StarLitStudio

washi tape storage

Wood tray is from amazon.com - an inexpensive, repurposed utensil tray.  Vertical, stacked storage for washi tape to me is impractical - if I can't reach it quickly I just don't seem to use it - so horizontal storage was a given.  With the tape stored this way I can get what I want quickly, use it, and put it back where it belongs (you know - my OCD and all that) and continue creating.

Tiny tag storage is in the front compartment and frequently used punches are within arms' reach as well.

My friend and neighbor Alice who runs the Boston Marathon every year (I believe this was her 18th) is safe and on her way home.  She was stopped short of the finish line and redirected.  Very, very thankful she and her family are safe and on their way home - heartfelt thoughts go out to those affected by this unthinkable tragedy.  

useless into functional

So the timmy trays (as I have always called these in-house) have become storage devices.  Frankly these uniform, machine-made printers trays have always been too large for any project I would want to tackle - would simply take up too much of my time to alter and finish.  When they arrived I actually visualized them as flat storage.

I debated about using a vintage printers tray for this style of storage, but the ones I have are too large to be practical for my worksurface, and the vintage ones can't do this:

The individual cubbies pop out for re-organizing (yep, OCD runs rampant!) or when I want to dump them out and peruse while creating.  

Bear in mind these trays are not designed to be moved around as a whole - too dangerous (ha) to spill the contents.  They pretty much sit in the previously unused corner of the L-shaped countertop in my studio.  

...and I like how these trays from Advantus neatly stack.  It makes my inner OCD smirk with joy...

If product is out, neatly displayed and visible, I seem to use it.

 

Those dang Studio Calico wood embellishments that I'm addicted to are now nicely organized. They were previously stored like this - not very accessible but visible:

The configurations print tray makes them both visible and accessible.  Washi tape storage tomorrow - happy Monday!

spice organization

Inspired by this post; I sourced and purchased air-tight containers from specialtybottle.com.   

Here's the before a few weeks ago - they were kinda alphabetized - I had to keep the short containers in the front to be able to read the labels.

And here's what it looks like now.  All alphabetized, just like I like it.  I used an easy-to read font (ITC Bookman Light) versus script, which I initially printed out but found difficult to read quickly.

Anyone playing Draw Something?  I'm StarLitStudio - let's draw!  I had a bunch of new players show up a few weeks ago - found out my fourth-grader told all her friends my username...hilarious.  Happy Tuesday guys!

colored twine storage

Hello friends - if you've been reading this blog for a while you know I love being organized.  

My colored twine spools were stored like this - in a lovely, vintage wooden box.  This box fit thirteen full Divine Twine spools quite neatly; however, as I used yardage and the diameter of the spools shrunk, it looked like this:

The spools would topple over when I pulled one out.  Royal PITA (Pain In The Arse).  Then I saw this on Pinterest:

(Please click image for source.)  

I adore this look, but wanted all the spools together, like the vintage box.  I loved the concept of a knob top as well.

The ability to hold the spool to measure yardage when needed was a requirement for me, but I realized the time involved in unscrewing each knob over and over and over would be a negative for me.

...so I developed this!:

Sturdy, beveled wood (poplar) base, snug-fitting wooden dowels, idea-ology knobs, and best of all:

...spools are held in place...magnetically!  Magnets are the rare-earth kind - incredibly strong.  

It's all about speed in access - it's the miniskirt of colored twine storage!  

Kitchen remodel update - will create a post around the kitchen island I designed and had built (Mr. Bob the Builder - neighbor and wood artisan.  He made this twine unit also.) in a later post.  We're looking at a mid-April 100% completion date.  Very excited...

holiday tags & ink pad organization

Before putting all the papers used for holiday gifts & such I gathered all scraps, and Mish-style assembled them quickly into tags.  Adhered each layer with a smidge of 2-way glue and allowed to dry, then machine-stitched down the center of all layers chain-piecing style.

I'll put the holiday stuff away now...lol.

I posted this on Ranger's Facebook wall today - Ranger's is looking for organizational ideas for their products, and I had this created by a local woodworker/artisan to easily access each Distress ink pad, blending tool and reinker.  If I like a product I'll naturally want to use it frequently, so speed in access and visibility is important to me. 

