| With the hundreds of thousands of scrapbooking | | | | You also need a place to store your tools and |
| papers and embellishments available on the market, it | | | | embellishments that are not easily filed. One good way |
| is easy for your craft area to become overwhelmed | | | | of doing this is by using baskets and a shelving system. |
| by scrapbooking supplies. This becomes an especially | | | | Store cutting tools in one basket, glues in another, |
| difficult challenge for scrapbookers who live in small | | | | markers and paint in a third, and so on. By buying |
| spaces such as apartments or dorm rooms. Never | | | | baskets in bulk, you will save more money then if you |
| fear--with a little effort you can follow a few easy | | | | use photo boxes, and the display will be uniform and |
| steps to create a space for your things that is | | | | attractive. Remember to label your baskets so you |
| organized, clean, and beautiful. | | | | save time when you're looking for a particular item. |
| You will likely need the most time and space to | | | | If you need to save space, however, a basket and |
| organize your papers. A good option for this is a paper | | | | shelving system may not work for you. Instead, keep |
| saver, as made by most of the larger scrapbooking | | | | all your tools and supplies stored somewhere safe and |
| companies. Usually made from plastic, these folder-like | | | | out of the way and keep a "kit" of your most used |
| portfolios are large enough to hold hundreds of papers | | | | items close at hand in a photo box, basket, tote bag, or |
| and include tabs to separate your pages into | | | | other container. That way when you only have time to |
| categories for easy organization. If you find that you | | | | do a quick page or two, you can use your kit to |
| do not have enough room in a paper saver, you might | | | | complete it and then quickly clean up. On the other |
| also find it useful to invest in a filing cabinet or one of | | | | hand, when you can devote an entire day to |
| the sets of drawers made especially for scrapbooking. | | | | scrapbooking, you can pull your supplies out of storage |
| These are available at all craft stores and online. | | | | to complete many pages of your album. |
| Once you own a tool for organization, the next step is | | | | Try to remember that keeping your space clean and |
| to decide how you want to categorize your supplies. | | | | organized will make scrapbooking easier and more |
| The option most often used is color, but you can also | | | | enjoyable in the future. By labeling your storage |
| separate your paper into themes (holidays, wedding, | | | | containers and sorting your papers, you will be able to |
| etc) or by marking, such as solids and stripes. You can | | | | quickly find the tools you need. Organization is the key |
| also use this system to organize flat embellishments, | | | | to stress-free scrapbooking and creating beautiful |
| such as die cuts or stickers. | | | | albums. |