Showing posts with label Organization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Organization. Show all posts

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Stay@Home Follow-Up Update

We had been Sheltering at Home for about a month when I came up with a plan to do some deep purging/organizing in my Play Room, so on April 12th I launched my weekly Stay @ Home Updates here on my blog. I continued those for 23 weeks, concluding on September 13th, when I divulged that I had worked through everything in my Play Room as well as every box/bin labeled Crafts in the garage, and would therefore no longer posting the weekly updates on my blog.

My plan was to continue to work on my index sheets for my stamp sets - for more information on that, take a look at THIS blog post. Well... let's just say I've had a bit of a slow go with that. I did not realize that we have a monthly limit of pages we can print on our printer without having to upgrade to a more expensive plan. Even though these pages only have 4 short lines of print on them, they still count as a page. UGH! I am literally only about 1/3 of the way through my project and may not be able to get it finished for months.

So, why this blog post??? Good question. I'm thought I'd share some other things that have happened in my Play Room organization since September 13th. I've mostly worked on six things (in addition to the stamp index sheets).

One

My 2-drawer lateral file was old and the drawers were not opening fully, which made it challenging to get the cardstock out without damaging it. I thought I wanted to switch to a pair of identical 2-drawer file cabinets instead but wasn't sure so kept hesitating to buy any. I happened upon a pair of used ones (CHEAP - but they do look pretty ugly with some scratches and a ding on one of the drawers). I purchased them thinking if I didn't like the new set up I wasn't out a lot of money. I actually LOVE them! Good decision! (These sit to the right of my stamping desk and the top is where I have my die-cutting system and dies.)

Two

You might remember that I shared how I'd put scraps with each paper pad that I have - in ticket holders. Here's a picture from that post...


Well, that wasn't very successful. First, it's not the way I find/use my scraps. I have them organized by categories in the drawer unit directly behind my stamping desk and I always look there first when creating a card. BUT I also discovered that the ticket holders make it very difficult to pull the paper pads off the shelf and put them back. So... I now have a huge stack on unused ticket folders and I put the scraps from those paper pads in with my other paper scraps where they will more likely be used.

Three

I have been storing my loose sheets of 12 x 12 paper in the plastic 3-drawer units. I've done that for years, but it never worked well. Invariably the piece I wanted was buried deep in the drawer and difficult to get to... and truthfully, a lot of times, I didn't even know what was in the bottom of those drawers. I couldn't figure out what I wanted - I would have loved hanging files, but 12 x 12 (especially when you have a lot of it) doesn't have good options for hanging files. I asked my trusted friend Barb how she stores her vast supply of DP and she shared pictures with me. I decided to do a similar method.

I purchased several Totally Tiffany Paper Handlers and moved my paper to them. Of course they are stored by theme, and labeled. I don't necessarily like the look (a bit too disheveled for my liking) but I am loving how much easier it is to find and retrieve the piece I want to use.


The top shelf in this picture shows paper pads without the ticket holders. ;)

Four

I've stored a lot of our photos (organized by theme/person) in file boxes on a shelf in the closet off of my Play Room. (Have I ever mentioned I have an amazing room!??! It even has a walk-in closet.) The shelf is deep and holds a lot but it's not always easy to get to things that are on the shelves. 

When I purged 8 x 12 papers (cheap cardstock, colored copy paper, etc.) and donated it earlier to my preschool teacher friend earlier this year, it freed up nearly 2 full drawers in my 4-drawer file cabinet. I decided to move our photos from the file boxes on that shelf into the file cabinet where they can easily be located.

Five

I have a lot of Illustrated Faith Bible Journaling Kits... and found I don't really do my Bible Journaling that way. They have a devotional, stamp set, washi tape, cut outs, and more in them. They really are very nice - for people who like that sort of thing. I like the stamp sets and the washi tape but not much else. LOL! So, I took them apart. EEK!


I now have the stamp sets stored separate from the other items where I can find them easily to use in my own Bible Journaling. I put the washi tape with my other washi tape. I might package up the devotionals, cut outs and stuff and use them as prizes at a Bible Journaling breakout I'll be leading next year.

