So this is where I am today.

• Where have all my tea towels gone?  So, so completely weird.  I have done all the laundry and folded everything yet I cannot find one single tea towel  in the entire house.  What?  How is this even possible?  I mean, seriously, where could they have gone?  My house is not very big and only has one floor!  Please expect wet dishes if you come over and heaven forbid you actually spill something.
• Magnus asked me what metaphorically meant yesterday.  Huh?  I had to ask him to repeat himself 3 times ‘cause I was so shocked.  I mean how to do you explain "metaphorically" to a four year old?  Plus, where did he hear that ‘cause I am pretty sure it is not part of the everyday language of our house!  Oh and he has also started adding blah, blah, blah to the end of stories he is telling.  As in - Nana came over the other day and blah, blah, blah...  I have to admit it makes me giggle.  He says in such a serious voice and with just the right inflection that it seems completely adorable in his little kidlet voice.
• Homework is punishment for parents.  I think teachers know you did stuff the night before when you were a kid so they convince your child to do the same to you.  The good news is I think I deserve an A+ on my project!  It really rocks!  (OK, before you think I did Harper's project I am not that mom.  I cracked the whip and made her work like a dog to get it done.  The lesson should last for about four weeks until school is finished. :)  Next year I am sure this lesson will need teaching all over again!)
• And then back to tea towels.  They are fairly new too.  Still fluffy and absorbent.  The laundry room is literally right next to the kitchen.  Open concept between the rooms actually.  I just don't get it!  How. Can. They. Disappear. Completely???  Shaking my head...

Ok now on to my Momma Bear.  As we were hanging out in our jammies yesterday morning (I figured as long as she was sick I might as well participate in the lounging in the jammies part...) we were talking about my house looking like a small tornado when through it (also called kidlet 1 and kidlet 2).  I am forever feeling like my mom has a perfectly tidy house and mine looks like, well, a tornado went through it.  She, being the super awesome mom that she is, is always reassuring me that my house is fine and that her house was always messy when we were little.  (I have a hard time imagining this cause I always remember house cleaning perfection.)  I, of course, mention you and how I was blabbing to the whole world my love of stacking and my messy ways and you know what?  She let me in on a secret.

She loves drawers. 

More specifically the magic of a closed drawer. 

She swears that the next time I am over if I look in her drawers I will find mess.  Now I have to admit I am skeptical.  I mean my mom's house is stunningly tidy.  Always has been.  (Maybe if we analyse me we will realize that I just still rebelling over a tidy childhood... LOL . Nope.  Too big of girl for that! )  So, back to my mom and her tidy perfection.  She claims that she needs everything to look tidy but she says that if I open drawers I will find she shoves things in when she is cleaning.  I am pretty sure I am going to have to take her up on her offer to look in her drawers because like I said I am pretty skeptical.  I think her "messy" and my "messy" might be two different things.

So why bring this up?  Well, as way to introduce my next storage solution naturally! 

Drawers are amazing for storage.  Especially 'cause they hide things that are hard to store neatly.  I don't really have too many drawers in my scrap space but I do have boxes.  As I mentioned before I store most of my stuff in my shelf from Ikea.  I rely heavily on the open basket concept for most of my supplies.  But I have hidden a few things with these.  What I like to think of as "closed" baskets because you cannot see into them.  This is what it looks like. 

 

I have the whole bottom row filled with baskets that you cannot see into unless you pull them out.  And you would not believe what they hide!

Want to see? 

I know you do. ;) You are secretly enjoying my messy ways 'cause it makes you feel better doesn't it?

Storage for extra supplies that I like to have on hand so I don't run out.

Fabric pieces - yup I just toss them in!

This is my favorite - a basket that holds blank mini albums and items ready to be altered.

And one basket for the kidlets and their art supplies.  They can just take out what they want and then toss it back when they are done.

Now, how do I decide what goes in these?  Well it is all supplies that I don't need to see to remember to use.  I know that if I want to start a mini album that I will look in the basket to find one that inspires me.  If I think a page needs some texture and want to use fabric...Well, you get the idea. 

Supplies that I need to see such as embellishments, stickers or chipboard I keep in open baskets.  Supplies that I don't need visual cues from are hidden away.  This helps to keep things looking tidy (even if it is just surface tidy like my Momma Bear says). 

I also have boxes like this that serve the same purpose.

Inside I have stuff like this.

