How do you organize your 12x12 paper

off to look again

The plastic are the paper studio and the carts are from Ritz photo. I have a link to them in my gallery if you are interested.

• CroppinCabin Said:

which are the Paper Studio pieces, the plastic bins on the table or the carts? I like the them both!

Sorry Holly, just noticed your reply here. Nope, just have one for now but it's got a lot more hangers on it now than it did in this picture. So far I haven't had any problems with them getting over loaded. I did have to split up my cardstock into two baggies though. That one got a little heavy.

I'd have to have 100 of those things I think it's an awesome idea, but pounds and pounds of paper are HEAVY,,,,how do you manage that??? Do you have more than one?

I have a bathroom shelf that I repurposed for holding my pp. I got some baby sized hangers from Walmart, and used them to hang 2 gallon bags. I have my cardstock in one baggie, organized by color. My pp is organized in baggies too by color/theme. Each color/theme gets it's own baggie. I keep scraps in a baggie as well.

Repurposed Bathroom shelf By DesiLee

At the moment I have them sorted into three project boxes, patterned, solid and scraps! That worked when I first started and didn't have a lot of paper...but now it is getting to be a bit hard to dig!

My cardstock I have organized by color in its box though which works well for me.

My paper is organized very similar to ScrappyMama6's system. Sterilite drawers, cardstock according to color, pp according to theme or design. I'm still working on it.

Photos are in my gallery.... feel free to check them out. I tried to capture the essence of how everything flows, but kind of hard to do in photos.

Okay ladies.... have to tidy my area and figure out this picture stuff, but am working on it.... Can't believe that anyone would want to see my organized mess...lol... will try to get a photo up yet tonight...

I picked up some of the Cropper Hopper holders a few years ago on clearance - they work well for my pattern papers. My cardstock stands on the floor, though.

I've got my pp in paper cube shelves (6 cubes) and separated into types (dots, stripes, floral, winter, spring, etc). When I need to, I separate inside the shelf with a clear divider insert that you get with Cropper Hoppers (labeled with my Dymo). When I need pp, I decide on whether I need a floral and a stripe and maybe a dot and then I go to those sections in the order that I'm seeing the potential LO (floral first, for instance), then I match that pp to the next and then to the next. Or sometimes I start with the cs color and match the pp to that.

My cs is in Cropper Hoppers organized by ROYGBIV with black/white/kraft/cream having it's own separate Cropper Hopper. Each color group has its own divider and I can pull it out to sort through the blues, for instance, to match my pp.

Organizing is VERY individual, but I hope you're getting some good tips from here!

I have several of the 3 drawered white sterlite plastic cabinets from Walmart with all my solids organized by color...red/orange/yellow together, green/blue together, purple/pink together, then black/white/gray together. Drawers for boy patterns, girl patterns, core'dinations, seperate drawer for 8 1/2 x 11, and a drawer for speciality paper, mulberry, handmade, mesh paper etc. drawers for templates, and my CM mats. Then I have large 3 ring binders with clear 12x12 paper holders (page protectors) that have paper in categories like, sports, stripes, summer, spring, winter, autumn, farm/tractor etc...It works for me. And of course, since I'm totally OCD, every drawer is labeled with my label maker!

• Ohio4HMom Said:

yeahhhhhhhh picture please!!!!!

I love CroppinCabin's solution and a photo is certainly in order!! Oh, yes it is.

Another thought about how to organize your paper so that it works well for you is to think about how you buy your paper. I buy mine by manufacturer, ie I pick 3 or 4 pieces of pp (or heck the whole line) by a ABC manufacturer, then add a few more pieces by XYZ manufacturer to my cart, etc. So for me, organizing my own stash by manufacturer is easiest. Also, my LSS organizes by manufacturer and the Superstore organizes by manufacturer, so that probably influences my decision.

If you tend to buy your paper by color or by theme, ie baby paper or holiday paper or striped paper, then it's probably easiest for you to organize by color or type.

Or think about how you scrap. When I see a photo, I think, what line would go with this? If you see a photo and think, what color (or theme) would go with this, then organize by color (or theme).

There's no right way or wrong way. It's just the way that works best for you.

• CroppinCabin Said:

*cough* PICTURE PLEASE *COUGH*

wow ladies you have some great ideas.
O.k going my manufactor is not gonna happen as I cant remember all that. I do like doing it buy color and then spots for things like Stripes, dots, stars ect.. might try that today. Thanks for the ideas ladies.

We built two sets of Target cubes, giving me 12 cubbies. We then put heavy quilting template material and cut it to the inside of the cubby, then put the paper on top of that and labeled the color with a hanging tag for reference. I found this to be my best solution because my bottom papers were sort of waffle looking by being on the cubby's wire.

I sort my papers like this: Reds, next shelf red patterned, then the pinks and their papers, then the orange and that patterned paper...through the rainbow but adding turquoise and turquoise patterned papers, earth tones and white-greys and black. The last cubby holds multicolored papers.

My holiday papers are on stacking 12 X 12 stacking shelves.

You don't want to even know how the 8.5 X 11 are stored, but it is like the 12 X 12 but in a brochure rolling cart.

I am a definite paper addict.

