Organization - Cardstock & Embellishments

My crafty area is nearly clean now, so I thought I would wrap up by sharing my storage solutions for the rest of my crafty stash.

Cardstock:

The first step in wrangling my cardstock was figuring out how I'm going to store it. I have a rather large collection of cardstock from several manufacturers, and I needed a good storage solution. Since paper is very heavy, I couldn't just throw all of my cardstock into one container - as it would then be impossible to move, as well as go through to pull out specific colors.

So, I went to my local office supply store and got some letter storage boxes (I don't have a link, though they are similar to these - only a lot less expensive). These boxes measure 10½" x 13½" x 3½", and there were several color choices. I was able to organize the cardstock by color, and I used a white box with a color label for any colors I was missing (ex. orange or purple). I stacked these boxes under my storage shelf, where they're perfectly out of the way, but still within reach if I need them.

Before I put all of the cardstock away, I grabbed 3 sheets of cardstock out of each package. I cut 2 of them in half and folded them to create A2 card bases (4¼ by 5½"), two top-folding and two side-folding. And the 3rd sheet was cut into four 4¼ by 5½" panels that I can use for layering or die-cutting. That was quite a bit of work, but it left me with a lot of ready-to-use card bases and gave me a very good idea of all the different colors I had in my stash.

There are a few packs of cardstock that I didn't put away:
-- My basics - white, cream, kraft, grays, navy and black -- I use them all the time, and I needed to have them within reach. I also needed to know just how many I had left, so I can re-order before running out of an essential color (like white).
-- Rainbow and sampler assortments. -- I kept these out just in case I run out of card bases or need extra of a particular color to die-cut.

I'm really pleased with this system, and glad I took the time to pre-cut those card bases. I'm already noticing that it makes card-making quicker and more convenient.

Embellishments:
The first step in organizing my embellishments was to put them in categories. I divided them by type, such as sequins, flowers, enamel dots, etc. After that, I went through each stack and took out any pieces I didn't think I would use immediately -- things like duplicate colors/back-ups, seldom used metal charms and ephemera, etc. I put them in a clear plastic box with a lid. I'm going to make an effort to pull something from that box at least once per month and find a way to use it.

The rest of the embellishments were stacked in photo boxes I got from Ikea. I used small plastic bags for embellishments that were open or had a lot of small non-adhesive pieces (ex. die-cuts, buttons, wood veneer).

I gave enamel dots their own separate box, both because they're my most frequently used embellishment and because I have such a large variety now. I organized them by color/color families. I still kept them in their packaging, just so they wouldn't get dusty.

My sequins are stored in the Craftmates Pop'nLock (and smaller version) containers I got from Amazon a few months ago. They're organized by color and by size if I have multiple sizes. I have a few fun mixes in there, too. Winnie and Walter always sends a little envelope with free sequins if you order them directly, so I've got a few of those packs to have fun with.

Lastly, my flowers are all in large basket. I kept them in their original packaging or in Ziploc bags to avoid getting them dusty. The flowers were the most challenging to organize because they're the biggest. I need to try using them on projects more often, I think.

And that's it! Everything is neatly organized and should be much easier to find (and use).