It seems I am constantly reorganizing my studio! One set up will work for awhile, then becomes hard to manage. Or I need a spot for something, but something else is already there. A challenge I've had for awhile is keeping my rubber and clear stamps where I can easily see them and, thus, use them! I do use digital images a lot, but I often find "touch and feel" stamps that I just
have to have. I set up an area just for stamping, but it became covered with new stamps that I left out so I wouldn't forget to use them. Then my stamp area dwindled to a small patch barely large enough for an ink pad, piece of paper and the stamp! As much as I would love to have those lovely narrow shelves to display -- and SEE -- the stamps I have, there just isn't that much wall space in my studio. Well, not yet, but that's a plan for another day.
Take the stamp dilemna and add to it unruly ribbon bins and a solution began to emerge. Hmmm......
This is the area in question and I have already begun the transition. On the left is a pegboard full of ribbon, some in bins and some on hooks. Below the ribbon (a better picture is below) is my stamping area. On the right side of the picture above is a pegboard full of adhesives, stickers, embellishments, and decorative scissors. Below that are two CD/DVD shelf units that I've been using for some of my clear stamps that are stored in CD jewel cases and other tools.
The ribbons are sorted by color, but not convenient for finding specific widths or patterns. The wire bins had to be lined with thin foam sheets to keep the spools from rolling out.
Here I have moved some of the ribbon to the CD/DVD shelves. The cool thing about adjustable shelves is that there are lots holes drilled already. To keep the spools from rolling off these shelves I have inserted narrow dowels into the open holes above the shelf. This gives a railing about 1/2" above the shelf, just enough to act as a guard. I have some sticky measuring tape to put on the edge of some of the shelves so I can measure at the shelf and not find myself with a stack of spools at my work space.
Now, here is the stamping area. Believe me, there is a stamping pad and cleaning pad under all of this! When the bins are empty of ribbon I will have my jewel cases of clear stamps in them. You can see a few of them on the left behind the little wooden box. The cabinet under all the stuff, is a Sears Craftsman that is one of my favorite organizers. The top has a flat wooden work area. It also has a built in electrical strip which is really convenient for the heat and glue guns. The sides are also punched for pegboard hooks. The five drawers vary in depth from quite shallow (perfect for tools like scissors and exacto knives) to deeper for larger items like spray cans .
This bin unit is from Ikea and perfect for segmented organizing. I've been cleaning this out, too. But for now my focus is on the boxes on top. These are full of wood mounted rubber stamps. Even though the boxes are marked by brand or holiday or other categories, I usually don't bother getting them out because the top of the unit is 5 feet high and I am barely 5 foot 3, so I've often had them dumping on my head. Some of the wood mounted stamps might soon find themselves converted to cling, which will make them easier to store. Other stamps might find themselves on Ebay.
As you can see, I am far from finished with this project, but at least I have a plan that will work ---- until I get another bug to reorganize! Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully I've passed on some ideas. Please leave a comment with your favorite storage and organizing ideas.