My paints - upside down so I can see the colors.  I just roughly group them into warm and cool colors.  The lid goes on the box and you don't see it.

And, umm, my ribbons.  I swear it normally looks better but I dropped the box last week and I have been too lazy to straighten them. :)

I guess what I find is that I like to have some things out in the open 'cause if I don't see it I don't use it but that doesn't apply to ALL my supplies.  If I had EVERYTHING out in the open I think I would get overloaded which can hinder my creativity. 

I would suggest looking for supplies that you reach for all the time that you know you don't need to see to remember to use.  Those are the ones that are good candidates for hiding in closed baskets or drawers. 

I mean, messy people can't pretend to be neat with EVERYTHING!! 

I'm posting a really quick message cause Momma Bear is sick and I am taking care of her.  I mean, she took care of me when I was little and sick and it is only right that I return the favor. Plus she has pneumonia and nobody should have to take care of themselves when they have that!

It has totally thrown the order of my day off though...oh and the fact that I "forgot" that my grade 5 "Why Choose Canada" project is due tomorrow.  You know, I could have sworn I had completed grade 5 already!!

So my house is a disaster due to homework and a sick momma bear (they haven't made the mess directly but it has evolved from me not following every person in the house around yelling - you should pick that up!)

This of course disqualifies me from offering any organization tips for the day.  BUT I will be back with some hiding the mess secrets tomorrow.  That is, after I get through the million emails that have piled up today (I sound really popular don't I??? LOL)

Hope you are all well out there in cyber world. :)

First let me say I am so happy to hear that there are other like-minded stackers out there! :)

And Michele L. left me this comment yesterday...  (my other blog)

But my question is this: how do you stack brads, buttons and flowers? LOL

Love your sense of humor!  I did imagine taking a photo of brads somehow all stacked up just to make you laugh but then realized that I would probably spend too much time on it...:)  

Obviously stacking doesn't work for everything but I do have a few more tricks up my sleeve. ;) Today I thought I would show you my storage for my scraps.  You know, those little bits of paper that as a scrapbooker we all feel the need to hang on to?  I try to be "tough" with my scraps and only save what realistically I will use but I make a lot of scraps!  For the longest time I used something like this except that mine was one big pouch - not divided into three sizes.  It was 12x12 and had a handle on the top so I hooked it on the back of my chair.  It worked for me for a long time except that the small bits always slid to the bottom and I was constantly digging out each section of the pouch to see my options.  Eventually it was time for an upgrade.  So off to Ikea I went and found this.  Super cheap and just right for my purposes.  

Remember I scrap on a dining room table so I decided to utilize all that wonderful empty space under it with my little rolling cart from Ikea.  The unit has three drawers so I divide my paper scraps as follows - warms (reds, oranges, yellows), cools (blues, greens, purples) and neutrals (blacks, whites, browns, greys).  The cart sits right next to me (my chair is to the right of the cart).

And you know what?  I use my scraps all the time now.  They are so easy to grab and since the drawers are big it is easy to rifle through looking for just the right piece.  My kidlets also know that this stuff is fair game for homework (Harper) or random cutting/crafts (Magnus).  I really, really love this system.  I think what always happened to me before was I tried to put my scraps into too small of a space and it made looking for scraps feel like a bit of a chore.  Not now.  It is so easy to grab something from here and get right to work.

For me organization needs to be easy to maintain but it also needs to be easy to see/use.  If I don't see it, I don't use it.

That's it for today.  Seems a bit more normal than yesterday doesn't it??  LOL  Back tomorrow with more :)

 

I'm a stacker.

Yup, I like to pile things.  It seems like a good solution to me when I am quickly tidying.  Stack it all up into a pile and it instantly looks neat (to me at least!).

Want to see?

My bed side table.  A quick stack of all my various bedtime reading materials (and other weird kid debris) and it seems organized to me.

All my class materials and samples.  One stack and they are all together (and I know where to find them).

Umm, maybe this one doesn't look neat but here is it - stacked felt.  (I am serious when I tell you I stack!)

Magazines I am reading.  Stacked nicely beside my work area.

OK, now before you start imagining me as some crazy lady with stacks everywhere in my house I don't stack everything.  :) Nor do I compulsively stack, lol. 

I have been struggling with neatness for my whole life (I did mention my mother saying a mess follows me everywhere I go, right?) and I am trying to improve. BUT after spending forever trying to be neat like others I realized that it wasn't working for me.  So I started to look for things I that I did naturally without a lot of struggle.

