Good morning! It's the final day of the My Favorite Things Stamps 5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash post series. Today is all about stencils, embellishments, and tools. Stencils are pretty simple! They're thin and don't take up a lot of space. Mine are stored in the same container as my 6 x 6 background stamps. I put them into 6 x 6 scrapbook page protectors. These were some that have been sitting at my house for years, so I thought I would use them up before I purchase 6 x 6 envelopes.
Each one is labeled so that I can find them easily, and then alphabetized.
Now embellishments. . . Those are a little trickier because they come in so many shapes and sizes! Lately I have purchased mostly embellishments that come in tiny zip-loc bags. This narrow little plastic bin (Walmart) is the perfect width to simply stand the bags in and flip through when I'm looking for something specific. My Nuvo Jewel Drops are in the same size container just behind the embellishments. These bins are on top of my stamp storage. You may not like "clutter" on top of your stamp storage, but I need to keep anything that I want to use in sight. Otherwise I find it two years later when nobody is using it any more anyway. ;-)
The embellishments I use most end up near the front, and the ones that I use less, near the back.
I have more embellishments . . . Here's one more draw of mostly shaker card materials or Chibi Lights.
Other inhabitants of the rolling drawers include embossing powders, glitter, peals and rhinestones (in case they come back one day!), my distress inks, my MISTI and an extra Scor-Pal, and a drawer stuffed full of lettering pens and markers.
Let's talk tools now. Honestly, I have too many tools to show all of them, or this post could have fifty pictures! A few that I use the most are shown here though--my old Genesis Cutter is still going strong after years and years. I'm a little concerned about getting replacement parts for it since I don't think they are available any more. But I'll use it until I can't use it any more. It's been a great cutter. I keep scoring boards (both Scor-It and Scor-Buddy by Scor-Pal) in the drawer just below the paper cutter. When I need to score a card base. I just pull the drawer out and score it right in the drawer. That way I don't need one more thing on the counter top. I use the Scor-Buddy mostly, but when I have a really heavy cardstock (110 lb. or above), I move the Score-Pal and use the Scor-It instead.
I use my light tent more days of the week than I don't use it, for sure! This one is newer and smaller than my last one, which was just taking up too much prime counter top real estate. This one has little LED light strips and works pretty well. I have another light on the side that I occasionally use when I want a shiny little embellishment to catch the light. Another thing that I use a LOT and didn't show was the air compressor that I use with my Copic markers. The air compressor is in one of the upper cabinets, so I just pull the hose down and use it when I need to.
Well, you've probably heard more than you'll ever need to know about how my studio space is arranged! But I hope that some of the ideas will be helpful anyway. I've got many ideas from others, and I'm thankful that other shared their ideas with me. Hope you get a chance to go visit the MFT Stamps blog for many more organization ideas!
