Ah paper, a recycler’s worst nightmare and a scrapbooker’s
friend. Scrapbookers and paper crafters
alike use this stuff by the pound, it is not wonder that if you look at the
average paper crafter’s room, you will see it everywhere, from tags, sheets of
paper, papier-mâché’ boxes, die cuts, card blanks, and a whole host of other
paper goods. They decorate bags for
wrapping presents, sometimes the paper are the presents themselves, as well as
the card that goes inside the present.
If you are a recycler, this item can be a hit or miss for you. Paper crafting is not for the faint at heart.
One of the biggest problems, at least for me, is clutter
control. Paper to most people, even at
its beauty is considered trash to them, but paper can be contained, and no one can
tell that you have paper around.
1)
Find all of your paper. If you are in the process of a project, the
paper is not in its raw state, which is the paper itself, leave it alone. If it is already neat, get it anyway.
2)
Purge the paper.
I am not talking throwing it away, but decide what pieces you are going
to use. Do not think in terms of what
project you have planned or were going to use the paper for at this point, and
do not say things in your head such as, “This would make a great layout
background.” If it has not been used,
and the original project has left the memory, ask yourself, “Will I use it in a
future project?” If the answer is yes,
put it in the “keep” pile. Do not return
it to the original container yet. If the
answer is, no, then put it in the “giveaway” pile. It no longer has sentimental value to you.
3)
Once you have done that to all of your paper,
place the “keep” paper in an area so you can sort it into a system. You need a system in order to contain
it. We will get back to this a little
later. Let’s tackle the “giveaway”
paper.
4)
At this point, you do not have the time to go
down memory lane with the giveaway paper.
It is now out of sight and out of mind when you plan your future
projects. Do not second guess your
decision. What you can do for it is to
decide where to send it. Let me give you
some hints:
a.
Your child’s school. Funding may not be what it used to be when
you were in school. Many programs have
been cut, and teachers have to fend for themselves with the salary they are
given. Often times, it may mean buying
their own supplies, including art supplies.
It would be a great help if your craft supplies go towards the
school. Call ahead or ask your child’s
teacher exactly what is needed.
b.
Nursing homes.
Even seniors need art to stay active, and that is often with art
supplies to keep their mind’s going, even if their bodies no longer function
like they used to. Nursing homes and adult
day care centers are under that same tax area that the government often uses to
cut funding at, and donating supplies do help the burden. Again ahead to see what is needed.
c.
Rehab centers.
This is for either people who have been injured or someone who has a disability,
and they are learning to be a functional citizen again. Call to see if these places mind having a
supply donation or does it have to be monetary.
5)
Sometimes products are too old or out of date to
be donated. For those, just toss in the
trash. Same with anything that is beyond
repair.
6)
Next move to the paper you decided to keep.
a.
First inspect each piece of paper. Not the size
and shape of the paper and put lie pieces together. At this point, you are not worried if the
color is the same. Put small with small
pieces of paper, die cuts with die cuts, and so on.
b.
Next, work with each pile, and put into color
families. Think ROY G. BIV or what I
like to call ROY G. BIVN (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and
neutral). So in an example, you would
have a Small paper ROY G. BIVN, a Medium sized paper ROY G. BIVN, and so forth.
c.
Place into containers. You may have to go shopping at this
point. If so, you will need 8 containers
for each separate pile. If you do not
have the budget for that, then just get 8 containers and put each same color
piles in a container, but make sure it is a system that you can live with, and
not feel overwhelm with it all.
d.
If you are dealing with lots of patterned paper,
try to find a common background with each paper, or separate by brand name.
7)
Last, find a place in your new space where the
paper should go. I am not going to tell
you where to put it, as long as you are comfortable with setting, and that it
is convenient for you.
Congratulations on organizing your sheets of paper. Do the same thing with your boxes, tags, and
other paper-like supplies. Step 3 will
be trying to organize Ribbons, laces, and other fabric type supplies. So get ready, and be blessed.
