With all the different tools required to create art, this can be really hard to keep control of. I don’t have desk drawers (and even when I did, I struggled to organise my tools), so I have had to get a bit creative with tool storage.
My most useful purchase ever – the cosmetic carousel!!
I’ve had this for a few years now – I purchased it off TradeMe for just $18! As far as I’m aware, they are still available. It arrived in a flat box and I slotted it together.
The carousel spins around and stores just about EVERYTHING.
From scissors and bone folders, to embossing buddies, spray bottles, alllll my glue, inking handles, pencils, rubbers, scrapers, tweezers, pokey tools, tape runners, the list can go on and on lol. It sits on my table, and can be lifted away easily when I have non-crafty things happening at the table – such as dinner!
Scrapbook.com has since come out with their version – a little taller than mine but it does look fabulous! Get it here:
The white credenza behind me holds a bunch of stuff. We will look in the drawers down below. I keep my die cutting machine and trimmer on top, along with my Copic Markers, pre-cut cardstock.
The buffet cabinet further along holds my big trimmer, all my Mistis and stamp platforms, my black box file with scrap coloured cardstock and a box at the bottom with the plastic pouches and slider pieces for interactive and shaker cards. Plus three drawers, baskets and stationery drawers on top which we will look at further below.
Just out of shot, the top drawer on the left holds my alcohol inks and Karin markers. The middle drawer holds Christmas crafts and the bottom has my spare containers, art boards, trimmers, fuse tool and punch boards.
The three big white drawers pictured above are situated directly behind my chair. The top one holds all my Big Shot plates, including spares, metal shim, chrome precision plate etc. Baby wipes in front for easy reach, a box of odd shaped tools that are used semi-frequently and most importantly of all, my embossing powders – white, clear, gold and silver. I keep these particular powders in Sistema sandwich boxes because they are used all the time, and faffing with scrap paper each time was annoying. I also have the red tiny trays there for use with my other embossing powders – these are brilliant and save finding scrap paper when in the middle of a project.
Drawer two holds some plastic trays in which I keep my stamped and cut images and bits and pieces yet to make it onto a card. My christmas tag tray is rather overstuffed at the moment – must clear that out a bit! I also have a little tray for strips I have already cut down to create striped backgrounds, plus my wee box of leftover white strips for sentiments and embossing handles sit in this drawer too.
The bottom drawer has larger things – my larger rolls of tape that don’t fit in my adhesive drawer (more on that below), my heat gut, gelli plate and laminator.
There are three little drawers in the buffet shelf. The first one holds all my acrylic blocks and Misti corners. The second one holds my various black ink pads, VersaMark and white pigment inks. The third holds various adhesives – foam squares, double sided tape, foam strips and glue dots.
These stationery drawers are on top of my buffet shelf. The very top drawers hold specialty pens such as fine liners, water pens, gel pens etc. Also, one drawer is dedicated to postage – holding my address and logo stamps, postage stamps etc. The larger drawers hold envelopes and plastic sleeves for card storage and postage, and I store pre-cut foam pieces in one for added dimension in my card making.
The baskets below the drawers hold new stamp sets to be catalogued into my system, refills for tape runners, trimmers and other tools, and the other is to hold things I must remember to take with me when I visit Scrapbook Central to talk about my classes!
This little unit sits on my big white credenza. I store my blending brushes on top (they are directly below my Media Stix with all my distress ink pads). Basic stationery items sit here, along with drawers holding my foams/felts for the inking handles, Washi tape, and other labelling stuff I use in my craft room.
The foams I’m actually using with my inks are stored on the wall – right next to my inks stored in Media Stix.
I printed a chart from Word and added a velcro dot in each square. The foam sits perfectly on the wall, ready to be grabbed for inking. Easy to put away too.
It is important to ensure you keep your Distress Oxide foams and brushes separate from any of your dye inks, as the pigment in the oxide ink can contaminate other ink pads, so I find it much easier to dedicate my foams and keep them separate.
Tour my craft room – you can check out how I store my stamps & dies, inks, tools, cardstock and pretty colourful things too!
For more in-depth information about the best value supplies for your craft table, from cardstock to the handiest tools, check out my Best of the Basics series.
Articles in Best of the Basics Series:
Adhesives Cardstock Ink – Stamping Die Cutting Machines/Trimmers Heat Embossing Colour Handy Tools
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