How I organize my scraps

I have nothing new to post tonight. Not because I didn't stamp. I stamped quite a bit actually. But all of my stamping projects are a secret because their recipients just might read this blog and I do not want them to see the cards here before they get them in their mailbox. SO I had to come up with another topic and I thought scrap organization might fit the bill.

By now everyone knows that I am the queen of scraps. The thought of throwing away perfectly good strips or other pieces of card stock is absolutely shocking. But I know organizing scraps can be a challenge, especially when you're as big of a scrap hoarder as I am, so I thought I would share my "system".

I keep all of my scraps in two of the larger SU boxes. Each box holds 2 permanent color families plus either whisper white, very vanilla and basic black or the in colors and all other neutrals. This is what ti all looks like. I know it doesn't seem organized, but there is a method to the madness.

Colors are grouped together in these legal size accordion files. I have 1 file for each of the permanent color families, 1 file for the in colors, 1 file each for basic black, whisper white and very vanilla (as you can imagine I have quite a few scrap pieces of those) and 1 for all other neutrals. The file in the picture is my Rich Regals file.


Within each accordion color family file, each color gets its own 8.5x11 page protector. In this photo you can see the page protector for rose red. When I'm looking for a piece of a particular color I just go to the appropriate accordion file and pull out the page protector and bring the whole thing to my stamp table. Then I can look through the scraps to see if I have what I'm looking for. If I don;t have the exact size but I have a piece that can be cut down tot he right size, I go ahead and cut it down. If the leftover pieces are still usable I put them back into the page protector. If they're too small I toss them.

Since the most commonly used neutrals each have a file of their own, within that file I organize them according to approximate size. Strips with strips, squares with squares, rectangles with rectangles, etc. This is really helpful when I' working on swaps or workshop cards. Chances are I will never have to cut whisper white or very vanilla strips for any card out of full sheets of card stock, since I always seem to have these strips left over from other projects.

The great thing about this system is the portability. I can take the page protectors filled with all the colors I'm used on a card to my stamp table without disturbing anything else in the room. It makes it so much easier to experiment with color combinations and to find just the right mat or piece of card stock without having to cut into a full piece.

So what about you Are you a scrap fanatic like me and, if so, would you like to share how you organize your scraps? Post a comment and let us know!

Stamp With Diane Copyright Policy

Rather than reinventing the wheel, I requested permission from another very talented stamper, Kristina Werner, to borrow her copyright policy for my blog. Please e-mail me at stampwithdiane@comcast.net with any questions.

All cards, scrapbook pages, and other designs posted on my blog or website are offerred to the public as inspiration for personal work. Personal work consists of making items for anything that does not result in monetary gain, i.e. personal scrapbooks, cards to be given away. Please do not "lift" or "CASE" my work and submit it to magazines or contests claiming them as your own.

POSTING INSPIRED WORKS IN WEB GALLERIES: If you find yourself inspired and would like to share your creation on the internet, please note where you found the original idea.

EXCEPTIONS TO MONETARY GAIN RESTRICTION: Stampin' Up! demos are welcome to use any of my cards/projects just as they are without any modifications (unless you want to--that's up to you!) in demonstrations with one small request. Please let your customers and guests know that you were inspired by a card/project found on the internet. Say something like, "It's so easy to make cards! If you're new at this or a bit lost at creating your own cards, there are plenty of websites with ideas. In fact, I got this card from a fellow stamper's blog." And then if they ask where, please pass along my blog address. :)

Thanks! Diane