How to Get Organized for Scrapbooking

As your interest in scrapbooking grows, your stash of supplies will probably grow too. Take some time to think about how you like to work, and use those ideas to determine the best way to set up your scrapping area.

Scrapbooking Storage

Take your personal scrapbooking style into consideration when carving out a storage area for all your scrapping supplies. For example:

• If you prefer mainly cardstock and letter stickers, you’ll need less storage than someone who likes to experiment with every new line of patterned paper.
• If you use color as a starting point, you may want to store different items (flowers, letter stickers, or brads, for instance) of the same color in the same spot.
• If you scrap by season, you’ll probably want to store seasonal items together.

Though you can buy a lot of storage components made specifically for scrapbooking purposes, first consider adapting containers that you already have or can find in a thrift store. If you have a lot of space, store colorful items conspicuously in clear jars. If storage is tight, look for divided boxes that you can stack.

Papers can be stored in vertically oriented holders (a space-saving option) or on stacked shelves, which take up more space but allow you to see what you have. Turn to scrapbooking magazines and books and online galleries of scrap spaces for more ideas. Expect your organization to be an evolving process.

How to Set Up Your Scrapping Work Space

 

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Carve out a work space that’s just for scrapping. Your scrapping spot should have:

• A solid surface
• Good lighting
• Easy access to your supplies

If possible, keep supplies in a large rolling tote that you can move around with you as you work. You can outfit an unused closet or area under a stairwell with a desk, lighting, and shelves, or you can add a small desk to a bedroom or den.

If you have to store supplies in a visible space, such as open shelving, consider playing up the beauty of your stash by storing colorful items in clear jars. Put items that aren’t as visually pleasing in baskets or covered boxes. Wherever you choose to work, make sure that you can clean up quickly when guests arrive (storing items in a closet or closing a scraproom door can help). Also, keep sharp tools and tempting embellishments out of reach of small children.

How to Outfit a Scrapbooking Room

If you’re lucky enough to be able to devote an entire room to scrapbooking, start by dividing the room into three stations. Designate one station for each of the following tasks:

• Cutting
• Painting and other wet work
• Sewing machine work or tasks involving large tools

Then stock up on the following supplies and furnishings:

• Self-healing mat: This protective mat can turn almost any flat surface into a work area. It’s made to withstand repeated cutting and scratching without getting damaged.
• Rolling tote: This bag can hold a large stash of supplies. You can find special totes that are meant to hold tools—or you can just create one yourself out of a tackle box.
• Portfolio: Use a binder or bound book to store scrapbook pages in progress.
• Cabinets or shelving: If you have the means to install cabinets and shelves in your scrapping room, you’ll increase your storage options greatly. Look for shelving units that are made specifically for scrap storage, or customize pieces you find elsewhere.
• Desk: Pick a desk that has a large work surface and some storage for frequently used supplies. If you like to stand while you work, invest in a tall desk.
• Chair: If you like to sit while you work, find a comfortable chair, as you’ll probably be sitting in it for hours at a time. Office supply stores carry a variety of work chairs.
• Flooring material: The floor in your scrapping room will end up covered with stray pieces of paper, lost embellishments, and the occasional paint spill. Choose a hard, nonporous surface, such as vinyl, or lay inexpensive area rugs in spots that are likely to get messy. You can also cover the floor in self-adhesive 19.7″-square modular carpet tiles, which you can remove and replace individually in the event of damage. Carpet company InterfaceFLOR® has a broad selection of stylish options for sale at www.flor.com.

In addition to supplies and the room layout, think about a color scheme for the space. Scrapping is creative work, so the hues you choose should inspire you. You may want to keep your room neutral and soothing or bright and energizing.

How to Organize Photos

Photos come in two varieties: prints and digital images.

• Prints: You’ve probably been taking photos for a long time and have a big backlog of prints. You may also own prints that were given to you by friends and family. And even if you have a digital camera, you may have prints of some of those images.
• Digital: Depending on the size of your camera’s memory card, you can shoot anywhere from dozens to hundreds of digital photos in a single session. Though that storage capacity lets you take tons of pictures so you can pick the best shot, you may end up with more photos than you need. Edit out the bad shots as soon as you upload them to your computer.

Photo Storage

Developing a system for storing and retrieving both prints and digital photos will make your scrapbooking easier. If you have a lot of images, go through them and throw out (or delete) blurry, unflattering, and meaningless photos. Save any heritage photos, though, regardless of their photographic quality or any damage they may have sustained. You can always have them restored by a professional or fix them yourself with photo editing software.

• Storing prints: Think about how you like to store your prints. For example, you may want to keep all your vacation shots together or organize your photos by year. Once you’ve categorized your collection, store the prints in containers that are archival-quality so they won’t degrade the prints over time. Then devise a system for labeling the containers. For instance, you can label the outside of the box with a general topic and then use dividers on the inside. Buy more containers than you need so you’ll have room for expansion.
• Storing digital photographs: If your computer doesn’t already have a photo management software package on it, buy one at an office supply store. This software lets you store your images digitally, view them, and assign keywords to them, helping you to locate them quickly. As a safeguard against hard drive failure, back up your photos to CDs or DVDs and store them in a safe place. It’s also wise to get prints of your best digital images, just in case something happens to the digital files.

Don’t feel compelled to scrap every print. Use photo albums with archival-quality sleeves to store the majority of your prints, then focus on scrapping only the best photos and stories.