Six (I may have saved my favorite for last)

I've wanted a locker for my Play Room for a long time! I've searched and searched the FB Marketplace for one nearby. I actually almost purchased one this summer - but she ended up backing out. Patience paid off. I found one! My husband and Brock went to pick it up for me and it's now proudly sitting in my Play Room!!!


What's in it? For now, I'm using it to organize items that I purged and am going to try to sell online - stamp sets, dies, ink pads, and more. Once I've completed all of that process, which may take me years as I have so much to sell, I'll use it to store some of my supplies.

It's been a productive few weeks since my last update. I hope you enjoyed seeing what I've been doing!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Stay @ Home Update #23

Each Sunday (at 5:00 AM) I'm sharing how the week's 10-minute stay@home organizational challenge went. If you don't have an idea what that means and you're curious, you can learn more in my original Stay @ Home Update blog post - found HERE.

I can't believe I've been working on this as long as I have. And it looks like I'm just about finished with the process. This has been a great way to OPTIMIZE (my word of the year) my time at home.

Here's what I've accomplished this week...


Day 1 - SUN, September 6

This box from the garage was taped closed and was simply labeled Items from Craft Room Files. Hmmmm... Surprise! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I assumed this box had been packed for our move - 5 years ago. I was right. And it was mostly different colors of inexpensive cardstock and a couple of files of things I had saved, thinking I might take up scrapbooking. 

The papers were added to the donate box and the memorabilia was stored appropriately.

Day 2 - MON, September 7

Okay, today's box technically isn't a craft box. I didn't know what I'd find when I opened it because the box wasn't labeled. It simply said Craft Room - why, I don't know because there was nothing crafty in it. LOL! It actually had items I've gathered on travels - two matryoshka dolls from Kazakstan as well as two pottery shepherds (YAY!) and a pottery mama/baby. This was a treasured box to find... so even though it isn't craft-related, I'm glad I opened the box.



Day 3 - TUES, September 8

This box was labeled Scrapbooking and Misc but it was mostly miscellaneous stuff. There were some picture cases, conference-leading storage items, and a few items I'd intended to alter for scrapbooking in days gone by. I purged most of the items in this box but the two things I kept went into the appropriate storage container in my Play Room.


Day 4 - WED, September 9

What a shock to open this box simply labeled Craft Room. It literally was boxed up two moves ago and never opened again. I know that because I haven't had my ebay business since that time and the items in this box are from that time. I went to yard/garage/estate sells regularly looking for items to sell. Every time I found inexpensive vintage buttons, I purchased them and put them in this box with the intent of filling a flat rate box of buttons and listing it for sale. Well... I have a medium size flat rate box of vintage buttons now. I wonder if I could sell them??? I have way too many buttons in my Play Room already for cards, especially since I rarely put a button on a card... so I don't need to keep these. I'm going to do some research and if I decide not to try to sell them, I'll move them to my growing donate pile.


Day 5 - THUR, September 10

Today's box found an assortment of items including an ATC holder (not sure if I'll keep it or not), a cup holder for when I used to go to stamping retreats, some special storage items, and more.


Day 6 - FRI, September 11

This bin contained craft items from my cross-stitching days. That was quite a while ago. It also had some of my Grandmother's tatting and some of my husband's Grandmother's doilies in it and three books that were my husband's when he was a child. An odd variety of items, obviously. I got rid of the cross-stitched items but saved the other treasures.

Day 7 - SAT, September 12

This box was unlabeled... so I had no idea what to expect. It ended up being mostly items I've used in conferences; not really craft items. I did purge some items and what I kept went into a new box and was labeled Conference Items so I'd know where to find what I needed in the future.

Okay, that's it for this week.

In fact, that is it. Completely. I've gone through every item in my Play Room and every box/bin marked Craft Room in the garage. Whew! Who knew when I started this stay@home project on April 5th that I would have 23 weeks devoted to it? I know I never dreamed I/we would be sheltering at home this long. Thank you for joining me in this organizational journey!

What's coming? I will still be working daily at getting more organized, but from here moving forward it will be kind of mundane and repetitive, so I'll not share weekly updates on my blog. I am going to add index sheets to my stamp sets and as I do that I will also check the sets in my Evernote inventory to see if there are any tags I want to add to them.

