Sunday, March 10, 2013

CAS-ual Fridays 93, OLW 130 and some Crafty Organization



It seems like forever since I have posted just a card or two, but that is what I have to show for myself this weekend.  I spent a lot of my crafty time getting organized, and I will show some pictures of what I did.




First up is a card for this week's CAS-ual Fridays CFC93:  Color Blocks challenge.  When I saw this card by Erin Lincoln this morning, I knew I wanted to do something with color blocked flags.  I am also entering this into Simon Says Stamp:  Bit O Green.





Next is my entry into this week's One Layer Wednesday OLW130, where the challenge is to use a centered sentiment on a one layer card, and make the sentiment the star of the show.  We are allowed to add some minimal other stamping, and I chose to highlight my sentiment with just one pale stamp of aqua mist from Watercolor Wonder.  I also used the Canvas/Linen Impression plate, and embossed the sentiment with a Spellbinders Label die.




And, now some pictures from my craft room.  I have been working to organize my dies--I previously had them in hanging CD folders in a CD box, but I had filled 3 boxes, and found that solution wasn't working for me any more--it took up too much space, and did not accommodate my taller dies.

I have Kim to thank for this solution.  She led me to these drawer organizers at The Container Store, and I got two of the medium size for $8.99 each.   And, then she showed me these CD envelopes on Amazon, where I got 1,000 envelopes for $16.80.  I printed labels on my computer, and got all my dies stored and organized, sorted by company and alphabetized.  I used the top part of a Half & Half die cut to create my tabs.  I am really happy with this system so far--my dies are easy to find, take up less space to store, and I didn't spend too much on organizing supplies (more money for stamps!)







Here is what the dies look like in their labeled envelopes.  Those purple things on the right are placeholders I made out of cardboard and old scrapbook paper.  When I pull a die envelope out, I mark it's place with a placeholder, and then it is a bit quicker to put the die away when I am done.





I've already shown this photo before--this is how I store my tall, thin border dies.




I saw a post on Damask Love the other day about organizing patterned paper, and that gave me the idea to organize my patterned paper pads by manufacturer.  I still don't have a great solution for all the little scraps, but at least the pads are under control. 




Another organizational tip from Damask Love was her ideas on paper scraps.  I am a huge saver of paper scraps, and I find that I use them all the time, especially for die cutting.  I have been keeping all my scraps in hanging folders by color--you can see the cart I bought at The Container Store in this post.  But, the scraps for my neutral colors were really out of control.  I read this post on Damask Love and made my own little scrap storage containers out of old PTI clear stamp boxes.




I am lucky that my office has lots of built in shelves and drawers.  I am slowly converting them all to craft storage.  Here is a view of the part I have been working on.




Supplies Used (PTI):
Happy
Stamps:  Pretty Peonies, Wonderfully Whimsical
Paper:  White, Ripe Avocado, Limeade Ice, Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist
Ink:  Ripe Avocado, Hawaiian Shores, Versacolor Opera Pink
Other:  Pretty Peonies die, MFT Flag die, Kaiser Rhinestone

Rest
Stamps:  Sentiment Signs, Watercolor Wonder
Paper:  White
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Other:  Spellbinders Label die, Canvas/Linen Impression Plate


Thanks for Visiting

16 comments :

  1. I love both your cards. That first one really pops and the second one uses the white space so nicely.

    And thanks for the tips on organizing.

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  2. Joyce both of your cards are fabulous, I love the bright colours on the first card and the watercolour is just fantastic on the subway art. Your organization turned out perfect and I love all that you accomplished this week with it. Thanks for the previews I've been getting but seeing the whole package is awesome!

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  3. I love both of your cards, Joyce! Thanks for sharing some of your tips on organizing!

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  4. Pretty card. Love the color blocking. I love your idea about using a place holder for the die envelopes. I still use the hanging file system; just ditched the box and got super big basket instead. I need to make tabs for my holders though.

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  5. love your happy card- so cheery!! :) Thanks for playing along with us at CAS-ual Fridays!

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  6. Your organizational system looks great, Joyce-- I hope it works well for you! I'm the same way... I'd prefer to spend my $$ on crafting supplies over organizational tools.
    Great card, too!

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  7. I love the perfect fit of the paintbrush swipe under the quote & the colors of the first card are bold & beautiful! My dies are divided by company only so far, but I really need to subsort by category and love your place holder idea!

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  8. Two lovely cards AND great organizational tips! I need to find a better system for my dies and paper scraps too, but it will have to be a project for summer. Definitely inspired by your ideas!
    I'm loving the tone-on-tone banners on your first card. Perfect colors for a birthday, too. Thanks for joining us at CAS-ual Fridays!

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  9. fabulous cards! and love how you organize your supplies- Irma

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  10. Love your color-blocked card, Joyce! Thanks so much for sharing your card with us at the Simon Says Stamp "A Bit o' Green" challenge this week!

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  11. Joyce, this is an amazing post! I love being able to see all that you have done, you are so organized and it looks fabulous! Now on to your cards, they are both stunning! I love your get well card using the Watercolor Wonder, and I can see that adorable little owl in the back ground, so cute! I love your color block card as will and I will be CAS'ing both of these, just beautiful.

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  12. I really like the flags on your color blocks--great look! And the watercolor mark is a fantastic way to add some interest to your sentiment! Thanks for sharing your organization tips. Cute way to handle the long dies and good idea to have place holders. I've been working on my die storage but still have lots of work to do.

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  13. Love your color block card, it's so fun and colorful! Thanks for sharing your organization ideas too, I'm always looking for ways to improve the chaos! Thanks so much for playing along with us at CAS-ual Fridays!

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  14. Love the bright colors! Great card!Thanks for playing with us at CAS-ual Fridays!

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  15. Your cards are lovely! i like you organization tips for dies. For some reason,dies seem the hardest to do! I do have a tip for your 6x6 scraps: attach a plastic sandwich bag or envelope to the back of the pad and place your scraps there. HTH!

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  16. That is exactly what I need to do with my dies - put little alphabetized separators in there to make them easier to file. Ever since I saw your paper file, I look forward to your storage ideas. Thanks, Joyce!

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