Expedit Handmade Number Labels

Remember these Expedits?

I said I made numbered labels for the cubes. Here are the tricks to doing this! There are several supplies needed...a punch, number stamps, ink, dauber, stamp cleaner, cardstock, glue dots, and a stamp block if you're using clear stamps or unmounted rubber stamps.

I punched out 50 - yes really 50 - of these labels using one of my punches from EK Success. The size is perfect to fit on the edge of the Expedit shelves. I used the top label and only put the cardstock in the punch far enough to punch those out. I was using scraps of Colonial White cardstock from Close To My Heart.

In this dvd case are the clear number stamps I used. No idea who they are from. Judging by my post it (I love those things!) inside the case, the stamps are from either Clear Dollar Stamps (no longer in business) or Studio G. I used Black Distress Ink from Close To My Heart. That ink is still available and comes paired with a Chocolate Distress Ink cube.

I decided to number the cubes with a 3 digit number. I have 2 Expedits so I figured starting with 101 would let me know something was in paper Expedit in the 1st cube. So I had to stamp 101 -125 and 201 -225. The 200's are my albums and cardstocks.

Here they are all stamped. That took the longest amount of time because I had to keep swapping numbers and cleaning stamps. I used a dauber to make the edges a distressed, roughed up black. I didn't want them to look brand new. I attached them to the Expedit shelves with glue dots! So they are very easily removable and won't damage the finish on the face of the shelf.

I tried for weeks to find some cute metal numbered tags. I didn't want to spend a ton of money. I found some cute Tim Holtz ones, but the package didn't contain enough numbers. I looked on Etsy and found great stuff, but they were over $50 for I needed. No way was I spending 50 bucks on some numbered plates. That's 50 bucks I wouldn't be able to use on scrapping goodies!!! Then I realized something.....how on earth do I attach them? What if I drill holes into my Expedits and hate them or need to make a change later? I'm totally up a creek with holes! No thanks. What I came up with cost me zip. Zero. Zilch. Nothing! I used scraps of cardstock even! I'm very happy with this system and I can always change it and there's no damage.

Album, Cardstock & Paper Organization

Today, I'm going to share with you my organization for my albums, cardstock, and papers. This system is all being changed up now that I have made a 100% commitment to pocket scrapbooking, but I will share with you the changes when they are finished.

I love paper. I make no bones about it. If you don't absolutely love pretty paper, I am not sure we can be friends. I mean, how can you not love paper? I mean seriously!

I have tens of thousands of sheets of paper. No joke. I used to buy multiple sheets of my favorites, the ones I couldn't live without, the ones I knew I would use over and over and over and over etc. I have paper for almost every theme imaginable. I even had cowboy paper....I'm not a cowboy. Don't know any....don't ride horses either. One of our dogs used to wear bandanas so I think I started adding to the theme because of Oscar. I'll use the paper with some of my farm visits. No shortage of them around here! That's one of the reasons I absolutely looooooooooove living in the Finger Lakes.

All of my 12x12 papers are in 13x15 zipper bags. Each bags contains one collection. And by collection I mean Apple Cider from BoBunny, Silhouette from Close to My Heart, Alpine Frost from SEI, Cupcake from Basic Grey....does that give you an idea what I mean? I sort by theme not brand because...well...you'll see in a minute. A picture is worth a thousand words or 12 thousand in this case. :)

Each cubby on my Expedit contains a theme or several themes. The Expedit isn't labeled with the categories.  I kept that list on my MacBook. I made numbered labels for my Expedits....yup that is plural. I have 2 of the 25 cube Expedits. You'll see the second one soon! I should do a blog post about the labels I made, too.

So that's my messy paper collection. Ugh. Remember, I don't like messy. I'm probably the most anal scrapbooker alive. I have to clean as I scrapbook. I can't stand having the table covered with stuff. I just get so stressed. It's so weird. Anyway, this paper arrangement is in for a major overhaul!

My second Expedit holds my mountain of cardstock and my completely and empty albums. A few themes of my paper collection are stored here.....they don't fit in the other one. The top rows have empty and full albums. The bottom contains fabric bins from Ikea that hold my cardstock. The cardstock is all sorted by color. I have plastic inserts in each bin that divide the colors. I sort the cardstock by ROY G BIV and Browns and Blacks. Browns include the creams and ivories. Backs include the greys and whites. The cardstock sheets are all standing up in these bins. This Expedit, too, is going to be remodeled in the near future.

