creative and colorful
Have a scrappy stash? Ever realize that you’re regularly overlooking certain categories of your stash, but aren’t willing to purge those items? Kaleidoscope’s Inspiration Jar to the rescue! I have admired this idea from afar for a long time, and finally got around to making my own version today. There is a picture below, but here is the link, and if you click through, you can make your own, totally-customized-to-reflect-your-stash, version as well!
Good morning. :) Happy Friday! I’m in a much better headspace this week, and am sharing some old base pages and Month-in-Review layout kits in this week’s wrap-up. What are you up to?
I’ve had D-ring albums for years and years. I have loved them for their simplicity of use. However, we downsized and main level storage is tight in this house. I don’t want to store my albums downstairs in our basement–it isn’t finished and we have had moisture issues before.
So if I want to continue to store my albums upstairs, I need to start rethinking the size of my albums. The conclusion I’ve reached is that I need to switch any complete–or at least full–D-ring albums to post bound. First, of all, a comparison of the two. Here is a D-Ring type album:
The pages stack up on the vertical straight line part of the “D” and as you turn them to look through them, they flip over the rounded part. This results in about a one-inch gap in between the pages as you look through the album. They typically come with 10 page protectors (which would hold 20 scrapbook pages), but I can generally fit 20-23 page protectors (or 40-46 scrapbook pages) in each. The D-rings open just like a 3-ring binder like you used in school, and so it is very easy to add, remove, and rearrange pages.
By contrast, a post bound album holds pages a little differently. Here is a picture of the spine of a post bound album:
Pages in a post bound album are held in place by posts, which are screwed down tightly and covered by chipboard flaps. This method squeezes the pages close together, and when viewing the album, there is no gap between pages. However, to add, remove, or rearrange pages, you have to hold open the flaps, loosen the screws, and pull out each post individually. This is a messy, time-consuming process (at least for me!). Generally, scrapbook albums come with 1/2″-1″ screw extension posts, and hold 10 page protectors.
Extension posts come in a variety of lengths and just attach together, so you can add more posts, which means the album will hold more page protectors. Albums come with material to cover the spine if you do choose to extend it like that. However, again, doing this is messy if you already have layouts in the page protectors. The job is infinitely easier if you add all the page protectors you want to an album before you add the completed scrapbook pages.
So. My current plan is to move my pages from D-ring albums into post bound albums that I will set up with longer posts and extra page protectors before filling them. Even with only using 20-23 page protectors, similar to the quantity I fit in a D-ring album currently, I can save 1-2″ of space for each album, since they are held together so tightly by the spine of the post bound album. It should cut down my current storage needs by half, meaning I can fill that space with new albums over the next 20 years of scrapping!
But wait! I currently have over 24 albums, so I am planning on purchasing at least 24 post bound albums to replace them. That’s going to be expensive! So to be frugal, I’m looking for sales and am planning to buy a few every time they go on sale. Cloth is cheapest, so that is what I’m choosing. I can get those for about $10 each, with decent shipping (around $2-5/order).
I would like them to be a uniform size and color as much as possible, so the majority of them will be 12″ x 12″, black–no more clashing colors, patterns, and materials, even though there are plenty of pretty albums out there. I prefer the more minimal solid look, and can easily label my albums (another post coming on that…!). It is going to take me awhile to buy the replacements (and I will want to buy new ones as I need them), so I am going with a brand that has been around for quite awhile–Pioneer albums. They also carry 8 1/2″ x 11″ albums (which is yet another post for some time 😉), something I am also planning on purchasing.
Lastly, I am working to avoid over consumption and consumerism in all areas of my life. So how does that apply here? I am planning on selling or giving away each and every D-ring album to someone who will be able to use them. My first choice will be to offer them at low to no cost locally. My back-up plan is to offer for free, just pay shipping, to online scrapbooking friends. If all else fails, I’ll sell them in my Etsy, Crafts Collaborative, where I sell secondhand craft supplies, or I will give to Make and Mend, who do the same thing but on a much larger scale! At all costs, I want to avoid 1) throwing them away, or 2) clogging up an already overwhelmed thrift shop where they have a high probability of languishing, unlikely to be found by scrapbookers who would use them.
So, what do you think? Is my plan doable? I’ll keep y’all updated. ;)
Today I’m sharing a tour of my scrappy nook in our family room! Since my space is in the open, I tuck away as much as I can behind doors, in drawers, and my raskog to minimize obvious clutter (although you’ll see all the raw, unfiltered, messiness lurking behind every door 😉 and maybe a random sock 😂).
I don’t have a full-on scrapbook room, but I have worked hard to maximize the space I do have, while still having a little breathing room. I am always re-evaluating my systems and my stash, trying to decide what to keep and downsize so my creative process is as seamless and enjoyable as possible. And I get distracted by creating and pulled away from the organizational projects, so a lot of my systems are in constant flux! But hopefully this tour will
a) give you some ideas for organizing your own scrapbooking stash,
b) show you that your space doesn’t have to be PERFECT to be functional and enjoyable, and
c) alleviate any guilt you ever have when you see all those immaculate “aspirational” spaces on social media.
Next week I’m planning to have a Christmas card share! 🎄 Have a good week.
Come grab your stamps and hang out with me while we go through our current stamp collection and whittle it down. Look for duplicates, crossovers, or stamps that are no longer your style and pull them out. Set them aside to sell, donate, or give away. Then re-sort your remaining stamps into broad categories like:
Consider how you might green up the process–what can you reuse, recycle, or upcycle? Next we’ll clean our stamps and start making labels!
Where do you keep your most-used tools?
VexedAngel 