I've actually been adding these index cards to the My Favorite Things stamp sets in my inventory all along. 

I'm not sure why I didn't do it with the other companies. Now, it appears, I have some time to invest in doing that - 10 minutes each day (maybe I'll even set a timer to keep me on task).

As always, THANKS for stopping by my blog and being such an encouragement to me through your comments!

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Stay @ Home Update #22


Each Sunday (at 5:00 AM) I'm sharing how the week's 10-minute stay@home organizational challenge went. If you don't have an idea what that means and you're curious, you can learn more in my original Stay @ Home Update blog post
 - found HERE.

Like last week, I'm bringing things in from the garage and sorting through them this week. It is such a freeing experience. 

Here's what I've accomplished this week...


Day 1 - SUN, August 30

This box had a variety of items in it - embellishments, colored images to be used on cards, found items (bits of odds and ends that I'd recycled), and more. Truthfully, I kept very few items from this box. A few items went in my donate box and a big portion was just thrown in the trash.

Day 2 - MON, August 31

I went through this box of embellishments and odds and ends - no telling how long it had been stored and forgotten in the garage. (I actually found it amidst the shelves of empty canning jars.) I purged most of the items, but did keep a few, including those Alaska embellishments.


Day 3 - TUES, September 1

Okay, I'll admit it.  I had no idea what was in this box when I brought it in from the garage. It was taped closed and was labeled "Baby Books" but I knew that wasn't what was in it because the Baby Books are on a shelf. 

Surprise! I opened it to find an assortment of office supplies, craft supplies, and even some school supplies. I'm assuming this was packed for our last move and ended up never getting opened. Ummmm... that was 5 years ago. 

I kept a few things and trashed a few, but most of the items went into the donate pile.

Day 4 - WED, September 2

This is another box that hasn't been opened since our last move (and I have one more that I'll tackle tomorrow). Talk about embarrassing. Sheesh! This one had a variety of craft items in it as well as some cards, display pieces (like easels), and even some small baskets. I've purged and stored what I wanted to keep from this box in the appropriate places.

Day 5 - THUR, September 3

This box from the garage held a strange assortment of items, some of them craft-related and others not - acrylic paints (that I tossed), easels, frogs (remember when we used to use those in photographing our cards), computer program CDs, baskets, and even a few cards. I'm thinking I must have just tossed whatever would fit in the box in my packing frenzy before the last move. LOL! It has now - finally - been unpacked.

Day 6 - FRI, September 4

This box of items from the garage included several small roll-a-dex containers and supplies, 6 X 6 protector sheets for albums, and other items. I'm going to try to sell the sheet protectors, and I'm saving the roll-a-dex items for a nation-wide workshop I'm going to lead next year that will focus on journaling, and other ways to creatively connect with God's Word. Most of the other items were either placed in the donate box or the trash can.

Day 7 - SAT, September 5

This box ended up not having too much in it. There were three packages of 6 X 6 Stampin' UP! album sleeves, one altered art item, and three facial tissue covers to be decorated. I purged all but a couple of items from the box.


Okay, that's it for this week. Stay tuned to see what I accomplish in the coming week.

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Stay @ Home Update #21


Each Sunday (at 5:00 AM) I'm sharing how the week's 10-minute stay@home organizational challenge went. If you don't have an idea what that means and you're curious, you can learn more in my original Stay @ Home Update blog post
 - found HERE.

I've now pretty much gone through everything in my Play Room, purging and organizing as I went. I do have some work to do with my Evernote inventory (adding some additional tags to items, mostly) and will be working on that as well as putting index cards in my stamp storage and attempting to sell the stamp sets and dies that I've purged as I've worked my way through my Play Room these past few months. Instead of documenting those processes in these weekly updates, I am now going to start bringing in some boxes of craft and/or scrapbook items from the garage (one box a day) and sorting through them. Now that I've purged in my Play Room, I feel certain I'll have room to store what I keep from those boxes here in my Play Room, thus eliminating the need to keep items in the garage.

Here's what I've accomplished this week...

