Organising Scrapbooking Embellishments

As I continue on my quest for a delightful 'Creative Studio' for my crafting and home office work, I will be sharing little snippets of what I am doing - as it is going to be a little while yet before I have a big reveal to show off!

Today I thought I would share with you how I have begun to organise my embellishments.  Previously, I had things sorted into boxes and tubs, according to the type of item it was - such as all the stickers together, all the rub ons together, etcetera.

I recently came across the ScrapRack organisation system during my online travels.  If you haven't heard of this system, there is a great video on their website that you can check out.  I loved the concept of organising supplies in colour blocks, as opposed to in categories like flowers, stickers, rub ons, etc.  This notion really struck a cord with me, as usually when I am scrapbooking or crafting, I always have a particular colour theme in mind and then I spend ages sifting through my different boxes of goodies to see what I can find that might match.

And although I loved this idea of categorising by colour, I didn't think that the actual ScrapRack itself would be for me.  Having that huge binder out on display is not something that appeals to me.  So, I decided to modify the idea to suit me, and I pulled out some of my Project Life divided photo pockets (in Design B) and a spare 3 ring binder, and off I went...

I then spent a few hours sorting through all of my supplies - breaking them into colour groups and also getting rid of items that I no longer wanted. 

During this time, I pulled everything out of its packet.  This was an essential step for me, as the bags/labels/backing sheets are all blockers to my creativity for two reasons:

1.  The packaging creates a visual distraction - it takes away from the actual embellishment.  Sometimes the colour of the packaging is different to the actual embellishment, and I might overlook it as an option for my masterpiece.  By removing the packaging, I can clearly see the embellishment and I know what I can/can't use it for.

2.  During a crafting session, having to pull items out of their plastic bag or packaging takes precious time and also stagnates my creative process.  There is nothing worse than finding that sticky strip that is holding the bag together sticking to everything in sight!  By removing the packaging, it ensures everything is ready to use, which makes things move along smoothly.   (Not to mention that it reduces the mess too!)

Next, I  put all of the supplies into individual clear snap lock bags. This keeps the items safe and together, ensuring that nothing falls out of the pockets, but also makes it easy to pull out of the pocket to use. 

The biggest bonus with setting up this system has been that I can actually see what I have!

This clearly helps me to save money, as (for example) I now know that I have minimal red supplies, so next time I am shopping, I know I can afford to splurge on red.  But I also know that I have lots of pink, so I can save my money by not buying any more pink embellishments until I have used up some of the ones that I already have.

But best of all, it allows my creative process to unfold without any hindrances or obstacles!  The first project that I did after organising my supplies this way, was my Mum's birthday card.  I have to say that it was probably one of the best pieces that I have ever created, and I thoroughly enjoyed making :)

I think this system is going to help me to keep my supplies at a manageable quantity in the future also, as I know what I have, and I won't buy unnecessary items, which then require storage solutions, which then creates more work for me! 

I don't have oodles of supplies, as I haven't been scrapping for very long, and I do use Project Life more often than traditional layouts.  But hopefully, this idea is something that you can adapt to your situation if your scrapbooking supplies are taking over your creative workspace!

Read more about our Study Makeover here.