I am often asked how I store all my Stampin’ Up goodies, so I thought I would share some of my storage ideas with you.

• Try different storage ideas to find what works for you, what will fit in your craft space and what is within your budget! I have tried a couple of different storage ideas for most of my supplies over the last 3 years before I found an idea that worked for me!
• Ink Pad Storage – I swear by the Stampin’ Up! Color Caddy for storing all my ink pads. It holds 48 ink pads & re-inker bottles and has an optional extender for an additional 12 ink pads. It rotates, which makes selecting the right ink colour a breeze and has a carry handle so you can move it to where you are crafting with ease!
• Paper – I store all my A4 paper in clear plastic drawer units. Each unit has 5 drawers and I have 12 drawer units in total. This means I have one clear drawer per Stampin’ Up! colour and some left over for the Basic range of papers as well! The front of each drawer has a colour sample of the paper inside so you can quickly tell which colour is in which drawer. Each drawer is also labelled with the name of the colour. I used the 1/2″ circle punch for my colour samples!
• Ribbon – there are many different ribbon organisers out there. I recommend one that holds the spools of ribbon (which will keep your ribbon in good condition!). I use a long ribbon tray to store my ribbon which is attached to the front of the shelving unit that holds all my craft supplies.
• Embellishments – I use the Stampin’ Up! Stack and Store for all my brads, buttons and other bits and pieces. It fits the round plastic containers that all your Stampin’ Up! embellishments come in. It also rotates for easy access and has a carry handle.
• Stamps – the clear mount stamps are stored in DVD cases – so a DVD storage rack is perfect for these! The wood mount stamps are a little bulkier. My stamps sets are sorted into the size of the stamp set case and then stored in alphabetical order.
• Punches – this is always a difficult one. The new Stampin’ Up! punch style is easy to store as they can be stacked on top of each other as the punches lock flat. If like me, you have a lot of the older black style of Stampin’ Up! punches, the best way I have seen of storing these is on racks on a wall. I have seen towel racks used for this purpose – you sit the punch on the rack so the rack sits between the 2 parts of the punch handle. I am currently a little short on craft storage space, so I don’t have the luxury of storing my punches like this at the moment. Instead I have some baskets (about 10cm x 20cm) which fit 6 large punches in each. You can then stack the baskets.

I recommend that you organise your craft supplies so that like lives with like – so all your tools and supplies for one techniques live together. For example I store my embossing powders, powder trays & heat gun in the same place. You should also invest in a labelling machine – the labels help you to quickly and easily see what is stored in the box or drawer.

A lot of my items are stored in A4 boxes (try ebay or stationery stores such as Officeworks) which means you can transport them easily. This is very handy if your storage area is away from where you craft, or if you are going to a friends house – you can just pick up the one box with all your embossing tools and you have everything you need!

I also find that cube storage units work well for craft storage. If you make sure the cube is at least 12″ x 12″ you will be able to store your scrapbooking paper. Cubes are perfect for stacking up Big Shot dies, stamp sets and just about anything else you have in your craft stash!

If you would like to share how you store your craft supplies, please leave a comment or email me a picture!

Until next time, Happy Flutterby Creating!

Amanda