Measuring the Marks - Day 17 of 31 Days of Organizing

After we make the marks, now it is time to Measure the Marks

Measuring tools tend to be long and odd shaped.  So they don't lend themselves to toolboxes in general.
I have two strategies to manage these.  I have two sizes of most all of them.
The long and bigger ones I hang on the wall.  In the past, I have hung them on the end of a wood shelf that I had a hook or nail in place.  Working with 1:48 scale minis, I don't need them as often and I have the smaller ones easily accessible in my toolbox. 

 There are also cutting mats hung up here when not on a work desk.

I used my moto tool to modify the small divided box that fits in my toolbox.  This mod was to allow tools to fit in the open area.  The box has dividers and that keeps those pens in place.
Those tools in that  expanded area are a triangle and right angle.  Then in the back are a couple of 6 inch rulers.  All of these are great for working in smaller scale.

In that divided box is an important marking tool - a permanent marker (purple lid).  When I need make the same cut repeatedly, I use a permanent marker on my metal ruler to make the mark.  Then once I am done, I use isopropyl alcohol to remove the mark.

The main thing I think about organizing these tools is to keep them accessible as needed. Otherwise keeping them out of the way (on a wall sure is unless what is below will bump them too much.)  When I used to hang them on a nail at the end of a shelf, I would hang several on the same hook.  On the wall I have more space and I take advantage of that so I don't have to un-hang more than one ruler at a time.  But either way works and that is what I think is most important - whatever works for you.

Come back tomorrow for another organizing idea during my 31 days of organizing.

Happy Miniature Organizing!

Preble

Making a Mark - Day 16 of 31 Days of Organizing

Making a Mark - ideas for storing pencils, pens, markers and other drawing materials

When it comes to storing these I mostly have them in drawers.  

Nothing really special about this. I keep the colored pencils and my box of drawing pastels in one drawer, misc pens/markers in another, and my permanent markers in yet another.

In my toolbox I have one divider section that is for a pencil, pen and then other sections for erasers and extra leads. (Yes, I modified my divided box so I can fit other things into it.)

I also scrapbook and so I have a large collection of markers I use for that.  I do use them for minis whenever I feel the need.  For these I purchased a pen binder (it may have actually been for pencils as the loops are tight on the markers.)  I used to travel to crops a lot so I wanted them accessible hence the binder and not just a box, which is what I used before. 

Oh and yes, in the middle that is a miniature replica of this binder done in 1:12 scale.  I am working on a scrapbook dome and this will go on the table if I ever finish it.

The flap in the middle is two sided and so other pens and tools are held there.

One advantage for this binder and these type of pens which are double ended is to allow them to be stored flat.  So the binder either lays flat or stands on the end so they are kept horizontal.

Some pens do better when the point (usually where the lid is) is stored down.  So it depends on the pen.

Another type of pen I have is a stain pen or marker.  I really think these are great for miniatures in general but especially for 1:48 scale minis.  The smaller the scale the less stain we need.  I can say I have a small can of stain that isn't even half gone.  Partly because of using the markers, but just that the can lasts when you don't have as much staining surface.  The markers really make a difference to me for application and for that reason alone they are worth the cost.  There are some styles that allow one to remove the nib and refill.  I haven't tried that yet, but I may one day.  I keep these markers either in the top section of my toolbox or in the drawer with other stain and glue that I will show in a few days.  I have three colors - only because I do a lot more painting of furniture than staining so a light medium and dark works well for my needs.

When it comes to storing pens and markers, the thing most important to me is accessibility for the project at hand.  That's why I keep a variety in my toolbox divider box.  It doesn't mean there aren't other ones laying about my work desk, but I try to always keep one or more in the toolbox so I could travel to a mini class/club if I ever have one to go to again.

The second thing I think important is that pens and markers don't dry out.  So always recap them tightly.  But if they do dry up a bit or especially a lot then I throw them out. Now those stain pens, I might try refilling.  Granted some types of pens can be taken apart and parts reused for other purposes.  I have done that as well.

Come back tomorrow for another organizing idea during my 31 days of organizing.

Happy Miniature Organizing!

Preble

Stiff as a Board - Day 15 of 31 Days of Organizing

Stiff as a Board - keep it that way
Well keep it straight too.

I use a number of different materials to construct minis with.  
Wood is a great material for minis - until it gets too heavy.  For furniture, wood is the best, but when storing it we need to keep it straight.  I already covered my wood storage, so will focus on those other materials.

Foam core board
I really prefer this material for any building I can use it for.  I save the scraps in a drawer and generally allow them to lay flat in the drawer.

The long pieces before I cut them up - I keep them in a corner of the room - leaned in with a bunch other larger pieces like drawing pads, poster board and more.  I try to keep this straight more than any of my others.
Working in 1:48 scale, there is less need for longer pieces.  So again, although I am trying to keep these straight most of the time, I don't make a lot of effort.  But I still recommend to keep it straight whenever possible.

