Small Space Organization

Hi Ask Anna readers! My name is Jaimie Raskin and I’m delighted to be guest blogging at Ask Anna Moseley. I’m a graphic designer and feature my digital art, printables and paper for all your digi-crafting fun on my site, Time Travel Designs. I also have a line of fabulous custom invitations for your next fest so be sure to stop by and have a look around. Even though I’m hooked on digital graphics and digiscrapping, I am still a traditional scrapper at heart.

I love the look and feel of the wonderful papers and embellishments available out there. I’m absolutely putty in the hands of all those fabulous things swirling around my inbox. Just thinking about it makes me weak in the knees and I know you probably have a reserved seat on my infatuation train, too! Now that we’re acquainted, I’d like to share my deepest darkest secret with you all; I think I like collecting scrapbook supplies even more than I like to scrap them. There. I said it. Admitting you have a problem is the first step towards recovery, right?

I am very fortunate to have a sanctuary devoted wholly to my craft. It’s actually quite small but all mine just the same. I am a firm believer in the vertical! I use every nook and available cranny of my space. I love to concoct new storage solutions and am always refining until it feels just right. I have actually discovered some VERY successful storage strategies and I can’t wait to share them with you! Anna is so sweet to let me hop over for this share fest. Let’s get started…As a reminder, please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times and no flash photography 🙂

Our first stop on the tour is an overview of the space. See? Told you it was tiny. I scrap at the desk but love to hang out on the daybed and flip through mags for inspiration. There’s also a t.v. on the wall if I feel like background noise and a bay window looking out on the street for daydreaming and spying on the neighbors. 🙂 Okay, friends, here’s another view of the desk where magic is made on a daily basis.

Okay, maybe not, but check out all the delicious eye candy just waiting to be gobbled up!

1. The blue and green magazine storage files are used for my 8 1/2 x 11 solid card stock. I’m a color sorter because it works best for me. The holes in the front allow me to see which colors are in the box; cool, warm, neutral etc.
2. The flip top boxes house my stickers. This is probably my most recent brainstorm and a total home run! I adhere stickers to 5 x 7 index cards (sorted by color). It’s so neat and manageable. I love it.
3. Copics…need I say more? I want but practice self restraint so that I am able to feed and clothe my daughter.
4. Makeup is the greatest invention EVER! If for no other reason than it makes for amazing Smooch, glitter, micro beads, Stickles, and eyelet storage solutions. If you’re in the mood for some fun, go to Bed Bath & Beyond and check out the makeup organizers.

By the way, I got the glass vials that house my eyelets from a container manufacturer. They fit just perfectly in the lipstick compartments. My guess is that biochemists use these vials to find cures for terrible diseases but they are also a GREAT storage solution for tiny embellishments…You’re probably thinking I’m about as shallow as a lap pool right now, aren’t you?

1. Okay, admittedly, I’m not a big fan of idle time. I am, however, a big fan of “at least do something with your hands while you’re engaged in nothing time”. So I punch. I punch out shapes and put them in sweet little containers for some creation to be named later. I grab a pile of scraps in assorted patterns and punch until I’m punch drunk.

Button, button, I’ve got the buttons! I used one of those single serving coffee storage solution thingies, put my buttons in spice jars and color sorted (warms on one side, cools on the other). I really like this system. Both fun and functional (a lot like me…sort of…)

Let’s talk paper, shall we? I can’t get enough of that, personally, but I try to stave off my cravings so I don’t end up the subject of a My Strange Addiction episode. Yes I have paper; all shapes and sizes, colors, patterns, swatches but NEVER have any scratch paper to make a grocery list…go figure. 1) My 12 x 12 solid card stock is stored on the right hand side of the closet, top shelf. Sorting by color makes it easy to find a coordinating shade and looks so pretty, right? 2) 8 1/2 X 11 card stock is housed in these blue and green magazine storage containers – with the peep hole for easy reference. 3) Here is all my patterned paper sorted by color. It’s all underneath the window seat…This is also where I keep my miscellaneous 6 X 6 and smaller patterned paper collections. This system actually works well for me because I yank out the whole pile in the hue I need and sift through the papers until I hit on a great combo. (Not necessarily in the same collection, either.) I love figuring out the color story for a layout.

This is the area to the left of my workspace and behind the door as you enter the room. This is where I store my 1) letterpress collection, 2) punches (on the door), 3) embossing powders (in a hanging jewelry organizer), 4) Cricut cartridges, and 5) metal embellishments. 6) The Cricut and printer station is actually in the built-in desk. Both are on pull out shelves for super easy access.