nichol magouirk

Ink Organization + Silhouette Inspiration

I purchased one of these Dymo Label Makers this week. I know, I know...these aren't new or anything. I don't know what gave me the wild hair to buy one but I did. And I love it. (I sort of have a thing for all organizational aids and products.).

 

I have a couple of different ink towers that I like to use for my stamp ink pad storage. My Stampin' Up and CTMH ink pads are just fine as they label their pads and it's easy to know what's what. However, every time I want to use a Distress Ink or Memories Ink or Staz-On Ink I have to go through them all to find the color I want. Not fun. So, I labeled them. Now, I can see and find the color I want easily. I am all about labeling everything for ease of use!

 

The inks above are my Staz-On inks. 

And here are some of my Distress Inks:

And here's a view of them in my stamp cabinet (this is where I am currently housing all stamping related product: inks, stamps, etc.). 

And here's how I'm storing the new Hero Arts Cling Stamps. I love the whole Cling Stamp concept: rubber stamps that work like clear ones. Love.

I am keeping them all in a binder, like I do my clear stamps. I am using these CD sheet protectors from Office Depot:

 

And here's how they look in the binder. I used the label maker to label the pockets so I could easily reference the item #/stamp for projects.

 

Silhouette has a brand new blog address: Silhouette Machine Blog. Kerri Bradford shared an amazing project and tips on Thursday's blog post. Check it out HERE. 

See those darling Print & Cut Advent designs Kerri used?

Um, girls who play along with Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas of Ali Edwards' December Daily every year....can you just imagine how CUTE these will be for your daily Christmas Journal?!!!! Can you guess what I'm using this year? :) And just imagine creating a wall art advent calender design. SO FUN. 

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Look for a preview of my Christmas Journal coming soon (I hope next week). I'm ready for the holidays already. :)

And want to know the BEST thing about these Advent Print & Cut designs? You see the how the days of the week are on each design? They are totally customizable. They can be moved around (i.e. next year) or removed completely if you just want to use them over and over and don't want to re-print/cut them each year! How cool is that? 

Speaking of holiday projects, I have a Halloween project that I'm hurrying to finish up. I am creating a bunch of tags to hang on this cool PB frame thing I have. I using a bunch of the Silhouette Print & Cut's for this as well. I can't wait to share it here next week!

Have a great weekend!

what do I do...

...when I am procrastinating assignments?
Create something completely random.
I have been wanting to customize the binders I'm storing my clear stamps in forever. Just never got around to actually doing it. Last night, after what could only be described as a horrendously terrible day that I'm glad is over (and yes things are wonderful and much, much better today), I sat down and just played. I grabbed some patterned papers I've had for awhile and never touched, some of my favorite alphabet dies and a couple of embossing folders and came up with this:

Close up of the spine. I used the Houndstooth Cuttlebug Embossing Folder to emboss the green paper and then added my title and embellishments on top. Nice, subtle texture.

I added punched tabs which I stamped the manufacturer info at the top of each and stapled the tabs to the top of the sheet protecters.

Here's a close up of the front cover. The title is alphabet diecuts plus stamping/embossing. The accents were cut from the patterned papers. Easy. :)

Supplies used:
Patterned Papers (American Crafts)
Diecuts (Magnolia and Mary Jane, Quickutz)
Embossing Folders (Cuttlebug)
Play Stamp (Heidi Swapp)
Alphabet Stamps (Hero Arts)
Tab Punch (McGill)
Ribbon (American Crafts & Making Memories)
Scallop Punch (Stampin' Up)

***eta: the links are now working. Thanks Bonnie & Kathy for the heads up on the bad link!***

And just in case you're wondering how I store the stamps inside the binder, HERE and HERE are the links to the blog posts where I show how I store them. I just moved all my sheet protectors/stamps to larger binders. :)

Jennifer McGuire also stores her clear stamps similar to this. Check out her storage system by clicking "Clear Stamp Storage" under Video & How To in her sidebar. (I would link you directly but for some reason I wasn't able to. Bummer.) :)

***eta: HERE is a link about Jennifer's storage system from 2Peas.***

Hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday! Take care!

Brad Storage

While I am on the subject of re-organizing and how I store stuff in my space I thought I'd share my brad storage. This is something I had struggled with for a long, long time. I used to keep my brads in little watch tins (but some of the newer bigger brads didn't fit well in those little tins) so I had to keep the bigger ones someplace else. I kept those in the clear plastic storage boxes.
Two problems with this system :
1. If you accidently knock the clear divided box on the floor, it's a big, awful mess to clean up. (Don't ask how I know this. :))
2. In keeping with my system, I really like having all like items together and my system wasn't working.

I tried a couple of things before I finally settled on these Craft Mates organizers.