Day 1 - SUN, August 23

This box was labeled Scrapbook Items and had been taped closed for a few years. I wasn't sure what I'd find inside so it was kind of like Christmas opening. I did have to wonder why I'd kept some of the things in it (like that blue item in the corner - a zippered bag from the optometrist). I tossed about 3/4 of the items in this box as they held no sentimental/practical purpose at this point. I did find some treasures, though. A couple of cards my son had mailed me years ago and a list my daughter created just for fun when she was a college student - 100 Things That Make Me Smile.


Day 2 - MON, August 24

This box was labeled craft supplies. It had a variety of items in it from fasteners, to magnets, to bling, to craft sticks... and more. I purged most of the items (some to the trash, some to the thrift store donation box). I did keep a wee bit of bling and a tape measure.

Day 3 - TUES, August 25

This is the box of craft supplies that I sorted through today. I ended up purging most of the items in it. I did keep one spool of cord and a travel-themed album.

Day 4 - WED, August 26

This bin of scrapbook items is from my oldest son's high school years. I've saved most of the items, but in a different storage container. I no longer plan to scrapbook - so these items will be handed over to him in the storage box instead. 


Day 5 - THUR, August 27

Today I sorted through this bigger box that contained several little boxes of assorted craft items and other such. I was so excited to find one very special treasure inside.

This bundle of assorted tatting was made by my beloved grandmother. She has been gone over 30 years and I miss her terribly, still to this day. I have many fond memories of times spent with Grandma - she and I were very close. Her one and only hobby was tatting and she was very fast at it. She could really make that shuttle move.

Some of these pieces are longer and some are small tidbits left over from a project. For instance, the pink piece in the bottom right corner is some Grandma made for me (at my request) so I could put it on a dress I made for my daughter when she was just a few months old.


Day 6 - FRI, August 28

For many years (while they were full-time RVers) I made my parents a scrapbook-style calendar to hang on their wall. This is the leftover file box of items, including some photos and embellishments and calendar making supplies. I sorted through the box today, keeping the photos, of course. Most of the other items either went in the trash or in the purge box.

Day 7 - SAT, August 29

One more box of scrapbook items - this one was mostly filled with memorabilia types of things. It took a while to go through it piece by piece, saving what I wanted to save and tossing the rest.


Okay, that's it for this week. Stay tuned to see what I accomplish in the coming week.

Thanks for following this Stay@Home journey with me.

Sunday, August 23, 2020

Stay @ Home Update #20


Each Sunday (at 5:00 AM) I'm sharing how the week's 10-minute stay@home organizational challenge went. If you don't have an idea what that means and you're curious, you can learn more in my original Stay @ Home Update blog post
 - found HERE.

I can hardly believe this is my 20th week of these daily stay@home challenges. I've spent 10+ minutes each day tackling a small task in effort to purge and better organize my Play Room. It has been so freeing and I can honestly say that I have now literally touched almost every nook and cranny in the entire room.

This week I'm going to tackle the 9 drawers that hold my scraps of designer papers. If you view the supply lists for most of my card posts, you've likely noticed that I often post the designer papers are from my scrap file. This is what it looks like...


As you can see in the picture, my scraps are already organized into 9 categories: 

Plaid/Stripe/Square
Dots (this drawer also has Stars in it)
Flowers
Print
Subtle Print
Food
Birthday/Holiday
Christmas/Winter
Solid

What the picture doesn't show is that several of those drawers are overflowing... and they all have papers in them that I will never use so it's time to do some purging. I'm going to tackle these drawers each day this week (two days I'll have to tackle two of the drawers) and in the seven days, they will be lean and trim. 

If only I could figure out how to do that with my body in seven days time.

Day 1 - SUN, August 16 

The Plaid/Stripe/Check drawer...
Day 2 - MON, August 17

The Dots/Stars drawer...
Day 3 - TUES, August 18

The Flowers drawer...


Day 4 - WED, August 19

The Miscellaneous Prints drawer...

Day 5 - THUR, August 20

The Subtle Prints drawer...

Day 6 - FRI, August 21

Two drawers today (Food and Birthday/Holiday)...


Day 7 - SAT, August 22

The last two drawers today (Christmas/Winter and Solids)...









Okay, that's it for this week. Stay tuned to see what I accomplish in the coming week.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Sunday, August 16, 2020

Stay @ Home Update #19


Each Sunday (at 5:00 AM) I'm sharing how the week's 10-minute stay@home organizational challenge went. If you don't have an idea what that means and you're curious, you can learn more in my original Stay @ Home Update blog post
 - found HERE.

