Developing an organizational system that fits your scrapbooking workspace and unique personal style can help you sort through your stacks of photos, tame your paper piles, and find a place for your growing collection of scrapbooking embellishments.
If you’re like most scrapbookers, organizing your supplies is a major challenge. If you’re not careful, stacks of photos, piles of paper, and embellishments of every imaginable size can easily overtake your workspace. No matter what your scrapbooking skill or budget, there’s a solution available for controlling your clutter and unleashing your creativity.
There are four main factors to keep in mind while developing your scrapbooking organizational system.
Size. If your scrapbooking workspace is one small corner of your dining room, you can’t use the same organizing tactics as someone with a complete scrapbooking studio.
Portability. If you frequently attend crops or classes, storing your supplies on a custom-designed shelving unit isn’t going to work well because you need an organizational system that will let you take your supplies with you.
Expandability. Scrapbooking is addictive, so your collection of supplies is likely to continue growing. When you set up an organizational system, always allow more storage room than you think you’ll actually need.
Cost. If you’ve got the cash to spend, there are wonderful products designed specifically for organizing your scrapbooking supplies. If you’re on a tight budget, there are many ways to turn everyday household items into customized scrapbook supply organizers.
The best organizational systems are based on your own scrapbooking workspace and personal style. Finding an organizational system that works for your unique needs is more important than rushing out to purchase all the latest scrapbooking totes and containers.
Sorting through your photos
Photos are the foundation of any scrapbook, so it’s important to keep your photos in order while they wait to be added to a layout. Whether you’re a film or digital photographer, the same basic filing systems can be used to keep your photos organized.
Chronological. This is probably the simplest approach, but if you’re organizing piles of heritage photos it can be difficult to determine their appropriate order.
Categorical. With this approach you can sort by general thematic categories such as birthdays, vacations, and everyday moments. Organizing your photos according to this method will allow you to create layouts that celebrate connections between family members instead of merely listing the order in which events happened.
Project-based. If you’re making separate albums for each of your children in addition to your family’s album, it might work best to sort your photos according to project.
Film photographers can purchase acid-free photo storage boxes to keep their photos protected from light, dust, and other potentially damaging elements. If your family likes to look at photos waiting to be scrapbooked, consider temporarily placing them in archival quality photo albums while they await a permanent home. Never label the backs of your photos with a felt-tipped marker or ballpoint pen, use a special photographic permanent marker.
Digital photographers don’t have boxes of photos taking up room in their scrapbooking workspace, but keeping computer files organized presents a different set of challenges. Setting up a system of folders is the most inexpensive way to keep digital photos organized, although serious photographers might consider investing in a program such as Adobe Photoshop Album. Programs of this type will let you attach multiple keywords to specific image files, enabling you to quickly find the appropriate photos for any type of scrapbooking project. No matter what method you use to organize your digital photos, remember to regularly make backup copies of your files. Don’t let a computer error destroy your precious memories.
Taming piles of cardstock and patterned paper
Scrapbookers love cardstock and patterned paper. It’s fun to look at, inexpensive, and a great way to add pizzazz to your layouts without mastering complicated crafting techniques. There are several possible approaches to keeping your paper collection neatly organized.
Color. Cardstock is generally sorted by color and placed in rainbow order. If you’re a fan of Bazzill Basics or other brands of textured cardstock, you may want to subdivide your colors into similar textures. Sorting your patterned paper by color will make easy to pick out coordinating cardstock at a glance. The only real drawback to this method is that multi-colored patterned paper can be difficult to classify by color.
Type of pattern. This option works well for sorting patterned paper if you tend to gravitate towards stripes, florals, or other specific patterns.
Theme. If you’re primarily an events scrapbooker, grouping your patterned paper into themes such as baby, vacation, or wedding is a logical choice.
Manufacturer. This system works best for advanced scrapbookers with a preference for KI Memories, BasicGrey or other specific patterned paper lines. If you decide to organize your patterned paper by manufacturer, it may be the most convenient to keep coordinating cardstock in the same categories.
Paper storage systems can be either horizontal or vertical and are usually designed to fit 12x12 sheets of paper. Horizontal systems, like the P3 paper tote from Crop In Style, are great for scrapbookers who frequently travel to classes or crops. Vertical storage systems, like the plastic paper holders from Cropper Hopper, will most efficiently maximize a small workspace and can be easily expanded to accommodate a growing collection of supplies. No matter what organizational system you choose, paper should be stored in an area protected from dust, direct sunlight, and any possible water damage.
Saving paper scraps is a somewhat controversial issue among scrapbookers. It’s a great cost-cutting tactic, but only if you actually use the scraps. Otherwise, they just take up valuable space. If you do decide to save your cardstock and patterned paper scraps, only save the larger pieces and file them into the same categories as your whole sheets of paper. When you’re working on a layout, check your collection of scraps for appropriate cardstock or patterned paper before using a new sheet.
Finding a place for all those scrapbooking “extras”
Technically, all you really need to scrapbook is a stack of photos, some cardstock or patterned paper, and an acid-free adhesive. It’s just that buttons, fibers, stickers, and other pretty scrapbooking embellishments can be hard to resist! Each of these scrapbooking “extras” requires a different organizational approach.
Flat embellishments. Stickers and diecuts are the most common examples of flat embellishments. Flat embellishments can be sorted by theme or grouped according to their product line. A few general categories will make your system easier to maintain than dividing your collection into several smaller and more specific categories. Hanging file folders are an inexpensive way to store a smaller collection of flat embellishments. Scrapbookers with a passion for collecting stickers and die cuts might want to invest in a Crop In Style PSB binder with plastic inserts for holding different sized embellishments.
Dimensional embellishments. Brads, eyelets, buttons, charms, label holders, and silk flowers are some of the many items that fall into the category of dimensional embellishments. Since most dimensional embellishments don’t have a specific theme, these items are typically grouped according to color or manufacturer. Empty baby food jars or clear film canisters stored in shallow drawers or stacked on stair step shelves are an inexpensive way to organize dimensional embellishments. If you need a portable storage solution, tackle boxes and hardware store containers have several small compartments. Manufacturers such as Cropper Hopper also offer convenient and portable storage containers for dimensional embellishments of all sizes.
Fibers and ribbon. Fibers and ribbons are popular embellishment choices, but their tendency to tangle easily makes them especially difficult to organize. Loose fibers and ribbon can be wrapped around thick pieces of cardboard or floss organizers purchased from your local craft store. Rolls of ribbon can be stored in specially designed ribbon boxes or stacked on the pegs of an expandable plate rack.
Staying organized
Once you’ve established an organizational system, don’t let all of your hard work go to waste. A few simple tips can help you stay organized and make the most of your cropping time.
Don’t feel obligated to hold onto blurry, poorly-lit, and otherwise unflattering photos. Scrapbook your favorite photos and toss the rest.
Devote a few minutes at the end of your cropping sessions to cleaning up your workspace.
After a shopping trip, promptly put your new supplies in their appropriate locations. Remove them from their packaging so they’ll take up less space.
Clutter is the enemy of an organized scrapbooking workspace. If you’ve been holding on to supplies that you know you’ll never use, pass them on to a fellow scrapbooker, sell them on eBay, or donate them to your child’s school.
External Links:
Crop In Style - Learn about the Crop In Style product line.
Cropper Hopper - Learn about the Cropper Hopper product line.
Two Peas in a Bucket - Buy scrapbooking supplies and chat with fellow scrapbookers.