Organize your Stuff (round 6): Week 4: Paper

Congratulations, All! We have made it to Paper week. Noooooo…. Yes! Actually, as painful as it is, having a firm control of your paper will make the creative process SO much easier… and therefore Creative Me SO MUCH happier. Just work in 5 to 10 minute chunks. Anything more will overwhelm you, and PA Me will take over and lock OCD Me in a closet…and really, we need her to do this.

There is digi paper and real paper for scrapbooking. This layout uses digi paper (reusable and takes up only a thumb drive of space).

…but today, it is all about the real paper!

There are three different things to consider when sorting paper.

First, horizontal or vertical storage. There are different schools of thought on the subject. Most Local Scrapbook Stores (LSS) use horizontal storage to show off all those awesome patterned papers that the Inner Hoarder wants to invite home. Plus side- great visuals. Down side, if you are not doing a lot of turnover, there is dusting and light exposure to consider…and that this storage method uses a lot of real estate. However, if it works for you…awesome!

solid color cardstock

At our house, after some negotiation, the POW vetoed Creative Me and the vertical storage in favor of horizontal storage. PA Me gets out of dusting, the Inner Hoarder gets more paper, and OCD Me gets to use the label maker. The label maker makes all the difference!



by event/subject



Second, sorting method. If you get this one correct the first time around, let us know, because OCD Me and Creative Me are constantly tweaking this. For the most part, we are happy with the solid cardstock which is sorted by color. Then we sorted our patterned paper. The paper that we sorted by stripes or spots, we rarely use. Instead, we have evolved into a hybrid of manufacturer vs. activity files. Now all of the sports paper is together, and the Valentine’s Day paper is together…except if Creative Me thinks it is generic enough to live by manufacturer.

by manufacturer

Creative Me sometimes says to herself… “I just want something with that Graphics 45 feel…” or “this just needs something from Simple Stories…” or whatever manufacturer with whom she is currently in love. The cool thing is, that over time, many of the manufacturer colors will coordinate. Sometimes that “Side B” that you never thought you would use from two seasons ago will work perfect as an accent with that one piece from this season that you HAD to have (OK, Inner Hoarder got two pieces each from the whole line…shhhh….)

This leads us to number three, Purging. It is time to distract your Inner Hoarder. This is where the Jedi Mind Tricks, those blackmail pictures from High School, and the disclosure of your secret stash of snacks are all used against you. The Inner Hoarder guards her paper almost as much as her memorabilia. (This is not the memorabilia you are looking for…move along). If you have been scrapbooking for more than 5 years, this applies to you. We admit, the Inner Hoarder still has paper from 1998 that she is sure that we will use…someday. The POW and OCD Me knows that Creative Me never will…but try telling that to the Inner Hoarder. If leggings and bell bottoms can come back into style, so can this paper (no, it will not).

We challenge you to purge or “donate” 10 pieces of paper…or tell that Inner Hoarder that she can only buy 1 piece for every 3 that you use…purging the 10 pieces will probably be easier. It will hurt. But in the end it will make you happier. (Schools, Girl Scout units, Women’s shelters and Children’s Hospitals are great places to donate).

As usual, here is the Mr Linky if you want to share your blog or your picture of your paper storage...