Nancy

I have been scrapbooking for over 10 years and organization has always been a challenge. I am trying something new, and so far it seems to be working. I have purchased the paper storage systems by Paper Studio. I have one sleeve for each color.... Within the sleeve I have 4 dividers used to separate by size and printed verses solids. So far so good, but still struggling with the scraps. I also have 2 large storage racks with 12x12 folders. Those are divided by themes, so regardless of the manufacturer, anything pertaining to a particular theme (paper, stickers, embellies, etc...) is at my fingertips. It makes choosing my embellies easier, and clean up is now a snap.... Hope this helps.

I have hanging files that I keep in a big dresser type file cabinet...I keep all my cardstock by color in a separate area and then organize my pp by brands (Basic Grey, etc) although I do put some themes together, baby, holidays, etc.

I am completely differnet - I love the organizational tools that you can get, but I can't aways find them or afford the ones I like. I have a bunch of paper packs and solids and PP - I however used a Milk crate, that was washed and dried. It fits all my paper perfectly, and I can stack them.

I keep my cardstock organized by color in wire racks. I haven't found the right way to organize my pp yet.

I have my cardstock by color on a rack, but my pP I have them organized in used FedEX boxes. I cut the sides diagaonally half way down. I have them sorted by mfg for the most part, but I have one box of mixed papers. The boxes are free and green!

scrapping by manufacturer is completely totally foreign to me,,,,I'm not criticizing or putting it down, I'm really interested in how it works,,,,I can't imagine doing it, and I've never heard of it,,,,,so often I mix my manufacturers anyway,,,although Izzy is right that matching tones is harder that way,,,

so,,,,I totally agree,,,,,organize the way you scrap for sure!!! Your brain works the way your brain works!

• Quote:

Same here. When I first started scrapping, I organized by color. But then as I began collecting paper by manufacturer, I noticed it was much easier to organize by manufacturer. I could remember what lines I had, but I couldn't remember what colors I had. Also, papers by manufacturers (across the lines) tend to go together. For example, any Cosmo Cricket paper from any CC line tends to go with any other Cosmo Cricket paper. The manufacturere uses the same tone of color in its paper. This is true of many manufacturers.

The other problem with organizing by color is that a lot of papers don't have a predominant color, then you end up with separate categories for floral, stripes, dots, neutrals, holiday, baby, etc.

But I definitely agree with the above poster than you should organize the way you scrap. If you scrap by looking for a green piece of paper, for example, then you'll probably find it easier to organize by color.

• jeneppers Said:

Hmmmmmm????? organizing??? that's me too... Mine are on a shelf. lol. (see my scraproom !!! ) But at least I know where they all are... lol

I have my PP by color, theme, and fav manufacturers in 10 plastic 12x12 boxes with the lid and box all one piece. I used Dymo Labels to mark the boxes with the catagories in each box. I divided the 4 or so categories in each box with 12x12 cardboard pieces so I can quickly get to the section I need when I open the box.
I have one for scraps. I keep a few extra of these for large projects to hold all the "stuff" while I'm working on a specific large group of photos like a trip. For other smaller kits I use the 12 x 12 plastic envelopes

My cardstock is in the standing cropper hopper 12x12 paper holders, one is ROYGBIV colors, and one is shades of white, black, brown, and grey

I like being able to look at the colors from the top and grab what I need quickly for matting, use as a page background, or for the cricut or sizzix

I use stackable trays. I have my solid paper separated into color groups, and my PP all fit onto one shelf.

By manufacturer. Once upon a time, I had them sorted by color, only to soon forget what I had. I tend to scrap & make purchases by favorite companies & or themes, so this system especially works best for me.

Tip - Sort your supplies however you scrap (color, theme, product, etc.)

{P - Paper Storage} By KellyCali

I scrap by color not by manufacturer so I file them in 12x12 file folders that I keep in an old cropper hopper hanging file box

I have large shelves, so I just stack on the shelves based on theme, which I labeled on the shelves,,,,

I have stacks for children/masculine/femini ne/vintage/holiday/elegan t and a stack of plain cs, sorted by color,,,,,

as well as a stack of paper that I am working on using this minute,,,,,,so if I am making Hanukkah cards, I pull out all my Hanukkah paper or anything that might GO with that (blue, white, silver paper) and stack it in that pile,,,,,If I'm making a mini album, all the paper I want to use is in that stack,,,,,as well as a bucket of embellies next to the pile,,,,,

This question comes up a lot and there's no right answer. Whatever you find works for you.

For me, I categorize patterned paper by manufacturer and sub-divide by line. I keep pp in cropper hoppers, hanging 12 x 12 files and Iris containers.

I also keep embellishments by manufacturer when I have a lot of stuff by one company, ie all Cosmo Cricket embellies together, all BG embellies together, all Prima together, etc.

Cardstock I organize by color in a cropper hoppers and keep black, white and kraft cs together in an Iris container.

Organizing---what's that?

I keep mine in the iris bookcase things. Each one holds about 6 iris containers. Then I have extra containers that keep empty so I can toss projects in there. I have 3 containers for cardstock and the rest are prints. Semi separated by type. Disney, Floral, Scouts, ect.

I like to keep my collections together so I put all my paper and small embellishments in really large ziplocs or smaller ziplocs if they are smaller pads of paper. They can then be stored in plastic containers or baskets. I know a lot of people sort by color which I could see working.

I have alot of paper.I do use cropper hoppers. But thats not working. Let me know your ideas.