Now here's the disclaimer: Some of these daily stay@home challenges are taking more than 10 minutes, but who's counting, right? 

Here's what I've accomplished this week...


Day 1 - 
SUN, August 9

I have some wood-mounted Stampin' UP! sets/stamps that I've held onto while trying to decide whether I loved them enough to keep them or not. The truth is, if I can't stamp it in my stamping platform, I tend to not use the stamps... so I've debated my options. I finally decided to keep just a few of these wood-mounted stamps/sets and the ones I'm keeping, I'm going to convert to cling mount so that I can use my stamping platform. Today I tended to just a few of them. While I was at it, I also created a informational insert and placed the Darling Label clear stamp set in one of the Stampin' UP! cases.

Day 2 - MON, August 10
Today I unmounted the 28 stamps in the Define Your Life stamp set and added cling foam to them. I'm out of the skinny cases from SU but I wonder if these would fit 2 stamps deep in one of those cases. If it will, I'll likely change them to a smaller case when I have more of them.


Day 3 - TUES, August 11
I discovered a drawer of specialty papers that I hadn't gone through yet, so today I sorted through it, purging most of the papers. I did keep some metallic papers  but I stored them in the file cabinet in my Play Room.


Day 4 - WED, August 12
I've been putting off dealing with the items in this pink bin - but I've gone through nearly every single thing in my Play Room so I figure it's about time I tackle this intimidating bin. What is in it? Several cling-mounted stamps that are only identified by manufacturer name (at least I have that much information). I do not know the name of the stamps. So I'm going to stamp each one out and then determine if it's a keeper or not. If I choose to keep it, I'll do a search in an attempt to discover the name. Then I will add the stamp to my Evernote inventory and place it in my stamp storage system.

Today I went through 4 companies: CC Designs, I Brake for Stamps, Magnolia, and Sweet Pea Stamps. I kept a few and put a few in my sell pile, too.

Speaking of piles... I am soooooo excited! As I've been sorting and purging, I've been saving designer paper, embellishments, and some other goodies for a Preschool Teacher I know. Here's the pile of goodies...


The pile has gradually grown over the past 4-5 months and I was so ready for it to be gone. 

Well, she went back to the classroom this week and tonight after work, she stopped by and picked it up. YAY!


Yes, I'm definitely glad that pile is gone!


Day 5 - THUR, August 13
That pink bin still had/has a lot of stamps in it to identify and decide what to keep and what to purge. Today I went through this pile of them - stamps that were only identified as either Elzybell or High Hope. Of all of these, I ended up only keeping 9 stamps and after some digging, I found the names for all but one of the nine. They are now all inventoried and stored in their appropriate bins.


Day 6 - FRI, August 14
Today I tackled one more section in that bin of unidentified (other than company name) stamps. I stamped each one and decided which ones to keep and which ones to purge. I ended up keeping only 6 of them and was able to find the name for each of those. They have now been added to my Evernote stamp inventory.


Day 7 - SAT, August 15
That pink bin of unidentified stamps is now empty. I went through the last batch of them today - 30+ Whipper Snapper Designs stamps. I purchased most of these years ago as bare rubber - at a bin sale they had. It was so much fun and they were so cheap that I got carried away. That happens sometimes. But it was time to purge, since many of them sit unused. I kept 12 of them. I was only able to find the actual names for 5 of them, even after an extensive search. That just goes to show how old these were, I guess.

* * * * *

My highlight of the week's projects in my Play Room was one born of sentimentality. Remember that paper tower that I shared I was getting rid of to make room for something else? Well, this week it was moved out and my new-to-me treasure was moved in.

This spring/summer while our daughter was here from Alaska, we asked her about some things we'd been storing from her childhood - what she wanted to keep; what could be passed on to someone else. One item that she chose to part with was a Barbie Doll House that my dad had built for her when she was young. It actually was very similar to one that he had built for my sister and me when we were young, so you can imagine the memories that went with it. Of course mine was long gone and now we prepared to part with my daughter's version as well.


