December 2019 Cleaning and Organizing Thread

I got my Totally Tiffany paper organizer envelopes (refills for the Fab Files, except I didn't get any FF) in the mail while we were off for Thanksgiving so once I've got the Christmas decorations I will get to the organizing. I don't think it will take long, but it might cascade into a whole 'nother project of cleaning up my craft cart and maybe rearranging the shelves. I'm hoping to avoid buying any more furniture or organizational supplies but what I have right now isn't really working.

I'm hoping to do some cataloging and organizing of my stamps and dies too - I want to set myself little monthly challenges to focus on using my supplies more "deeply" next year.

I got my papers set up in their new folders this afternoon I thought I'd gotten extra but I didn't have quite enough (which tells me I need to use some paper up!)

I was trying to separate out personal papers from inventory papers, to keep the tax man happy... or rather to make it easier for me to keep track of my materials/cost of goods sold which I have to do to keep the tax man happy. Inventory/stocktake is coming up in a few weeks. It's a pain.

I put all my colored cardstock scraps in the folders too, so I can grab the blue folder and find all the shades in one place, no matter what size I need. I use scraps as much or more than full sheets, and I have a mixture of 12" and Letter size sheets too, so I got 12" folders to contain everything in one place.

Hopefully tomorrow I can stop tidying up. It's been a couple of weeks of mayhem around here and tidying was what I needed to do, but now I need to get back to making!

Organized cardstock and scraps by jo.blackford, on Flickr

haha, thanks. I knew I was going to be gone from my craft desk for a couple of weeks and traveling gives me amnesia for whatever I was in the middle of. I didn't want to stock up for a project that I might not get back to for weeks or maybe even months, but I also didn't want to forget that I stopped because I ran out of specific colors of cardstock. I am so grateful to PastJo when she leaves me notes and cheat-sheets about what I was thinking and doing... so I try to gift that to my future-self wherever possible.  

It's very annoying for PresentJo to have to do, but FutureJo so appreciates the kindness, and it saves a lot of recriminations and hassles... 

Sometimes I look at things I was doing months ago and feel like they must have been done by a completely different person because I can't make sense of it. 

Not quite the paperless office world we were told we’d be living in, huh? I think we have even more paper than before... 

I simplified my filing a bit by creating a small file box in my main workspace where I can stash stuff without having to get in my husband’s way and unlock the cabinet and file everything properly. I just have a couple of folders in the box - receipts, healthcare stuff, and other, and I can just slip the papers in without fussing. A couple of times a year I go through and shred irrelevant stuff and file the rest. If I need to retrieve stuff I can usually find it really quickly in the box.

We’re pretty good about getting rid of the junk right away though. So much junk... 

right?!
I have paperless options on for health and dental insurance but they refuse to send the invoice as a paperless document, even though we have it set up to autopay as well! So every month we get 3 envelopes each with a bill, an envelope, and a long privacy statement in every imaginable language in the mail. It makes me furious! And then I get angry again if I find that I've accidentally filed one of the privacy statements with the bill.

I hear you on the pile for hubby business... luckily mine is mostly more tidy than me, or at least contains his mess in his own space.

I just saw on IG that you cleared your desk! yay!
I just made enough space on mine to take photos for the sharing threads so yay for both of us!

My mom visited last week and cleaned my studio for me (thanks, mom!). She concluded that I have too much stuff and need to purge at least half. Half! The horror!

She is a papercrafter but she doesn’t keep a large stash. She is always buying, using, then purging her stash so it stays small. I have a very large stash (that I love!) and she threatened to turn me into that hoarders television show. 🤣

I do go through and sell/donate supplies I don’t love, but... I love a lot of products! I don’t want to sell/donate something and regret it so I tend to keep my supplies. Hell, I just used a set of old American Crafts Remarks alpha stickers in black (the Sophie font) from... 2005? 2006? on the layout I’m working on tonight. I combined those stickers from a Studio Calico kit from 2013/2014ish. I’ll add a few newer supplies and it will look right at home in my scrapbook album. Mixing old + new products is one of my favorite things to do!

I'm itching to get back to organizing and then creating, but for now, family stuff...

But I'm sneaking time here and there to get started. So far I have a laundry basket full of boxes and stuff that needs to go somewhere else, some things recycled, some things like packaging I don't currently use but might want to keep could go into deep storage somewhere out of the way, some stuff I don't know.

I'm contemplating taking a shelf or two out of my rolling cart so I can access the things I have stored on there more easily. I don't roll it around so things near the back are hard to get to, and it's hard to flip through my stamps to find what I need. Not a lot of clearance. I have some ideas for moving things around but it's going to make a tremendous mess so I don't really want to start until I know I can get it done. My craft corner is also the dining room which is also the entrance to the kitchen/my hubby's office/the middle of the house, so whatever mess I make it going to have a huge impact!

I'm really struggling with how I can fit in all the things I need to have standing up vertical with easy access. I really don't want to buy new furniture, but I just saw my SIL's lovely renovated home with bright surfaces and it's making me feel very sad about my folding table workspace. I got a library book for inspiration but it just made me feel so much worse about my space. I don't have a private studio or library, a nook, not even a closet with a door - I have an awkward corner in a room with ugly carpet next to a room with peeling vinyl floors. I know most people don't have dream spaces, and I am grateful I have a space of my own and no one gives me a hard time about making a mess. But gosh I envy people with their own room with a door!

Sorry if I've whined about this before. I need an attitude adjustment more than anything! and some time to myself and a good declutter

joblackford I relate too. I currently scrap on my desk in the corner of my living room. I think the desk is probably 18”x4’. That may be measuring it generously. I use the floor space around me a lot. I do have space in the basement where I store all my supplies away and the constant up and down is part of my wanting to downsize. It’s just such a pain to use things.

Thing is I complain but at the same time I like having the desk in the living room. I have tiny kids and this allows me to sneak away for 5 minutes. So I deal with it. But it’s not very attractive.

Also I recently took a book out called decorating with plants. It was very similar looking in style to the book you got. I actually really liked it and it helped me thing of fresh (pardon the pun) ways to decorate. You should check it out.

Thanks. No the 8-cube doesn't have seating but no one sits on the futon anyway so... I'm reclaiming the space it takes up. The living room is the space we hang out in (the TV and gaming system are there). The family room has bookcases and the game cabinet and the (unused) piano and the (sometimes used) keyboard and my scrapbooking area - it was the playroom once upon a time when I had littles. The living/family/dining/kitchen are all open plan.