5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash – Card Stock Storage
Day four is here! Are you EXCITED?
We are having such a blast sharing our ideas with you this week. Let the craft room purge and organization commence!
Today we shift our focus to the bread and butter of our hobby – card stock.
The card base is the foundation for our handmade greetings, and while we often cover it with delicious stamping, adorable die cuts, and creative techniques, it wouldn’t and couldn’t come together without card stock. From storage and labeling to scraps and inspiration, we have a myriad of options to get you thinking!
Card Stock Storage and Organization Solutions
Whether your card stock supply is small or mighty, it’s important to have a dedicated spot for keeping everything organized.One simple way to store card stock in an easy-to-access way is to utilize a file drawer and hanging file folders like Melody does. Standard hanging file folders comes with plastic tabs for easy labeling. Melody stores hers by color, but you could alphabetize as well. It’s all in what works for you!
Michele uses shelf space to display her card stock. It looks awfully pretty, and it’s easy to see and get to in a flash.
If you have a larger craft room, you could use office mail slots for card stock storage like Cindy does. Scour thrift shops and second hand stores for pieces like this. And you’ll notice that Cindy still needs to work on labeling everything. A true testament to the fact that craft room organization is NEVER done! And we get a bonus peek at how Cindy stores her ribbon rolls as well.
Sharon stores her card stock in magazine holders. She also protects each color family and keeps them together with Job Ticket Holders like the ones that you can find HERE from Office Depot. And of course, each one is properly labeled!
Speaking of labels, here are a few ideas for keeping everything in tip top order.
I use these paper holders from Storage Studios for all of my cardstock. Though it’s somewhat obvious which colors go where, I’m a bit of a label fanatic, and I like to make things pretty. I used my computer to create these labels in a Word document. I then printed and circle punched them and added a scallop punch behind. With the help of my Crop-A-Dile, I punched a hole in the plastic and the label and tied on a ribbon.
Kim uses her label maker and Post-it Durable Tabs to be able to quickly identify which pink is which (or any color for that matter!).
Jodi has a cute way to label her card stock that also serves as decorative and allows her to play with die cuts. All colors are identified with a heart in the appropriate color and a white die cut flag with the name. You can see that she uses stacking clear desktop trays in her room.
Amy keeps track of her card stock colors in a portable way that can sit on her desk and makes it easy to find the exact color she is looking for. Cut a small rectangle of each color, write the name on it, punch a hole, and add it to a ring. Smart solution!
Kimberly loves to find color inspiration from our MFT Color Challenges. She prints out the image of the color combination and then punches circles to match. What a great way to choose colors when you feel like you’re stuck in a rut or need some inspiration.
Now what about those scraps? Yep, we have some ideas for that, too!
Julie has found yet another resourceful way to use the Large Clear Pockets from MFT — pop your scraps inside
And finally, Barbara has come up with an ingenius way of making her scraps useful. Once she’s cut into a piece of card stock, she trims A2 sized panels and keeps them in a small file box with dividers. If you use less than half of the piece, you should also be able to create ready-made card bases, too.
All of this glorious color has really been DEEEEElightful, hasn’t it?
OK – let’s admit it. You want to know what prize is up for grabs today. Let’s see what we have for two lucky winners today: a card stock sampler (that’s 43 sheets of sensational hues!), 25 sheets of smooth white card stock, and 4 paper holders from Storage Studios! How awesome is that?
Here’s how to enter for your chance to win: Leave a comment on this blog post letting us know which color you find (besides neutrals) you always find yourself reaching for. All winners from this week will be announced next week!
And as you know – these tips are only the TIP of the proverbial iceberg. Head on over to the blogs of our Design Team members to explore even more amazing ideas to tame your card stock stash.