Happy Friday & best wishes for a great weekend!

winner, envelope organization & thank yous

The second winner of the HOWnow class from Ellen Hutson is Elaine!!  I've emailed you!

Okay if per chance Dave is reading this blog, please understand I have a very small following compared to other paper crafters.  I'm sure if you did this envelope liner poll on a blog of a popular and well-known, published artist you might have a zero after the number times nine for quantity of responses.  Based on these factors proportionately, I'd say this die would sell, and would sell well, Dave!  Based on Memory Box's other dies if an envelope liner die comes to light I have no doubt it will be spectacular. 

I used Memory Box's envelope liner template, and created these quick thank yous for a neighbor - he celebrated a quarter-century at his workplace, and they threw him quite a party...these cards were made with two leftover tags from the commissioned work, and are for his everyday use as a thank you from me.

The thirty thank yous my neighbor commissioned were created on Fabriano album-style bases, and I utilized October Afternoon Boarding Pass patterned papers.

All wrapped up for delivery.

To answer mamajulie's question a while ago - "would also like a discussion of how you decided...what base color"...here's how I do this:

Using a Marvy 3" scallop punch, I have a swatch of every cardstock I buy in reams - these are all Memory Box (like you had to wonder...lol).  The color name is labeled on the reverse - this makes it easy knowing what color I'm using, so I can grab a coordinating envelope.

In deciding what card base to use for my neighbor's thank you cards - I lined up the swatches against the Boarding Pass patterned paper and chose what looked best.  I ended up using Thistle.

This is how I store all envelopes - all labeled for speed in access.  It's the miniskirt of storage.

The font is called Louvaine and I found it here.  Congratulations Elaine and best wishes to everyone for a great week!

tag storage

I enjoy using tags and keep them where I can see and reach them easily.  The 7gypsies Mini Library Drawer works very well for organizing and separating the tags I use most.

Metal rimmed tags that fit two-inch and 1-3/8" circle punches are in the first section, followed by #5 manila tags in the second section. 

Various walnut stained tags, coin envelopes are in the third section, and small metal rimmed ones are in the watchmaker's tin.  The mini ziploc bags house tea dyed and white mini tags. 

Thanks for stopping by today and best wishes for a great week!

clear acrylic sentiment organization

I love stamping with clear, polymer stamps; I like the advantage of being able to see where I am placing the image on paper. 

Most of my clear stamp sets contain sentiments along with images, and after accumulating a few sets it becomes quite difficult to remember where specific sentiments are located within the sets.

Here's another scenario:  I have a few cute, itty bitty tags - I wonder if I have a tiny 'Mom" stamp that will fit? 

What ultimately prompted this project was my constant feeling of not utilizing what I had purchased to the best of my ability, and my inability to quickly and efficiently locate sentiments by occasion.

Wood mounted stamps are easily stored in drawers, separated by occasion, and the manufacturer is already labeled and located on the wood mount. 

However, with polymer stamps, I wanted to maintain the integrity of each stamp set.  Divvying them up was not an option for me. If I relocated a clear, polymer sentiment stamp from its original storage CD, and housed it by occasion in a binder or other storage device, it would be difficult and time consuming for me to determine the set it originally belonged to, or the manufacturer.  I prefer to know (and ultimately, to let you know) what manufacturer I was using when I write up a blog post or submit a project, so keeping the sets intact is vital to me. 

Plus, some sentiments work well in multiple categories.

I have maintained a binder that contains images of all polymer stamp sets I've purchased - easy to flip through to get ideas - I simply used the packaging that came with each stamp set and inserted them into clear sleeves.  This system, however, is not ideal at all for locating a sentiment by occasion or size/font.

Thus began my journey to organize all clear, polymer sentiments into a system that would allow me to quickly and easily view, select then locate the perfect sentiment by occasion.

Photo above was taken during the process. 

(If you are curious as to what the yellow highlighted set names indicate: I have a separate area for CD sets that are only sentiments and without images.  These sets are separated from the others, and organized alphabetically.)

I utilized both sides of the white cardstock - knowing they would be placed in clear sleeves.

