NEW FRAMELIT STORAGE AREA!

I have been super busy lately, but have not meant to be neglecting my blog and sharing creative ideas with all of you faithful blog readers.  My sister was visiting last week, and I took some time away from my computer to just be with her.  We had a wonderful visit and it was very productive too.  I had a couple classes/groups last week that kept me busy AND there was a ton going on at Stampin' Up!.  My first priority was to get you caught up with the Stampin' Up! sales and updates.  Then I started feeling a little "punk".  Not getting the flu, but definitely not feeling 100% (sniffles, throat tickle, achey, tired...).  Doubled up on supplements and laying low trying to not get a full-blown cold!!  So, sleeping lots and resting lots.

Most of you who have visited the Rubber Room and/or know me through this Blog or Stampin' Up! know that I am extremely organized.  I credit my organization to my ability to get as much done as I do.  Organizaton helps me keep it all straight and moving in the right direction!  Last week I started a little "organization" makeover, if you will.  Since Stampin' Up! introduced their new-style punches, I have slowly been replacing my old-style punches.  I had a great space for my old-style punches, but it was starting to look a little "empty".  I had lots of the skinny-style stamp cases (the ones that hold the clear-mount stamps) that were decorated with beautiful DSP, and there was a magnet on the inside to put my framelits in.  I wanted to be able to see my framelits.  I firmly believe, if you don't see it, you don't use it.  I don't want to waste my creative time looking in drawers for stuff.  Some of you may remember the corkboard that I put little round magnets on for my framelits.

I have since outgrown my little board.  To cut to the chase here, this is my new framelit storage spot. 

As you can see, there will be lots of "expansion room" as more and more punches are retired and/or replaced.  I purchased a role of magnet (the black strips behind the framelits), and just stuck it to the wood.My framelits love their new home, and I love them being out where I can see all of them!

PUNCH RING!

Okay, here is my favorite "tool" for my punches! The biggest reason I love this punch ring is that I can easily see which punch I will need for my project and can pull it off my punch rack and take it to where I'm working without having to "guess" at which punch is the right one, or pulling all my oval punches off the rack to try them all and see which one fits. This is a real time saver for me!

I am going to be having a Punch Ring Party class in August where my customers can come and make a punch ring of their own for only $8. I will have all the cardstock cut and all the labels attached, so they can just move around the tables and punch the cardstock and then assemble their own punch ring. This way, my customers can mark off the punches they own and can easily see which ones they will need to purchase in the future.

How does it work? It is so easy, and I think you can pretty much tell by the photos, but here are the DEETS for all those inquiring minds.

I start with a 3 1/4" square piece of cardstock (we have some pretty big punches available now :o). I make labels for each punch, and the label includes the name of the punch, and the order number for that particular punch. (I have photographed my old punch ring, where the label included the price of the punch, but the newer labels I am using do not include the prices of the punches). Then I take that punch and punch a piece out of the cardstock. When I'm done with all the punched out squares, I use my Crop-A-Dile and put a hole in the uppper left-hand corner and slide all the punched squares onto a key ring.

I also have little "covers" that are a little bigger than the punched squares (3 1/2" x 3 1/2") to make the front and back covers of the punch ring.

AND at the punch ring class, in addition to making your own punch ring, you will get a little bag to put all of the punched out shapes in so you will have those to use at a later time on your creations. All the details for the punch ring class are on my Class Schedule so be sure to check it out and sign up early. I scheduled it for August so that I would be sure to have all my new punches on hand and could include them.

Now that your punch ring is done, how do you use it? Well, it is super easy! Simply find your image or sentiment in the catalog (or pull out your stamp set and use your stamps) and then find the card on your punch ring for the punch you'd like to use and set it right over top of the image or sentiment to see if it fits inside the punched shape. With the Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog all the stamp sets and sentiments are shown at 100%, so you can easily see which punches will work best with which stamp sets/sentiments. If I did not explain that too well, just check out the photos, and I think you'll be able to "visualize" it.

CATALOG TABS!

I love to have my catalog all organized so that when a customer says "Where are the wheels?" I can easily tell them without having the whole catalog memorized. I find these little tabs extremely useful for this purpose. Plus there are always things that I find myself going back to all the time, and the tabs make it super quick and easy to find those spots. I use the index in the front of the Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog as a "guide" for my tabs and then I add tabs for punches, ribbon, Big Shot, and the other spots I tend to frequent in the Idea Book and Catalog.

For the tabs, I print the words on a piece of cardstock and then punch them out with the Round Tab Punch. I like all my tabs to be different colors, so what I do is run an entire sheet of cardstock with the word "Hostess" on them; then I punch them all out (24 tabs will fit on one piece of cardstock). I use the extra 23 sets as door prizes, hostess gifts and to share with the other gals in my SU! Demonstrator group.

DAUBER STORAGE!

I had a lot of questions about how I store my daubers after they are all labeled. So, here are a couple of ideas for you. One is the plastic storage box with dividers. This is a stamp storage box from Stampin' Up! that was sold previously to hold alphabet stamps. If you have one of those around, it makes a great dauber holder.

