Ok, something a little different today. Now that all the little kidlets are back in school, and it seems like as a good a time as any to get organized. Are you reorganizing your studio/workspace? It doesn't matter if you have a full room to call your own, or just a little corner of the dining room table. Post a comment with your best jewelry/bead related organization tip. Tomorrow at noon, I'll choose one of the responses at random. The winner will receive all of the components necessary to make our latest inspiration! This prize is worth well over $50! Whohoo!!
**Edit*** I just tallied up all the beads - retail value is $82.11!! There is more than enough to make lots and lots of 'blossoms', plus a bunch of sterling, and swarovski left over for other projects. Let's hear about your tips!
I'm hoping that I will finally be able to finish my basement studio at home. I started off with fabulous plans last year - well, life gets in the way :-) I've scooped pretty much the entire basement. It's unfinished, which is fine for what I want to use it for, but I'd rather it not look like the disorganized dungeon that it is. :-)
I'm planning on installing shelves on all of the walls. I've got them already, it's just a small matter of putting them up! Then I want to fill all of the nooks and crannys with my favourite things. Better lighting, and maybe even a bunch of strands of fairy lights. (maybe I'm getting carried away there!) It will be nice to have it set up, so that I enjoy spending time down there. - A little escape from the joys of parenting 3 and 5 year olds. ;-)
So let's hear it folks - Tell us your best organization tips, and good luck in the draw! After you post your response, please copy it into an email to info@beadfx.com - Please don't post your personal information on the blog! Ya never know who's reading this...
10 comments:
Well - I know I'm not eligible to win this - so I'll put my answer here. Given that I'm a really disorganized person, any tip I have HAS to be good.
These are my tips - don't let cleaning up get too far ahead, and don't make the cleaning up process too anal or agonizing. If you like to sort beads, by all means, do it - but if it makes you crazy - sweep them into a baggy and move on!
I clean up after every 2/3 projects, so once a week or so, before it all gets out of hand. Rather than sort all the multi-coloured beads and stuff out from each other, which I HATE doing - because I'm excited to get on to the next project - I scoop them all into a baggy and stash the baggy. That way, they are sorted by colour, pretty much, and if I think - "oo, I need some of the same pearls I used in such and such a project," all I have to do is find the baggy again.
Sterling components go into a little bin labeled "sterling weirdness" - so I can always find just one more bead or spacer or bead cap. This little bin is great for making my extreme bracelets - and accounts for the random nature of the spacer and bead selection on them too!
Hope that helps someone!
This is what I use to stay organized, and it completely changed the way I work, seriously. So, so organized now. http://www.bestscrapbookshelf.com/?action=view_catalog&Join_ID=176727
I especially love the way that the whole system is capable of being added onto, while still looking cohesive.
As a newcomer to this addictive obsession, I have been generally storing & organizing everything by colour. I'm also documenting everything I buy, make, & sell (soon I hope) on my computer with a photo of the finished product, including a list of components. I also plan to put up a corkboard so that I can hang strings of my beads that have yet to be used, so that I can still enjoy their sparkle.
I have 3 crafts in my craft room, sewing, scrapping and beading. Because I also like to take my bead projects to my trailer in the summer, I keep my beading organized with see-through plastic containers. So I have findings in one, sterling silver in another (one of those tarnish resistant containers), seed beads in another, wooden beads in another, etc. This method help prevent accidental spills with so much going on in my room. I can also take several containers to the TV room if I decide to watch TV and bead.
Charmaine Sipe
ARGH! I am totally disorganized, beads and supplies have taken over my dining room, and as for paperwork - I can't be trusted with it.
There are 2 things I've found which keep me from getting totally out of control: 1 is a large fishing box with 4 removeable cases plus a top "drawer". The other item - and I LOVE this one - is a 5 drawer chrome/steel stand on wheels I got from Costco. The unit is made of a tight mesh that lets me see what's in the drawer yet keeps everything in. I have copper findings in one drawer, stones in another, tools in a 3rd drawer, etc. Works great for me - only takes me seconds to put things back where I can find them.
I pretty much use the clear craft boxes I find at Wal-Mart. I sort by color and/or bead type. I also have the little bags I put finished jewelry in to put leftover beads in. Then, when I use those beads, I already have the bag to put the finished project in :). I have recently moved and some of my stuff is still junked together (my parents "helped" me pack -- they don't understand my obsession and weren't as careful as I might have wanted!). Of course, I don't have all that many beads as compared to some, but I'm trying to catch up!
Hope this helps :)!
One little
Two little
three little bead boxes
Four little
Five little
Six little bead boxes
Seven little
Eight little
Nine little bead boxes
Oopsie daisy - too many little bead boxes!
Little bags here.
Little bags there.
Little itsy bitsy bags of beads EVERYWHERE!
There were pink beads
red beads
green and blue
purple
aqua
jet and topaz too
There were czechs
miyuki
donuts
rondelles
swarovskis
pearls
and tohos too!
So many beads!
What's a girl to do
when you have trouble
finding a finding?
Come here silver,
come here gold,
copper you too!
Into a separate for each of you
you go
Yes, all you headpins, jump rings, cones and eye pins too!
Hop to it
All you findings are now colour coded.
How pretty!
Aqua - you are not the same as turquoise anymore - you each get your own bag now too.
Rosaline: you are so sweet - but you are not - stop pretending to be. You get your own bag now too!
But wait!
Is there a topaz silver lined seed bead among you?
Roll call!
Yes! It's so easy to see by the ticks marks on the handy dandy order sheets downloadable here
http://www.beadfx.com/downloads/downloads.html
(In non-Suessian language - I sort all my beads - no matter what the type - by colour in large ziploc bags. I also keep all the findings sorted by metal type. I use the downloadable sheets from beadFX to keep track of what I have in inventory. I keep all the empty bags from the beads I used so that it is easy to replenish the beads I use often. And the lampwork beads I have collected....they are under my pillow so I can have happy bead dreams!
I love the embroidery floss boxes because they are made with flexible, semi-opaque plastic. When I need the space for the opening to be wider, I take my dremel tool and a sharp knife to the dividers and I cut them away. That way tubes and such can fit into them. Then I write with a sharpie the main colour or theme - eg flowers, daggers, 11's blue. They stack nicely, they don't get too heavy and they aren't expensive at Micheals - 2.00 each when I last purchased them.
cheers, Denise
i need to re-evaluate my inventory. It has gotten a little out of control...
however, I mostly organize my stuff using fish tackle boxes. Not too long ago I only had one. Now I have 3! One with findings, string material and metal bead. #2 with seed bead and other glass beads(cubes, pressed, cyrstals etc). #3 has the stones (chips, donuts, etc) and the other larger/focal beads.
All in all, the system is working pretty well!
As soon as I get home from bead shopping the most important thing for me is to sit down to the computer and my calculator.I write the name of the item, type of stone, size etc. and calculate my actual cost per piece. I attach this label/piece of paper onto item and insert into a baggie. I record same info onto my inventory spreadsheet. When I make a necklace months later, for example, I know exactly what each item is and how much it cost me.
The rest of my organizing skills and space is greatly lacking.
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