workspace wednesday

Welcome to Workspace Wednesday! Today we've convinced our July guest, Shimelle Laine, to give us a peek into her scrap space. She's sharing some great tips for keeping tabs on the goodies in your stash and for working in a small space.

We live in a very small flat in London, and I scrapbook right in the middle of our living space. My scrapbook space includes five pieces of furniture: a wire paper rack for 12x12 papers, an Ikea Expedit bookshelf to hold all my albums and some supplies, a small sewing machine table with some storage underneath the machine, a dresser with drawers that hold my photos amongst other supplies and my worktable, where I stand to scrapbook.  Its drawers hold my most used supplies, including pens, inks, adhesives, basic tools and Thickers!

I find I only use things when I can see them, so I focus on open storage that displays the colours and textures of different elements.  I'm not a fan of plastic and avoid it in my storage if at all possible.  Instead I use a lot of second-hand pyrex bowls as well as some cardboard and metal storage options, glass jars and a wire cake stand.

If I have a supply I know I love but I forget to use it, I rotate it out into a bit of display, like my Jenni Bowlin inks and punch on this cake stand.  The coffee cup was filled with some buttons I kept forgetting I had in my collection.  After a while, I'll start to remember to use those items so they can be rotated to somewhere else and another supply I need to remind myself to use can sit in this place.  The rotation keeps me from ignoring something too long.  I only keep consumable supplies for six months and then they have to go unless I have a really fabulous reason to keep them.  With tools and non-consumables, I keep things in set storage spaces and I can't have anything new if that space is full.  This is something we do throughout our house as a good tool with small-scale living.  It's really challenging and I definitely haven't mastered it yet, but it is always my goal.

I love keeping things like washi tape, flowers and die cuts in bowls so I can just sift through easily.  I do the same thing with my paper scraps on a larger scale - they all sit in a basket.  Sifting through is a great way to find inspiring combinations of colour and pattern that I might not otherwise have discovered.

Of course some baskets get a bit overstuffed and it's hard to sift!  All my clear stamps are an example... this is a basket that needs to be purged but I'm having trouble admitting it! Still, I find I use the stamps I can see so it makes a difference to keep rearranging things in the basket, even if it's ridiculously filled to the brim.  

I keep all my mists and paints in one cake stand, which means right now I'm not allowed anything new from the look of this!  I started keeping my mists in a drawer a couple years back and I am so glad I changed that out, because I love the sight of all these colours on my counter.

Thanks for letting us into your space, Shimelle!!

Comments

[S]

Wow, it sounds like you make the most of your space. I use lots of baskets and odd dishes like muffin pans for holding some of my embellishments too. I don't rotate as often as I should, so thanks for the reminder. So glad you shared with us today, Shimelle.

[leon santiago]

cool you were able to manage your space!

[Andrea]

So funny...I have vintage pyrex bowls in my kitchen for storing items. I am visual too and I will not use anything I cannot see which typically results in everything being out or in clear glass containers. I love the tips!

[Cindy -scrapincin]

Great storage ideas Shimelle! Love the recyling of dishes and baskets!

[Erin T]

How do you usually purge your supplies? I struggle with letting stuff go, even if I know I won't use it.

[Jennifer Grace]

Love the mists on the cake stand! x

[J.r. Jackson]

Thanks for sharing. I'm trying to grow into my small space so that I can actually craft, as opposed to staring at all of my crafts and cry about my lack of space.

[Lisa K.]

See.. It just goes to show you you don't have to have a huge wopping scrapbooking space to be one of the MOST. AWESOME. SCRAPBOOKERS. EVER.

LOVE LOVE LOVE Shimelle!!!

(Can you tell I am a huge fan?)

[DisneyMommyof6]

See.. It just goes to show you you don't have to have a huge wopping scrapbooking space to be one of the MOST. AWESOME. SCRAPBOOKERS. EVER.

LOVE LOVE LOVE Shimelle!!!

(Can you tell I am a huge fan?)

[Karla]

Love the cake stand idea! Thanks :)
Huge fan of Shimelle and Glitter Girl ;)

[Pinkabella]

Thanks for the inspiration! I love knowing how u can make the most of a small space...very similar to mine!

[toni from]

Does anyone know where Shimelle got the white wire stand from (teh one with the mists in it?) That is what I am looking for and need a store please.