They have a handy dandy little space to put a piece of cardstock so that I can tell at a glance what is inside:

I sort all my brads and eyelets by color/type. Most are by color with the exception of themed ones like Christmas and Halloween. I find that just like with buttons, I usually look for a certain brad by color rather than brand.

There are 8 compartments in each orgnaizer so it's easy to just pull out one row at a time to get the brad I need:

What I love about these caddies:
1. Each compartment opens individually. No more huge messes when I drop it on the floor because no matter how many times I say it won't happen again...it does. :)
2. ALL my brads fit in the compartments. As do my metal photo turns and findings and my eyelets. All like items are in one place. I love that.

Finally, this is what they look like on my shelf. Another plus? The compartments do not open easily so little hands can't get in and make a mess. I keep these on the bottom shelf and little man can't get in them. :)

Organization & Where To Buy Q&A

I had intended for this post to go up yesterday but I got the hair-brained idea that I should rearrange my studio and I pretty much spent all day cleaning, moving and re-organizing. If there's one thing I love it's re-organizing stuff. I'm funny like that. ;)

Anyway, this will be the first of two posts today (to make up for the no-post yesterday!).

Q:I have wanted to ask how you store your Cuttlebug dies and embossing folders?

A: Originally I stored them in a drawer at my diecutting center but the obsession and collection has grown so much that it ended up a jumbled up mess so I purchased the Cuttlebug Storage Binder and inserts to store not only my Cuttlebug dies and embossing folders but many of my Quickutz dies and folders fit in it so I can have almost everything in one place.

This is what I refer to as my "die-cutting center". This is where I keep my die-cutting machines (except for the Silhouette which is by my computer) and all my dies.

This is the Cuttlebug Storage Binder. It sits on the shelf below my die-cutting center.
Cuttlebug Embossing Folders:

Quickutz Goosebumpz Embossing Folders:

Cuttlebug Dies & Embossing Folder Sets:

Quickutz Dies:

I purchased my Storage Binder and inserts HERE.

For those Quickutz Dies that don't fit in the Cuttlebug Storage Binder I use the following:
Quickutz Magnetic EZ Store Die Sheets and also the Magnetic Storage Books.

And for those long 12" Quickutz Border Dies, I use the EZ Store Die Sheet for Border Dies.

Q: I was jsut wondering if you would share where you order your Cuttlebug Embossing dies?

A: I have purchased them from Croppin' Paradise HERE and also from Wild Ivy Memories HERE. I do purchase quite a few from my local Hobby Lobby, especially when they are offering the 30% off Cuttlebug items or the 40% a single item coupons. :)

Q: Where did you get the wall-mounted ribbon organizer?

A: I just noticed that Pottery Barn is carrying this again. It's the Wall Mounted Craft Organizer. I LOVE it.

Punch Storage

I mentioned last week that I just changed how I store my paper punches and I thought I'd share some photos of my new system today. :)
I was storing ALL my punches in two relatively small canvas bins on a shelf in my studio. Each time I needed a specific punch I would have to dig through the bins to locate the right one. Didn't work so well and I forgot about some of the punches I had that fell to the bottom of the bin because I couldn't see them. I am very visual and if I don't see something, I don't use it. :)

My new storage system may not work for everyone because it requires a door or doors in your scrap space. I have a couple of doors in mine so this works perfectly for me.
I bought two inexpensive clear pocket shoe organizers at my local discount store and hung them on two doors. For sharing purposes I hung them with the punches on the outside of the doors but normally I would have them hang on the other side, hidden from view, yet readily accessible when I need one for a project.

The only punches not pictured are my border and corner rounder punches which were being stored in another basket on my desk. I just moved them to these clear pockets, though. I like for all my like tools to be stored together. :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday. I've got to go put together a meal for one of our employees and his wife who welcomed another baby girl into their family last Friday. :) I'm making lasagna...yum!
Have a great day!

the clean studio = motivation.

I still have a bit of work to do sorting through a couple of remaining piles (the outgrown children's clothing and some scrapbook supplies recently purged) but all in all my room is back in working order. :)
I can now see my desk. The piles have found "homes" and I feel inspired. Yea!

I enjoyed my clean studio so much that I made a quick card for a friend so that I could get it mailed out today. :)

This is a standard sized card cut down to make a 4 1/4" square.

I folded the card so it's tri-fold.

Supplies:

Tree and Leaves Stamps: October Afternoon

Ledger Paper, Kraft Patterned Paper: Making Memories

Stamp Ink: Ranger Distress & Colorbox Chalk Inks

Heart Diecut: Cuttlebug

Scroll Stamp: Hero Arts

Other: String & Pop Dots

I better get going...it's almost time to go run a few errands (always!).