I stack.  After the kids go through the DVDs to find a movie (how is possible that they need to take out EVERY movie to decide??) I stack.  So quick and painless.

So I started to apply that idea to my scrap stuff.  As most of you know scrapping can get messy - fast!  And it gets hard to create when there is too much mess.  BUT I don't want to feel like I am spending forever cleaning up.  I need it to be quick and painless.  I certainly don't want to waste valuable scrappy time, lol.

So I started to stack my supplies.  But of course it doesn't work for everything so I adapted.  Remember of the simple storage solution last week?  Think of those as stacks on their sides. 

One thing I do truely stack is my paper.

Above is my cardstock and below is my patterned paper.

WHAT?

I know what kind of solution is that? But you know what it works for me.  I add the paper to one cubby of my Ikea shelves and it stays contained.  No need for something fancy - I told you it wasn't going to be magazine solution pretty.  I am quite happy to have all my paper jumbled up together.  Can I find things?? Well, of course I can!  I just grab a stack and flip through it.  Do I have to worry if I pull out five options and then only use one?  NO.  I just quickly add them back to the top of the stack.  Five second clean up suits me!

I find this especially helpful with cardstock.  I love happy color accidents.  You never know when two unusual colors are going to end up together and make a happy color accident.  That cetainly is not going to happen if I have all the reds together and separate from all the greens and purples!  I cannot tell how liberated I felt when I realized that I didn't have to do it the way I was "supposed" to do it.  

Now I am not saying this is going to work for everyone.  I know having papers all stacked up and jumbled up together is going to drive a few of you over the edge.  But you know what?  That is ok too!  What I guess I am trying to say is you need to look at you and find out what works for you.  Stop comparing yourself to picture perfect scrap spaces and figure out what works for you and your space. I can bet you will be happier with your space if you do!

I didn't stop there though. I found another paper solution that works with my stacking love.

Paper racks that fit right into my shelves (I can't find these any more so no links - sorry).  I used these to keep a few things separate from my "main" stacks.  Projects I am working on, specialty papers or even just some new supplies that I want to play with.  No real rules to it.  Just what I feel I want to have separate - and it changes all the time.

So side by side this is what my paper looks like right now.

Seems organized enough to me.  And I am definitely happy with it.

And because organization is never done...

I have been toying with the idea of adding these to my paper solution.

I am not sure if vertical will work for me but I was thinking of breaking up my patterned paper a bit.  The pile is getting big (got to stop shopping!) so I thought it might help but I am thinking I will probably go with these. (but I do want to give vertical a chance - you never know!)

My system is definitely not finished and I am always working to make it better.  I don't want elaborate solutions because I know I will not maintain it.  I know myself well enough to realize that storage and organization needs to be as easy as possible.

Ok so now I feel just a bit naked in front of you all!  Please advert your eyes....;)

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More crazy Crystal storage solutions tomorrow.  Bet you'll be back just to read how strange I really am!

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Hope everyone in the US is having a great Memorial Day today:)

 

 

I may or may not have a 1/4" circle cut into the tip of my thumb.  Well about 3/4 of a circle.  At least I know I am alive - the heartbeat in my thumb lets me know that fully!

Sorry about he fuzzy picture but I had to take it left handed - what do lefties do when they need to take a photo?  The button is on the right. It really is a right-handed world!  I might just have to design the first left handed camera...

If I haven't scared you off with my sillies lately then I am surprised!  A girl has got to celebrate though, right?

After all the emails I got last week from the other messy scrapbookers out there who were so happy to hear I was a messy girl I thought this week I would share some of my organization (ha!) tips.  Well they are really more like - how can I contain this mess just enough so my hubby doesn't throw me out - kind of tips.

As us messy ones know cleaning up is a pain.  So the idea is to make life as simple as possible when it comes to organization.  If it is too much work then after about a week it starts to slide.  You know what I mean?   

So that is the plan for the week.  You are going to see my messy ways and how I combat them - well sort of combat them.  :)  I am not promising magazine gorgeous solutions.  I am talking about reality.  I mean who really has their embellishments color coded and labelled in perfectly matching containers?  I know I don't!

[It seems as if I might loose some tidy, color-coding readers of this blog this week but I promise I am really just jealous of your natural ability to be tidy...:) Seriously.]