It's already Day 4 of our 5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash, and today we're all focusing on how we store our MFT card stock!
Make sure you head on over to MFT's blog for a ton of organizing inspiration plus links to the other DT members blog posts and the chance to win!
If you missed the previous 3 days of posts you can find them all here:
5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash: Day 3 Die-namics
5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash: Day 2 Stencils
5 Days to an Organized Crafty Stash: Day 1 Stamps
SO - card stock. That's something I've stored in the same way for years now:
The bulk of my MFT card stock I keep in my IKEA Expedit (now redesigned in the Kallax series) cabinet that I got the doors for. It's VERY important to keep your card stock stored away from sunlight as it will fade over time with exposure.
All/most of my card stock I keep in the original packaging that MFT has it in, and when it arrives I just cut off the flap on the bottom so that it's open and easy for me to grab a sheet. The flap includes a label with the card stock name and I save that and re-adhere it to the pack of card stock so that I always know which color is which and saves me from having to print off my own label.
I keep all the card stock stored on it's side for easier access to the packages - I don't have to pull out any containers just the sheet(s) I need from the opening in the packages. I have cardboard magazine files again from IKEA that keep them somewhat contained on their sides. They're not fabulous to look at but all of this is behind closed doors and the pack of magazine files is like $3 for 5 (Canadian) so you couldn't beat that price LOL!
One thing that's new to my card stock organization is this card stock sampler ring with all the new MFT colors. It was made with the Tag, You're It Die-namics die and then each color is labelled with it's color. This was actually a gift from MFT and I LOVE it LOL! I'm an organizing nerd at heart so things like this make my day. Plus with all the new colors MFT has released and will be releasing ;) I need this little guy to figure out what's what!
I have a filing cabinet (yup a pink one - I got this YEARS ago at Staples) that I've put underneath my stamp desk where my legs are supposed to go. I never sit that close to my desk as I'm always moving around and filming and all that so I use that space for my filing cabinet and whatnot.
The card stock sampler I have hanging from the handle on its binder ring so that it's handy and I can easily grab it and flip through it when I need.
Inside the top drawer of the filing cabinet is how I store all my MFT card stock scraps. Anything smaller than a full sheet of card stock goes in here.
I have a bunch of hanging files in here then in each file I have several manila folders that I've written the names of the card stock colors on. It's on my to-do list to make proper labels for the folders as I don't care for my handwriting - but even though I really enjoy organizing I always put this task off LOL. And of course for this week of posts I normally WOULD have done this as it's the perfect time but like I said on day 1 my label maker bit the dust (figures). Ah well it's always a work in progress - for me that's half the fun.
I keep *almost* all my scraps now - I used to toss pieces smaller than say 2" back in the day as they were generally a waste, but now-a-days with all the die-cutting I do I find I use up a LOT of tiny scraps so they don't pile up very often and come in handy for so many of the little dies that only need a tiny bit of card stock.
When I'm making a card I check the file cabinet first and it's rare that I need to grab a full sheet from my main stash.
Behind each manila folder I keep a few full sheets of card stock for convenience, and if I have any "card size" pieces (which I generally do as I cut a sheet in half to make a card and am left over with an identical piece) I put those in front of the same manila folder. So I always check to see what I have "pre-cut" when crafting, then for all my die cutting I use whatever scraps I have on hand.
Technically I *could* store ALL my card stock in the filing cabinet like this - just keep the full packs (instead of a few sheets) behind each manila folder. But there are SO many colors and it takes up so much space that even if I were to use 2 drawers it'd be a pain to grab what I need. Whereas this way I only have to pull open the one drawer and can see at a glance where everything is and can grab what I need and go!
And that's my system!
Of course MFT is doing another giveaway today so make sure you head on over to their blog so you can be entered in to win! :) :) :)