I like to have my stuff for each color group together. So I store my ink pads, reinkers and markers altogether. I like to store my sponges and daubers together; so I just label them and put them in a basket. That way when I am "working" I can grab a color basket and have all the sponges and daubers for that color group right at hand.

The most important thing to remember when organizing is to think about how you use your supplies and your storage space. Some people like to have all of their "greens" together so they can pick from their green color pallette. Some people like to have all their flower stamps together and their word stamps together... Think about how you stamp and what's important to you when you are stamping and then sort and organize in a way that best fits your needs!

I HAVE BEEN ORGANIZING!

In anticipation of the arrival of my Sneak Peek order items, I have been busy getting myself organized and ready for all my new products and goodies. When it comes to organization, I am wrapped fairly tightly. I NEED to know what I have and where it is. I like to be able to see everything, so I will remember I have it and need to use it. When I put it in a drawer, I don't see it and don't remember I have it and then don't use it. I also like organization because it enables me to quickly locate things and know when I am missing something or need to order something.

Below are pictures of how I store my cardstock, daubers, ink pads and sponges.

I'll be back tomorrow to share with you how I keep myself organized for quick catalog searches.

INK PAD STORAGE!

I put these little color labels on the end of each ink pad. It is sometimes difficult for my customers at workshops and classes to identify what color the ink pads are, and, at times, this confusion leads to putting a stamp that has been inked with black ink onto a nice So Saffron ink pad. Then, right in the middle of my So Saffron ink pad is a perfect black-inked image. With this label, when the stamp pad is open, you will easily be able to see the color of the stamp pad printed right on the label.

The ink pad label also indicates which color group it belongs in, and that way I can easily put it right back into the correct ink pad slot.

DAUBER ORGANIZATION!

I love my daubers, and I NEED one special dauber for each color of ink. I label the dauber with the name of the ink. This "individual" recognition on each dauber for every color of ink, helps me stay organized when doing classes. It also makes it difficult for my customers stick the Chocolate Chip dauber onto the So Saffron ink pad!!

MY SPONGE ORGANIZATION!

I like to have a separate sponge, also, for each color. I used to just write the name of the color onto the sponge, but my fellow demonstrator, Keri Blake, shared with me this idea. My good friend Lisa Brown was over and helped me do all the punching, labeling and stapling! Where, oh where would I be without the help of all my friends??

So, for the sponges, there is a little label that has the name of the color on it. That color cardstock is punched with the Round Tab Punch and the label is attached and then it is stapled to a piece of sponge!

CARDSTOCK STORAGE!

I store all of my cardstock in one tall file cabinet. Each color of cardstock iS kept in a cello bag that is labeled with the cardstock color, order number and color group. Then I have a one-gallon zipper bag that contains all of my scraps for that color cardstock. The zipper bag has a label on it also that contains the color, color group and order number. These two bags go into a hanging file folder that is labelled with the name of the cardstock, color group and cardstock order number, then there is a little punch of cardstock on the end of the label.

AWESOME RIBBON HOLDER!

Isn't this the most beautiful ribbon holder~~I love it!! It's almost too nice for me to use in the Rubber Room. My dear friend and fellow demonstrator, Michelle, was showing hers off to me, and I had to have one. Lucky for me, her husband made hers, and is now taking orders. That's right, you can have one too. If you NEED one, please email Michelle at pinkroses4u2@gmail.com

RIBBON ORGANIZATION

I had this very nice wooden ribbon holder where you put your ribbon spools on dowels and then just pulled off the ribbon you needed to use. I found that I wanted to be able to take the ribbon I wanted to use to my work table, and getting it off the dowel was simply not working for me. I saw one I thought would work much better for me, and I made it! I like just being able to pull out the ribbon I need, take it to my work table and then just slip it back in!! Nice and easy and organized.

MORE ORGANIZATION TIPS!

One of the "perks" I love best about being an SU! demonstrator is the FREEBIES! I just received this FREEBIE from my "Man in Brown" this evening, and I had to immediately fill it up! This is the Stampin' Stack & Store and can be found on page 193 of the Spring-Summer Collection 2008. It is a great way to store your brads, eyelets, beads...........

ORGANIZATION AND STORAGE

It seems many of my customers have made the New Year's Resolution to get organized! I have gotten lots of requests for organization and storage tips, so over the next couple weeks I will be shareing some ideas with you. This is a photo of how I store my punches. I try to avoid putting them in drawers and bins, because I find that if I can't see them, I don't use them. With this system they are always where I can see them, I can get to them easily and they are organized. My smaller punches are on the stand to the right. As you can also see, I hang my hand-held punches at the top of the punch rack. The pieces the punches are hanging on is a metal yard stick, and I keep the yardstick from being flush on the wood with the hooks you use to hang cups on in your cupboard. My friend Lisa helped me build this~~she is such an awesome "handi-woman"!