Thicker foam board
This board is also corralled in the corner.  It holds its shape fairly well any way. But again, I do try to keep this straight.  

I also save the scraps of this material and store it in a drawer.

Nothing fancy, but just keeping them in a place I can find them is the main thing.

Cardboard
I also have a drawer of cardboard scraps.  Again, I try to lay them in to keep them from being bent.  I save all sorts of cardboard but I prefer if it is not printed on one side, but that can be used if needed.  I find cardboard especially useful for 1:48 scale miniatures as it can be cut and painted and the look it gives is very finished.  Love that is doesn't need sanding and that it can be cut very easily or even torn for a different look.

Come back tomorrow for another organizing idea during my 31 days of organizing.

Happy Miniature Organizing!

Preble

Keep it Flat - Day 14 of 31 Days of Organizing

Keep it Flat
When storing flat items, it is important that they stay flat.  Today, I want to talk about wallpaper and other paper items.  
My first solution is for larger size wallpapers - 1:12 scale.  I took some art classes in college and I had a leftover cardboard portfolio.  It was a really large size so really too big for these papers.  I replaced that with something closer to the wallpaper itself.  I used mat board and ribbon.  

I tried it with paper tape, but that didn't work very well getting into it without messing up the tape or having to re-tape.
I also added paper to create a hinge instead of having the ribbon cut into the paper.  The ribbon also is not open at the one end.  So there is only three place the ribbon ties.
One consideration I might consider if I made this today is to have more than one section. It could be done with another layer of mat board.

My next solution works for 1:24 scale wallpaper or scraps of 1:12.  It is simply a binder with 8x11 sleeve protector pages. I do add a sheet of plain paper in the sleeve to help it be stiffer.  
For 1:48 scale wallpaper, I using the same binder, but I am also using photo pages.  I think this is a great recycle solution.  I stopped using these photo albums when I started scrapbooking, but I couldn't resist keeping the pages.  I was really glad I did.

Another thing that I use these 8x11 page protectors for is rugs and quilts.  I have participated in many swaps and have a lot of rugs to sort through.  I use temporary type double stick tape to adhere the rugs to a sheet of plain paper that slides in the sleeve.  

Any size sleeve would work if one wanted to group into smaller categories.

I also use my binder and page protectors to store other papers.  For example, in the supply swaps I received some lace doilies, metallic papers, and more.  I have these stored once again by color.  

Since I do scrap booking, I do have a storage solution for that paper, that is basically hanging file folders.  I do frequently dip into this paper to use for miniatures. 

One thing I will say - back to the keeping it flat - don't roll wallpaper unless it is temporary.  Wallpaper that is rolled, and left too long, will be hard to unroll and use.  

Come back tomorrow for another day of organizing for my 31 Days of Organizing.

Happy Miniature Organizing!
Preble

Beads and Findings - Day 13 of 31 Days of Organizing

Beads and findings

My collection of beads and findings has grown and grown.  (They multiple like rabbits - either that or I have an addiction.)  I do love pretty beads and particularly any that might work as something in miniature.  I use them as all sorts of things: feet for furniture, pots or canisters, flower pots, vases, drawer pulls, eyelets as cup and saucer or hats, bowls and many other ideas.
I pretty much started my collection with just boxes of beads and they were all mixed together.  My first solution to separate these was a wide assortment shapes and sizes of containers.  Like boxes that they came in and also some divided weekly pill sorters.  

I tried these in a drawer in my drawer cart at first.  The only problem I had was that when I needed beads or findings I was always digging through the drawer.  They only fit a certain way and some containers were hard to see into.  It was a puzzle to be solved every time I put them back.  What a hassle.
My next solution was to move from the drawer to this box and use trays.  The trays are boxes for overhead projector sheets.  I got these at work years ago - a prime example of recycling.  I didn't know what I wanted them for, but I kept them instead of throwing them away.  
These trays are not very deep and that worked very well as layers.  I added tabs to each end of the tray. The particular boxes may not be as available to most people but they could be made with simple cardboard folded to shape.  The overall size of the trays just needs to be smaller than larger box.  The larger box was similar to a large shoe box.

My next stage in this solution was to sort as many of the beads into some small black boxes that I had.  I was already using them for some of the beads.  But it was a decision to use what I have.  I just so happen to have a bunch of these.  Another throw away from work.  They used the boxes for samples of parts and they didn't package them that way anymore.  Lucky me, yes, but I wasn't using them very much.  I apparently was save them for a special purpose - like shipping swaps.  That was a great use of them, very nice presentation, but the rest of them were just unused.  This is a perfect example of reviewing what you have and re-purposing.  Finally I decided that using them for my beads was a better use.  
I now have a second larger box just like the first.  Granted it doesn't have as many trays in it.  That's because I don't have as many beads that I need more trays.  But I do have extra trays if I need them.
One recommendation I have - whatever containers are used in the trays they should be the same height (or similar) to what will be layered in the tray. 

