Crafty organizing and decluttering

How do you keep your workspace tidy when you are creating? No matter how much I try to keep things under control, my desk space is always a wreck! Many tips or suggestions?

Thank you- that looks like a good storage idea. It is when I am mid project that the mess builds up- making a series of cards with the same paper pad etc. So a storage system for that would help……

One of the presentations at the organizing summit is about exactly that! Jess Crafts, IIRC.

It's a real challenge, especially in a small space. I have to catch myself every little while and start the Dana K White decluttering process - look for trash, put away the easy stuff... basically whenever I find myself frustrated or struggling to put my hand on something in the mess of my small desk I just look around for anything I can put away, even if I know I will end up getting it out again.

Unless I'm currently using my scissors I make myself put them back in the drawer, put the trimmer back on the shelf, etc. I really try not to have anything on my desk if I'm not using it, but things somehow still gather there... I'm lucky that I have drawers next to me that I can keep open with my grab and go things right where I can grab them, and even though I find myself leaving stuff on the desk surface "where I would look/reach for it first" is in its actual home in the drawer, so if I can just force myself to put it back, even though it feels slower, it really helps.

It's still a mess while I'm working most of the time, but just catching myself getting annoyed has started to trigger me looking around to remove what I can. I also have a clear space on the table behind me for finished cards or things that need to get set aside to dry while I work on other things. If something is in my way and I can't easily put it away I put it there so at least it's not blocking my workspace. 

My craft corner is literally in the middle of my small house so I can't get too messy without access to the kitchen getting blocked. Probably a good thing! 

Over the last few days I’ve gone through a lot of items in my craft room and donated a lot including some quilting items and a lot of general craft items that every crafter likely has but I never tend to use. My pile is growing and I have more breathing space and room for my favorite crafts! I also switched storing most of my embellishments by color to keeping them by type of embellishment because I have changed the way I scrap semi-recently. It ended up taking up the same number of drawers so I need to make some quick temporary labels to help as I try out this new storage system. After I’ve used it for a while I’ll make any needed adjustments. After decluttering and reorganizing them the drawers are fairly empty so I’m not making good use of the space.

The big stack of craft donations is out of the house so now my floor is completely clear. Finally! I’m not finished decluttering but I feel like most of my scrapbook stuff has been gone through, along with my general craft supplies, sewing/quilting, and mandala dotting. Now I just need to go through the other crafty hobbies I decided to keep, jewelry making and knitting/crochet. But I did an extreme declutter of those a couple of years ago so I don’t anticipate much leaving. And I’ll likely tweak my photo storage. Then a few misc. things, where I also don’t anticipate much leaving, maybe just creating a little breathing room in the containers they’re kept in rather than being able to reduce the containers themselves. For scrapbooking donations as I go I always keep a 12 x 12 container with a lid that doesn’t snap close so it’s super easy to lift the lid and throw it in there rather than stack it on top. My goal is to continue to have an eagle eye while I scrap and donate what I’m not in love with anymore as I come across it more frequently than I had been. 

I also just changed organization around for my workspace and even after a short amount of time I feel like they’re going to be game changers for me. The first is that I switched my old Making Memories spinning organizer for this large stadium organizer from scrapbook.com. The spinning organizer had too many small spaces for my needs now, and though it looks like it would take up a lot more space, when you include the room that was needed for spinning, it really doesn’t. I’ve also ordered those appliance rollers to stick on the bottom of it. I am much preferring the larger sections to macro organize my items and being able to see everything all at once. The best part? My trimmer (creative memories) and ATG for perfectly in 2 of the slots. The ATG handle went into my spinner, but it was getting caught up on rulers and such. And my trimmer lived in a drawer behind my desk, I’d take it out when it needed it. Not a huge deal because I only had to spin around, but now it has a place to go the second I’m done with, even if I’m going to use again in 2 minutes.

And I added this slotted cube from Simply Tidy  @ Michael’s. Got the idea from Lauren @craftsomejoy in her Small Space Organizing video starting @7:40 I think. BTW is on sale 30% off right now. And it only comes with 5 moveable shelves so make sure and buy the stack of them separately if you want them. 

Mine sits on my desk right next to my new tool organizer. The desk is positioned facing out into the room with only a short side against the wall. And these two fit there against the wall just right. I don’t like visual clutter and would prefer it go under my desk but I already have my cardstock cart there. It’s super easy to reach, but I need to move my OTT reticulating light/magnifier. And the Mandala Supplies turntable that was sitting in that spot has to go on top of the modular unit. Which I don’t love, and now I will have to go around the desk to grab it when I want to do my dot painting. But I think it’ll be worth it. What I keep in my slots: Misti (purchased before knew of the big brouhaha 😑), ScorPal, glass mat, non-sticky mat attached on a thin cutting board so it slides super easily, sticky mat also treated the same, ScrapNEasel (2 slots), templates, CM circle/oval cutting system (2 slots - I need to find a short tray to fit there to hold everything better), and sheet adhesive.

