My Creative Space with Organization Ideas- Part 2

Hello there!  Today I'm back with a continuation of my organizational post shared on Friday HERE.

As I continue to work myself around the room, we arrive to the area above my standing island.  I have installed a wall unit (similar to the one sold HERE).  Last year after getting tired of sifting through my flowers by brand I finally poured them all out on my floor and organized them by color.  While I don't find myself using these as much as I once did, I still love seeing the splash of color in my room and having them well organized when I do go to use them.  :)

I discovered Craft Mates containers about 10 years ago and I am a die-hard fan.  You can often find them in either the beading department or organizational products section at most major craft stores.  

I love them because they lock closed with individual lids to reduce spilling out (something I had to clean up in a giant messy pile one too many times at crops) and have nice rounded bottoms to make scooping out embellishments so much easier.  They come in two or three different sizes and are amazing for condensing down embellishments and shedding so many bulky packages that they come in.  I have four Craft Mate shoulder bags in two sizes which I store in the cabinet directly above my main work space to hold the majority of my embellishments and I love them!   :)

The larger 3XL size is perfect for bulkier embellishments like buttons and wood veneer pieces, while the smaller 2XL size is wonderful for brads, eyelets and sequins.  This picture shows the 3XL size...

This is a photo of the cabinet above my die-cutting machine.  I keep some of my older Sizzix dies in here as well as all my low profile metal dies sorted by theme and manufacturer.

I love We R Memory Keeper's (previously Quickutz/Lifestyle Crafts) magnetic storage books for my slim metal dies.  These are currently in short supply during the transition of companies, but by the looks of their website more are expected in the near future.  

I use my Brother P-Touch Label Maker with 6mm labels to mark what's inside each binder.  This makes my life so much easier.  For the longest time I couldn't find labels to work and I had to open each one to find what I was looking for, but I bought this label maker for myself for Christmas last year and now I'm a labeling fool. 

If you do get this Label Maker, definitely look up the instructions for using the "chain print" option to save valuable tape between labels.  ;)

Here's an example of two of the storage binders opened side by side to give you an idea of all you can fit inside.  They come with a magnetic flap (to the right of the photo) which closes over the top and keeps all the contents secure.  They are wonderful!  :)

For my inks and refills (and Stickles) I'm a huge fan of the PortaInk Best Craft Organizers.  I personally use the standard case version with the standard ink inserts (perfect adapter which you insert for smaller pads that would normally get pushed to the back).  They also make a swivel version that's double sided with a handle, but I don't travel with mine and I like being able to push the units flat against the wall.  I should note they also have the ability to be mounted to the wall or to be laid flat in a drawer if your counter space is in short supply.

For the longest time, I had my pads stacked in containers and had to go searching through cascading piles to find the one I was looking for, but these units make life so much easier.  Of course I put my label maker to good use again as well.  ;)

To wrangle my growing (out of control) collection of inks I made myself a paint chip so to speak of each ink color which I keep on binder rings.  I have two rings for my dye inks and one for my pigment and Stazon inks, all organized by color.  On the back I labeled each chip with the ink manufacturer and color name to make matching inks to my particular project and patterned papers a breeze.

For the little samples in the center, I cut tags from thin chipboard and pressed them into my VersaMark ink pad before heating them up with my different colored embossing powders.

These projects while a bit time consuming initially saves me so much time each time I stamp.  I used to have to spend 15 minutes testing out a multitude of inks with lots of wasted paper trying to guess which color would be just right.  Now I am able to select the perfect ink or powder every time.  

My last little organizer for today is simple, but for whatever reason I didn't purchase it until recently.  These trays sit in the drawer directly below my sewing machine and they too make my life so much easier.  It's wonderful being able to open it up and quickly find the color I need without them rolling all over the place.  It keeps them tidy and not in a snarly mess too.  I purchased mine HERE at The Container Store and another one for my bobbins HERE at Joann's.

Well, there you have it.  I have a couple more organizational projects that I finished this past summer and fall I will be back to share with you soon.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope I've inspired you to catch the organizational bug this month!  :)