I know Ikea does not make the Expedit anymore. Big, huge sad face. I love them! I know I'm not the only crafter who loves them. Ikea replaced the Expedit with the Kallax. I believe the Kallax only comes in 20 cubes though. I could be totally wrong! I haven't seen them in person yet. I will next month when I go to Charlotte! I'm off to Raleigh for a huge crop. My understanding is that inside of the cubes are the same dimensions so they will still hold scrapbook albums!

Stop back tomorrow for a post on the numbered labels I created for my Expedits. I'm going to dig out the photos right now! :)

Raskog Adventure Part 2

I've been asked about how I transport my Raskog carts. I drive a small SUV. It is bigger than a shoebox and does the job. I have a little thing for hauling stuff around. I'm always on the go.

Well, my Raskogs do travel well! This the carts all packed up leaving Crop on the Cape. This is the cart on the right side of my SUV. Yes, they are standing up on my backseat. Yup, they are seat-belted in! They didn't move an inch and they had a seven hour ride home.

The plastic bins you see are the Medium Organizers from Close To My Heart. They fit perfectly and they hold a ton of cards for pocket scrapbooking!

And the cart on the left side. The sun was shining right in my face as I was loading up. Sure beats the snow that started off the weekend! This cart doesn't have the organizers from CTMH. It has the Antonius bins from Ikea. They be ordered online as well.

Raskog Cart Assembly

Way back in March when I attended Crop on the Cape, I made a pit stop at Ikea and picked up a couple of Raskog carts. I went with the dark grey ones that look like graphite. They are also available in cream and turquoise. 

The are very reasonably priced. Assembly is required. They went together much faster and easier than I expected. I did bring a few tools with me because I was going to assemble them in a hotel room. Seriously. I did assembled them in a hotel room the night before Crop on the Cape. I left early because there was a blizzard - literally - hitting western New York and I was not about to miss the Crop on the Cape over some snow...ok a lot of snow! Over a foot of snow fell at my house in less than 12 hours. Good times.....if your'e a shovel. 

one of the carts still boxed up

I believe the only tool I needed that I brought was a screwdriver. I brought a flathead and a Phillips head just to be one the safe side.

opening the box

The box is kind of  funky shaped and not exactly on the light side. I wouldn't want to walk around an Ikea carrying one!

everything laid out from the box

Everything you need except for the screwdriver is included. The instructions are all photos.

very important contents!

In the photo above, you can see a cardboard tray inserted into one of the cart bins/shelves. It contains all of the important parts and pieces. I would could everything and make sure you have all of the pieces and parts before continuing on. The instruction book contains a list with photos and quantities.

more important parts

This photo shows the bars/tubes that hold everything together. They become the sides of the cart.

The huge (insert sarcasm here) instruction book.

Counting up my pieces and parts!

Double checking everything. That little wrench came with all of the little bits. The screwdriver is mine...well my hubby's.

Assembling what will become the legs at some point in the evening.

These are what I call the bottom or feet. They were kind of annoying to put together. I whacked myself in the face attempting to put them together. That step wasn't in the instruction book. I highly recommend skipping that step! :)

Hey the parts are starting to look like something! That hotel print on the wall is just as ugly now as it was that night. I wasn't even at a Motel 6! Hello 1983! hehehehe

Wahoo! The first bin is attached!

All three bins are attached. No idea why I skipped a photo after the second bin was attached.

And we have wheels!! We can zone around the hotel room.

The Graphite Twins! It took me about 40-45 minutes to assemble the first cart. The second cart took me less than 30 minutes. I was also watching a bit of HGTV while assembling. I don't have HGTV at home. Love those Property Brothers!

Oh and if you don't have an Ikea nearby, no worries! Neither do I. The Boston Ikea is over six hours away from my house. That's one way. You can purchase these carts online and the shipping is significantly less than a tank of gas.

Coming Along...

Oh the joys of moving! Unpacking and discovering how you labeled boxes isn't quite right or what you swore you'd remember. Why do I say I'll remember? Sure. No problem. There's only about 200 boxes! And over 70 of those are for my studio. So ummm yeah sure no problem I'll remember.

Oh and FYI...labeling boxes with the word Studio means absolutely nothing! Turns out that box was filled with office mumbo jumbo. My office is in my studio, but I'm thinking paper crafting when something says studio.

