Ally's Tools & Essentials

I've been a fan of Allison Landy's for a while now. And her space is just SO cool! So many great ideas and awesome colors!

I asked Ally if she'd be willing to share some of her photos and ideas. I was so glad she agreed! :-)

From Ally:

"My large punches are stored in this shallow basket on a shelf directly behind where I stand and scrap. Though my collection has grown a LOT since this photo was taken - so much that I've added a different way to store my border punches. I have a small tin tub next to this basket that holds my small punches."

"I also like using tall ceramic coffee mugs for random tools - here are my paintbrushes..."

"I keep a lot of little things on these two IKEA shelves that sit right above my scrap table. The scissors hang from hooks and are right where I need them.

"The black jar to the right holds all my basic tools such as bone folder, Basic Grey sanding tools, styluses for rub ons, craft knife, etc. It actually sits on my desk now rather than on the shelf because I am in it so often I wanted it at counter height."

"Trimmers and adhesives are another item I need right at hand. My table is a counter height banquet table with 3 drawers and 2 shelves. The big adhesive gun and paper trimmer sit on the top shelf right under the table and right in front of where I stand.

"Rulers, small trimmers and small adhesives are all stored in the middle drawer, right above the others and right in front of where I stand. I guess I'm a lazy scrapper, because I'm all about convenience and usage when it comes to my organization and storage."

"Extra adhesives/specialty adhesives sit in a bin behind me..."

Thank you for sharing this with us, Ally! (And you can bet I'll be sharing more of her space in the future!)

Tools and Essentials - Part 2

• If you only use three main adhesives on every layout and maybe two journaling pens, it's okay to keep those in one place or in your portable container, and then keep the rest of all your pens and refill adhesives in a closed container up on a shelf some place. I have a creamer cup that holds pens i use all the time, then other pens/markers up above [in a wine holder] on a shelf:

• If you feel like you don't have enough space for your supplies and how you want to organize them, then think UP. Shelves above your workspace can create SO much more room. Once I installed shelving (elfa from The Container Store), I couldn't believe the extra space I created. Even if you have only one corner of a room, you can use shelves as high as your wall.
• Underneath your work space (I'm a standing scrapper) or nearby, consider having a small basket that holds punches and/or other small tools you use often:

• And then your deco scissors and/or border punches can be kept nearby as well:

• I used to keep my punches (organized by shape... one container for circles, one for squares, and one for flowers/hearts/stars/etc) in these canvas bins from The Container Store. Those bins were in a row on the floor under my computer space, but still within reach. I used to have them in a closed box on a shelf, but because punches are heavy, it was more practical for me to store them down low.
• Some people store punches in hanging shoe organizers. I do store my punches in a shoe organizer, but not how you would expect... LOL. I LOVE this method... works great for me! I have since covered each shelf with patterned paper... tee hee, but this is the "before" photo. ;-)

• I store my border punches (I only have about 6 or 7, so it works) in a vintage soda holder:

There are tons of great ideas out there! Please share what you do or what you find online for inspiration! This is one of the best discussion topics, I think!

TIP:

The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker also suggests keeping tools hidden away in drawers or closed boxes or closets... because they are usually unsightly and can be an eye-sore to a "pretty" scrap space. I just wanted to mention this as well because not everyone organizes and stores things the same, and this may be an option you'd prefer.

Tools and Essentials - Part 1

Are you ready to dive into your tools and essentials?! This is a loooong one. Get out your notebook and take notes. You'll want that if you read something you may want to implement! :-)

TOOLS:

Punches

Heat Gun

Deco Scissors

Hole Punches (hand held or Crop-A-Dile)

Eyelet Setter

Circle/Shape Cutter

Die-Cut Machines and Accessories

ESSENTIALS:

Trimmers

Rulers

Everyday scissors

Craft Knife

Pens

Markers/Colored Pencils

Adhesives

(Feel free to add any others to your own list.)

I think tools are one of the most difficult things for people to purge and organize. Well, they are for me! I think the thing that helped me most... is really sitting down (or you know, standing up... whatever) to figure out:

• HOW much I use them
• WHERE in my scrap space I use them
• WHEN (in my creative process) I use them

These questions helped me SO much went I went about organizing them.

I do know this about tools... the ones you use (or want to/like to use) ALL the time, should be at arm's reach, or you won't use them.

1. So pretty much what I did... I got rid of all punches, shape cutters and deco scissors that I never use. If you keep these things thinking, "But what if I *DO* need this some day?!" you're going to just collect stuff you never use. Seriously, if you haven't used it in a year, get rid of it. Give it to a friend (or your kids or your garage...), and if you need it, just borrow it from them. And then if you need one down the road, and you feel like you're *constantly* saying, "I wish I had this!" then go buy it (and use a coupon ;-) ). It feels good to purge things you don't use. :) I promise... if you get rid of something you don't ever use, you won't miss it, and you'll forget you even had it! LOL.
2. Also, tools... are a bit cumbersome. Some are fun to play with, but sometimes you're just in this crafting "groove," and the thought of taking the time to get the tools out and actually use them is more work than you want. And... you may feel like it's not worth the work, so you just skip the tool usage. (A practice I, myself, have adopted... LOL.)
3. THIS is why I keep all my tools in OPEN storage containers, baskets or bins. (Tools don't have to have any fancy storage.) This way, I can reach over and grab something quickly. I don't have to pull something off a shelf, open a box, etc. My heat gun with embossing powders (which are rarely used) do sit on a top shelf, but they're also in an open container, so if I do need them, everything is RIGHT there.
4. My Making Memories trimmer is RIGHT next to where I scrap. I keep my Creative Memories photo trimmer, my rulers, and a 3-hole punch all in arm's reach too... either on a shelf above or below my scrap table.
5. You could also keep them altogether in a basket like I used to do here...

I used this system for two years, and it REALLY worked for me. Grab and go. I don't have to open a drawer or open a box, and I LOVE that. Tools already take long enough to use... I don't need that extra time needed to actually GET to them. LOL.

REMEMBER THAT. Tools you use all the time... should NOT take a while to get. One.Motion.

*******TIP:

The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker suggests doing a layout or two (like... right now) to decide which tools you use ALL the time. My suggestion is that while you are working on a layout, keep a shoebox (or container that size) on your table or down on the floor at your feet. As you use tools, throw them in that box while you're not using them. Then at the end of your creating process, look at what's in that box. What did you use? What did you use the most? And think about keeping all those things together from now on.

Simple Scrapbooks (may it rest in peace...) magazine's "Basic Tool Kit" includes:

portable paper trimmer

small scissors (I use Cutter Bee non-stick)

black archival journaling pen (I use Copic and/or AC... blows ZIG out of the water imo)

pencil (I use an archival safe one from Creative Memories)

pencil sharpener

art gum eraser

paper adhesive (umm... lots. tee hee)

photo adhesive

portable container to hold above tools (try these Stockholm boxes)

To be continued...