Ideas for organizing my scrapbook stuff come to me at the strangest times. Sometimes at night, when I am trying to go to sleep. Sometimes during the afternoon when I am running errands with five loud children in the back of my mini-van. But regardless of when they hit, I always write them down!
I keep an Organizational Binder with me at all time’s in my purse, but you could also keep it with you in a diaper bag, or simply carry it as if it was an actual organizer (which mine is).
I am obsessed with organizing things. In fact, I am working on helping a friend with his organizational needs, and another friend just recently requested my help. Am I a professional? Hardly!
It just feels good to have things organized and make them easy to find. Saves money in the long run because you don’t ever have to replace something you cannot find. It saves time because you are no longer running around looking for something you just know you have!
So here are ways to utilize an Organizational Binder to work on both your time management and getting more organized.
The Organizational Binder
Make your own binder. Whatever size you’d like, though the smaller the better. Why? Because it’s easy to slip into your purse. A 3-ring binder works best for ease of adding pages. Here are a couple of ideas for your binder.
If you are trying to organize some punches or decorative scissors, either cut (With scissors) or punch out shapes. Glue them by size into a small binder. Take this binder with you so you can avoid duplicate purchases at the store, and so you can check which sizes of favorite shapes you already have. It is also helpful to write the name and manufacturer of each punch and scissors on the back of each card.
If you are known to use a lot of templates, you might trace the template onto blank paper, scan it and reduce it to fit into your binder. Then, when you are at the store, you will remember what you have. Separate them by theme or company.
Create a Wish List to store in your binder too. This should be a list of items you really want, but maybe something you might not buy for yourself. When someone asks you what you want for a holiday or birthday, give them a copy of your list.
A shopping list is a must for your binder. It’s a bit different though. If you use up the last piece of a particular color of cardstock, clip a small piece and attach it to a page in your binder. That way when you return to the scrapbook store you have it to match it up to the correct color or piece.
Be sure to sketch page ideas, include sample layouts or pieces you might wish to scraplift. When you are ready to scrap, you have it all in one place!
What other ways can you think of to use your Organizational Binder?