No matter because I have zero plans on ever moving from this house. I looooooooove this house. Yes, we do have some plans for remodeling and an addition. The remodeling is because the house was built in 1942 and that's when the bath and kitchen we last visited except for some dreadful 1990 country floral wallpapers. Hideous. That's the only word to describe them! Blind people would run screaming from them. The addition is a first floor master suite for when we're old and can't use the stairs so well. Yup, planning ahead!

So the unpacking is going. Taking much longer than I was hoping. Doesn't everything when it comes to moving? I have several new pieces of furniture so that's throwing me off a bit. I also picked up a second Ikea Expedit last weekend. That was desperately needed for my paper and cardstock mountain.

I have moved some things several times. Still not sure I like where my ink pads are. Pretty sure I don't actually. I think they're too far away from me.

The alcove maybe not happening permanently in my studio. So we stopped putting in the hardwood flooring in it. We may add the alcove to the bathroom behind my studio because it's sooooo narrow. It's claustrophobic in there! So the flooring in on hold for now until we make up our minds. We are also moving all of our clothes out of the walk-in closet in the studio and I'm getting to use it as extra storage! Yay! That's where I'll be storing all of my items for sale and big, messy things like my pieces waiting to be altered.

I've been taking some photos along the way, but the room is soooo messy that I can't bare showing them until I am done and ready to be creative. I don't want people to think I'm a slob and have that on the internet forever. Besides you want to see the before, during, and after all at once.

Until next time *

Take a photo every day....you never know what you may be missing out on every day!

Sneak Peak in My New Studio

Let the studio tour begin! There's lots to see and this will take several posts and will probably take awhile. Please be patient. It is really worth it. I will be telling you were I got all of my storage pieces from! I have lots of people ask me about this frequently. I love cheap storage pieces. Why? The more I spend on storage, the less I have for new scrapping, stamping, and art supplies. I can always jazz up a storage unit. I can't jazz up stamps. It's amazing what a little bit of paint and elbow grease can do!

This is the main area I work in. The table is from Ikea and it was less than $50. It is a wooden folding table. I have it propped up on bed risers which I bought from Wal-Mart for about $7. In a post last week, I talked about my table being covered in vinyl. It's clear vinyl from Wal-Mart, but you can purchase it from any fabric store. They have different thicknesses so be sure you get one that will hold up. Some are super thin and didn't seem like they'd hold up to my inky messes. I cover my area with newsprint which I buy at Lowe's. Wal-Mart also has a bundle in the office aisle where they have the shipping/moving stuffs. I go through a lot of newsprint. It saves me from having to clean up lots of inks especially when I get out the mists and alcohol inks.

I have a small basket that holds the tags I have inked up. There's a metal stand (from Hobby lobby) that has three buckets full of blank tags waiting to be used up. A couple more containers from Hobby Lobby that hold my Liquid Appliques, Pixie Sticks glitters from Pink Paislee, writing markers, gel pens, scissors, etc. There are two glass candy jars (from Wal-Mart). One holds ribbon scraps and the other holds random embellishments that don't have a collection or there are only one or two left.

The metal buckets (from Target's $1 bins) hold my buttons. Well, some of the buttons. I have more button collections. These are just random buttons I have purchased. Not ones that are part of a paper collection or that can be purchased by the bag full in their color.

It's not in any of the pics, but my cup holder/trash bag hanger from Creative Memories is hanging on the left side of the table. Every paper craft must have a cup holder! Don't ever put a beverage on your crafty space! It always leads to disaster. Trust me on this one. been there. Done that. Rejected the t-shirt.

This wasn't on my studio table in my old studio. This is my collection of Close To My Heart inks. I have five of the towers they sell. Sadly, their ink towers only hold their inks. I would love someone to come up with a good ink storage piece that doesn't cost a lot of money and holds ink pads from everybody. I know it's a lot to ask for.

The little black box in front of the ink towers is my photo box form Creative Memories. This box holds the photos, layout info tags, and post its for the crops I go to. Never leave home without it!

Under the left side of the table is this set of bins from Ikea. They are like $20 for the rack and the bins! The top is an extra $7. This set of bins holds the majority of my sticker collection. The stickers that are part of a paper collection aren't in here. They're with their paper collection.

Until next time *

Have you played in your crafty space lately? Make some time for yourself!