I highly recommend watching her other organizing videos as well. She’s very talkative and her videos are long, and normally I can’t watch those, but there is so much good info in her chatting. In my social circle I’m called the organizing queen, and I’ve still gotten many new ideas from her, as well as already using many of the same and also agreeing with most of her organization philosophies.

That sounds like a really smart way to figure out what you like. Well done. 

welcome back leahbear1

Here's an odd decluttering/destashing or maybe "right-stashing" dilemma.

Happened upon an Altenew 10th anniversary live crafting video and thought, "Wow, i think I have that 2014 stamp set Tasnim is using!"

And then thought, "Ugh! Those flowers are kind of ugly...".

Which would explain why it's one of the first Altenew things I bought and yet I've never used it.

Then I realized I had a free class from them that used, so I watched the class. LOVED the technique taught. Still hated the stamp set.

Dug through my stash for other sets that would work and found another that was close, but not quite right.

Looked at Altenew's store and found two candidate replacements.

The series of dilemma is as follows:

My temptation is to choose one of the two sets I've picked out and use it to try these techniques and make my own variation on the projects in the videos.

But part of me thinks I should at least try both techniques with one of the two sets that are here now. I could potentially decide neither technique is for me after all.

I couldn't complete either project from the videos using the other stamp set I already own (no dies), but I could try the stamping/coloring techniques with it.

I could complete both projects with the set I hate, but why? It would lower the resale value from new to lightly used and since I know I think it's ugly, why put in the effort?

I agree. If your gut reaction is "yuk"  or "ugly" just destash it. Can you sell it and treat youreself to the new set with the $$? I would also try the technique with the set without the dies, can you detail (fussy) cut out what you need to, just to see if you like the process? Or it is possilble to aquire the dies, if they exist? ( apparently I am an expert in chasing down non existent dies lol) Good luck, keep us posted! 

haha! I'm about to go watch. Maybe she stores it under the bed? Or it might do double duty for a sewing hobby that has its own space. I would love to see some Monica closets that people are hiding

Bumping people to 1.25x is necessary even for channels you like a lot... My brain can't handle the slow talkers. If I watch Crafty Al on normal speed it feels like molasses and the theme song sounds all wrong - I've been known to put her on 1.5x when my brain is particularly spicy. 

OK! I've got my coffee. Off to watch the summit! and then I'll be back with critiques

I think this is a wise choice. Not only might the techniques not be your cup of tea, you're motivated now, and might be in a different headspace by the time new supplies arrive.

And yeah, like the others say, just pass on the ugly one. Life's too short to craft with stuff you hate.

i came to the computer to check a measurement before going to the craft room, but maybe I'll bring the computer with me and watch some summit.

I can definitely try the stamping and coloring techniques with the less ugly set and if I never end up using the images, that's ok, too.

Thanks for the recommendation! I am set up to do something similar with my scraps, making cards out of them. When there is something I know I won’t use for scrapbooking but love the idea of using it for cards I throw it in my card making drawer. Then whenever I’m in the mood I pull it out (plastic) and turn to my desk and am ready to go. But I’d never considered using little bits of generic banners and things for it, great addition! 

While I watched Natasha's video and Ardyth's then most of the others (meh) I tackled a couple of overdue tasks. First I cut up a red rubber cling stamp (US flag) that I want to use for mass production but which is a pain to mask and stamp in two colors. It's going to be a LOT easier to use now that the stars and the stripes are two separate pieces.

Then I pulled out my Doodlebug scraps container and sorted the pieces into matching patterns/colorways and started figuring out if I could use them to actually make anything. I'm committing to trashing all the small pieces that don't make it into or onto a card after this. I have some cards drafted that I will glue together when my desk isn't covered in piles of tiny papers.

Keeping all the different collections' scraps together was a mess. I've shifted to keeping small pieces with the die cuts and cut-aparts I have for that collection, if I'm going to keep them at all (in my die cut binder). Ideally I use up the whole paper pad and scraps go into or onto cards or into the bin immediately.

The petite prints are another story, they can mix and match with multiple collections since Dbug sticks so closely to their limited palette. But most of the busy motifs/patterns aren't very useful as small scraps. If they weren't so cute I would've declared scrap bankruptcy already and tossed them!