Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Craft Room Organization - American Crafts Collection

I HEART AMERICAN CRAFTS!  Sorry I just had to start with that.  This is a recent obsession.  About a year and a half ago, I found AC's Metropolation Paper Pack at Tuesday Moring.  Up until then the last time I had created a scrapbook layout was back in college (nearly 6 yrs ago).  I guess I just got bored with it and had moved my focus( and money) more to Art Work.  But something about that paper struck my creativity.  I was in awe at how much scrapbooking supplies had changed.  It was no longer cutesy character themed papers.  It was grownup, more versitale! I felt with that paper i could create home decor and many projects. 

That was the start of it all.  I started noticeing AC paper packs at Tuesday Morning, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls.  (If you haven't figured it out, I am a bargain shopper, nothing at full price, always have a coupon kinda girl).  So I took a trip to my local Hobby Lobby to see what else this AC had.  Oh and I found THICKERS.  That was it for me......   For the next couple of weeks, I shopped Hobby Lobby's sales and bought all I could in the current AC lines: "Travel", "Craft Fair" (one of my all time favorites), "Teen", etc.  I will admit my collection grew quite quickly.  That jumpstarted my scrapbooking again.  I was producing 5 to 10 layouts a week plus home decor and gifts.  Unheard of in my world.

So now how to store this extensive obsession.

Well you may have already read my previous post about AC Thickers, Remarks and Stamps.  If you haven't its located here: http://moleskineadventures.blogspot.com/2010/10/craft-room-organization-thickers.html
So for the rest here we go.....

I currently keep the AC lines together in Paper Studio clear envelopes.  All loose patterned papers (not the ones in paper packs), remarks, mini-marks, dimensional stickers, flair, ribbon, etc are stored this way.  That way when it comes time for a layout, everything is all together.  Thickers are included in the envelopes if they are specific to that line.  These envelopes are then stored in a second basket (from TJ Maxx) just like the one that holds my SC kits.

Now about those patterned paper packs.  Hobby Lobby doesn't sell the individual papers, so the only way I get those is through my SC kit subscription.  But they do sell the patterned paper packs.  These are great because you get the entire line (single-sided,  loose come with coordinating solid on other side) priced at under $20.  For me I always have at least a 40% coupon when purchasing these.  You also get at least two sheets of each design.  My storage solution for this collection is simply one white cube units for Micheals/Hobby Lobby.  I purchased the 4-divider paper cube but left out the dividers and turned it on its side.  For now they all fit on one shelf, but I will need a second one soon.
I also own a lot of AC's Remarks books.  These are sticker letters similar to the thickers but they are not dimensional and you get more in one package.  So to store these, I purchased a wired shelving unit in the home decor section of TJ Maxx a couple of months back.  I also store misc letter sticker sheets (non-AC), some minimark books, one stamp binder and my extra paper studio envelopes (so they don't get bent or crushed).  One thing I love about this shelving unit is the 5 hooks on the bottom.  I am assuming this was made to hold dishes and mugs in a kitchen.   I use the hooks to hang my extra studio calico crop bags and two buckets with misc rub-ons.

I hope you enjoyed this part of my Craft room.   The patterned paper cube is one of my favorite areas.





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