Free Scrapbooking 3

Scrapbooking can be addictive. Creative individuals, browsing a scrapbooking supply store, often find themselves purchasing items for which they have no present use or future plan. A particular pack of paper is too pretty to resist. A certain embellishment is new and exciting. A kit would be just right if a friend has a baby sometime. Eventually, the scrapbooking supplies begin to overflow a box. Then they overflow two boxes. Papers become dog-eared or torn. It’s time to organize.

Such people eventually reach a point where they begin to despair, and question how to organize a scrapbook room. They don’t want to give up the craft, but it takes so much space.

Perhaps you find yourself in the same

predicament. Maybe you are wondering how to organize your scrapbook room.

How to Organize a Scrapbook Room

Wondering how to organize a scrapbook room, you may have started sorting supplies into separate boxes. That kept them organized, but not readily accessible. Also, the scrapbooking tools weren’t in boxes.

Perhaps these suggestions will help.

Divide a scrapbook room into two areas. The first area will be for working on scrapbooks. The second will be for storage.

1. Work Area: This area will need a scrapbooking table or desk. The scrapbooking work area should be large enough to hold a large album, papers, photos, other elements, and tools. If you enjoy working with other family members or friends, select a scrapbooking table

that provides space for 3 or 4 workers. Provide comfortable chairs for your scrapbook room so that your back is supported while working. Good lighting is also essential in a scrapbooking work area. Add a big wastebasket!

2. Storage Area: Adequate, organized storage in a scrapbook room will make your work easier and keep your supplies fresh and clean. There are many ways to store scrapbooking supplies. You can purchase furniture made especially for scrapbook rooms. Scrapbooking desks offer drawers of various sizes to fit the most common supplies. Scrapbooking paper storage units are often similar to those used in large offices. Clear plastic bins that stack are very useful. You will need different kinds of storage for different products

so they will stay organized.

Once you have divided your scrapbook room and acquired the necessary furnishings, it is time to organize things.

Scrapbooking albums are probably your largest items. Keep them on a bookshelf where you can easily select the one on which you want to work. If you have more than one size, arrange them by height to give your scrapbook room an organized look to go with your organizational efforts. If you have idea books or instructional books on scrapbooking, put them on the bookshelf. Magazines can be stored there, too. Magazine holders from am office supply store will keep them tidy.

Scrapbooking papers and cardstock are the next largest items. These can be organized in a

Paper Station such as scrapbooking stores use. Or store them in clear stacking plastic bins. Sort all of your papers and get them safely out of the way before moving to another scrapbooking element.

Sort your paper and cardstock in a way that fits your creativity. Some people sort by color, placing all blues in one location, yellows in another, etc. Others prefer to sort according to occasion. Papers related to nostalgic themes go together. Papers that fit a sports theme go in another storage bin. Baby scrapbooking paper goes in a third.

Once papers are sorted and put in storage bins or drawers, label the bins so that you will know at a glance what is in each.

Kits

should be stored separately from your paper and cardstock. Your scrapbook room might have a dedicated box or drawer just for kits. Keep them in their wrappers if you want to be sure you have all the pieces when you are ready to use them. Label your kit box or drawer.

Ribbons can tangle and fray if not stored properly. Invest in a ribbon holder for your scrapbook room more than one if you have a lot of ribbons. Make sure each roll is tidy, and store them on the ribbon holders. You may want to organize these by color also. If you are putting them in a box or drawer, attach a label.

Your scrapbook room is

probably looking better by now. The small things are left, though, and they can cause clutter. Take time to sort through all of the stickers, embellishments, eyelets, brads, and other items. Once they are sorted, place each in an appropriate drawer or box, and label them. A scrapbooking desk is especially convenient for these small items. Its many drawers and nooks will soon have the scrapbook room well organized.

One essential in a scrapbook room is a place for tools. If they are on your table or desk, you may not have space to work. Put them away.

Helpful Tip

Still wonder how to organize a scrapbook room? Remember the old maxim: A place for everything and everything in its

place. Put things away when you’re done and it will stay organized.

2007, Anna Hart. Anna Hart invites you to read more of her articles about scrapbooking at [http://www.scrapbooking-for-fun.com]http://www.scrapbooking-for-fun.com. Anna is posting new articles regularly on that site. You won t want to miss her recent article on scrapbooking with a designer’s eye.