and a little ribbon to the top of each cardstock sheet.  This makes up my dividers.  I used two different kinds of ribbon because I just didn't have enough.  Probably would look better if they were alternating but I didn't feel like ripping everything apart to do that!  I used my label maker to add labels to the oval.  Since I didn't have complete pads with the packaging showing the name of each paper collection and such I decided to write the name and brand of the paper on the tabs.

I cut extra ribbon and ovals and attached them to the back of the box so I can easily add more dividers if my
collection expands.

Note:  Click on the photos to view them larger.

Above you can see one of the collections I just purchased.  It is stored behind the My Mind's Eye dolled up tab.  I also kept the front cover of the paper pad for easy reference.  I like to keep  collections together but you could also sort these by color if that works for you better.

I have a few digital paper packs I designed in my store that I always forget I can use for hybrid card projects.  So I printed some previews of the papers in draft mode to save on ink.  I cut them at 6 x 6 width and I didn't care what height they were.  If you purchased 12 x 12 paper to print on you could get true 6 x 6 sheets for these digital paper previews too but I wanted to be frugal so I used standard letter sized card stock to print on.  I printed previews for any digital kits that I thought might work for card making and put them under the digital tab.

 

Digital versions of Cosmo Cricket and Echo park are my favorite so I put them in a separate tab.  You can get these papers at JessicaSprague.com. They also sell Pink Paislee.  Jessica puts items on special every Wednesdays.
The nice thing about these digital papers is you can actually scale the print down if it's too large for your card.  You can also just print just the size you need.  For instance....if you need a 2.5 x 5 inch strip then print out a 3 x 6 just to be sure and cut off the excess.  There is no need to print a full sheet and waste all that ink! 

Oh and I really don't have a lot of scraps from these just yet but when I do I intend to use the stiff clear envelopes that Creative Memories stickers and such used to come in.  I will place the scraps in the envelopes and file them with the rest of the collection.

Supplies needed for my 6 x 6 paper pad storage

Bin big enough to hold the paper upright (bought mine at Dollar Tree)

Card stock or chipboard for dividers

ribbon (optional)

labeler (optional) 

 I have found a few other ideas for storing these 6 x 6 papers.  So I will share them with you now.

I did see these at the Dollar Tree and almost bought them.  It must have been that light pink color of the bin I bought that won me over!  Anyway, Betsy Veldman uses these crates to store scraps that have been cut to 6 x 6 size.  She also has a neat way to make her own paper using strips of scraps here. 

Chris Simon uses the same method I used except she made her own box out of foam board.  I love how she decorated it with pretty paper!  She gives instructions here. I wonder if you could make this for 12 x 12 paper by enlarging the dimensions?

Leenda uses an accordion file folder to store her paper pads in.  She stores the scraps right in the same slot.  Read more about her method here.

Jody Marrow uses a plastic 3 drawer cart to store her paper pads.  I think this one on the Wal-mart website would work.  Gosh I'm soo envious of all her wonderful paper!  Read more about her system here.

Oh I almost forgot....Jody has a brilliant idea for those of you who use markers to color images for your cards.  She writes the Copic marker number that matches the paper pad directly on the cover so she doesn't have to take the time to find the colors each time she uses that paper pack.  If you have artist you admire who uses markers and lists the patterned paper they use then you can just copy the colors down that they use so you don't have to take the time to match either. 

I know you are probably thinking..what in the world does this have to do with paper organization.  Well leave it up to Patter Cross to turn this into something practical and beautiful! 

Patter spray painted all the bins brown and then used it to organize her 6 x 6 papers among other things.  There are 7 boxes on that toy storage unit that can be used for 6 x 6 paper storage!  It will hold a ton of paper!  Patter you are my idol!  Hmmm I wonder if the kids would mind if I took over theirs!  LOL!  Well maybe in 10 years it will be mine!  Read more about Patter's transformation here.

Okay this is 6 x 6 paper storage in a nutshell.  I hope you'll come to love this sized paper as much as I do!  Thanks for stopping by!  Come back again!  I do apologize this post took longer to come together than I thought it would but it is still Monday right!?!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Share:

Read more