If I had begun this process when I first started accumulating clear, polymer sets, it would have been just a matter of maintenance...adding to the occasion binder as the set(s) was/were purchased.  Kinda like teaching my kids to make sure their dirty clothes are placed in the hamper right-side-out, so one does not spend 20 minutes turning dirty clothing right-side-out on wash day.

This took many, many hours over the course of six days.  Manufacturers are separated by sheet within each occasion, and labeled accordingly.

If you are wondering why I didn't just use the packaging or print them out on the computer - well, I wanted the sentiments to be easily read, not have some upside down, written up the side or on an angle, as is often done on the packaging label.  Also...SCALE.  Some packaging from stamp sets and what is available online has the scale reduced.  I wanted an actual representation of what I owned.

Categories I used: 
birthday
coffee/just-a-note/hello/you're invited
thank you
love/anniversary/wedding/congrats
sympathy
friendship
thinking of you
calendar holidays/seasonal
get well
baby/home
other

'calendar holidays' category is for Mother's Day, Halloween, and so forth.

This method is incredibly efficient for me.   And lo and behold...I do have a 'Mom' stamp that will fit on that itty bitty tag!

studio reveal

Desks are from officedepot.com - Bush brand; spectrum/pewter color - we used the tops of these.

Purging...organizing...

A local glass place made the top for the center workstation - this is a dream to work on.

New drawer towers (corner of room - from Chandler Creations; black center table is from them as well - shelves on the center table are adjustable, unlike Pottery Barn's Bedford version) house wood-mount stamps and embellishments.  Before these were housed in Sterlite containers on shelves - heavy and unattractive.  Desk tops (love them - thankful we could use them) were removed and added to custom cabinets, made by my neighbor, handyman and wood artisan, Bob Deichler.

I sew on paper frequently - the sewing machine is positioned logically for me.

Standing with my back to the windows - lots of natural light in this room.  All lighting fixtures use color correct bulbs.

My kids' elementary art teacher accepts donations and I started delivering boxes last week.  Stamps, paper, inks, you name it.  My mission was to surround myself only with what I adore, and therefore, ultimately use.

I'll take a video sometime showing the organization of this area.  For me it is logical, and I am much, much more productive now.

Bob (my kids call him Bob the Builder) created this small ribbon shelf based on an email post by NIchole Heady, in which Nichole showcased a desk-top ribbon storage device her husband, David, built.  I admired the way David utilized the crown molding, and asked Bob to fashion an elongated shelf with a piece of elegant crown.

Ribbon shelf post here.  Bob created this a few years ago.  The computer area naturally remains desk-top height.

Pull out shelves house Memory Box envelopes...

...and frequently used paper punches.

I still need to paint/touch up/spackle...maybe next week, after I've played a bit. If you have questions regarding sources please feel free to email me - best wishes for a great week.  Today my mother turns 70!  Happy Birthday Mom!

gift wrap room, tags & the turkey trot

I created 34 embellished tags (for cards) for a custom order - these are soooo Mish inspired!  Papertrey die, October Afternoon Good Cheer papers.

I used these doilies for this project, but I received a shipment of two new 4" doily designs today - made in the USA - English Lace and French Lace Paper doilies:

Also I wanted to share something I created that I've always wanted - a gift wrap station.  I primarily use kraft paper (on the left) and purchase them on 800 foot rolls and install them on a dull blade cutter.  One is heavy weight for wrapping school books and the other is more lightweight, for wrapping gifts.

With the philosophy of using kraft paper to wrap all gifts, it then becomes 'all about the bow'.  I have a ribbon addiction - which I'll happily admit to.  I am sure you can surmise with me there are far worse things to be addicted to!  This area is located near the french doors in the (walk out) basement. 

The kids use this as area as well, and enjoy making tags.

These were two of my Thanksgiving pocket cards - they housed school photos of the kids along with a quick note from me on a decorative tag.  October Afternoon Weathervane papers.

And here is a photo of me and the kids at yesterday's 5K - the Turkey Trot.  A bitter 35 degrees - but we finished before the snow started.  My chip time was 27:46.  No more 5K's until spring - just too darn cold for this chickie.