Embellishment Storage

How do you store your embellishments?

I used to store them by the type of embellishment... you know brads with brads etc...
I have in the past couple of years decided to try the color sorting instead.
I. LOVE. IT!

Sometimes when I am working on a layout or card I realize that it needs just a bit of such and such color here or there and knowing that all my embellishments are sorted by color I can open up my color drawer and pull from an array of things, from old product to new product! I also find that by doing it this way that I use all kinds of products that I forget that I have! I used to just pull from my newest stuff and then would run across something later on and think "man that would have been perfect!"... now with them all mixed into one color drawer makes it easier to pull just the right embellishment for my project!

Here is a peek into one of my drawers... the blue drawer.. (duh! LOL) I just purchased several of the rubbermaid 7 drawer things and each drawer has a color assigned to them. The orange, yellow, and purple have the smaller drawers up top.

One year at Michael's (around Christmas.. but I have seen them for other holidays too) I found these tiny Muffin bakers for less than a $1 each and bought a TON of them... the cashier thought maybe I was channeling my inner Martha Stewart. hehe I place the smaller stuff in these little containers like brads, eyelets, and smaller embellishments... they then go into my larger color drawers. (small baskets could be used as well)
I use some of the smaller drawers up top for other things... one drawer is for "bling"... this includes lots of gems, glitter brads etc..I have another smaller drawer for my clear embellishments.

I still have a basket that gets some of my new product thrown in there, but having color drawers makes it easy to sort new product also. I just open packages and put them in the right color bin!

Other quick tips from my room:
-I have a rubbermaid box for rubons, stickers etc... that have sayings on them... stuff that is perfect for cards. I can reach right over and grab a sheet and use it quickly, much easier than looking through all my stickers/rubons to find just the right saying.

-I have all my letter stickers in a large box with cardboard between each color so they are easy to sort.

- I have a drawer for chipboard letters, one for naked chipboard letters, and naked chipboard shapes.

- I sort all my patterned paper by manufacturer in the Karen Foster 12x12 holders.

-My ribbon is in large glass jars sorted by color family, the same with my buttons.

I hope this helps ya'll just a bit.. if you have any questions feel free to contact me! :) This is no small undertaking but once you get it done it feels SO good! Let me know if you take the plunge!

-Kim

YoYo's coming to you via video

okay girls...now i know there is alot of subscribers to this t and t blog so you can learn something as well :) if you don't already know. This video was made for our sizzling summer crop.

Have fun!

Yo Yo Tutorial from Greta Adams on Vimeo.

Stamping Techniques Class with Michele Kovack!

You have all seen Michele's *AMAZING* stamp work/ techniques...and she is now offering a 5 day workshop to share all of her knowledge and tips with you! Make sure you sign up...you won't want to miss it!!! It will be offered over on the MB frm August 17th-21st. And even if you can't make those days it will be up for you to study and ask questions about for months after...so don't hesitate. :)

Punch Organization

Hey there! I just happened to reorganize my punches this past week and I thought it would make a perfect tip for you!

First, I originally had all of my punches in a metal cart what had 3 baskets -- it worked perfectly in the last place we lived because it was wider and I could move it about. But since the move I have converted our closet that is narrow but is very long - into my scrap space. The cart thing was bugging me because it was always in the way when I wanted to get to one of my storage shelves. So I finally changed it up and I am happy with the result. It is nothing new - but I changed it so I would like it and like looking at it. Here it is
I have seen this done with the clear shoe organizers and was not really wanting one - but it made sense to me. And all I could find were mesh ones --- so I utilized this shabby chic one that is usually in my daughters room - but we have not used it here - so I gave it a shot. To help me tell which punch was where I punched the design out onto black cardstock and then glued that onto kraft paper. Then I simply used a safety pin to hold it in place.

I can fit about to or 3 punches in each depending on the size. And the top one with no tag has my new ek success ones.

So just an idea if you need to free up some space and/or are looking for an alternative to the clear shoe organizer.!

Michelle

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Homemade Flowers

I saw this cute flower in Martha Stewart's Living magazine and thought it would be great for cards and scrapbooks! (She used hers for pillows) I scanned the magazine and resized it in Photoshop. If you would like to create your own flower template, right click on this image and save it. I printed mine in Photoshop using multiple photo sizes and printed it on photo paper because it is a heavier weight. When I printed it, I had a single sheet of photo paper with multiple sizes of flower petals. I then cut those out.

See the two sizes I used here? Lay your templates on the fabric and trace around with a pen.

Cut the petals out using good fabric scissors.

Lay petals out and sew a loose straight stitch, pull thread tightly and secure last petal to first petal.

In Martha's magazine, she used 4 petals, but you can create 5 or 6 petal flowers too!

I secured a button to the center of my flower.

For my scrapbook page I actually created a 5 & 6 petaled flower.

This is my finished product!

Be creative and try making flowers out of felt, fabric, wide ribbon........

: )