CAS-ual Fridays 93, OLW 130 and some Crafty Organization

It seems like forever since I have posted just a card or two, but that is what I have to show for myself this weekend.  I spent a lot of my crafty time getting organized, and I will show some pictures of what I did.

First up is a card for this week's CAS-ual Fridays CFC93:  Color Blocks challenge.  When I saw this card by Erin Lincoln this morning, I knew I wanted to do something with color blocked flags.  I am also entering this into Simon Says Stamp:  Bit O Green.

Next is my entry into this week's One Layer Wednesday OLW130, where the challenge is to use a centered sentiment on a one layer card, and make the sentiment the star of the show.  We are allowed to add some minimal other stamping, and I chose to highlight my sentiment with just one pale stamp of aqua mist from Watercolor Wonder.  I also used the Canvas/Linen Impression plate, and embossed the sentiment with a Spellbinders Label die.

And, now some pictures from my craft room.  I have been working to organize my dies--I previously had them in hanging CD folders in a CD box, but I had filled 3 boxes, and found that solution wasn't working for me any more--it took up too much space, and did not accommodate my taller dies.

I have Kim to thank for this solution.  She led me to these drawer organizers at The Container Store, and I got two of the medium size for $8.99 each.   And, then she showed me these CD envelopes on Amazon, where I got 1,000 envelopes for $16.80.  I printed labels on my computer, and got all my dies stored and organized, sorted by company and alphabetized.  I used the top part of a Half & Half die cut to create my tabs.  I am really happy with this system so far--my dies are easy to find, take up less space to store, and I didn't spend too much on organizing supplies (more money for stamps!)

Here is what the dies look like in their labeled envelopes.  Those purple things on the right are placeholders I made out of cardboard and old scrapbook paper.  When I pull a die envelope out, I mark it's place with a placeholder, and then it is a bit quicker to put the die away when I am done.

I've already shown this photo before--this is how I store my tall, thin border dies.

I saw a post on Damask Love the other day about organizing patterned paper, and that gave me the idea to organize my patterned paper pads by manufacturer.  I still don't have a great solution for all the little scraps, but at least the pads are under control. 

Another organizational tip from Damask Love was her ideas on paper scraps.  I am a huge saver of paper scraps, and I find that I use them all the time, especially for die cutting.  I have been keeping all my scraps in hanging folders by color--you can see the cart I bought at The Container Store in this post.  But, the scraps for my neutral colors were really out of control.  I read this post on Damask Love and made my own little scrap storage containers out of old PTI clear stamp boxes.

I am lucky that my office has lots of built in shelves and drawers.  I am slowly converting them all to craft storage.  Here is a view of the part I have been working on.

Supplies Used (PTI):
Happy
Stamps:  Pretty Peonies, Wonderfully Whimsical
Paper:  White, Ripe Avocado, Limeade Ice, Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist
Ink:  Ripe Avocado, Hawaiian Shores, Versacolor Opera Pink
Other:  Pretty Peonies die, MFT Flag die, Kaiser Rhinestone

Rest
Stamps:  Sentiment Signs, Watercolor Wonder
Paper:  White
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Other:  Spellbinders Label die, Canvas/Linen Impression Plate

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