I'm looking forward to this evening...it's "my" night. Free from kid-duty, I can lock myself away in my studio and create to my heart's content!

Until tomorrow...

alphabet organization.

I am still working on cleaning and purging my studio, putting new systems in place and creating an inspiring space to work in. Every day I've set aside a little bit of time (or a lot of time depending on the task!) to clean out one area of my room.

Yesterday that consisted of completely going through all my individual alphabet letters, those loose chipboard letters, clear letters, etc. that until yesterday have been housed in plastic divided storage boxes. Those boxes worked okay but some of the letters simply did not fit inside the divided spaces so I would have to put any oversized letters elsewhere. Very inconvenient. I also found it inconvenient to shuffle multiple plastic boxes looking for all the letters I needed to complete a project.

So, I have been on the hunt for awhile now... looking for just the right storage for my alphabets. And I decided on tilt bins. I ordered the units with 6 bins and ordered 6 units so that each letter and number could have it's own bin. :) I placed my order from here on Monday and I couldn't believe it when I had a package at my door yesterday. Unbelieveable service!

I went through all my letters, weeded out a few I no longer wanted and here is the result:

I had found that I hadn't been looking through my alphabets because it was simply too overwhelming not to mention time consuming to go through multiple plastic boxes to find just the right letters. Now, I feel so inspired, ready to create a fun title or project. :)

Next week I'll share the rest of my alphabet storage (stickers, rub-ons, etc.).

Tomorrow I have a fun stamped card to share and Friday I have a surprise guest blogger! We will both be sharing layouts created using the same set of stamps that I can't wait to share with you.

Happy Wednesday!

reorganizing 101

About every 8-10 months or so I do a studio reorganization and purge lots of product that I haven't used, don't love anymore or just never should have bought! (ha!) I usually try to purge as I go throughout the year but once or twice a year I really get rid of stuff. And this week I have been working on just that.

Here's just a peek at some (not all) of the piles of stuff I need to list on ebay and give away:

I thought I would first show you what I didn't change, what is working for me.

This is how I have been storing most of my ribbon for about the last year or so:

These plastic divided storage boxes are low profile and keep my ribbons separated really nicely. And because they are each individually wrapped on a floss card (I use the plastic floss cards from Wal-Mart, rather than the thin chipboard ones) I can grab just the color I want (and it's easy to see which ribbon I want for a project). I used to store them by color in jars (a horrible tangled up mess) and this just works so much better for me.

I keep small leftover strands in one of the front sections. If I have a strand of ribbon that is really long or really wide (and they won't work well on a floss card) I just roll up the ribbon and place it in the box alongside the wrapped ribbon cards. Each ribbon is held in place with a tiny pin.

You'll be able to see as I show some other storage ideas that I like to sort by color a lot. I find that that is often how I search for certain items i.e. ribbon, flowers, etc. (not to mention I think they look pretty sorted like this on my shelf. ;)

Next, I moved the few wood mounted stamps I had in these hanging cubbies to a different place and I'm using these for my ribbons on spools and trims/laces that don't fit in the ribbon boxes.

You can see I have a few ribbon cards that I need to separate by color and wrap on floss cards but until then I like them hanging here on these hooks. Pretty and a reminder to get them put away! These little cubbies work perfectly for those American Crafts ribbon spools and also the Queen and Co. Felt and my lace trims. (I have toned down my ribbon/trim collection considerably, too. I love it but I had way too much!

Next, is the project I worked on yesterday: sorting my flowers by color and organizing in the plastic divided storage boxes. I used to have all my flowers in just two boxes. They were stuffed full, I couldn't find the flower I wanted without digging and it was just a mess. I first sorted out all the flowers I did not want and then I sorted the rest by color, then by type and put all like flowers together. Love the pretty rainbow of flowers.

I reorganized my plastic storage boxes to accommodate the new flower system. So happy with how this turned out. No more digging.

Because I am slimming down some of my embellishments I was able to repurpose all the storage boxes and didn't have to purchase any new ones. Love that too. More money for new stuff! ;)

I worked on a little card yesterday that I need to add some bling too and share (later this afternoon) and of course, more purging and reorganizing going on here. :)

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a note in the comments or shoot me an email.

Have a good one!

new button storage.

I had been keeping all my buttons sorted by color in little glass jars.

To change it up a little I grabbed this great glass lidded apothocary jar I purchased awhile back and wasn't using for anything else, brought it into my office and dumped all my buttons in.

Love the way it looks. I had wondered if it would inconvenience me to have to dig through the jar for the right colored button but so far so good.

I even got this tiny, cute little silver metal scoop off ebay so that I can scoop the buttons out on my work table and look through them. Fun and functional.