My husband set it aside in the garage, preparing to get rid of it, but when he did, he set it up on its end. Hmmmmm... he and I both had the same idea. Why not clean it up (it was filthy from years and years of storage) and remove the carpet and linoleum as well as the picture on the wall. Then it could be repainted and USED AS A SHELF UNIT! 

I can not lie - even now as I think of that and see it across the room, I get a bit teary. It is indeed a treasure!


I've not yet filled it - I'm still deciding exactly what I want to put in it - but it is a piece that I will treasure for years to come as it was a special gift from my parents and built by my daddy. It's not just functional, it is priceless!

Okay, that's it for this week. Stay tuned to see what I accomplish in the coming week.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Stay @ Home Update #18


Each Sunday (at 5:00 AM) I'm sharing how the week's 10-minute stay@home organizational challenge went. If you don't have an idea what that means and you're curious, you can learn more in my original Stay @ Home Update blog post
 - found HERE.

Now here's the disclaimer: Some of these daily stay@home challenges are taking more than 10 minutes, but who's counting, right? 

Here's what I've accomplished this week...


Day 1 - SUN, August 2
This week's project is going to be on-going over a few days. I'm not sure, it might take most of the week. The picture to my left shows part of my paper pads (I shared the paper tower that holds the rest of them in last week's update - HERE.

I'm re-doing my storage (and possibly doing some purging as I go along).

I've been just slipping any scraps from the pads within its pages, but I've purchased (in bulk for Amazon) ticket holders and will be storing the scraps from each pad in one of these. The ticket holder will go on the shelf right beside its paper pad so when I want a paper from the pad it will be easy to check to see if there is a scrap that will work rather than cutting another full sheet.

Today I prepared the pads in three categories - Christmas, Christmas/Autumn, and Halloween/Fall. I'm going to add dividers to make it easier to find each category, but haven't started that yet.

They fit neatly on the shelf and look better than the bulky crates I had them in previously.


Day 2 - MON, August 3
This is what it looks like after 2 days of work. I also decided I needed to "hold the spots" for categories or it would be a huge chore finding them later, hence the little green slips of papers. So far the categories are: 

Christmas/Winter
Autumn/Christmas
Halloween/Fall
Beach/Summer
Travel/Vacation
Food
Animals/Nature
Men/Boys
Women/Girls
School

I am not loving this new system yet. The ticket holders contain the scraps great, but it is difficult to get them in/out of the shelf. I might just move the scraps to my existing scrap system instead and leave the paper pads on the shelf unit. That would work, since when I'm making a card I almost always check my scrap file first to see if there is a paper to use in it before I choose to cut a new piece of paper.


Day 3 - TUES, August 4
I added one more category to this shelf of paper pads - Flowers/Spring. The shelf is 45" long. That is a lot of paper! Lest you think that is all of it - nope, it isn't. It IS all the paper that I'll be putting on that shelf though. Tomorrow I'll start adding paper pads to the shelf above it. They are all in the Miscellaneous category.

Day 4 - WED, August 5
The upper shelf in this photo shows today's progress on organizing my Miscellaneous paper pads in my new storage system. I have about 8-10 more to go. I hope to finish them tomorrow - wish me luck.



Day 5 - THUR, August 6

I completed going through my 12 x 12 paper pads today and putting the last of the Miscellaneous ones on the shelf. I am still not sure I'm loving this system, so I'll not be surprised if I change it at some point in the future.


Day 6 - FRI, August 7

I sorted through the small amount of smaller paper pads that I have (8 1/2 X 11 and 8 X 8, plus a few smaller ones) and organized them in these holders that set to the left of one of the shelves of 12 X 12 pads. 

I plan to make the dividers for the 12 X 12 papers tomorrow. It's hard to believe that this entire week's stay@home challenge will be invested in paper pads. #ihavetoomuchpaper

Day 7 - SAT, August 8

I did it - I made the dividers for my paper pads. Labeling them will make it so much easier to look through them to find the designer paper that I want for a card/project.

I think my paper pad organization is much better now - except I'm still not liking the ticket holders for scraps. I think they are unnecessary, due to the way I choose/use scraps, so I suspect they will be going away soon.

Okay, that's it for this week. Stay tuned to see what I accomplish in the coming week.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!