I am using some taller boxes in this second box.  This box is for extra beads mostly non-miniature use.These hold larger beads and when used together they all work great.  Otherwise there is an issue with making it all fit.  The trays help eliminate that puzzle. But they won't if it is still a puzzle to make them all fit.

This tray the boxes are uniform but I need to add tabs.

As I stated in an earlier blog post this month, what we choose as a solution in organizing is about what works for us.  For me, I like color and I enjoy having them separated that way. You may be fine with mixing color, but sizes are more important.  You may want to label them a certain way.  
Certainly there are number of solutions to storing beads.  If I were to go shopping for a solution I would look for something that gives me quick access and keeps each section of beads secure.  So although I might like something like a tackle box with divided boxes that slide into the larger holder, it would only work if the boxes were able to contain the beads without a big mess should the divided box (tray) get knocked over.

Some other ideas for storing beads: 
use small plastic zip bags in the trays.  
Or consider pocket pages.  Pocket pages come in many sizes.  The ones for photos are easy to find, but other ones to consider is the sizes for coins or business cards.  Any of these could add plastic bags into the pockets.
There are other choices of course for plastic boxes.  If I was buying a bunch, I would consider these:

I really like the ones at the top because they are compression fit.  But more importantly to me is that the depth is the overall height of the box.  With the hinged boxes I have so many of, the bottom is the maximum can fill them especially if the beads are tiny.

 These tubes are another leftover from where I worked.  These are just another alternative.

The lessons here are: make them accessible (no puzzles), sort them how you look for them (color or size or whatever), and contain them (keep them from making a mess if spilled).
Come back tomorrow for day 14 of my 31 days of organizing.

Happy Miniature Organizing!
Preble

All the Trimmings - Day 12 of 31 Days of Organizing

All the Trimmings

Earlier this year I shared how I store my main ribbon and trim now.  I use a large cookie tin and plastic bags sorted by color.

This pic looks like a mess but it is nicely organized in that each bag on the left has a single color grouping in it.  Each bag has all the ribbon and trim in it of that color or shade/tint.  In the tin they were sort of organized in rows.   On the right is the lid and a zip bag of extra cards attached. I made them from recycled folders.  The about business card size or smaller and just have a slit or notch to secure the ends.  I use them if it is a long piece but if it isn't, then the ribbon/trim just goes in the appropriate bag.  

I still need to move the lace and ribbon that is in the case binder over to this tin.  I just haven't taken the time.  I would love to expand my case binder system but I feel it is cost prohibitive.  

It combines a case binder, business card page protectors and possibly zip bags.  

I am always on the lookout for new or revised solutions.  One solution for this is I have considered is using the sleeves for vcr tapes or similar and have them in a box.  Then the bags would stay up and I could group by the main color.  
Other ideas I have seen are to store in a divided box (like for fishing tackle), add holes to the cards and hang on a ring or rod.  
I bought a bunch stored on paper tubes held by straight pins at a garage sale a couple of years ago.  I found this to not be a good solution for me personally, but suggest that if using this idea to make sure that the end of the ribbon or trim is secured at the end only. As in, don't insert a pin into all the ribbon as it can leave a mark that is hard to remove.  I deal with this with the ribbon from the tubes I bought.  The ribbon has pin holes all along it.

Come back tomorrow for another organizing idea during my 31 days of organizing.

Happy Miniature Organizing!

Preble

Softer side - Day 11 of 31 Days of Organizing

The softer side of miniatures includes things I like to call fiber.
When it comes to this material, like my other supplies, I like to sort by category, by color, by texture, by whatever appropriate to that material and I like to separate so it isn't a mess to find something and later put away.  I admit that my fiber stash is like some of my other supplies, I have pockets of disorganized stuff.  So it is future organizing moments for when I feel it deserves my time to deal with it.  

Fabric/cloth My fabric is stored in a single drawer.  A few years ago, I did some clearing out of fabric. The remaining pieces were sorted by color and stored in large zip bags.  I press the bag to remove the air when closing to save space.  This also helps the bag to stand up on it's end.

By having them in bags, some messiness is allowed.  I pull out one bag and go through that bag.  If I had a larger collection of fabric, then I would still sort by color but separate by prints versus solids.  

Feathers and misc other fiber

Looking at this picture I think one day I should sort these feathers into smaller bags by color.  I don't use feathers often is probably why I haven't already.
The other stuff in this drawer are stuffing, some flat batting, and some netting.  So this is a catch all for fiber that otherwise would just be in a bag or box in the closet.

Excess ribbon and lace

Since I do mostly smaller scale, this drawer holds ribbon on spools and extra lace that I am less likely to use in miniature.  I do on occasion still do some non-miniature craft projects and these would be for that.  tomorrow.

Come back tomorrow for more on my main ribbon and trim storage ideas during my 31 days of organizing.

Happy Miniature Organizing!

Preble