
It's time for the
MFT Creative Chat. The My Favorite Things Design Team Creative Chat is a monthly feature, where we are challenged to explore our creative spaces and share valuable organizational methods, tools, and shopping strategies with you. You'll be able to peek into our creative spaces, ask questions, and share your own ideas in the MFT forum. This month, we were asked the following questions:
How do you store and organize your card stock?
How do you store your scrap card stock?
Visit Kim's Blog for a full list of designers that have taken up the challenge and get ready to delve into the minds of our creative team!
My card stock is stored in two main places, this shelving unit beside my desk and in my stamping closet. This shelving unit is the small EXPEDIT unit from Ikea. I am sure you are all familiar with this series from Ikea, it seems to be very popular with crafters!
Please pay no attention to the dust, I haven't quite figured out how to get rid of it on a permanent basis! LOL
This first shelf is the one that I reach for the most. It is filled with all my yummy MFT card stock. I always have one pack of each of the MFT colors of card stock and I have a number of back up packs for the colors that I use most, and the colors that I am getting low on. I hate it when I run out of a certain color so I always try to make sure that I have extra on hand!
This shelf contains my Stampin' Up! and Papertrey card stock. For those of you that saw my stamp room when I was an SU! demo the size of my SU! card stock shelf will be a shock! LOL I used to have shelves and shelves full of SU! card stock. I used to do large monthly classes and I needed to have lots of card stock on hand at all times. When I left SU! I sold off 90% of my card stock!
The paper sorter on the right contains my printer paper and my Copic certification books.
On this shelf I stash some of my smaller card stock item. I have my Cream Perfect Paper Panels and some scallop note cards. I have a small bucket that sits in front of these items as I don't reach for them that often.

This shelf contains my beloved X-Press It card stock! I LOVE this card stock and I like to make sure I have a generous supply on hand at all times! I keep my scraps of X-Press it card stock in the clear envelope with the full sheets of card stock. I am really good about using up the smaller pieces of X-Press It with my Die-namics dies for sentiments. I don't let any of this stuff go to waste!
My 12x12 card stock is stored at the bottom of my linen closet which is actually my stamping closet. I have five clear plastic paper holders that sit on the floor of the linen closet. The first two paper holders are filled with Stampin' Up! Textured card stock. I really love textured card stock! The other two are filled with plain SU! card stock. The final paper holder is filled with patterned 12x12 paper.
The linen closet is also where I store my card stock scraps. Over the years I have had some real challenges with card stock scraps! I used to have boxes and boxes of scraps when I was doing SU! classes. It was always easier and quicker to grab a full sheet of card stock than it was to find a scrap. I would get frustrated and feel overwhelmed with all the scrap paper I had and I would end up throwing it all out or giving it to a friend.
I am happy to say that I now have a system that works well for me and it is something that I am able to stay on top of! I have a three drawer unit from London Drugs. The unit is fairly wide and it holds a ton of stuff! I have one drawer for scrap card stock. Inside the drawer I have individual pieces of card stock and I have little baggies filled with card stock.
I use Stampin' Up!'s Clear Cellophane Bags in the 6"x8" size. I place one color in each bag. I don't have a bag for every color of card stock but I have one for the colors that I use a lot of.
The cellophane bags get thrown in the drawer along with miscellaneous sheets of card stock. I must admit that I am not very diligent about putting the card stock into the correct bag every time I stamp. I usually end up going through the drawer about once a month to tidy things up! LOL
These are the small cello bags that sit in my scrap drawer.
Right beside my drawer storage unit I have a number of large clear envelopes. These are filled with the colors of card stock that I use the most. These clear envelopes are actually Sheet Protectors from Staples. They are top loading and I cut off the side that had the binder holes. They are just perfect for storing larger pieces of card stock without taking up a lot of room.
Each page protector envelope is filled with a bunch of sheets of card stock. These are the colors that I tend to use the most. I am pretty good about going to these envelopes before I cut into a full piece of card stock.
I do have to force myself to use up scraps! I must admit that having all the fabulous Die-namics dies has made it a bit easier! I am always cutting something out with Die-namics! LOL
My last card stock item isn't really about storage, it is just a tool I use. I created a card stock ring about a year ago. I believe it was
Susan Liles that shared her project last year. As soon as I saw it I had to create one! This really is an invaluable tool! I use my card stock ring to select the shade of card stock to match my patterned paper and I use it to remember the name of the card stock when I am blogging!
That's it for me on the subject of card stock storage. Be sure to check out Kim's Blog for the full list of designers participating today. I for one can't wait to see how the rest of the girls store their stuff!
