Almost There

Had I had any idea what an undertaking organizing my paper would be, I am quite certain that I would have procrastinated for another year or two! For those of you who have great big stamp/scrap rooms, I'm going to expect a little pity from you when I tell you Kathi's Corner occupies approximately 5 by 6-1/2 feet of floor space. When it's all organized (if ever) I'll photograph the whole thing and give you a little tour, proof of what a determined small-space stamper can accomplish!

With the exception of the 8-1/2 by 11-inch cardstock I use for cards, all of my paper occupies the lower two shelves of a tall bookcase, one of two that sit side by side and also serve as a room divider from the rest of the den. The Cropper Hopper vertical paper holders comprise the third and most successful paper storage system I've used. I had the wire cubes for a while, and they worked fine until one day when the whole works collapsed. It was on that day, that I ordered 20 clear Lucite trays. If they weren't spendy enough, the shipping to get them here was horrible, so it took me quite a while to admit that I hadn't liked them from the start. For one thing, I keep all of my paper in zip-lock bags, and it didn't fit all that well. I also needed more trays, but didn't have the floor space for them, and to stack them any higher would have created an even more unstable situation. I don't know when it was that I finally admitted to my husband that I'd goofed, but when I did, I ordered more of the vertical paper holders that some of my papers were already stored in. They work well for me, and if I would use my paper rather than hoard it, they'd work even better!! On the second shelf, the last four paper holders hold retired paper. That's at least two too many.

My cardstock occupies the bottom shelf and the first paper holder on the left side of the second shelf. Because I've always kept my cardstock in bags, I keep my scraps in the bag, too. That's worked out moderately well. Now, however, I think it might work even better. I separated the scraps from the full sheets and placed them in quart-size bags, so now I have a bag within a bag. If I do what I'm supposed to do, I will reach for the small bag first to see if it contains a scrap I can use instead of cutting into a full sheet. Before, I had to fish around in the bottom of the bag which was often a bit of a nuisance. Today, I also separated all of the cardstock from my patterned paper packets and placed it with my other cardstock. For me, that was a very good idea. For example, I thought I was almost out of Bamboo cardstock. As it turned out, I was far from out. The same ran true for 12x12-inch Colonial White and White Daisy. With the cardstock separated from the patterned paper, I have a much better idea of what I actually have, and of course, the patterned paper packets now take up much less space. As for the paper packets, the first holder is reserved for new papers from the current catalog. The next two hold current paper packets. Next to them is one that contains Level 1 kits, base pages, and miscellaneous papers such as vellum, StickStock, metallic paper, etc. The final four hold retired papers.

With the exception of three of the four that hold retired papers, each holder is labeled with what's in it. With the label making system, my son gave me a couple of tape cartridges. I should have used the one that makes clear labels. It would have looked nicer. Instead, I used the sample cartridge that was in the machine. It doesn't really matter. No one but me sees them, and I was more about function that I was looks for this particular project. While I didn't think I'd ever get done, and I made a horrendous mess in the process, I feel pretty good that I'm almost done. Knowing were everything is will make life easier, and knowing where to put it again when I'm done with it will keep things simple. All organized, my little corner will most likely be a lot more enjoyable.

For now, I'm off to the bathtub. I must have tensed up while working like a mad woman, because my back is a little sore. From the tub, I might just go to bed. It's Monday tomorrow, a real Monday, after a couple of weeks of holiday interruptions. The business world is going to wake up again, which means I'd best be on my toes and ready for it. Have a good week!